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Hi all,
I just want to know which is more secure - IE or firefox?
and which is more user friendly (easy to use) in between both??
i just want to know about your personal experiences.
i m planning to switch to firefox, just wanted to know is it worth it or not?
thanks.
Yeah its worth it. I've been using FF ever since i found ouyt about it.
Plus you can instal add-ons or (extensions)..my favorites include (mouse gestures), X button on tabs, adblock (blocks almost all ads), ReloadEvery (set to reaload website every once in a while), and Google Send to Phone....just for fun to have it, not really computer related...
Plus on FF, you can use tabs and dont have to open new windows all the time...u can put your top favorite sites on the Booksmark toolbar, when theres an update avaiable theres a sign in the right upper corner.....its just better, try it...
and all i;ve found with ad-aware and spybot in the last 5 months are tracking cookies. no spyware whatsoever.....
this proves that it is user friendly as well as useful too... but wht about security???
Well ill tell you this, there are less security patches with FF then IE.and less hole found.....spyware barely comes through.....
i think this part of the article i found will help you
http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com...082833,00.htmlQuote:
Firefox treats security as a promise, not as a creative arrangement. Security is a complex matter, and the Mozilla developers have opted to plug every imaginable security hole as emphatically as possible. In practical terms, there's very little that the user can unknowingly press in the Firefox user interface that will open up a hole in the security system.
another quote
http://www.techsupportalert.com/firefox.htmQuote:
So vulnerable in fact that over 100 million users have already switched over to other browsers. And the browser most have switched to is Mozilla Firefox.
Another nice little extension is "NoScript" this disables all java script unless you allow it permanently or temporarily to allow or disallow...
Been using it since day one (Originally used Mozilla Browser/then switched to FF), have had no problems as far as malicious websites dropping code onto my PC's, so between that and a good AV and safe hex, it's okay to use Firefox.
Some sites, may still require that you use IE, so if you do, I would recommend you tighten down your Active X applets options and security settings to high for just those websites you need IE for.... ;)
edit: This is just my personal choice, so read as much as you can, IE if used properly and updated with the security patches from MS, can be just as safe, but it is high maintenance, where as Firefox is low maintenance from a users perspective.
Firefox is *NOT* completely secure and without problems. However, IE is deeply integrated into the MS operating system, so you can have some real problems with security there.
Firefox will also be only as secure as the user on the system that uses it...if you run it as an Admin/Superuser/Root, you will have greater risk than running it as an unprivileged account.
NoScript is amazingly good at identifying java script and informing you (if you know how to listen) of what sites are actually trying to run in/through your browser (you'd be surprised), and I whole heartedly suggest it for ANYONE who wants to be proactively involved in their web surfing security. That said, this plugin is Not for Everyone™. It can break sites displaying properly, and allowing the wrong script can instantly subvert any level of security you might have had.
I suggest FF with AdBlock, the Adblock Filterset.G Updater (auto updates are made to AdBlock including common adware addresses/strings), and NoScript if you want to go that far.
If you *really* want to get into the technical nitty gritty, here's a white paper by a leading Security Research and Intelligence group, iDefense.
Using the defaults in both programs, Firefox is safer. The absence of ActiveX (yeah, there's a plug-in, but don't bother) renders it far safer.
Besides, EVERY computer should have multiple browsers, simply for troubleshooting if nothing else.
p.s.-- user-friendly is in the eye of the beholder...
I agree with multiple browsers, i have IE, Firefox, MyIE2 and Flock on my system.
I tried that Flock, haven't really stuck with it, how's it doing so far? it's what only a couple of months old?Quote:
Originally posted here by ©opy®ight
I agree with multiple browsers, i have IE, Firefox, MyIE2 and Flock on my system.
I also use IE/FF and Opera, (Opera is not that bad actually and has a nice feel to it).
It pretty good so far, havent had really time to play around with it so much and i dont use it that often because it doesnt have plug in (extensions) like FF, but it has that FF feel to it....
Heh... I use Links unless I absolutely have to see pictures.
On my XP Box, I have Firefox and IE.... I like IE. I have it locked down so it is far more secure, faster, etc, than Firefox could ever be. Unfortunately, Internet Explorer is merely an extension of the default Windows shell, and although it is highly unlikely that it can be compromized with my configuration, a compromise would be a bit more severe than with Firefox.
Either way, if you take the time to lock things down, it really is just a matter of preference. And almost all of the user benefits that FF has right now are being integrated into IE.
Ehhh... ****it.. Use Links... Do you really need pictures and multimedia content?
ok, so i figured out from all this discussion that I can surely switch to FF keeping IE also as a backup, right???
and yes, I never heard of MyIE2... need to check out this browser... thanks buddy for telling about it.
Internet Explorer is part of the Windows shell. You really can't remove it.
It is always there as a backup, and is sometimes necessary. I have found that many peices of educational software, as well as many websites, only work correctly with IE.
