For the user most of the browsers are the same, actually, that isn't as true anymore, javascript speed in the latest iterations of firefox, opera, safari and chrome far outstrips that in IE. Safari is my standard but Chrome is becoming my new favorite.
For those of us that develop for the web IE is a giant hairy pustule on our bum. It is the least standards compliant browser out there (all versions, 8 is better but it's still WAY behind). As a developer, I write to the standards, that gets my code working on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc., then I have to go back and do my Microsoft test and write a special stylesheet to make everything work right with IE, and trust me when I say this, it never works right the first time. I always have to noodle with something. Years of experience have taught me how to minimize what I'll need to do in the first place but I still need to do it. So when friends ask me what browser to use, I say anything but IE. And as I do have control over what people in my department use, I smack their hands if I catch them using the hated browser for anything but system updates.
