Haven’t used IE in... year(s?).
I like Firefox (and the NoScript add-on is a must have. It’s fantastic.)
Wife likes Chrome.
Try them both and see which one you prefer.
Anything will be an improvement.
btw, I use Firefox at work (xp) and at home (xp and vista) and have had no problems with updates or anything else.
Then again, I might just be lucky... :)