Most of us are dependent upon Bill and his products every time we turn on our computers. Bill Gates' Microsoft is the vendor whose products virtually everyone uses. From our various Windows operating systems to our Outlook email and our Internet Explorer browsers, we are slaves to MS.  We rant and rave about the conglomerate and how we are forced to use their products because there isn't anything else out there that will do the trick nearly half as well.  We feel trapped, enslaved, with no option but Microsoft.
Well, independence from Microsoft is just a click away! I have not used Internet Explorer as my main browser EVER. In the beginning, which for me was 1994, I was a Netscape user. I used IE only if I had to, which turned out to be at a handful of sites including Microsoft.com. I could live with that and I happily did, in order to escape the problems of IE.  In addition, I used Eudora Pro for my email so I wasn't tied to Outlook or Outlook Express.  I was still stuck with Microsoft as my operating system and I still used Office 97 but darned if I was going to be a total Microsoft Girl!
As the years have gone by, I've kept to that goal of not being enslaved by Microsoft products.  I migrated from Netscape to Opera to Mozilla's Phoenix in the last 5 years, Mozilla being my browser of choice for the past 2 years or so. Mozilla is the best thing to happen to browsers ever in my opinion. It far surpasses Netscape and Opera. It suppresses pop-ups without me having to add the Google toolbar or any other plugin or addition.  It's very rare for me to find a site that doesn't work with the Mozilla browser, including Microsoft's own site, which works just fine with Mozilla. This browser is full featured and includes an excellent composer. The most current version of Mozilla is 1.7.
Mozilla.org has three other products that are worth looking into. One is an email client called Thunderbird, designed to go up against Outlook.  I downloaded it this week and found it super easy to use. I imported my address book and poked around in the options and found that it was a very nice product if you're looking for a replacement for Outlook. I haven't found out if it supports stationery yet but I'm only a reluctant stationery user anyway so that doesn't bother me in the least. I do, however, really like the nice, clean, modern looking interface. It's a pretty email client that functions very well and sorts out junk mail and spam for you.
The second product Mozilla has come out with is a stand-alone browser, a light version of the Mozilla full-featured Internet Application browser suite. Firefox is an award winning, quick download that suppresses popups, has tabbed browsing, incorporates Google search into the toolbar, and is easily customizable! It's the perfect choice for someone who's had enough of the security holes and other frustrations of IE.
The third product by Mozilla I have zero experience with because I am a PC user but I am amazed that it is offered! It is a native web browser for MacOS X operating systems. It has Google search in the toolbar, tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking, and a new bookmark manager with integrated Rendezvous and address book. It also addresses security issues with improved cookie management and more!

In addition to these three products Mozilla offers a bug tracking software called Bugzilla that is really more for developers and companies. It's an excellent tool and just reading through the Bugzilla site's logs and forums is fascinating! If you have a use for such a tool, you can't beat the price of this one - FREE!

Just take a look at what Mozilla.org has to offer. These folks are all about open source code, security, and providing a quality product for FREE. They have certainly earned my loyalty and respect and if you're looking for independence from Bill and MS they are the perfect alternative. So break free of your MS enslavement and check out Mozilla.org's products!