Although there are workarounds, they are often clumsy and never as good as the real thing.
Yes. That iDefense whitepaper actually discusses how they tested fully removing IE. It broke the OS.Quote:
Originally posted here by d0pp
Internet Explorer is part of the Windows shell. You really can't remove it.
It is always there as a backup, and is sometimes necessary. I have found that many peices of educational software, as well as many websites, only work correctly with IE.
Although there are workarounds, they are often clumsy and never as good as the real thing.
IE won't go away if you use another browser. As d0pp so aptly points out, IE does come in handy.
He-heh, I love M$'s business model: they sell you the car, then when the wheels fall off, they'll sell you the lug nuts.
:cool:
You can remove IE with i think it was XPLite to the point where its not there but your OS is still working....
Hey,Quote:
You can remove IE with i think it was XPLite to the point where its not there but your OS is still working....
I installed a box once with the use of this XPLite ... Don't bother with it ...although the OS works ...as promised ...There's loads of features that stop working ... atleast in the version I used back then (few months ago) ... Not that I used it that much ...but ... the help function of Windows stopped working ...couldn't get office to install properly ...etc...
It's ok if you just need it to run some software that doesn't need any of the missing parts ... you get a small OS and most of the cr*p removed ...but the stabillity was not better at all ;)
Anyway ...just my 0.2c.
.C.
Got a buddy who swears by XP Lite. He's very paranoid though and formats his OS every two-three weeks. For me, IE is part and parcel with Windows; no need to get rid of it, just relegate it to secondary use.
Where you in the YAHOO Hacker Chat room yesterday? :) Because, this is one the of the discussions in the room several people had with lhfirefox from India. ;)Quote:
riya_here
As to the original topic at hand, I perfer IE simply because you can secure IE through GPO as well as some sites are made strictly for IE, (w3c) and will not run properly with the firefox /mozilla/opera/netscape web browser.
It all depends on the user...IE has been the butt of criticism primarily for it's lack of security, but it's lack of security is related mostly to user incompetance and the fact it gets targeted more than other browsers.
Firefox has for the most part been left alone...so it hasn't been tested in quite the same way...as a specific target.
The more popular firefox gets the greater the chance it will become a target itself...then...we'll see if it can stand the heat of direct and multiple attacks.
I use Firefox, IE, and Mozilla...never put all your eggs in one basket.
Eg ;)
Now that we have thoroughly confused you, try all 3 (IE,FF and or Maxthon or Flock or Opera) and make your own determinations.
One other thing that I personally like about Firefox, is you can download a version for a USB memory key and surf from that..Portable Firefox
Slap it into any PC and surf away..... ;)
ActiveX more than IE itself is the primary vulnerability in MS's web package. As for Firefox, it's been around for a couple of years now and is standing the test of time. As is Opera and others for that matter. I have yet to see a browser hijack in FF or Opera. Or popups from rogues lie Wintools. FF will always be a tighter package than IE unless you want to do the admin work. And most users don't, myself included.Quote:
Originally posted here by Egaladeist
The more popular firefox gets the greater the chance it will become a target itself...then...we'll see if it can stand the heat of direct and multiple attacks.
Hi brokencrow,
But that's because there isn't hordes of people looking for vunerabilities or creating ways to make it vunerable...everything has an achilles heel...and these ' other ' browsers really haven't been tested the way IE has.Quote:
As for Firefox, it's been around for a couple of years now and is standing the test of time. As is Opera and others for that matter.
Firefox is my main browser...I like Firefox...but I'm not going to lull myself into thinking it is unbreachable or superior...it's not...it's a good browser but it's not Fort Knox...and even Fort Knox has an achilles heel.
Eg ;)
yeah. i did it. 1 of the downside of FIrefox is when u are saving a page, the saved file name is based on the filename on web server (using the save page as). but the IE use the title of the page as the filename by default and it is quit usefull.Quote:
Originally posted here by dalek
Now that we have thoroughly confused you, try all 3 (IE,FF and or Maxthon or Flock or Opera) and make your own determinations.
saving this page on IE is "AntiOnline - diff between IE and firefox.htm" while "showthread.php.htm" on Firefox.
Opera has RSS by default (no need to download plugin), and it's FREE too.
Relax, Egaladeist, I never meant to infer FF is "unbreachable". As with ALL software, one needs to pay attention to patches that are available and newer versions.
All I'm saying is that it is more secure than IE for it's lack of ActiveX. And like I said, I have yet to see the browser hijacks and rogue popups in either FF or Opera I often observe in IE. Using default settings, FF is much safer than IE. But enough from me on that for now.
AZL, the latest version of FF also has RSS by default, I believe.
:)
Hi Zencoder, its really surprising... I didnt knew that uninstalling IE will break OS.
No Computernerd22, i was not in the yahoo chat room... i left getting into chat rooms few years back... i dont get much time to come online either....
but it seems this topic is really hot these days thats y it is discussed everywhere :)