Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal wrote a terrific review of the Firefox browser today. I couldn't agree more with his assessment.

For weeks it has amazed me that Microsoft has not yet mounted a serious defense of Internet Explorer. They've been nearly silent on the Firefox issue. Then the other day it occurred to me that Firefox may actually be good for Microsoft, bruised ego aside.

Think about it. Does MS really make any money on IE? It's bundled with the OS, so computer buyers pay for it every time they buy a copy of Windows. Firefox poses virtually no short-term financial threat to MS, as far as I can tell. Firefox, if anything, improves the Windows operating environment by making web browsing more secure, not less. It wouldn't at all surprise me if MS puts a positive spin on the Firefox situation since it may make people feel better (or less insecure) about using Windows.