The browser wars are like old west gunfights - the biggest name gets gunned for the most. IE is the biggest gun, and gets the most attacks, but it also gets patched faster quicker than the others.
Firefox on the other hand, is yet another reskinning of Mozilla/Netscape. While it does have a cute face and hobbyist created add-ons are popping up all the time for various uses - if you think it's 'secure' you're living in a fantasy world. The hackers have already started sharpening their claws on it, and as with ANY open source software - too many cooks will eventually spoil the brew.
I preach it all the time to my customers - update your AV, your IE, and your Windows at least once a month (I'd prefer they were all auto-set to once or twice a day). If you get infected, attacked or hijacked - it is your own fault.
Posted by Bill Modzel (Member # 22) on :
OK, how about another one..... Mac OS X Posted by Dale Manor (Member # 4858) on :
Using safari myself, not sure if I even have Mr. Gate'$ IE thingy on my machine anymore? The tech guy here at the university told me Safari is the way to go.
I'm with you Bill, OS X has some great software (iLife suite) and it's own browser.
Posted by Rick Beisiegel (Member # 3723) on :
Bill
That is 3 words!
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
Sorry Rob,
Too much trouble to worry about updates every day, worry about virii attacks thru exploitble software every day, and too much unneeded trouble wondering when the next browser hijacking will take place. Its just not right that someone must spend money to purchase and run two or three other programs just to use Internet Explorer. All that overhead uses computer resources thus slowing down the machine.
Firefox is the software browser of choice among the leading edge software engineers for a reason. It isn't gaining market share because its a fad. Its not exploitable as is IE and Outlook and it doesn't make life miserable while you are trying to work.
Plus its FREE to the user!! It don't matter what skin it has or where its code is from. It works. And, more importantly, Firefox is bringing competition to M$ which means we all will get better software in the future. I like that idea.
By the way. Ive never suffered virii attacks, or exploited software attacks, wiped hard drives or any other invasions.
Also, Our Webserver was under constant attack. It suffered hacks and email hijackings on a regular basis. As soon as I forced the webmaster to dunp M$ based software all the problems went away. Is that not a surprise?
[ January 11, 2005, 10:20 AM: Message edited by: Curtis hammond ]
Posted by Robb Lowe (Member # 2121) on :
I've never suffered them either, and I've always relied on Microsoft stuff. And I'll be the first to admit I leave a lot of updates off for lack of bandwidth (dialup only here in the boonies). Lucky for me (and everyone else) Microsoft offers free CD's of cumulative updates and patches. The AV however, updates several times a day.
Everything proves it's worth over time. Jumping ships for sake of empty promises is just not a good idea. I've tried the rest, and always end up back with MS stuff. If your webmaster is/was having problems with MS products, I'd say it was between the keyboard and the chair and not the software. A poor craftsman always blames his tools.
Firefox is the new kid on the block. Reminds me of Leo DeCaprio in "The Quick And The Dead". Lots of talk, lots of flash, and what looks like a lot of promise. Also a flawed gene pool. In the end, he was not the last man standing. Nor was his aforementioned DNA donor! In the case of Firefox, that would be Netscape and AOL, their parent company.
Firefox is a media darling right now, for two simple reasons. One, it's cool to 'hate the man' these days, be it Microsoft, the president, Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt or whoever is top of the game. Two, the media is starved for anything technology. It's been quite a long dry spell since the hayday of the late 90's. Like most journalists that make their living writing and not the subject matter at hand, they tell half stories or just plain misinform their readers.
Bottom line... is it a good browser? It's decent. I dont care for the way it handles fonts or formatting of the page if you deviate from the webmaster's choices. I dont like the idea of open source software on this level. I do like the idea of tabbed windows, and launching several pages at once. Skinning is nice, but everything does that these days. It offers a lot of tools and capability for future growth, that I appreciate.
I just want to make it clear that it is not the be all end all perfect solution, nor is it resistant to attack or malicious intent. It is much more prone to them in fact, in the long term. It's saving grace is that it doesnt integrate as deeply as IE does. That, is IE's biggest flaw. Browsers and OS's should remain as seperate as church and state.
Imagine if Hitler or Saddam had the source code to the A-bomb? Ok, forget them - what about the wannabes that we havent even heard of yet? Same idea.
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
hmmmmmmmmm.
IF Firefox will be exploitable.. It should already be exploitable. Opera is the same mozilla based browser. And it is not exploitable. Netscape is mozilla based and it is not exploitable either.
Firefox and Thunderbird combinations are becoming a powerfull influence in the net. They are not exploitable like Outlook and IE.
Eudura, bat and a few others already proved that good unexploitable email clients are possible. Opera proved that good unexploitable browsers are possible too.
These softs are not becomming the darlings because its good to bash M$. They are popular because they work. Software engineers are not so easily influenced as to go with the new guy just to bash M$. They simply dont have the time to play that game. IT techs go with software that works and is easy to maintain.
Hence, Firefox and Thunderbird are comming into double digit percentages of market share.
Posted by Bill Modzel (Member # 22) on :
Dog gonnit Rick, your right! How about MacOSX?
Dale, it's nice to hear from another of the non-masses. Posted by Paul McDowell (Member # 5092) on :
Firefox and Thunderbird, Opera and the generic Mozilla may not be as exploitable as the MS versions but they do have expoloits that get patched periodically. Also firefox is much less stable when using multiple windows (I hate the tabs) than IE is. Firefox still has some problems running internet java scripts, possibly because so many are poorly written. And some sites are IE only (such as my bank) so you cant rely on just FF.
Now that a decent percentage of users are running firefox you will see more viruses scripted toward it. The main problem with IE is that it is integrated well with the OS, a selling point before the exploits became known.
That said FF is my preferred browser. Im impartial to Thunderbird since it doesnt offer anything new.
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