Web Browsers

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Narcissus

Reserve Grader
So I was just looking at the site stats and there's still a huge majority of people using Internet Explorer...

With all of the things that are wrong about IE, and all of the things that you're missing from using something like Firefox or Opera, can an IE user or two please tell me: why do you still do it to yourselves??

Please note that I'm not trolling here: I'm up for any decent discussion about the merits of the application...
 
Well geez Byso: where's the sport in admitting Firefox is better straight off the bat? :)

OK, so let me rule out 'work' as a reason for IE: I totally understand that. But surely that can't make up for all the IE users out there!
 
Can you believe that when I started at my previous role in June 2000 they were still using coax for network cable.
 
But like I said guys: surely 'we use it at work' doesn't account for 50%. That would mean that 50% of the hits are from worksites and therefore we're all a pack of no-good bludgers (as Daniel would say).

I have a feeling that anyone who does use it at home won't try and defend it, but it was worth a try I guess...
 
What's the difference? In plain, simple english please for someone who isn't, and never will be, infatuated with the ins and outs of a computer and its applications.
 
SilentBob

IE is like leaving your front door open with a neon sign that says "Im not Home". Its kind of like a datsun 180B that was never serviced, it knows what its suppossed to do but just cant manage it so things break and stop working

FireFox is like driving a brand new porsche, its faster, slicker, cleaner and handles errors a lot better. Its the way the web is suppossed to be hence the "take back the web".

It also has a thing called tab browsing meaning you only have to open one window but you can have multiple sites open within it. There are cool plugins like mouse actions so if you move your mouse in a certain way it will go to a website or open whatever you program
 
Ive got the worlds best virus protection on my PC at home......... No internet :)

once I do get it on which could be shortly, I'll be going firefox
 
There's differences at all levels: where do I start?

From a security level: IE is intermingled with system code (to the point where during the anti-competitive monopoly court cases Microsoft declared that the system depended on it being there). This means that it has special access to certain parts of the system. If a cracker is able to get IE to crash, say, then they have a better chance of getting further into the system. Other browsers (Firefox and Opera, for example) are just normal applications: when they crash they crash. Have you ever noticed that when IE crashes, your normal explorer windows crash with it (and in Windows XP for example, your desktop window 'restarts')? That's because IE is tied to the system.

ActiveX: Another bastardisation of the internet that MS brought to the table was the idea of ActiveX. Originally, these were little programs that could be loaded off the internet and have complete access to and control of your computer. Naturally, only Good People(TM) were expected to use it. Naturally, lots of Bad People(TM) used it. Now MS have done quite well at patching these holes up but most IE exploits are related to IE being tricked into believing something is safe to run.

Security: Despite the reports to the contrary, MS takes longer (on average) to fix more critical (on average) security problems. People will point out 'yeah, well, Firefox had more holes found in X months', for example. These reports don't take into consideration that during those X months, IE still had critical holes that had been found before that time that still hadn't been fixed. That's all I have to say about that, as I don't want to get ranty.

User Interface / Usability: MS has done nothing for IE for how many years? Firefox and Opera have been working hard to improve the user interface and usability. Off the top of my head, tabbed browsing (instead of opening multiple windows, you open 'tabs' in the one window: keep your browsing contained!) and popup blockers are worth the change. The popup blocker stops unwanted popup ads without the need for any additional software. What are the two major things that MS seems to be bringing to the table with the next version of IE (when it finally arrives)? Tabbed browsing (which they boo-hoo-ed not too long ago) and a popup blocker.

Extensions: Now, I don't know about Opera here (though I hear they have quite a few extensions themselves) but Firefox has all sorts of extensions that fit easily into the application. The beauty of all of this is that you only install what you want. I have a little unobtrusive weather forecast in one corner. I have the ability to shake my mouse and close the window or have my RSS feeds display in a sidebar if I want. There's hundreds of different extensions available and they're relatively simple to write if you have a scratch you want itched.

Standards: Other browsers strive to be standards compliant. As IE hasn't been touched by MS for years they are being left behind, really. Basically the next version of IE will be catching up with most other browsers. There are heaps of sites out there that need to be broken to make it look right in IE: it's disgusting. The way I see it, the sooner a website realises that they don't need to continue spending time on getting it right for that broken browser, the sooner they can use that time more constructively.

Anyway, that's a start I think and I hope it was plain enough. The beauty of both Firefox and Opera is that they're free. Opera (www.opera.com) is free as in 'beer', Firefox (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox) is free as in 'speech' (we can get to that distinction somewhere further into the off season :) ).

SilentBob: have a play with the other browsers for a week each and let us know what you thought. I would truly be interested in your thoughts!
 
Then Fro let me make two suggestions when you do get online:
1) A really good, free antivirus from a company called GriSoft. The product is called AVG and is at http://free.grisoft.com ; and
2) A really good, free firewall from a company called Kerio: http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html

The firewall with Windows XP SP 2 is good for stopping people coming in. Kerio does that as well as stops things going out unless you allow it. That way if you accidentally get something bad on your computer it still won't be able to send anything anywhere.

This may sound paranoid but people: everyone knows how bad spam is. Do you know where most spam comes from? Networks of thousands of unprotected computers (ZombieNets) run by various groups. If you know the right people, you can 'rent' these machines to send spam if you like. Don't let your computer add to the spam problem!
 
Avast antivirus is a bit better than avg and is also free, it also allows a boot time scanner to really clean out an memory resident viruses
 
Thanks Byso: I just hope that I don't come across as too much of a zealot!

It's just a shame I couldn't get some dig about Mosman in there somewhere... :)
 
thats because you are from Newcastle originally....you know what most of us think of Newscastle dont you Narc?
 
Land of endless beaches I daresay :)

I know exactly what you guys think but let's face it Daniel. I knew what I thought was heaven, and moved to be shown I was right. You know what you think is heaven, but won't move to be shown that you're wrong!
 
from newcastle to Artarmon to Canada to marrickville to Canada...........sounds like a turd bobbing up and down on the surface of a **** pipe!
 

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