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Oh, Mr Dvorak, IE went out the door a long time ago in this house (and in the houses of all the people I advise computer-wise, which is eight at the moment).
Firefox is the way forward. It’s fast.
And when there’s a hole spotted, the fix is up almost immediately. What could be better?
If everyone leaves IE for, say, Mozilla, won’t hackers simply attack Mozilla’s instead?
Microsoft has done what it can to closely integrate its browser into the OS..this linkage has to have a negative long term effect. Firefox is not so linked. And even if targeted, less likely to have a disasterous consequence. Besides it seems better coded anyway.
Sump IE? And replace it with what? Mozilla? Opera? Don’t make me laugh.
I’m no fan of IE, but I have no reason to believe that there is a better option out there. Whatever the dominant browser is, that’s the one that will get targeted. All you’d get by replacing IE is a new browser where *none* of the bugs are fixed yet.
Nobody needs IE, but I have found most users don’t have a clue about the technology they are using. The company is working on the code-named Mission Critical Microsoft. This is the plan for battling Linux. There will be no shortage of idiots out there battling with IE or SP2. That will drive tech support revenues and the solutions industry will grow. You always need something new and Microsoft is always working on something new. It must be good, because look at how rich Microsoft has become. These are the same kind of people who buy a stock for $100, when the company has $2 of cash per share of stock. The idea that the stock is basically worthless doesn’t matter. IE is basically worthless, but most of these people don’t have a clue about their stock. They just want it to go up. There are more dumb people than smart people, so Microsoft should do very well creating stuff that doesn’t matter like IE. They’ll say it matters and now it is mission critical. It’s more like mission impossible.
The answer is that it will never end! There are too many dumb people depending on computers for it to end. Microsoft creates value for the shareholders. People like getting money for nothing. With IE you get more than money, you get this high tech product for nothing. The company employs a lot of people who have to believe in something. IE is as good as anything else for drawing a paycheck. What can you count on?
Oh, no. I’m quite happy with IE. It draws hackers like salmon draw bears. Which means that my browsers are relatively free of the beasts (both hackers and bears).
I ate a cheese sandwich tonight. I watched TV while I ate my cheese sandwich. I worked on my Mike Rowe Soft skills and learned new shortcuts with my browser. It’s a swell browser. I’m having ham and eggs later. I’m quite happy with my browser and I am drinking a Vanilla Coke. I might have a glass of milk and play with my browser before I go to sleep. I am waiting for new spam, because I have gmail. Will you send me some spam, so I can look at it? jvdermitt@gmail.com
Does anybody else have gmail? Do you guys like cheese sandwiches? John likes cheese sandwiches. Where does cheese come from? I mean I know it comes from milk, but how do they turn milk into cheese? I wonder, can I patent that?
an analogy: SP2 and faulty airbags….
Imagine GM having to recall a certain model of its cars because of some undisclosed problem with the airbags. GM will fix it but one of the results is that the brakes won’t work ..Gross, right?
But that is in a way what happens with SP2. so much software that may (and probably will) choke on the new SP2 security and code. The list of problematic software is long and full of widely used software (heck, even Microsoft’s own application may not work 100% with the SP). And SP2 will land in your computer, you may try to work without it for 4 months, but as it is now you’ll have to learn to drive with bad brakes. But at least the airbag may work better…
I wish I had the option not to install SP2. After all, I’ld like fully working brakes and MS does not really have the credentials to let them look after my system’s security. I’ld rather surf with firefox, lots of common sense, and update my virus software and firewall.
Would GM get away if it would try to force you to apply a fix to the airbag that causes your brakes to breakdown??
When I switched to Firefox, a while back, most of the reasoning behind the switch was an appreciation for compact, well-written code. I hope the crew working on future releases avoid the code-bloat Microsoft has become infamous for. Talented programmers who are required to retain hooks to every conceivable variation on a theme — while adding an infinite variety of plug-ins — can’t always avoid this software demon.
It’s a yuk, reading through the list of suggestions that Firefox users offer. Hopefully, the geeks supervising future releases won’t fall victim to the nice-guy syndrome and will have the insight to keep it simple.
Meanwhile, I get to browse the Web without having to remind myself to check for daily updates — and the t-shirts I bought to support the “free” software are pretty cool, too.
Colleges and universities are not all that excited about Microsoft Windows Service Pack 2 upgrade, since it is apparently coming just as hundreds of thousands of students are descending on campuses.
Back to school, back to the future. There’s always Linux and Mozilla! What’s the big deal? Take the path of the least hassle. School is tough enough, why make it any more difficult than it needs to be? Catholic University in Washington DC and the University of Richmond has decided to block downloads of SP2 until they can test it properly. I think SP2 may be the test.
Brown University and George Mason, planned to circulate SP2 on CD-ROMs to avoid connecting to the Net. This is a neat idea, avoid connecting to the Net. Wouldn’t it be easier to just avoid connecting to SP2 and keep the Net connections on for students?
As a Mac user, I’m wondering if any users of firefox, opera, etc are running into the same “marginization” that Mac users are? When a site refues to load, unless your browser is IE or Netscape.
An example:
http://www.macintouch.com/marginalcat.html
Dear Mr. DVORAK,
What the hell is Internet Explorer? a browser? a file manager? an operating system?
For anyone looking for a great browser I strongly recommend Mozilla Firefox. It is a small download (only 4.7Mb) and has lots of useful features. Since the first time I used it, I was hooked!
I’d like to read your opinions regarding Firefox, and how it compares with IE.
John,
Someone “stole” your idea, and started a webpage for people looking for a different browser. 🙂
http://browsehappy.com/
Although the name is a litte too cutsie for me, personally. 😉 (this from a guy who uses little smiley-faces in his posts!)
New IE Flaw
Oh, Mr Dvorak, IE went out the door a long time ago in this house (and in the houses of all the people I advise computer-wise, which is eight at the moment). …
IE is the best I know. It’s better than Mozilla no doubt.