I want to use Mozilla firefox as my browser, but I hear IE throws a wobbly if it's not the default browser. How do I do this please

Amd Athlone 2100+
80 GB HDd
1024 DDR Ram
Win XP Pro SP2
Office XP PRO SP3

Simply go into firefox options and set as default. Uncheck "internet explorer should check for default browser" in IE internet options.
Some installed programs will still call up Internet Explorer to phone home but thats no prob and not worth worrying about.