Saturday, June 18, 2005
My Firefox Plug
Part 2: Firefox vs. IE
Firefox is the best browser that I have had the pleasure of using. It is such an innovation in the web browsing experience that it blows away the competition. In this part, I will talk about what really won me over.
First, I will cover why I turned away from Internet Explorer (IE). IE 6.0, with or without the XP Service Pack 2, is an aging piece of failing software. IE 6.0 was last truly updated in 2000 and it shows. The IE engine is slow to load and render webpages. Not only is it slow to render webpages, it can’t handle or support modern W3C standards for webpages like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Also IE offers an outdated Internet experience with the one webpage per browser window causing the Windows task bar to be filled up with open browser windows.
Furthermore, IE has ActiveX and Active Scripting, both of which create open hooks into your computer system for virus writers and adware/spyware creators to automatically download dangerous and disruptive programs into your system. This creates an unnecessary vulnerability in the system. To compound this vulnerability and add insult to injury, IE is not just integrated with the Windows operating system (OS), it is bolted to the Windows OS. To be integrated, the browser would work well with and share necessary information with the OS. But IE is bolted to the Windows OS, this means that the Windows OS can open IE and IE can open the Windows OS allowing any malice software that can hook into the Active X or Active Scripting in IE to directly attack the Windows OS. With all these flaws, US CERT, the American agency with Homeland Security, stated in June 2004 that it would be best to "use a different browser". This warning no longer applies to XP Service Pack 2 equipped PCs but any Windows-based PC that could not get XP Service Pack 2 should not go on the Internet with IE.
Microsoft still hasn’t improved its patching system. Microsoft has been known to test for six months after a flaw is found, security firms have to prod Microsoft to make patches by making public announcements about the flaw thus revealing the flaws existence to virus writers, and Microsoft waits to do patches in monthly cycles even if the patch is ready weeks before. Microsoft’s laissez-faire attitude to patches is dangerous in this on-demand, 24-7 world where virus writers never sleep.
So what does Firefox have that IE doesn’t? To answer in one word: Lots!
First, Firefox is a modern browser. It is continually updated and right now is at Version 1.0.4 with Version 1.1 set for June and versions 1.5 and 2.0 set for later this year and into next year. Firefox quickly loads and renders webpages. No waiting for Firefox as it zooms through the Internet without choking. Firefox also has a modern Internet experience with tabs. Allowing multiple webpages to be open in one browser window may not seem like much at first, but when you don’t have to go crawling through your task bar for the right browser window that has the webpage you’re interested in, life gets that much less complicated. Also, Firefox has a “find bar” instead of a “find window”. When you hit CTRL+F in IE the browsing experience stops as IE brings up a window in front of the browser for you to type in a word. When you hit CTRL+F in Firefox, a small bar opens up at the bottom of the tab and begins searching for the word as you type it in. Firefox is up on all the W3C standards and properly renders webpages.
Second, Firefox has great security. The Open Source movement, which the Mozilla Foundation is a part of, has never promised perfect security nor that their product will never be compromised by hackers and viruses. That said, Firefox has greater security than IE. Firefox doesn’t have ActiveX or Active Scripting and therefore can’t run any virus or adware/spyware that use ActiveX or Active Scripting (which most all do). Firefox is a separate program from the Windows OS, which means that malice programs can’t attack Windows through Firefox. Furthermore, the Mozilla Foundation usually puts out patches within one to two weeks of a flaw being found.
Third, Firefox is an open source product. Open source products allow anybody to view and work on the source code. This is different from a proprietary product like IE, which only allows Microsoft employees to view and work with the source code. While Microsoft only has so many employees working for it to create and repair IE’s source code, Mozilla has a whole world of volunteers to create and repair Firefox. This leads to many programmers not only improving the core code but also creating useful extensions to make Firefox more functional and interesting.
When all is said and done, Firefox blows IE out of the water in every way, shape, and form.
