Safety on Computers

[Drunken Chinchilla]

They've just introduced for credit cards too I believe, not sure about the rest of Europe though.

[Louisiana Night]

I forget what the main Linux browser is off-hand

It depends. If KDE is the graphical interface being used, it's Konquerer.

[dew7]

Thanks for the article, Jeysie.

[Jeysie]

No problem.

FWIW, I didn't know about anything outside of IE and NS4 until I decided a couple years ago that IE6 just wasn't cutting it, and I needed to find *something* that actually worked well. And since I refused to go anywhere near NS4 even in it's heyday (because IMHO it was, and still is, a POS), that meant doing some searching. Fortunately I came across Opera... and since then I've been trying to undo my ignorance on matters as best I can.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Yonkey]

I was a die-hard Netscape fan during the browser wars between IE and Netscape (this was like NS2 & 3).  But when IE4 came out (around the same time as Win95) I switched to it, mostly because it started up faster.  

I've heard about Mozilla, then Opera, but I never actually downloaded them myself until we got into the redesign of KQ9.org.  

Since Dreamweaver has a target browser compatibility checker, I use that to ensure that the content on this site will load in Netscape, Opera, Mozilla, Safari and IE.  A lot of the times, if something is incompatible, a simple google search finds you the workaround to make something cross-browser compliant.

[Louisiana Night]

If you like Netscape, you might want to try Mozilla(or something from the Mozilla line).

[Yonkey]

I liked Netscape 8 years ago.  After Netscape 5 or 6, I so hated it because it became pure crap.  

As for Mozilla, I just use it like Opera. That is, I use it as an alternate browser for checking stuff rather than my primpary one (IE 6).

[Louisiana Night]

Well, I was just trying to promote Mozilla. I just don't like IE(despite the fact that I use it half the time), or Konquerer for that mattter.

[dew7]

LN, is FireFox any good?

[Jeysie]

IE is the bane of my web authoring existence.

Seriously, once you get into the otherwise blissful groove of using CSS for all layout, IE is a pain in the ass. Heck, I have a friend who's a die-hard IE nut, wouldn't use anything else no matter how much the rest of us touted Mozilla or Opera. But then he discovered CSS layout and "clean" HTML for his weblog... and soon after downloaded FF and Opera. I think he still mostly uses IE6, but the discontent is there. I have another friend who downloaded FF because he's dissatisified with M$ not making any more significant IE updates until Longhorn.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[dew7]

Thanks, Jeysie and LN for your opinions.  :>

[Yonkey]

Yeah, Storm's argument is the same as mine for IE.  I've used it for years, and it's always been fine.  It has its share of security holes and such, but I've never been a target or fallen trap to any.  Plus, it does everything I want in a browser and I don't really worry about sites having compatibility problems with it, ever since it dominated the browser market.

[Storm]

Yeah, compatibility is another important issue there - I agree that the ideal is for every website builder to have their site tested for every browser out there, and that it isn't fair that the less-popular browser users have to suffer because some sites are only tested for IE.
But the fact remains that as long as no one can guarantee that every site would run on a different browser as well as does on IE, I (and many others, I'm sure) will stick to IE. It's a vicious circle

[Jeysie]

My main problem with IE6 was that it was slow as molasses on my computer. Slow to start up, slow to render pages, but the worst was that it was slow to even *connect* to pages... the page would just hang there for a minute or more before it finally started to load. I finally got fed up.

Opera is fast in rendering, and it's intelligent with caching and connection-managing so it's fast at loading, too. Tabbed browsing is a total must-have... plus the ability to quickly load multiple links. And a built-in download manager. And a built-in pop-up blocker. And a built-in password manager. And one-click access to turning plug-ins, CSS, and images on and off. And a fully customizable toolbar. And a built-in mail client that's lots better than Outlook. And keyboard shortcuts for everything. And built-in customizable searches.

Not to mention that when IE crashes, it always took my OS with it. When Opera crashes, not only does it not take my OS with it, but it remembers what pages I was browsing so I don't lose my place. It's better at "remembering" form data when you leave and return to a page, too.

Not to mention that it has far more CSS and HTML support. There is a *ton* of CSS things, both flashy and useful, that you can do in Opera and Mozilla that IE can't. (Or it can, but you need to add on a crapload of javascript to do it.) And even the stuff it can do, it does differently, so more often than not you end up with a nice, clean-coded design that works great in Opera, Mozilla, and Safari... then you open up IE and you have to add a ton more coding to get it to work. I spend a lot of time swearing at my computer when that happens. If you surf some of the "web designer guru" weblogs, you'll see a lot of (justified) pissing and moaning about IE.

There's nothing wrong with being content with IE, I guess, but it seems to me like settling for runner-up.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Jeysie]

I know there's a ton of 3rd party programs you can download to add some functionality onto IE, but I'd rather have just one program to worry about.

FWIW, I don't have that many passwords either, but I like being able to hit one button to sign into things instead of re-typing all the time. And Google's bar only nets you, well, one place to search, doesn't it?

IE's deficiency in CSS support can affect the end user, since there's many design features an IE user will never see that would enhance the experience. (Again, of both the flashy and the useful variety.) In fact, I'm finding that there's a couple things I'll likely end up adding to my design even though they won't work in IE, just so at least somebody can take advantage of them.

Still, I agree, it is a bigger problem on the web developer end... but, oh, what a problem.

Peace & Luv, Liz

[Louisiana Night]

My biggest problem with IE, is that it's too connected to the OS. If something happens to IE, it's going to affect your whole system. I found that out the hard way.

[Yonkey]

That stops being true in Win2k and XP.    If they crash, they can be closed safely without affecting the O/S.

[Louisiana Night]

That's not what I mean, here's an example. I tried a modem accelerator, and it had to update IE to work. Something went wrong, and my PC stopped working correctly(I had to reformat). It was like flashing a BIOS. It's great when it works , but when it doesn't...

[Yonkey]

Since cable modem accelerators rarely work, (and I think they're illegal too), it's a risk to run them anyway.  It may have even been infected with a virus.

[Louisiana Night]

It may have even been infected with a virus.

No, I got it from Earthlink(my internet provider).