Firefox Is Heading Toward Trouble

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March 14th, 2005, 06:46 AM
gess~da~devil

Firefox Is Heading Toward Trouble

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Opinion: I think Firefox is the best browser on the planet, but it's not going to stay that way long unless the team behind it gets their act together sooner rather than later.

I love Firefox.

It is, without a doubt, my favorite browser ever, and I've used almost every one that ever rendered a Web page. No matter what the operating system—Windows, Linux, heck, even NetBSD—one of the first things I do now with any of my boxes is to install Firefox on it.

'm not alone. There have been over 25 million downloads of Firefox since version 1.0 hit the streets in fall of 2004. It has come out of nowhere to shrink Internet Explorer's share of the Web-browser space for the first time in years.

Firefox is also gaining software support. In addition to smaller open-source add-on programs, mainstream helper applications like Yahoo Toolbar and Google Desktop Search are now coming to Firefox.

Last, but never least, Firefox is more secure than Internet Explorer.

So, what's not to like?

Well, several things if you must know.

First, I said Firefox is more secure. That doesn't mean it's perfectly secure. You still must practice safe Web surfing to avoid phishing attacks and the like, and make sure to keep the browser patched up to avoid known security problems like the IDN (International Domain Name) bug.

Unfortunately, Firefox hasn't done a great job of making it easy to get its patches.

Read more at http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759...129TX1K0000616
March 14th, 2005, 07:15 AM
xierox

Re: Firefox Is Heading Toward Trouble

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First, I said Firefox is more secure. That doesn't mean it's perfectly secure. You still must practice safe Web surfing to avoid phishing...

Um, can this even be considered an insecurity?

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To further confuse Windows users, the default installation of this 'patch' leaves you with entries for both the now-gone older version and the new one in Windows' Add or Remove Programs control panel.

It's a known bug that's been around since June of 2004 and it's still not been fixed. I am not amused.

I'm not amused at your stupid BS opinions.

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Besides, this 'update' isn't really an update. It's a complete new installation of Firefox 1.0.1. Can you say annoying?

Can you say, go back to IE if it's that bad?

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Forget about trying to get new and better versions out. They're not going to be able to keep up on security fixes and bugs. For example, it used to be that if you ran Firefox you never saw annoying pop-up ad windows.

That was then. This is now.

Today, instead of pop-ups, there are sites that feed you pop-unders: advertising windows that deploy under your current Web browser window, which you then see when you close your window.

It's annoying, it needs to be fixed

What the crap? I'm betting (even though I don't know from personal experience, just from what I've read) that IE has this same problem. At least Firefox by default comes with a popup blocker, unlike IE. Can you say, "I have to download at least 80 megs just to get a popup blocker produced by the maker of the browser?"

Article summary in a setence: Writer looking for publicity by controversy siting a handful of weak arguments as to why he sees Firefox's inevitable demise.

- Xierox

P.S. I apologize for this post in advance. I'm not normally this harsh in my posts, but this article kinda ticked me off at the author. Sure, Firefox isn't perfect, what program is? But to go and make the claims he's making riled me up. It seems that everyone hypes a product to unattainable proportions when it comes up and when it fails to be absolutely 100% perfect they tear it to shreds like no tomorrow.
March 14th, 2005, 11:13 AM
Und3ertak3r

Unlike . xierox I am not emotional toward FF, it is my current prefered and recommended browser

The 1.01 version has made some changes that I see as being easier for users.. especially toward clearing cache, temp files etc..

As for popup blocker.. it seems that I have customers who have problems with popups with FF.. but I don't..why? settings, bad answers to the prompts.. is this a weakness in FF? I dont know.. the end user is the weak link in every system.. how much training can you afford on each user..

Will FF be the best browser in a years time? support from the end user is the key, and that will come from the inept.. they will be the final decider.. if it is too hard from them they will go to what ever seems easy to fix and stay out of trouble.. oh and what the malware writters are not targeting at the time..

the consumer is not smart.. but they don't like being called fools.. treat them like fools and they WILL go else where..

