I.E. Alternatives:

i've tried firefox and opera, and i like IE6 the best

I've tried them all. I use IE primarily and use the others just for testing purposes.

NETSCAPE'S PRETTY SECURE I'VE FOUND

When I first starting spending time online I was a big fan of Netscape Navigator (this was the late '90s, back when Mark Andreesen was still running things, long before their assimilation by AOHell). But for about the past four or five years or so I have been using IE exclusively.

So, I was surprised to discover this article from my local paper today:



Craven, if I am understanding you correctly, you have low to no concerns about the security of IE6?

All browsers have periodic security risks.

But the solution of some idiots is simply always the same: dump Microsoft.

It's more about ideology than reason or security. He's just advocating his cult favorites in what is very similar to a religion.

I use Opera for 99% of things.
It still doesn't handle a few things as smoothly as IE though so when i encounter such a thing I switch to IE.
I prefer the way Opera organises it's favourites and I love the customisable bars. Much better than IE.

IE has been on cruise control since whopping Netscape's butt.

They had planned to get back to modernizing IE for Longhorn but Longhorn may be too far away and MS has decided to try to do a new IE version before then.

The thing I want to see in IE the most is tabbed windows.

Craven, I'm also anxious for the tabbed windows. How stupid is it that they don't have that feature yet?

Also, I just saw this related story on IE security issues.

New Internet Explorer Threat Defused by BHO Cop
By Robyn Peterson
June 30, 2004

An insidious new threat appeared online recently which attempts to steal your online banking passwords while you enter them in Internet Explorer.

According to reports at eWEEK, the Trojan horse program installs itself via a rogue pop-up window and monitors text you enter into forms on Web pages, including when you enter your username and password into log-on forms at online banks.

Once installed, the program acts as a Browser Helper Object (BHO) where it can snatch data from your online Web surfing sessions and send it anywhere it wants.


As subscribers to the PC Magazine Utility Library, you have access to an oldie-but-goodie utility, BHO Cop, which gives you the ability to find out what BHOs are attached to your copy of Internet Explorer, and then empowers you to kill (disable) any BHO you find suspicious.

Simply install and run BHO Cop (download here) to see a list of BHOs attached to Internet Explorer. To disable a BHO, uncheck the box next to its name. When you're finished managing BHOs, just click Exit.

For good measure, you can also install CookieCop 3, another PC Magazine utility, which will block pop-up windows. It should help you avoid coming face-to-face with this threat in the first place.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1618792,00.asp

No need to bother with commerical software. You can do the same with hijackthis for free.

Both Avant Browser and MyIE2 use the IE core and add various features including built-in pop-up blockers & tabbed browsing ... they're both great programs with big user/fan bases.

Craven, do you know whether this is mainly a PC-specific kind of problem? I hate installing unnecessary stuff on my Mac.

I use Mozilla at home.
Love those tabbed windows!

The exploits being discussed here are PC-specific.

There have been a spate of Mac exploits this year as well, but they don't get much attention.

I use Internet Explorer pretty exclusively (personal favorite, though I do wish they'd add tabbed browsing capabilities). I generally keep Netscape, Firefox, Mozilla, Opera and a couple other lesser known browsers around for testing purposes, though.

I just switched to Mozilla for work on my PC. So far, so good! We were warned at work not to use IE because of all the latest problems. Enough already, I said to myself...

LOL, Mozilla has had exploits that are far far worse than the IE ones.

In fact the worst browser exploit I know of in history was a Mozilla exploit. It allowed sites to access cookies from other sites.

Oh well, when the false sense of security falls through you can alsways move to another exploitable browser.

LOL

Thanks a helluva lot there, Craver. :wink:

Well to be fair, this is one of the only times that MS has not released a patch. Should be here anytime.

Another knock is that an exploit that they patched back around IE 3 came back.

Thing is, the perception that IE is insecure is mostly due simply to the fact that it is the most visible and you hear about all its problems.

Anywho, with SP2 for XP they look like they will clamp it down and go to the opposite extreme (too strict).

Either way, all the alternative browsers and OSes have exploits, and often times more serious ones. They are also often not patches as fast.

IE has some valid knocks to answer on security but most of the knocks can directly be traced to their share of the market.

Mozilla is not magic, they have had ugly exploits on their software too. But because they constitute a mere blip on the market the exploits on their software don't have as much of an impact. So you simply don't hear about them as much.

Doesn't mean it's safe. Ignorance is not bliss.

http://news.com.com/IE+flaw+may+boost+rival+browsers/2100-7355_3-5250697.html