ALL Firefox Browser Threads.

[calski]

I have to say that I think this is a typical reaction by supporters of the "Evil Empire" (not you Bren!!!) - whenever a potential flaw is found in OSS, then they tend to blow it up out of all proportions.... I remember some flaky document being produced about 18 months ago which argued that Windows was inherently MORE secure than linux for the most tenuous reasons I'd ever seen!!!

Personally, I use both Firefox and Thunderbird and I find them to be very good and reliable...

Regards,

Calski

[johntemp]

Totally agree, IE is banned on my home PC in favour of Firefox. At work we all use Firefox and again have no problems.

People constantly complain about Spyware issues and yet they insist on staying with IE - it's sh1te so move to Firefox.

The thing that I am stunned by at the moment is Microsofts new Anti Spyware application. They let spyware onto the PC in the first place via IE and then they have an application to clear up the mess that they allowed to happen!
In future, they intend charging for the use of their anti apyware app which means that they have no real intention of sorting out IE.

Rant, rant, rant......

[jim oldham]

[quote=johntemp]Totally agree, IE is banned on my home PC in favour of Firefox.

Snap. Using IE caused me all sorts of problems.
I am not , and do not claim to have, any expert knowledge of IT, but after being advised by a mate, who is an expert, to switch to Firefox, the computer seems to be OK.
I do accept the argument that "Critical Mass" may make it a target in the future and fear that we will all be in a constant catch up to evade viruses.
Jim.

[calski]

There's only really one way to avoid viruses...

Move completely away from Windows and get yourself set up with Linux...

Mind you, that does mean you can't play games on your pc!!!

Calski

[Tim Ingmire]

No Outlook or IE for me either, Its Mozilla all the way. I do get annoyed by the fact that the PCPlus DVD open up IE as the user interface.

[johntemp]

I would love to put together a website with a bit of javascript in it that only allowed people that were using browsers other than IE to view it.
It would just have a message saying

"Sorry, I refuse to render this page using a your cr@p Microsoft browser"

I just can't think of a decent idea for a site

[dry suit diver]

i still use ie have done for years and never had a problem but i do hide behind 2 firewalls and delete cache every time i log off run anti spyware overnight daily but i am just security silly

[calski]

Doesn't sound too silly to me - quite sensible really!

If you have to take risks, then take precautions too!!! lol...

In fairness, it's easy to use IE because it's THERE which is what annoys the Open Source Community so much... a friend of mine is a BIG Windows person (an MCSE in fact) and he got quite "emotional" when he saw Thunderbird... he was like "But... it's looks just the SAME as Office!" and then I explained that the OSC was probably trying to encourage "familiarity"... I did have a chuckle though...

Calski

[Fathoms Down]

Originally Posted by calski

There's only really one way to avoid viruses...

Move completely away from Windows and get yourself set up with Linux...

Mind you, that does mean you can't play games on your pc!!!

<rant mode>

Sorry, I really have to point out that although you can't get viruses as such on Linux you can get all kinds of other wonders such as logic bombs, worms, trojans, etc. It is actually the least secure of all the Unix variants so to run it an assume that you're safe is very foolish.

</rant mode>

Sorry but I get people telling me how wonderful Linux is on a daily basis when they really know very little about it.

Now, back to FireFox I don't actually use it at home or at work as, under Windows 2000, I found it very unstable (it memory leaks horribly) and I have my network secured well enough to avoid most IE exploits. Don't get me wrong, I like FireFox but I don't think its the answer yet. As for the people who get on band wagons and say "X is more secure than Y", ignore them. There will never be a piece of software that is 100% secure. Ten years of working in the IT industry has made me aware of one truth more than any other; empty vesels make the loudest noise!

PS You can run many PC games under Linux

[johntemp]

Originally Posted by Fathoms Down

<rant mode>

Sorry, I really have to pint out that although you can't get viruses as such on Linux you can get all kinds of other wonders such as logic bombs, worms, trojans, etc. It is actually the least secure of all the Unix variants so to run it an assume that you're safe is very foolish.

</rant mode>

In fairness, one of the major issues is that MS operating systems are easy to attack because MS were very slow to realise that the internet was a good idea (Bills words not mine) whereas Unix and it's derivitives are accessed regularly via telnet, ftp... and therefore have a far better model for remote access.
Linux is not perfect but it is far better (security wise) than MS operating systems.

A great number of insecurities are actually problems with the applications running on the operating systems, e.g. web sites that allow session hijacking etc. or the recent PHP issue with some forums. In these situations it is not any operating system that is to blame.

My major issue anyway is not one of operating system, it's simply browser (as this thread started out on this issue) and without doubt firefox is more secure (again this is the issue at hand, not memory issues) than IE.