CNET thinks IE 7 will "squash Firefox flat like a buzzing gnat."

http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-5666404-1.html?tag=cnetfd.sd

Bill Gates announced this week, at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco (of all places), that Microsoft will release an updated version of IE, Internet Explorer 7, without waiting for the next version of Windows. Gates says the unexpected release is designed to address the perception that IE itself is a massive security risk. What he didn't say, but you know he was thinking it, is that IE 7 will easily put a stop to this upstart browser rebellion.

Don't believe me? You should. Firefox is great, I use it. But it's a chore sometimes, what with most sites using that pesky nonstandard IE code. Not everything renders properly, and some sites just plain don't work--I have to load up IE to use them. Plus, let's be honest--Firefox has its flaws. Why is there no way to check for updates from within the browser, for one thing? Why does it take so doggone long to launch? Why, why must it crash every single time I open a PDF? I mean, every single time. Opera, fine, whatever, I'm not paying for a browser, and for some reason, although I've tried it several times, it's just never captured me. It's too clunky, and I was raised on IE. I don't want to learn something completely new. IE, on the other hand, is like the sweeping tide--it's just easier not to fight it.

If IE 7 is even 50 percent more secure than current versions, the Firefox rebellion is finished. If IE 7 has tabs, Firefox will be destroyed as surely as the Hungarian uprising of 1956 was crushed by the Soviets. I use the analogy deliberately, too--no one expected Microsoft to issue a major update to IE before Longhorn came out, but those months of silence (and, no doubt, frantic development) look awfully ominous now.

It was bad when Microsoft seemed to ignore Firefox, treating it like a harmless upstart not worthy of comment or attack. But now that the sleeping giant has awakened, I think the buzzing gnat of the browser wars is about to be squashed flat. What do you think?

You know the guys at Mozilla are already working on better versions. They'll trump Gates once again.

So no matter WHAT Microsoft delivers, by the time it hits the streets it will be hacked, phished, and beaten like a red-headed stepchild.

:evilgrin:

Fucking bastards.

when I sweep for spyware and delete it, I have to reinstall my wirelss softwars, if not all if XP. So I don't use SP2 anymore.

...that saved my ass. I won't download any more updates from those assholes. No fucking way.

Mozilla Drops IDN Support Due to Flaw

Mozilla developers are closing the door on phishing schemes that exploit a widely reported flaw in the Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) specification. Upcoming builds of Firefox 1.0.1, Mozilla 1.7.6 and Mozilla 1.8 beta will have IDN disabled as a temporary corrective measure to protect users from identity theft.

IDN is presently enabled by default in Firefox, Mozilla, Opera, and Apple's Safari Web browsers. Microsoft's Internet Explorer does not have native IDN support and therefore is not affected by the problem.

The flaw permits malicious users to "spoof" legitimate Web pages by taking advantage of how some Web browsers handle the Unicode unified character set utilized by IDN. A specially crafted link can mimic a trusted URL in a browser's address bar, SSL certificate and status bar, but take the user to another location.

No software is perfect, and NO software is invulnerable to any number of attacks that they are vulnerable for. The point is that IE is less secure than any Mozilla derived browser, mainly due Microsoft's innane support for ActiveX, their POS attempt at a Microsoft only web standard for applets. Unlike Mozilla, IE opens the door for OS level attacks that cannot happen due to architecture from Mozilla based browsers. Yes, browser hijackings can still happen through Mozilla, usually through XUL based applications, but considering the fixes made in 1.0, its much harder to install malicious code from Firefox than even IE6 post SP2. The only way Microsoft can make their browser nearly as secure as Firefox is to not have activex controls present at all, and remove them from the OS as well. Do that, and they become close to a secure browser and OS, until then, it is still a security hole, and a big one at that.

As far as the argument of security through obscurity, look at IIS vs. Apache, and see the differences between them. For some reason IIS, the less popular application, has less security vulnerabilities than apache, the more popular one. Odd that, don't you think? Besides, is Mozilla.org actually addressing the issue, rather than ignore it for months like some other companies we know?

I have been developing Web sites since Netscape 2 was released, and I never thought he'd convert me to his browser, but he eventually did. Then he lost me again. I have no brand loyalty, just give me something cool that works and I'm happy.

i wipe the spittle from my monitor. I've gotten rid of IE, i've gotten rid of MSN Messenger (thanks Adium!), and theres no way in hell i'll allow microsuck to reinfest my computer

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

no, im not a big fan ;)

since you apparently are a mac person, you should try adium http://adium.sourceforge.net/. it's a messenger program that combines AOL, msn, icq, yahoo, and ichat. plus, it lets you use avatars in MSN, unlike the shitty MS version for mac. adium also has a bunch of customizable features, that can be downloaded from www.adiumxtras.com the BEST free program i have ever used, aside from firefox

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

:shrug:

come up on IE, but I've not had to go back to it since then. In fact if it doesn't come up on firefox, I don't need to see it.

However, he created the problems in the first place.

<3 Linux.

Good luck, Billy. You'll need it.

Don't believe me? You should. Firefox is great, I use it. But it's a chore sometimes, what with most sites using that pesky nonstandard IE code. Not everything renders properly, and some sites just plain don't work--I have to load up IE to use them. Plus, let's be honest--Firefox has its flaws. Why is there no way to check for updates from within the browser, for one thing? Why does it take so doggone long to launch? Why, why must it crash every single time I open a PDF? I mean, every single time.

True, some sites don't work with Firefox, but that's because they were designed to work with IE. You don't need updates every two weeks like with IE, thus no need for updates within the browser. Doesn't take any longer to load than IE and I've never, ever, ever had Firefox crash on me.

Sounds like shilling for MS to me.

Also, that "Microsoft Only" code on web pages is ActiveX, a huge fucking security hole all by itself. Why Microsoft designed the bloody thing as unlimited access to you computer with ONE freaking click, I will never know. Also, Firefox does, technically, take longer to load under Windows that IE, but the reason is simple. The Libraries IE call to load are already loaded at system startup, remember, its part of the OS now. Firefox, on the other hand, has to load all its libraries from disk to memory, slowing down startup time, but that can't be helped. They aren't going to use ANY Microsoft code or libraries, and Microsoft wouldn't let them anyways.

I launched IE, then Firefox.

2 seconds to launch IE, three seconds to launch Firefox.

My bad. :P

like I said, it can't be helped, conversely, MSOffice loads slower than most Windows programs because of bad design. Why the hell Microsoft had to make independent widgets(GUI elements) for MSOffice menus, I do not know. Its like common sense is alien to them.

... " the unexpected release is designed to address the perception that IE itself is a massive security risk".

The PERCEPTION? It isn't a perception, it is a fact. And Billy Boy might find that once people are using a browser they like, they have no reason to even try IE. After all, he's had chance after chance to build a decent browser and it is still a piece of shit after all this time.

I use Opera myself which frankly I like better than FireFox, but whatever floats your boat. And if IE floats it - it must not be much of a boat at all :)

Umm, actually, look up in the top right corner of Firefox. If there's a green arrow pointing up, that means there's an update available.

you can set Firefox to check for updates.

says they like the program? Must be nice getting paid for that.

"I promise."

No way in hell I'll ever use IE again.

Unless he is willing to make IE 7 open-source (no way), there's no way it'll come close to the quality and stability of Firefox. The open-source nature of FF allows users to fix their own probs and makes for some pretty cool extensions too (currently I am using a user-made theme and 6 different extensions - top that MS!).

Bill Gates makes garbage.