If you’re still looking for a reason to finally switch loyalty from Internet Explorer over to one of many competing browsers, trust me, this is it.
A major flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer that allows hackers to gain the password details of the user has been revealed.
This is not a rumor, it has been confirmed by Microsoft who in fact announced the discovery themselves admitting a “vulnerability in Internet Explorer” that “could allow remote code execution.” Not Good.
Microsoft are preparing an emergency patch to resolve the flaw.
MICROSOFT SECURITY ADVICE
Change IE security settings to high (Look under Tools/Internet Options) Switch to a Windows user account with limited rights to change a PC’s settings With IE7 or 8 on Vista turn on Protected Mode Ensure your PC is updated Keep anti-virus and anti-spyware software up to date
Unsurprisingly, “switching browsers” isn’t on that list.
“I cannot recommend people switch due to this one flaw,” said John Curran, head of Microsoft UK’s Windows group. “At present, this exploit only seems to affect 0.02% of internet sites. In terms of vulnerability, it only seems to be affecting IE7 users at the moment, but could well encompass other versions in time.”
To summarise, SWITCH. And better SWITCH to Firefox
Over the last 4 years, firefox is becoming more and more popular, and its market share is increasing by 5% each year over the last 4 years. But since one has to actively download and install the program (on Mac and Windows), why do people choose to download and install Firefox? Why not Opera, Safari, Konqueror or any other browser?
This week, several articles I read brought the breaking news that the market share of Microsoft’s internet explorer is shrinking to below 70% for the first time since 1999 (http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=1). Internet Explorer gained a near monopoly, simply by forcing it to the customers by bundling/integrating it with the operating system Windows, and I believe this is the major reason why this browser still holds such a big percentage of market share. Many people simply use the browser they are given, unless there is an alternative that has significant advantages.
On the other hand, apparently, the near-monopoly has made Microsoft extremely lazy, resulting in a browser that does not even meet the open web-standards, it is slow and has to catch up with alternative browsers. The lack of meeting open standards is an increasing frustration with web-designers and alternative producers of web-browsers like Opera (http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2007/12/13/). Having to catch up with other browsers is painfully clear when simply looking at tabbed browsing and extensions. The tabbed browsing was introduced by Opera in 1994 and only after practically all other browsers supported the “tabbing”, Microsoft introduced this feature in Internet Explorer 7, more than ten years after Opera did.
Also speed is in favor of Opera, when compared to the top-4 of the web-browsers, and also in this case, the market-leader (Internet Explorer) does not do a very good job (http://lifehacker.com/396048/speed-testing-the-latest-web-browsers). Firefox is left somewhere in the middle.
The only field where Firefox beats all competitors is when it comes to extensions. Though there an amazing amount of well-designed and useful extensions (or widgets) for Opera, and a few extensions for Internet Explorer, the real master of extensions is Firefox. Its open source code combined with a decent market share apparently is a very attractive combination to developers and resulted in more than 5000 Firefox extensions in just a few years (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/customize/), and the number of extensions is growing rapidly. There are many types of translators, weather add-ons, but also highly specific add-ons such as “biofox”, “FireMath” and “Water Levels of German Rivers” (if someone finds a more weird add-on please let me know!!!). The most curious extension that is being worked on is one provided by Microsoft and is called the Open XML Document Viewer, which allows you to view OOXML document right in your browser (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKSF6w0EK0s). Also the look of Firefox is highly flexible and you can install many different themes.
When looking at features like speed and innovation, Firefox and Opera are a close match and Internet Explorer is lagging far behind. Looking at the market share trends however, Opera and Internet explorer are no match for Firefox, probably due to the numerous extensions, though there might be several other small advantages that add to the popularity of Firefox.
In a Computerworld report that summarizes recent Net Applications data, interest in Google Chrome has now died down to a standstill. Most of the people still downloading it are either night owls or from countries outside of the US, such as China, because the only activity is at night.Chrome searches have now fallen in line with Firefox. This, after a week or hype and unforeseen inmade it seem like Google was going to a) take over the browser market b) usher in the end the OS as we know it and c) probably make Google really rich.
It turns out that Chrome is just another fast browser without any really compelling features that will make people switch once and for all. It may even just be merely a developer tool and not a real browser at all. Yet, there are a few things that have contributed to the flat-lining interest, issues that Google could still fix if they get busy, well - today or sooner.
1. Chrome is relatively stable, but minor irritants such as the undo bug make you wonder why you are using it. Chrome is not like a low-level beta app that sort of works and where you put up with bugs because it is so new and innovative. Instead, a browser is the main tool we all use every day, and it better work - we have no patience for buggy browsers like IE.
2. Google has not released an obvious Chrome 1.1 update yet to address bugs, although they have released point upgrades and you can get new versions through a developer program. Huh? A developer program? In Internet time, it has been eons since Chrome was released, and no one wants to figure out how a developer program works just to get a more stable version.
