@get_real_folks
Sorry, but a lot of government jobs don't come with the cash compensation but do come with equally valuable compensation in terms of benefits. You know, the vacation, sick days, personal days, insurance, and retirement benefits that taxpayers are always griping about. Oh, and let us not forget that common impression that IT people sit around all day playing games and not doing any real work - never mind that many of these administrators are "on call" all the time. After all, if a server crashes in the middle of the night, you can't just blow it off until you get in the next day.
===========================================================
I'd like to clarify my bosses statement from earlier - he did emphasize that he was talking in a secure and locked down environment. The type where the average user logging in does NOT have rights to run and install updates on their system, so as to prevent the accidental installation of malware.
However, I cannot comment too much on this. Additionally, we probably have a semi-unique setup. We have computer labs in several buildings where users need to be able to migrate seamlessly use any workstation as if it were there own. This poses some unique but not insurmountable challenges. Where IE is centrally administrated, FireFox requires a sequenced virtual deployment that integrates with their preferences and bookmarks stored on their network share.
Let me tell you, it took a few days to decide how to migrate users from v2 to v3 due to the change in the way bookmarks were handled. Huge cost? No. However, if you must sequence the app every time a new version comes out and verify it will not break profiles of users - and then be ready to deal with when it does because some yahoo has in their profile an unusual addon that does work with the upgrade - it becomes a bit of a mess after a bit.
Now, I don't deal with the IE stuff - but that is because I don't have to. My boss easily can do that "with a few clicks". Thus, we get to deal with the sequencing of the new version and testing in with profiles that have the old version, and then any of the problem tickets that come in when the new version inevitably breaks stuff.
So, long story short, FireFox was NOT developed as an enterprise product. What they lack is strong centralized management in an environment like ours, where users are highly restricted and the software is not allowed to "update itself". (Let me tell you, Adobe products also suck in this aspect too - as well as Apple products. You have to disable all the auto-updating crap, sequence it, and then test it to verify it won't break anything from the prior versions... so I am not just knocking FireFox but most software.)
Does this mean IE is great? Heck no. Almost everyone I know in my department doesn't use it, and there is a reason why FireFox work-arounds are used to deploy it in our computer labs. However, I am saying it is far easier to manage than FireFox. However, your home or small computer network environment is not the same as a locked-down enterprise environment (such as state level government).