I just started using it a few days ago on my home computer. I like the speed. I can load several web sites in different tabs before IE can even launch.
Walter
Mozilla Firefox Browser version 0.9
by Yizuman 27 Replies latest social entertainment
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kls
I down loaded firefox on my mac, but it doesn't open. It shows on my desk top, What am i not doing wrong?
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gitasatsangha
Yizuman,
I don't know about Firefox, but I used Mozilla browser for everything else except JWD because it has some problems there. It's an excellent browser, much better IMO then Microsoft's.
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exjdub
Yiz,
Thanks for the suggestion. I am using Mozilla now and it loads websites much faster than IE. I will have to play around with the formatting on this website to see if I can get it to work, but small price to pay. Thanks.
exjdub -
jukief
Using it now on my PC laptop. I also use it on my iBook.
I'm the editor of a daily electronic newsletter that deals with the Windows/computer industry. The author, Paul Thurrott, has been telling people for years to use something other than IE; he recommends Mozilla or Opera. Here's an article we published today:
Browser Wars II? Alternative Browser Downloads Surge in Wake of IE Exploits
The long-stagnant Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) might command about 95 percent of the Web browser market but a recent spate of security vulnerabilities seems to be finally helping IE's competitors make some inroads into the market. Even the usually staid United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has taken the unusual step of advising users to switch to a different browser because of IE's many attacks (see the URL below). The result has been a bonanza for safer browser alternatives such as Mozilla and Opera.
The Mozilla Foundation reports that daily downloads of its Mozilla browser suite and Firefox Web browser have doubled since US-CERT's recommendation; on the day of the US-CERT announcement, the foundation says that users downloaded the products more than 200,000 times. "More people seem to have reached their threshold level of frustration dealing with problems with IE and Windows and have found the Mozilla software a good solution to solving those problems," Chris Hofmann, The Mozilla Foundation's director of engineering, said. "US-CERT's recommendation is just a reflection of the trend we have seen for quite some time."
Experts point to several obvious problems with IE. First, the browser is so widely used that it's a natural attack point. Second, IE is integrated directly into the Windows OS, a curious and ultimately damaging decision that made a previously secure Windows NT-based system vulnerable to new types of attacks. Third, IE technologies such as ActiveX have proven to be highly insecure, and many IE attacks exploit ActiveX-related vulnerabilities. Microsoft will address the latter concern in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) but the company has no plans to provide this functionality in other Windows versions or to completely decouple the browser from its OSs.The Mozilla Foundation and Opera Software say that they have solutions for the first problem. If the current download rates continue, the browser alternatives might soon be nibbling away at IE's massive market share. If that happens, Web designers will have to take those browsers into account more often when they design Web sites. And because Mozilla and Opera adhere more closely to Web standards than IE does, that situation could eventually lead to dramatic changes on the Web in general. Perhaps future IE versions would also be more standards-compliant as a result, which would make the process of developing Web sites much easier because developers could simply target one standard. Today, IE's market share causes Web developers to target IE's nonstandard technical idiosyncrasies first.
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glitter
Oh another handy extension if the one that adds "View in IE" or "Open Link in IE" to the right-click menu so you can easily view a page that won't display correctly in Firefox for whatever reason.
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Simon
Oh look, exploits for mozilla and firefox
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1621463,00.asp
What you need to do it keep things updated and have up-to-date protection. Jumping from versions just because a flaw is found is naive. What do you do when a flaw is found in the one you jumped to ... switch again?
If anyone imagines that any system does not have vulnerabilities and exploits then they have a lot to learn. Often, it has more to do with what things are turned on or off and how you use it.
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XQsThaiPoes
I usedFirebird on linux. I have a cool web hijacker not that is destroying ie. 4 programs to remove it and it still pops up and loads viruses. SO now I am on FF.
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gitasatsangha
Simon,
I see your point, but on the other hand, sometimes a product is just inherently more stable and secure then another. That's where Microsoft continually falls on its face. OpenVMS is a much more stable OS then say.. well anything else ever written. Novell Netware is still way more secure then any server platform Microsoft has put out. A cheap FTP daemon on Linix is more robost ans secure then Microsoft IIS. And the vulnerabilities that IE has, simply are either nonexistant, or else are not being exploited to the same degree that they would be on IE. Virus writers hate Microsoft with a passion, because a lot of them have a background in opensource.
But all that is just peanuts compared to the coming problem. Microsoft has stated they aren't going to offer full version upgrades (in other words, IE 7 for Windows ME), to preexisting operating systems. In one way that's good, because people simply aren't as ready to give up old OS's as they once were, and it will keep Microsoft from adding a much more nonstandard extensions that other people will have to upgrade to be able to handle, but with 95% of the market, they still have a lot of pull. Thank God, or whoever is up there, for Macs and Linux.
Gita of the "Loves and Takes Care of all his little Novell Servers Across Mid-America" Class
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iiz2cool
If anyone imagines that any system does not have vulnerabilities and exploits then they have a lot to learn. Often, it has more to do with what things are turned on or off and how you use it.
Very true. All operating systems have their vulnerabilities, as do web browsers, email clients, etc. And so do people.
I generally recommend a multi-layered approach to computer and network security. This includes a hardware firewall as well as a software firewall on the computer(s). Use antivirus software. Use spyware protection. And keep them all up to date. Make sure you keep your system up to date with available security patches. Use strong passwords. Encrypt sensitive data. Some data may be better stored on a second computer that's NOT connected to the internet.
And know what you install on a computer. There are many free programs out there that seem useful or fun. Don't simply click 'OK' every time something wants to install itself on your computer. KNOW WHAT IT IS! Read the license agreement! Most people wouldn't have unprotected sex with a total stranger, but for some reason, many people seem to do exactly that when it comes to computing and the internet, and they allow just about anything to be installed simply because it's 'fun' or 'cute'. I've lost count of how many home computers people have brought to my office, completely trashed, just because they insist on downloading everything that seems 'cute' at the time.
Here are links to a couple of sites that can be helpful in securing computers. I would not recommend the second one for home users though.
http://www.cert.org/homeusers/HomeComputerSecurity/
http://csrc.nist.gov/pcig/cig.html
I do like Mozilla Firefox for the speed though.
Walter