The OneMinute Geek

The Problem

We geeks playfully refer to Microsoft’s browser Internet Explorer (IE) as Internet Exposure. The nickname is derived from IE’s poor security features and the frequent attacks it receives from hackers, virus writers and spyware purveyors. Truth is, IE has seen very little innovation over the years. Most upgrades have been minor patches under the hood and offered only scant improvements, like popup blocking, which other browsers have included for sometime. So, where can one find a browser, which is safer, faster and cooler than Internet Explorer?

The Solution:

Download it for free from www.Mozilla.com. The browser is called Firefox. Firefox is both more secure and modern than IE and it comes packed with user-friendly features Microsoft’s browser can’t touch.

Firefox’s market share is comparatively tiny to IE’s but it is rapidly growing in popularity and is available for Windows, Apple’s Mac and Linux.

It’s important to note that Firefox is not totally secure. No browser is, especially any browser running on Windows, which has major security problems and is the world’s main digital target. However, unlike NetCaptor (another alternative browser), Firefox isn’t based on IE’s browsing engine. One big reason Firefox has better security and privacy than IE is that Firefox won’t run programs called ActiveX controls. ActiveX is a Microsoft technology that is often exploited by the bad guys to do malicious things to your PC.

Other benefits include:

With Firefox, it’s easier to cover your online tracks.

The built-in popup blocker is better than IE’s.

FireFox offers tabbed browsing, allowing you to open several pages at once while online, accessing each page by a tab. IE does not offer this feature.

Firefox is RSS compatible. RSS is new technology web sites use to pump live summaries or updates of their site’s contents to your browser.

Firefox has a nifty search box for Google searches, etc.

Firefox offers extensions, which are small add-on modules allowing you to customize your browser. One extension automatically completes online forms for you. Another lets you change the look or theme of your browser.

Some websites aren’t fully compatible with Firefox. Many banking sites, for example, are designed for IE and won’t work with Firefox. For those sites, you will need IE; so don’t get rid of it! (Don’t try to delete IE from your PC. It’s too deeply integrated into Windows and cannot be removed.)

Note: Firefox gives you the option of viewing incompatible sites via an extension called “View This Page in IE.”

James Kerr is President/CEO of SuperGeeks, a Hawaii-based computer service and repair company (www.supergeeks.net). Please feel free to send your questions, comments and suggestions to Mr. Kerr. He can be reached at kerr@supergeeks.net and 942-0773.