Ie 6 versus Firefox

[Guest]

I am looking for info on which browser really is better and more secure
Internet explorer 6 or Mozilla's Firefox..I kind of figure that most of the
MVP's out there would know the difference and whether it is worth the swap or
not............Thanks in advance.................Drew

Running xp home sp1 (updated to the point of sp2 but due to conflicts will
not install)
Norton security 2004 with antivirus
Webroot spysweeper all updated
Linksys BEFW11S4 router
dsl connection
Intel p4 3.0 gig with ht
1 gig of ddr ram
any other pertinent info will be glad to provide

 

[Wesley Vogel]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Firefox+security

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Richard Urban]

They both have faults. The faults are corrected as they are found (usually).
It depends which one you LIKE better!

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you thought you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[GO]

Asking which browser is better is rather subjective. Depending on your need
either good be the better browser. I switched because MS let IE stagnate,
they haven't offered any improvements for it in years. In fact, they
weren't even planning on releasing a new version until their release of the
next OS (Longhorn) but now that MS sees some competition they all of a
suddent decide to release IE7 early.
As for security, no browser will ever be completely secure so they will both
have vulnerabilities. "Out of the box", especially for your average user, I
would say that Firefox is more secure (particularly with spyware/adware).
As well, at present, the Mozilla/Firefox development team(s) seem much
quicker than MS at releasing security updates. And since Firefox currently
has a much smaller market share it will be less prone to "attacks" as the
"hackers" are more prone to go after a larger target. I would also think
that FF is more secure just for the simple fact that it is not tied to the
OS like IE is.

You also ask whether or not it is worth the swap....why don't you just
install it and give it a try? It's not like IE in that if you don't want it
you can't uninstall it.

 

[Sandman]

...........And, after reading that informative page, consider that you don't
have to 'swap'.. Simply download Firefox and try it for a week..IE is still
the prevelant browser and that is one reason for it being targeted; more
users are affected.. Firefox is enjoying a 'fad' status and will eventually
show its' vulnerabilities also. I, personally like 'Enigma' and even it has
fallen victim to stuff i would rather not deal with, just not as frequent as
IE and Firefox..
After many annoying intrusions that made browsing a real pain, I bought a
Linksys Firewall Router (hardware) and installed several trojan, worm, page
highjacker software tools, I have reduced the intrusions considerably and I
suggest this approach to anyone.
Just my 2cents worth.

 

[Stan Brown]

I am looking for info on which browser really is better and more secure
Internet explorer 6 or Mozilla's Firefox.

Firefox, hands down, because it doesn't implement ActiveX.

I use Mozilla (similar to Firefox) for all browsing except Windows
updates. Microsoft has chosen to cripple the updte site so that
we're forced to use MSIE for that.

 

[Sandman]

Not so... You can access Windows Update thru 'Enigma's browser' I have done
this, it has more tabs, tools etc in the toolbar and works very well.

 

[kurttrail]

They both have faults. The faults are corrected as they are found
(usually). It depends which one you LIKE better!

Mozilla/Firefox tend to fix their flaws faster than MS.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[kurttrail]

I am looking for info on which browser really is better and more
secure Internet explorer 6 or Mozilla's Firefox..I kind of figure
that most of the MVP's out there would know the difference and
whether it is worth the swap or not............Thanks in
advance.................Drew

Running xp home sp1 (updated to the point of sp2 but due to conflicts
will not install)
Norton security 2004 with antivirus
Webroot spysweeper all updated
Linksys BEFW11S4 router
dsl connection
Intel p4 3.0 gig with ht
1 gig of ddr ram
any other pertinent info will be glad to provide

Nothing's perfect, but Firefox is a small target than IE, and the
mozilla community doesn't have as many enemies as MS does among the
malicious software scum.

So just on the grounds of not being as big a target, and having less
enemies, Firefox is going to be more secure than IE, for your every day
browsing needs.

Add on top of that, that Firefox flaws are generally fixed faster than
IE flaws, then Firefox wins the security battle and leaves IE in its
dust!

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Richard Urban]

On the whole I would agree Kurt. But does that make it better. I think it is
the interface that sells it for me.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you thought you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[kurttrail]

On the whole I would agree Kurt. But does that make it better. I
think it is the interface that sells it for me.

It makes it better for those of us that keep our software updated, so
that we are vunerable for a shorter time.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[R. McCarty]

The competition isn't just IE & Firefox. Don't leave Opera out of the
listing. I've used it for a long time and it has security features just as
favorable as FF. Yes, I know it's not free - But I have used it as an
alternative to IE and think it's a good browser.

 

[Guest]

To all I say Thanks !! I really appreciate the quick responses to my
question...I have now downloaded firefox and will put it through the paces
for a few weeks to see how it handles in the curves lol...Another question
that I will need to know is if I decide to keep running FF,,How does one get
rid of ie6 the quickest and most painless way ??

 

[kurttrail]

To all I say Thanks !! I really appreciate the quick responses to my
question...I have now downloaded firefox and will put it through the
paces for a few weeks to see how it handles in the curves
lol...Another question that I will need to know is if I decide to
keep running FF,,How does one get rid of ie6 the quickest and most
painless way ??

http://www.litepc.com/

I don't think there is a painless way to do it, as removing IE will
break Help and Support and a few other things.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Guest]

I guess I really did not consider that about help and support........Thanks
for the info....................

 

[JoeM]

Internet Explorer 6 with SP2 Hands down

in microsoft.public.windowsxp.general:

Firefox, hands down, because it doesn't implement ActiveX.

I use Mozilla (similar to Firefox) for all browsing except Windows
updates. Microsoft has chosen to cripple the updte site so that
we're forced to use MSIE for that.

 

[kurttrail]

Internet Explorer 6 with SP2 Hands down

LOL! I didn't know SP2 had hands to be up or down.

Do you actually have a reason why you like the Swiss Cheese formerly
known as IE6 better?

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[HeeroYuy]

You can't really. It's part of the operating system.

Nor would you want to - more and more applications are being written with
IE APIs since the developers know it will be available. We, for example,
use IE to check for software updates from our web site.

Not only that, but I believe you need IE to be able to access the Windows
Update site, or use Automatic Updates.

 

[Stan Brown]

Not so... You can access Windows Update thru 'Enigma's browser' I have done
this, it has more tabs, tools etc in the toolbar and works very well.

What and where is "Enigma's Browser"? I've never heard of it.

 

[Stan Brown]

To all I say Thanks !! I really appreciate the quick responses to my
question...I have now downloaded firefox and will put it through the paces
for a few weeks to see how it handles in the curves lol...Another question
that I will need to know is if I decide to keep running FF,,How does one get
rid of ie6 the quickest and most painless way ??

You can't, because you need it for Windows updates. But you can
tame it: when running Firefox the first time, you'll be asked
whetehr you want it to be your default browser. If you answer
"Yes", it will run instead of IE when you click on a link or
Internet shortcut.

Much as I prefer Mozilla to IE, I suggest _not_ answering Yes until
you've tried out FF and decided whether you feel comfortable with
it. Its technical superiority and greater safety to the side, if
you don't like teh interface then it's not for you.