44 replies to this topic

[The Simpleton]

Netscape Navigator was the leading browser in the market before Internet Explorer (IE) was forced onto people who bought the Windows operating system. If I'm not wrong, Bill Gates didn't believe in the potential of the internet at first and that's why Microsoft didn't release any mainstream products relating to the internet in the early days. However, when they saw how successful other companies became due to the net, they hurriedly put together the clumsy browser called IE, bundled it together with a new Windows version (I believe it was 95?) and threw it out into the open.

At that time Windows' popularity was only increasing, so it was only natural that people who bought the OS used the browser readily since they weren't required to download and install a new one. This is the secret behind IE's "success".

Anyway, that was a long time ago and now many people are ditching the browser for better ones. What about you? Are you one of those who still uses IE because it's ready-to-use or do you take the trouble t install a better browser?

[mahesh2k]

I stopped using IE few years ago. Don't know when exactly. These days i open IE only to check the CSS/Site design. Also when i go to cyber cafe while traveling i gotta use IE. Why ? Many Cyber cafe owners think that they know it all but don't install alternate browsers. They have no idea about Browser hijacker scripts for IE. And still we've to manage with such cafes who use IE 5/6. Some spywares are such horrible for IE5/6 that they restart Internet explorer and after penetration into browser they get into disk as well. Restarting explorer.exe most of the time. IE 8 did have option of sandbox browsing for security but is that working at all ? We're discovering security flaws every now and then from IE bandwagon. So no point in sticking with IE.

On my personal computer, i switched my default browser to firefox. Opera is also good option for default browser. But i can't live without some of the add-ons on firefox. So i have no option other than firefox as of now. But i'm comfortable with chrome, opera. I'll not use IE even if it is bundled with newer version of windows. So i'll go with installing better browser than that.

[dangerdan]

If IE wasn't bundled with Windows there is no way I would even consider it. As soon as I heard Google were releasing a browser (Chrome) I switched to it and haven't looked back. Sleek. Stylish. Secure.

[kobra500]

I don't use it anyway however, I disagree that microsoft should not be allowed to bundle them together, it's their product what they do with it is there problem, OSX give you safari, most linux distro's come with firefox, so you can't complain. Forcing an update to IE 6 would be good though, because the recent IE is quite good, though I preger firefox, and even that has problems.

[rpgsearcherz]

Hmm... I would choose FireFox over Internet Explorer except for the fact that FF seems to use Java. I've noticed the ram taken up by the browser is huge compared to that of IE.

I would much rather have a FF but without the Java. Something more lightweight.

My issue with IE is that most of the exploits on websites work on IE as that's what they're designed for...

TBH it's kind of like a Linux Vs. Windows question. Both have their positives, both have their negatives.

[SaraInWasteland]

I quit using Internet Explorer years ago when I discovered Firefox. I know everyone has their preferences - mine is Firefox. Basically, Internet Explorer takes up space on my computer and that's about it. I'm not sure why I haven't removed it yet. Either way, bundled or not, I don't use Internet Explorer.

[The Simpleton]

I think IE's days are numbered now. It has the most number of loopholes than any other browser and no matter how much MS says its safe, the damage is done now. And all those users lazy enough to switch to another browser better be careful because you never know how smart the cracker is, who's using the loopholes to gain access to your system!

[rpgsearcherz]

The Simpleton, on Sep 16 2009, 09:18 AM, said:

I think IE's days are numbered now. It has the most number of loopholes than any other browser and no matter how much MS says its safe, the damage is done now. And all those users lazy enough to switch to another browser better be careful because you never know how smart the cracker is, who's using the loopholes to gain access to your system!

The issue is, like I posted in another thread, cracking/hacking is a cat-and-mouse game. No matter how smart you are, someone is always smarter.

The reason there are more exploits/etc. on IE is because more people use it than anything else. There's no point in "cracking/hacking" something most people don't use anyways.

I'm sure if FireFox ever gets to become the more mainstream browser there will be a lot more exploits being hunted/found.

[TheDisturbedOne]

I don't use it even though it is bundled with Windows. In fact, if Internet Explorer wasn't bundled with Windows, I'd bet that it would go the same way that Netscape went. In fact, most people that I know that still use Internet Explorer only use it because they didn't know that anything else existed to browse the internet.

[shangshaptak]

No way man. IE is the worst browser out there. Ony reason it's the market leader because it's a bundled software.