Posted on 07/05/2004 9:04:28 PM PDT by South40
(CBS) Last week, there were two separate reported of flaws in Microsoft Internet Explorer that could jeopardize your security.
One flaw made it possible for pop-up windows to install programs on your machine that could steal banking records. Another flaw, in both Explorer and a Microsoft web server program, made it possible for a hacker to implant malicious code in an otherwise legitimate Web site that could, once again, steal your data.
Microsoft, of course, says it’s doing everything possible to eliminate these problems. As it has in the past, the company put out a fix that patches these particular problems. Microsoft has also said it will soon release a free upgrade to Windows that, according to the company, is more secure.
In the meantime, the U.S. government's Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or "CERT" (www.cert.org) published a warning that included, among other suggestions, the advice to “use a different browser" -- suggesting that PC users look to sources other than Microsoft for a web browser.
Fortunately, there are other sources. There are several alternative browsers including Opera (www.opera.com) and my favorite, Mozilla Firefox.
Firefox is a free browser from the Mozilla Foundation (www.mozilla.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting “open source” software. Unlike Microsoft’s proprietary software, open source programs can be analyzed and modified by any qualified programmer. They can also be “extended,” which means it’s possible for creative people to enhance Firefox and other Mozilla software by extensions or plug-ins that add functionality.
In addition to Firefox, Mozilla also offers an excellent free e-mail program called Thunderbird that challenges Microsoft Outlook, which like other Microsoft programs, dominates the category.
Unlike Microsoft, the Mozilla Foundation is committed to fully supporting not just Windows, but both the Linux and Macintosh OS X operating systems for all of its programs. There are typically nearly identical versions of Mozilla programs for all three operating systems, and extensions written for one operating system automatically work on the others.
Aside from the fact that it’s safer than Internet Explorer (it is possible for a virus or hacker to attack Firefox, but it’s less likely), it also has some features that you won’t find in Explorer.
My favorite is tabbed browsing. With Explorer, you either replace the page you’re viewing with a totally different page, or you can open up a link in a new window, which basically opens another copy of Explorer. That’s OK, but if you open too many windows, things can quickly qet confusing, making it difficult to navigate between windows.
With Firefox, you also have the option of opening a new window, but the preferred procedure is to use tabs which appear at the top of the screen.
As I work right now, I have Google in one tab, CBSNews.com in another and my own home page (www.pcanswer.com) in a third. I can jump from page to page a lot faster and easier than if I were trying to navigate through Explorer’s windows.
Another great feature of Firefox is that it eliminates those annoying pop-up windows. There are programs you can add to Explorer that do this, but it’s nice to run a browser that just does it by default.
If you want to view a pop-up window, you have that option, but in most cases, you’ll be glad you don’t have to.
One drawback of Firefox and other browsers not based on Microsoft Internet Explorer is that there are a few Web pages that just won’t work. That’s because some pages insist on using Microsoft proprietary technology. One of those, not surprisingly, is Microsoft’s own Windows Update (www.microsoft.com) page that is used to update your Windows software. Movielink.com, a site that lets you download movies, also doesn’t work right, but most well-behaved sites work just fine.
Firefox is a bit of a work in progress. The current version (0.9.1) is still in its testing phase, though I find it to be stable enough for regular work. In fact, even in its test phase, it appears to be more stable than Microsoft Internet Explorer.
I've tried 0.9 and 0.9.1 and 0.9 was okay though a little buggy, so I went back to 0.8. (0.9.1 wouldn't even start, though it was running in the task manager). Don't let me scare anyone away, though. What works for some might not for others, so this page has links to older versions.
You can change the theme (skin) and add extensions to get Firefox to do things it doesn't come "out of the box" with. Firefox isn't bloated with code, offering features you may or may not want, so that's where extensions come in. I highly recommend "IE View" for the times you might need to use IE.
I think this backup program is an absolute must, and especially for the newbies to Mozilla, like me.
Last but not least, here's a forum dedicated to Mozilla users, likely the best place to post with problems. The very first section, "User Support" is open, meaning you don't have to register.
(Special thanks to Toto27).
Have you used Mozilla and, if you have, how does it compare to Firefox?
Thanks for your help!
Addenda: Here's a couple of other themes and extension pages:
http://texturizer.net/firefox/themes/
http://texturizer.net/firefox/extensions/
And here's a "frequently asked questions" page:
http://texturizer.net/firefox/faq.html
As far as comparison? The browser alone is great, after the requisite couple of days of adjustment. I'm not a real fan of their e-mail programs, admittedly, so I still use OE. Even added a button for it to the toolbar. That's what I do like, the ability to add certain functions. At the Mozilla forum I linked to, you can talk directly with at least some of the theme and extension writers. Just try getting through the front lines of former fry cooks to get a problem solved at MS. 
Thanks again for your input. With IE going down in flames at the hands of hackers other options are going to become very popular. I read a story just this morning that said the number of downloads of Mozilla has doubled in just a few weeks. If Microsoft can't offer a better, safer product users will go elsewhere.
By the way, for anyone who might want to try Firefox yet have something familiar looking, this ought to ease the transition a little bit:
I just downloaded and installed Firefox and I like what I see. Pinning a link to FreeRepublic on the toolbar is a pretty cool feature. :-)
"....Chris Hofmann, engineering director at the Mozilla Foundation, a group developing a family of Web browsers, e-mail programs and other Internet software, said downloads of its latest browser, Mozilla Firefox, doubled this week to about 200,000 a day. Hofmann said the organization sees a spike in downloads whenever a virus or worm exploits Windows vulnerabilities...."
Well its good Larry finally caught up.
There have been multiple heavy discussions of the Firefox browser and the Security issues in the last little while.
Using Firefox 8.0 , and Suse linux 9.1 here, but I have a lot to learn on the Linux side.
Using 9.1 on my XP box.
Tab browsing is just an absolute requirement.
Longtime user of Netcaptor and MYIE before trying Firefox.
I thought I'd give you a ping. I've been in touch with the IE5 theme maker. He'd done some light patching to it. His link says it works with Firefox 0.9 but I'm using it right now with 0.8 and it's working great. Of course it might not work for everyone using 0.8 (I'm using Windows ME, for what it's worth).
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=88584&postdays=0&postorder=asc&postsperpage=15&start=0
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