3. There were early concerns over how Google was going to use your private data. They fixed the problem, but a minor glitch at the launch of a social networking site like Lively is nothing compared to a minor glitch with a browser. Everything is more critical and higher profile.
4. Google tends to use very simple anchor pages for their products, but it also makes people think the product is under supported. I'm sure there is a Chrome support forum; the issue is that it is not easy to find and that makes the average user nervous. Are they serious about Chrome? Or was it just an internal browser they used for testing that runs fast and decided to release it publicly? Wait, that's exactly what it is.
5. As Opera has learned, you have to keep the momentum going. Google obviously move don quickly to hype Android and will be in Android mode for some time. Here's the reality check: Google is not Microsoft. They do not have several hundred people working on one product at a time. It's more like a few people or maybe 50. No one knows for sure except Google, but at least on the outside Chrome still seems like an internal project and not a serious product.
6. I wonder where Google can really go with Chrome. For starters, you can't really put advertising on the browser wrapping and on the pages as well. You can tie a search box to advertising, but they already do that with Firefox. It's kind of too late to really beef up the features, and that has never been the goal of Google anyway. Look at Gmail - it is about as barebones as you can get - it runs much faster than Hotmail but has nowhere near as many features. That minimalistic concept works okay with Web software, not as well when it comes to a browser.
7. It's interesting to note that Android is really the first Google product you will be able to hold in your hands - you can literally touch the interface. More importantly, it will be a product you buy - for $180 from T-Mobile. (Google does make an enterprise search appliance but that doesn't really count.) Everything else, including Chrome, is free and in persistent beta.
8. (Updated) Here's one last major issue with Chrome: compatability. I just tried watching a Netflix streaming movie and of course Chrome is not supported. It doesn't work with Movielink or Cinemanow, either. I can imagine that these kinds of sites have no plans to support Chrome, especially when many of them just started supporting Firefox or are still working on Firefox support. As with any software, Web site operators must consider the field: which browser is the most popular?
So will Chrome stick around for years? Probably. But my opinion today is that it rose to quick prominence and then died out just as quickly. It may never come back.
I have recently have debated (three times now) with a person I know over why open source and community developed software is better than software that you buy or that comes pre-installed on a computer. Our debates included Linux versus Windows versus Macintosh, Gimp versus Photoshop, and Internet Explorer versus Firefox versus Opera versus Safari versus Chrome. Wow, that's a lot of web browsers.
Anyway, just in case anyone was wondering, we are still arguing over which software is better, and I don't think we will ever stop, even if it is clear open source software has several advantages. What kind of advantages? Many: portability, enhancement, minimization, security, and dedication.
To begin, since the source code of open source programs is out in the open (hence the name), if one person wants to use the program on a platform that it is not available on, they might port the program to that new platform, and eventually a whole group of dedicated people will to manage the port will arise. This is all possible because certain sections of the code (which is available to everyone) are compatible across platforms, and the few sections that aren't might easily be changed.
Since anyone and everyone (with an interest) will view the source code, the internal workings of an open source program will inspire developers to enhance the current program, or create a new program completely based on the internal workings of a current program. Basically, open source programs produce other programs.
Since everyone who wants to is helping develop these programs, you can be guaranteed that the software you are getting successfully does what it has to in the least amount of code. The more people that work on a program, the more likely it is that there is going to be less useless code.
Yes, it's true that being able to view the source code of a program may allow hackers to develop bugs more easily for code, but this openness will also allow security programmers to more easily develop patches for the software and find the errors before they are exploited. What should minimize security actually increases it. The population of dedicated developers working on an open source program will also provide benefits when a bug is found: patches for this type of software will become available more quickly than patches for commercial software would.
Also, because the community is managing all this open source software, we will not have reluctant programmers creating this software. The people who are developing Linux, Firefox, and every other piece of free software are dedicated programmers who are doing this for their own personal satisfaction and the enhancement of computing all over the world. A person getting paid will not put their heart into the program. Sure, money helps in some aspects, but money can't buy love. (Wow, classic bollywood dialogue!)
So that's why open source and community developed software is better. I still don't see how my friend can argue with me. But I don't even care anymore. He can continue using Windows Vista, Internet Explorer, and Photoshop. Even if he has to pay a buttload of money for it all. Most people just pirate it all anyway.
Microsoft fired the latest volley in the new browser wars on Wednesday, releasing the latest version of Internet Explorer to the public. Microsoft wouldn’t need an ad campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld if it came out with more products like this.
Earlier this summer, Mozilla, released the latest version of its Firefox Web browser. Mozilla made the launch the centerpiece of a campaign to set the world record for most software downloads in a 24 hour period, which it achieved in part because the record didn’t exist previously. Firefox now has about 19% of the browser market, according to Net Appliances Applications, up from 11% in June 2006. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer still has the lion’s share of the browser market – 73% according to Net Appliances – but that’s slowly eroding.
