igohigh, Firebird was the one I tried and it was so slow, I dunped it. Could've been my computer, but IE was fine on it. My computer philosophy is pretty simple. Less crap = less hassle. I have Flash 4 because I occasionally need it to look at animations. I don't like being pan-handled into upgrading by the intrusive method of continual pop-ups. I don't want to see the latest flash animations. If (big IF), I ever do, I'll go download the dratted thing. I don't need Macromedia hustling me every other page. I'm quite able to decide for myself, if and when I want it. But of course, Macromedia's idea is that, if everyone on the planet has Flash installed, people who makes animations will be forced to use it. A bit like Real Player - another particularly nasty piece of work I DON'T have on my computer. Real is one of THE most intrusive pieces of software ever invented. The junk it installs beggars belief. As an aside, in my case, animations are self-defeating. I HATE flashing things that distract me, so when I see one, I automatically scroll it up above the top of the page so I can't see it. If I see a well-executed still image that catches my eye, I'm far more likely to stop and look at it. If it flashes or jumps around, it's history as far as I'm concerned. Thanks to all for the replies and suggestions. I'm back to IE now. Not the best, but at least it's non-distracting and clean. mac PS I just discovered a great trick for Zone Alarm. If you hate the splash screen, try this. Right-click ZA's properties in the start menu (or wherever you have it), and type in the target box (after the path), SPACE-nosplash That's 1 spacebar, plus '-nosplash' My target looks like this. "C:Program FilesZone LabsZoneAlarmzonealarm.exe" -nosplash It works wonders. The splash screen is defunct and ZA opens in about 3 seconds, instead of 30.