Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post - US-CERT Vulnerability Note VU#713878: IE Specific Security Hole

Thoran · 12-16-2004, 10:05 PM

I dunno, Firefox has just came out and it already has a number of "moderately critical" flaws detected.

I think the jury is still out on Firefox.

I like linux but on my machines (with bleeding edge hardware usually) the free versions I've tried have not been reliable. I want to buy a copy of 64 bit SuSe Linux for my NUMA dual opteron... but it's missing a couple drivers, maybe when the become available.

I used Firefox for a while... just wasn't as convenient as IE for me (too slow, too unreliable), so I went back to IE. I guess I'll have to give the release version a try.

With regards to weaknesses I keep up with the patches. I've never had a virus (despite having broadband for over 10 years) even though I know Windows and IE have their problems. I think it has a lot to do with following good browsing habits, set your security to high, don't browse in the admin account (although I do that regularly... my bad), don't download anything, don't go to sleazy sites (internet porn, warez, etc...), don't open email attachments, and keep your firewall up and running.

I just don't see any compelling reason to switch, I don't think Firefox is that great, I don't think IE is that bad. I'm glad Linux is providing competition for Microsoft, but M$ doesn't dominate the market with inferior products. Even bundled IE wouldn't have gotten them far if it wasn't as good as Netscape.

I'm no M$ nutcase, I simply choose the best tool for the job. I used to be a big Visual Studio.NET programmer... then I started using the Macromedia suite, now I use Coldfusion for anything Web or Networking related... overall it's just better for that realm. If firefox has improved over the late beta that I had perhaps I'll start using it, but I doubt it's THAT much better (unless you're out to make an anti-m$ statement that is).

12-16-2004, 10:05 PM	#6
Thoran Galvatron Join Date: January 10, 2002 Location: Upstate NY Age: 56 Posts: 2,109	I dunno, Firefox has just came out and it already has a number of "moderately critical" flaws detected. I think the jury is still out on Firefox. I like linux but on my machines (with bleeding edge hardware usually) the free versions I've tried have not been reliable. I want to buy a copy of 64 bit SuSe Linux for my NUMA dual opteron... but it's missing a couple drivers, maybe when the become available. I used Firefox for a while... just wasn't as convenient as IE for me (too slow, too unreliable), so I went back to IE. I guess I'll have to give the release version a try. With regards to weaknesses I keep up with the patches. I've never had a virus (despite having broadband for over 10 years) even though I know Windows and IE have their problems. I think it has a lot to do with following good browsing habits, set your security to high, don't browse in the admin account (although I do that regularly... my bad), don't download anything, don't go to sleazy sites (internet porn, warez, etc...), don't open email attachments, and keep your firewall up and running. I just don't see any compelling reason to switch, I don't think Firefox is that great, I don't think IE is that bad. I'm glad Linux is providing competition for Microsoft, but M$ doesn't dominate the market with inferior products. Even bundled IE wouldn't have gotten them far if it wasn't as good as Netscape. I'm no M$ nutcase, I simply choose the best tool for the job. I used to be a big Visual Studio.NET programmer... then I started using the Macromedia suite, now I use Coldfusion for anything Web or Networking related... overall it's just better for that realm. If firefox has improved over the late beta that I had perhaps I'll start using it, but I doubt it's THAT much better (unless you're out to make an anti-m$ statement that is).