Internet Browser Debacle

Over our private egroup, my friends and I were having this really silly debacle about which internet browser is better: IE or Firefox? There were a lot of biases and inaccuracies being thrown on the table, and it went on for - probably - over a dozen posts! One talked about getting viruses, another talking about pop-ups and porn sites, and some are just asking everyone else to cut the discussion.

David rarely participates in our crazy egroup, but he usually plays spectator and is amused when I translate the Tagalog words and slangs my friends and I use communicating with each other.

In case you do not know, he is the ultimate technology freak. He is the earliest of the Early Adopters! Watch him go wild when you ask him anything about computers, software, innovations, technologies and whatever. He will even offer free expert advice on which one works best. He gets really excited when he gets a new gadget, and knows and utilizes every single minute feature it has! He is my (and everyone else who knows him) go-to guy for computer and technology problems.

He is such a (sweet) techy that spyware, spam and pop-ups are his greatest pet peeves! And it pains him to see/hear people misunderstand the beauty and benefits new technology has to offer to make our lives easier, as well as the truths and fallacies behind it.

And so about the browser debate as to which is better: IE or Firefox? He resisted to react at first, and eventually could not help but share a piece of his mind about the truth about the two internet browsers and the inaccurate emails my friends and I were throwing at each other. To (hopefully) end the senseless debate, he posted this:

(Note: Don't bother reading if you don't care about the IE/Firefox debate. Even I think this argument has gone on too long. :))

Now that you've been warned.... I've tried my best to stay out of this
debate, but I think some inaccuracies need to be addressed. I'm neither a
Microsoft apologist nor anti-Microsoft, but in the hopes of closing this
debate, please allow me to make a few points:

1) The idea that Firefox is for Microsoft-haters is a myth. Judging from
personal experience, many Microsoft employees use Firefox as their primary browser AT WORK. One of the lead developers of IE 7.0 has publicly admitted this, as have three Microsoft employees whom I talked to during at recent recruiting visit to Yale.

2) Pop-ups are indeed not the same as viruses, but some malicious websites
use pop-ups as delivery mechanisms (this is largely irrelevant since both
SP2 and Firefox have decent pop-up blockers). And even if you don't browse porn sites, you can't be sure what others may do with your computer when
you're not looking. :) This is particularly true of spyware. I've seen
innocent old ladies who have computers infected with all sorts of malware
thanks to unpatched IE installation. I doubt they're actively seeking out
porn sites, but I could be wrong... ;)

3) Even the US Department of Homeland Security realizes that IE isn't
secure. They've issued a number of warnings (e.g.,
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/680526,
http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/07/09/28enterwin_1.html). SP2 fixed
many security problems, as have subsequent patches, but you have to stay vigilant.

4) Last year, Slate (a publication OWNED by Microsoft at the time) wrote an article on "How Mozilla's Firefox trumps Internet Explorer."
(http://www.slate.com/id/2103152/)

5) Compared to IE, Firefox is built with an entirely different philosophy.
Rather than attempting to fit everything into the application, it is instead a relatively small package that is completely customizable through free extensions. It can be as basic or powerful as you want (right now I have local weather conditions embedded in my status bar, for example).

6) It's not an either-or choice, particularly since both are free. I still
use IE for some sites and tasks, and luckily there are extensions that make it incredibly easy to switch back and forth. You can even embed Internet Explorer INSIDE a Firefox tab.

7) If you understand the risks of using IE and keep your computer patched
and manage security levels appropriately, there's nothing inherently wrong
with using IE 6. It's a pretty solid web browser, objectively speaking, and until 2002 was my browser of choice.

IE will get better, of course, and the alpha version of 7.0 looks good so
far (but in many ways it's simply playing catch up to other browsers).
Microsoft got complacent, given their 90%+ market share. I've heard
Microsoft people say that they welcome the challenge as it forces them to
improve their product, which had stagnated since Netscape's collapse.

To some degree, it comes down to personal preference, but I strongly
disagree with anyone who would say Firefox is inferior.

I've now wasted more than enough of my own and everyone else's time, but I hope this is illuminating. Feel free to email me directly with any specific questions, so as not to flood the group. Have fun and just try to make your web browser the least of your worries...

-David

P.S. If you really can't stand Firefox for some moral reason, there are
other innovative options, particularly Opera and Flock. (I don't know much
about I-Rider, which does look kinda cool. However, it's based on the IE
browsing engine with a different interface layered on top, so it would still be vulnerable to any IE security breaches. And $30 is a bit expensive for a browser, in my opinion.)

Gawd. To write a word-ful all about internet browsers, it was disturbingly inhuman. If he willed it, all the points above could have been translated into a thesis! (insert shock face here)

Upon reading this, OH SHOOT. It sank in. I am in love with a geek. And geek is the new sexy. Didn't you know? Hah!

By the way, I share in his disagreement that Firefox is inferior. It's actually the best thing that ever happened to browsers since sliced bread! (Yah, got that from him, too.)