Microsoft recommend rival browser!

[Einion]

Thought anyone using IE would want to hear about this, in case you missed it like I did:

Woeful week for Microsoft

It is hard to think of a more humiliating week for Microsoft. The culmination of events that led to the software giant recommending the temporary use of rival browsers last week will do great damage to the company's already brittle security reputation. To recap, the company disclosed that its Internet Explorer 7 browser had a serious security flaw that led to 200,000 websites being affected. This comes after the company had boasted that Vista, its operating system, was making life harder for hackers. It also comes after a related website, Microsoft.ie, was itself hacked. All of this will have the unfortunate effect of copper-fastening a prejudice in the public's mind that Microsoft remains very shaky on internet security.

The majority of those who took Microsoft's advice to use a rival browser probably switched to its biggest competitor, Firefox. It will be interesting to see how many of them will switch back once the scare is over.

The Sunday Business Post
December 21st, 2008

BBC, Serious security flaw found in IE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7784908.stm

ABC, Microsoft scrambles to block IE loophole
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/17/2448584.htm

Newsday, Major Internet Explorer security flaw found
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzexplorer1216,0,789877.story

Fox News, Crucial Browser Flaw Lets Hackers Into Your PC
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,467745,00.html

PC World, Internet Explorer is Unsafe ... Still
http://www.pcworld.com/article/155551/internet_explorer_is_unsafe_still.html

Einion

 

[jacksparrow1979]

This doesn't surprise me at all. Firefox is far superior to IE. I never use anything but Firefox to browse the web these days plus it seems to be a lot faster than IE.

 

[Einion]

Not much of a surprise, no!

Firefox wins hands down IMO too. Faster, way more secure (even before this!) and more memory efficient. IE can win on loading speed, but that's hardly a major thing.

Some pages are written to support IE's standards only and not the international web standards, so not much choice but to use it for those. Other than that, hard to beat Firefox... even without all the Themes, Extensions and Plugins.

Einion