Microsoft isn’t letting its market share disappear unchallenged, though. The company released Internet Explorer 8.0 as a so-called beta, a version that’s not quite complete but still available for anyone to download.
My Confession: I use Firefox whenever possible, mainly because it has “tabs” that allow me to open multiple Web pages in one window. IE 8 has tabs as well, plus a handful of other cool features. One I particularly like: Microsoft has added “accelerators” that facilitate common tasks like emailing a Web site, mapping an address, or looking up a word. Just highlight text on a Web page and a accelerator displays the map or definition in the same window. The bad news: The accelerators that Microsoft includes are Microsoft products – the software giant’s mapping software, email program, and encyclopedia – none of which are my preferred tools.
There’s also a nice feature that makes tabs that are related to one another the same color and a button that shows miniature versions of all open tabs on one screen. Considering the number of tabs we usually have opened at any given time, these features could be real time savers.
I am not willing to switch just yet, but I am impressed with IE 8 and will definitely keep testing it out. I also can’t help but think that one reason there’s real innovation in the new version of Explorer is that Microsoft is facing real competition. Just imagine how cool the Windows or Office would be if Microsoft had real competitors nipping at its heels!!!
Here's classic joke that relates directly to many Internet explorer users:
A man goes in to see a doctor. "Doc, whenever I lift my left arm, I get a shooting pain in my shoulder. What should I do?" The doctor replied, "Stop lifting your left arm."
I think many of us are in the position of that man, and today I'd like to act as your physician. Except that I'm not going to talk about left arms and pains in the shoulder; I'm going to talk about a piece of software that causes us pain in a different part of the body - Internet Explorer.
When Firefox 1.0 first surfaced and gained popularity, I wasn’t sold on it. This was namely because I was turned off by its lack of integrated embedded audio support, and whispers of the need for all these plug-ins and add-ons and widgets and this and that. It really didn’t seem so inviting.
I find some people also hate Firefox. Most people are afraid of the whole “change” thing, which is understandable. Others fear downloading another program on their already super slow and bugged up computers.
For me, the reason I liked it better was because it ended up making my computer faster and safer. How so from just a browser?
When I used Internet Explorer 6, my computer used to always get really buggy and slow. Sometimes it was trojan viruses that found their way on my computer through IE6, other times it was just, well I really don’t know. I found myself reformatted my hard drive ever 4 to 6 months with the amount of spam raging all over the internet. I could go on and on. Look, let's be honest with each other. We all know this is true: IE is a buggy, insecure, dangerous piece of software, and the source of many of the headaches that security pros have to endure (I'm not even going to go into its poor support for Web standards; let that be a rant for another day). Yes, I know Microsoft patches holes as they are found. Great. But far too many are found. And yes, I know that Microsoft has promised that it has changed its ways, and that it will now focus on "Trustworthy Computing." But I've heard too many of Microsoft's promises and seen the results too many times. You know, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Who's shamed when it's "fool me the 432nd time"? Who's the fool?
Ever since I started using Firefox in early 2007, I have NEVER needed to reformat. It’s awesome, alhumdulillah. I had always heard Firefox was safer, but this was just proof in the digital pudding. My computer is running just as fine as it was out of the box, and I haven’t reformatted in almost two years. Since January 2007, I was sold on Firefox 2.0 and currently Firefox 3.0.
All software has bugs, and none is totally "secure". As has been said so many times, security is a process, not a product. So I'm quite aware that Firefox has had security issues, and will have more in the future as sure as the sun rises. But the record so far with Firefox has been positive. Security issues are not common, but when they are found, they are openly discussed and fixed quickly. This is very good, and security pros should appreciate such responsiveness.
I know IE7 was released over a year ago and is supposed to be a massive overhaul of the now defunct IE6. But ask any Firefox user, it’s just Microsoft’s reaction to the wildly popular Firefox. I’m not saying it’s not good, it’s a LOT better than IE6. But it’s just not as solid as Firefox 2.0 - leave alone Firefox 3.
Firefox still rules the browser roost for now, despite a much improved version of Internet Explorer. The most obvious new feature for IE 7 (tabs) has been in Firefox forever, and the security additions from Microsoft aren’t enough for us to allay concerns over new possible exploits. Lastly, the extensibility of Firefox is its knockout punch, and IE’s add-ons cannot compare. The flexibility and customizability of Firefox might be best suited to more advanced Web users, but it has earned its spot at the top of the browsers. - CNET.com
In any case, to each his own. Some people just like IE better for just preference’s sake, which is totally cool. Others love Firefox and the awesomeness that it brings.
What about you guys? Which do you like and why? Got another browser you like better than Firefox or IE? Or are you just a blind hater and think all other browsers stink? Let’s hear what you guys have to say.