I have a Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird plug on my website at http://studentweb.uwstout.edu/gallistelk/mysite/firethunder.htm. I have a list of articles that might be of interest there.
First, I will cover why I turned away from Internet Explorer (IE). IE 6.0, with or without the XP Service Pack 2, is an aging piece of failing software. IE 6.0 was last truly updated in 2000 and it shows. The IE engine is slow to load and render webpages. Not only is it slow to render webpages, it can’t handle or support modern W3C standards for webpages like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Also IE offers an outdated Internet experience with the one webpage per browser window causing the Windows task bar to be filled up with open browser windows.
Furthermore, IE has ActiveX and Active Scripting, both of which create open hooks into your computer system for virus writers and adware/spyware creators to automatically download dangerous and disruptive programs into your system. This creates an unnecessary vulnerability in the system. To compound this vulnerability and add insult to injury, IE is not just integrated with the Windows operating system (OS), it is bolted to the Windows OS. To be integrated, the browser would work well with and share necessary information with the OS. But IE is bolted to the Windows OS, this means that the Windows OS can open IE and IE can open the Windows OS allowing any malice software that can hook into the Active X or Active Scripting in IE to directly attack the Windows OS. With all these flaws, US CERT, the American agency with Homeland Security, stated in June 2004 that it would be best to "use a different browser". This warning no longer applies to XP Service Pack 2 equipped PCs but any Windows-based PC that could not get XP Service Pack 2 should not go on the Internet with IE.
Microsoft still hasn’t improved its patching system. Microsoft has been known to test for six months after a flaw is found, security firms have to prod Microsoft to make patches by making public announcements about the flaw thus revealing the flaws existence to virus writers, and Microsoft waits to do patches in monthly cycles even if the patch is ready weeks before. Microsoft’s laissez-faire attitude to patches is dangerous in this on-demand, 24-7 world where virus writers never sleep.
So what does Firefox have that IE doesn’t? To answer in one word: Lots!
First, Firefox is a modern browser. It is continually updated and right now is at Version 1.0.4 with Version 1.1 set for June and versions 1.5 and 2.0 set for later this year and into next year. Firefox quickly loads and renders webpages. No waiting for Firefox as it zooms through the Internet without choking. Firefox also has a modern Internet experience with tabs. Allowing multiple webpages to be open in one browser window may not seem like much at first, but when you don’t have to go crawling through your task bar for the right browser window that has the webpage you’re interested in, life gets that much less complicated. Also, Firefox has a “find bar” instead of a “find window”. When you hit CTRL+F in IE the browsing experience stops as IE brings up a window in front of the browser for you to type in a word. When you hit CTRL+F in Firefox, a small bar opens up at the bottom of the tab and begins searching for the word as you type it in. Firefox is up on all the W3C standards and properly renders webpages.
Second, Firefox has great security. The Open Source movement, which the Mozilla Foundation is a part of, has never promised perfect security nor that their product will never be compromised by hackers and viruses. That said, Firefox has greater security than IE. Firefox doesn’t have ActiveX or Active Scripting and therefore can’t run any virus or adware/spyware that use ActiveX or Active Scripting (which most all do). Firefox is a separate program from the Windows OS, which means that malice programs can’t attack Windows through Firefox. Furthermore, the Mozilla Foundation usually puts out patches within one to two weeks of a flaw being found.
Third, Firefox is an open source product. Open source products allow anybody to view and work on the source code. This is different from a proprietary product like IE, which only allows Microsoft employees to view and work with the source code. While Microsoft only has so many employees working for it to create and repair IE’s source code, Mozilla has a whole world of volunteers to create and repair Firefox. This leads to many programmers not only improving the core code but also creating useful extensions to make Firefox more functional and interesting.
When all is said and done, Firefox blows IE out of the water in every way, shape, and form.
I have a Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird plug on my website at http://studentweb.uwstout.edu/gallistelk/mysite/firethunder.htm. I have a list of articles that might be of interest there.
# posted by Keith Gallistel @ 10:06 AM 
