63 replies to this topic

[Matt Kirby]

Just to throw in my 2C:

I use Firefox as my default browser, and have been for a while.

As far as security goes Firefox has also had it's share of faults and patches (The Register, Friday),  however Mozilla has a better reputation than Microsoft for fixing them.  Also (at the moment) people are targeting IE holes, AFAIK any Firefox holes that have been found so far are more "proof-of-concept" than targeted attacks against users.

So even with Firefox you still need to keep everything patched and up-to-date to protect yourself from nasties- and even then be wary of clicking dodgy looking things!

In terms of using secure sites (any beginning with "https://") Firefox uses the same level of encryption as IE, as both adhere to the internet standards on security.  It's worth testing with your bank though, the one that I use didn't directly support Firefox initialy, although it does now.

In terms of page-rendering and compliance Firefox is more standards compliant than IE and does render pages faster than IE - although you'd be hard pressed to really notice the difference.  For various reasons (IE only optimisations, sloppy coding, non standard HTML (IE is more forgiving of coding mistakes)) some sites won't work with Firefox - although these are getting less and less all the time.  I do my browsing in Firefox and open any broken pages directly in IE.

That brings me to one of the great benefits of Firefox - extensions.  There's a fantastic growing collection of add-ons that increase the usability of Firefox, so you can tailor it to your needs.  One of the ones I use adds a "View this page in IE" option to right-click menus- so if you do come across a site that refuses to work in Firefox you can throw it towards IE to deal with.  Another great one is a spell-checker which is useful for posting on MoDaCo!

I would heartily recommend Firefox - it's worth playing with.  After all it's free, and you'll still have IE to fall back on if Firefox is not for you.

[xenophobe]

Monolithix, on Feb 14 2005, 01:40, said:

This of course just my experience, but Mozilla takes longer to load than IE for me.  Also, on 1.5meg cable i notice little difference in the time it takes to render a page between the two.

Initial loading of the application takes longer, because IE is loaded on startup.  After Firefox is running, it loads and displays web sites faster.

Quote

And again with security, as long as you regularly patch your machine (this goes for ANY application) you will not have any security hole issues, i have not, ever, in years of using the internet.  In fact the largest security issue in recent times with browsers affected ALL browsers on ALL platforms.

WRONG!  

20 of 79 identified security advisories are currently unpatched... one from the middle of 2003 is identified as highly critical, the ActiveX Buffer Overflow, and STILL hasn't been addressed by Microsoft.  Merely PATCHING does not keep you up to date if Microsoft won't fix known security issues.

http://secunia.com/product/11/

[ShaneBoyd]

I still haven't been able to get Firefox up and running on my computer.  I finally quit trying to make it work.

[Monolithix]

xenophobe, on Mar 6 2005, 10:34, said:

Initial loading of the application takes longer, because IE is loaded on startup.  After Firefox is running, it loads and displays web sites faster.
WRONG! 

20 of 79 identified security advisories are currently unpatched... one from the middle of 2003 is identified as highly critical, the ActiveX Buffer Overflow, and STILL hasn't been addressed by Microsoft.  Merely PATCHING does not keep you up to date if Microsoft won't fix known security issues.

http://secunia.com/product/11/

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

http://www.microsoft...n/MS02-005.mspx or something else?

IE is NOT loaded at startup.  It does use components of Windows explorer, but so what, its still faster to load than Firefox.  Any system with 256-512mb memory is fine with this....  And again, page for page, i see no difference in speed with Firefox than i do with IE.  I notice more the fact that some sites are chewed up by Firefox...

[spacecowboy6982]

Tweaked Versions of Firefox available to download from here  8)

Really fast  :exclaim:

[Monolithix]

Difficult to tell as my 1.5Mb has just been upgraded to 3Mb cable () but tresting fairly heavy sites side by side (www.anandtech.com and a random article) IE and FF seem to be fairly equal in dl times...

[Matt Kirby]

I thought that Firefox was quicker - looks like I might be wrong, have a look at this page for a group of tests that someone has done.

It looks like IE is faster!

[Imacellphone]

it might be faster, but thats probably just bc everyone has their cookies and history saved on their IE.  even if you do transfer your cookies, there is a good chance it'll take a couple weeks to get all your sites down pat.  

but frankly, i'll take a slower firefox in exchange for all the extensions that come with it.  all in one mouse gestures....and autocopy unformatted text.  sooo nice for researching.

[bbb678]

I couldnt agree with you more . . .  the all in one mouse gestures is definitely worth the slowness

[Matt Kirby]

I'm sticking with Firefox as well- it's just interesting to see that someone has actually tested the browsers to check the speed, rather than percieved speed.

[5IB5]

Its probably already been said but:

I use firefox, I find it safer.

IE is too closely tied into you operating system, a security flaw in IE is potentially a hole in your OS. Purely by using different brands of browser & OS decreases the potential for viruses and hacks to affect your system.

Microsoft are a huge target for anyone will destructive intentions. They are so wide spread anyone can lay thier hands on a windows box and start figuring out what breaks  it.

The less non-standard your system the more complex it is for someone to launch an attack on you. When I say non standard I dont mean install any old crud, ensure you firewall and antivirus are reputable and upto date. Beyond that mix it up a bit, if your MS  through and through your just maximising your target size.

Plus update and patch regulary, the latest version of a piece of software may have holes in it but no-ones had the time to find or exploit them.

I'd rather have flawed new software than flawed old software.

Thats the way I see it anyway.

Browse Safe!

[Imacellphone]

does anyone else here use it?  if so, what other extensions do you all use?

[Monolithix]

A nice sentiment, and can help a little.  But, one of the main rules of security is:

Obscurity does not equal security!

5IB5, on Mar 28 2005, 01:26, said:

Its probably already been said but:

I use firefox, I find it safer.

IE is too closely tied into you operating system, a security flaw in IE is potentially a hole in your OS. Purely by using different brands of browser & OS decreases the potential for viruses and hacks to affect your system.

Microsoft are a huge target for anyone will destructive intentions. They are so wide spread anyone can lay thier hands on a windows box and start figuring out what breaks  it.

The less non-standard your system the more complex it is for someone to launch an attack on you. When I say non standard I dont mean install any old crud, ensure you firewall and antivirus are reputable and upto date. Beyond that mix it up a bit, if your MS  through and through your just maximising your target size.

Plus update and patch regulary, the latest version of a piece of software may have holes in it but no-ones had the time to find or exploit them.

I'd rather have flawed new software than flawed old software.

Thats the way I see it anyway.

Browse Safe!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[heebakutty]

in my humble opinion google Chrome is the best browser, when i was using chrome, my internet browsing  was running at a lighting speed, i even checked my speed
http://www.ip-detail...net-speed-test/
and it was normal 5Mbps too,  i was using firefox which chocked my browsing capabilities .
But the only one advantage with firefox is that it has more add ons, which makes things much easier

[Catly]

Iuse firefox for online shopping, online banking etc. Firefox can blockany popup and disable any virus and adware, spyware on webpage. According to myknowledge and experience firefox is much safer than IE browser when comes toonline transactions.

[DilshiyaJames]

I think Firefox is much better than any other browsers and it gives the best results.

[RohitK]

Firefox is safe and good but I use Google Chrome for internet surfing.

[KingSmoker]

I use Firefox and I think it’s the best and safest.

[rootlinux]

I think anything is better that IE.
Chrome is first choice then FireFox.

[SlinkyMonster]

I’m using Firefox v13.0 on windows 7 installed. I haven't had any issues with Firefox until now and it loads quicker than the others and a user friendly browser.