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To further confuse Windows users, the default installation of this 'patch' leaves you with entries for both the now-gone older version and the new one in Windows' Add or Remove Programs control panel.

so is this BS?... well it has done this in the systems wher I was too lazy to uninstall the old version.. i dont see where it is recommended to uninstall the old copy?

I see an organisation that is trying hard to gain market share, thir supporters are promoting the product as better than IE, so people are expecting a better quality browser.. but is Mozilla focusing on Quantity more than quality? are theyand their supporters making a mistake by influencing the market by way of numbers rather than a fully market ready product.. doing a Microsoft.. realeasing a almost product rather than a completed..

And are supporters so into their support that they can not handle a little negitive feedback? cause guys the heat hasn't realy started yet..

Show where these guys are off track.. dont scream in your empty pots that they are stupid.. these are the people your trying to sell FireFox to.. treat them like fools and you will lose more support than you realise..

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It seems that everyone hypes a product to unattainable proportions when it comes up and when it fails to be absolutely 100% perfect they tear it to shreds like no tomorrow.

yes..we call it "tall poppy syndrome" hmm maybe not..
We will run down IE calling it shite.. then we offer FF.. the non techno see that as a glowing recommendation (read Hype) .. what do you expect when they realise it isnt perfec?
March 14th, 2005, 05:59 PM
Pecosian

I love Firefox, I use it all the time. Of course there's problems with it not displaying certain pages because it doesn't support some IE only things but I just use IE in that case. There are some other issues though that need to be addresses if they want to keep it up.

Ignoring security completely, there's a slew of problems that make it a pain to get everything working properly. Java for example doesn't update properly if the plugin DLL has already been copied to the plugins folder. Also when it tries to load any plugin, instead of letting it load while it downloads and does other things, it blocks and the whole thing locks up nice and solid. When you cancel downloads they don't get removed, in fact they tend to get locked by the OS and you need to hope they get freed when you restart, if not then you have to boot into command line safe mode to get rid of the 0 byte files. The fact that the older versions did not remove the previous version when you upgraded was a bit of a nuisance, I like having my machine clean, not with junk folders all over the place. Same with the uninstall, it's a slight nuisance to have 4 Firefox listings in there when you know 3 of them are garbage. And there are more that I haven't listed here.

In regard to security, the popup blocker seems to block pop unders for me quite well. In fact I haven't seen an ad in a long time. There is even an extension that lets you selectively block Firefox from downloading files from known ad servers.

Firefox is a good browser and makes browsing much easier but unless they get their act together and fix these bugs and make some of the extensions easier to use or a standard feature for those who aren't savvy to setting these things up then they won't get all those people who don't know what's going on when it comes to their computer because they won't see it as any better than IE, just more trouble to use. They may also start losing people like me because we'll get fed up that the program can't perform some simple tasks that should be fixed as soon as possible.

IE may have more security flaws but in terms of usability it doesn't generate the problems that Firefox can every now and then.
March 14th, 2005, 09:51 PM
thehorse13

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At least Firefox by default comes with a popup blocker, unlike IE.

Microsoft saw this as an issue with IE and since IE is literally in bed with the OS, a service pack added the functionality when SP2 came along. I guess it isn't exactly accurate to say that IE doesn't come with one? It's a tough call. I guess it depends on how you look at the MS platform and whether you see IE as independent from the OS. Personally, I see the OS and IE as the same entity. Others may disagree.

IE does in fact have the same kind of pop under crap. I see it all the time.

Tricking an end-user is a vulnerability but not one related to the (complete) failure of the software. You mitigate this issue with solid security training and tier it with appropriate security controls within your environment. No single solution is perfect. The best you can do is mitigate as many issues as you can and quickly deal with the ones that get through.

--TH13
March 14th, 2005, 10:47 PM
Kite

wow, what a completly stupid and pointless post. we are being told about problems that arent even that big of a deal, unless you are a 3 year old or a soccer mom or nascar dad that knows nothing about firefox, in which case you should probably stick to IE (what i would like to say is that you have no buissines being on the internet at all, but thats a bit harsh.) please dont make a post like this again, trumpeting your opinion like it was the word of God or something.