bruceb news

Here’s an article about Firefox addressing the misconception that Firefox is somehow “more secure” than Internet Explorer. It’s not. It has its own security problems – more than Internet Explorer – and it is under increasing attack. It’s also got bugs that have been driving me nuts. Don’t be fooled by the evangelists.

Firefox is an Internet browser, an alternative to Internet Explorer. It’s free, it brings sorely-needed competition to the browser market, and it’s supported by an enthusiastic community of developers and supporters. It has some mildly interesting features that Internet Explorer lacks (many people like tabbed pages in a single window instead of multiple browser windows), and it’s not from Microsoft, which is a strong endorsement for some people. […] continued

I like Macs. I think they’re fine computers that do some things pretty well. Personally, the much-vaunted Apple design choices leave me cold, so it’s hard for me to understand why people would pay a premium for an Apple computer, but I’m happy to respect those who feel differently.

I like Firefox. I haven’t had time to try it myself – I’m not all that interested, frankly – but all reports are that it’s a perfectly nice Internet browser based on reasonably solid technology.

What I don’t like is evangelists trying to boost their favorites with distortions and untruths. Here’s a handful of things you might not know from the media or the evangelists. […] continued

Perhaps you recall the furor a few weeks ago when a couple of new holes were discovered in Internet Explorer, causing security experts to squeal in dismay about its weaknesses. A few experts got their name in the news by recommending that consumers use an alternative to IE like Opera or Mozilla. Here’s my post about the hubbub on June 30.

Windows XP Service Pack 2 makes most of those criticisms moot – I don’t see anyone seriously suggesting that IE is less secure than Opera or Mozilla right now. But putting that aside – what’s the experience like for someone switching to one of the other programs? […] continued

The Press Democrat printed an alarming article today under an even more alarming headline: “Government suggests Web users avoid Internet Explorer.” The article was picked up from Newsday.

Before I comment on the article, you must understand there are legitimate reasons to be paranoid and cautious online. Many bad things are going on, and you have more responsibility to avoid them than ever before. You simply may not click freely or you will pay nasty consequences. Here’s my summary of the Rules for Safe Computing – ignore them at your peril!

Despite the alarming article, nothing has fundamentally changed in the world that requires you to drop Internet Explorer. […] continued

Microsoft gets irritable when anybody else dominates anything related to technology, so it’s no surprise that it is planning an assault on Google. The first bullet was rolled out today – the MSN toolbar for Internet Explorer, similar in appearance and functionality to the Google toolbar. (Even the download page looks similar.) Here’s an article about the new MSN Toolbar.

In addition to quick searches, the MSN toolbar offers one-click access to MSN Hotmail, MSN Messenger, and includes a pop-up blocker. Microsoft promises more integration with MSN services in the future.

My Google toolbar is invaluable to me – including the underrated “Autofill” button that automatically fills in onscreen forms with name and address information. […] continued

For several months, the most frequent complaint from my clients concerns programs surreptitiously installed on their computers that have hijacked their browser home page, taken over the browser’s search functions, or that are displaying incessant popup windows.

I encourage you to visit the web sites linked below and read the background information about adware, spyware, and browser hijacking. It will make you smarter about how these things got onto your computer, and it will make you want to throw the people doing this to us into the burning pits of hell.

I’m going to suggest a new rule of paranoid computing, made necessary by this onslaught. […] continued

Not long ago the conflict between Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator was covered in the newspapers, filled courtrooms, and inspired heated arguments. Now there’s a lengthy lull. Microsoft announced that Internet Explorer will not be significantly updated or changed until the next version of Windows, several years away. Other browsers – e.g., Mozilla and Opera – are either moving slowly themselves or don’t offer compelling reasons to motivate Windows users to switch from IE. Apple’s new Safari browser has a couple of modestly interesting features, but not enough to raise very many eyebrows – and of course it only runs on Macs. […] continued

The Google toolbar is one of the only utilities I allow on my computers. It’s so handy that I’m willing to let it take up a bit of valuable screen real estate.

Google will be announcing a new version of the toolbar, with one extraordinary feature: a built-in free popup blocker. That’s bad news for the legitimate popup blocking programs (one well-reviewed program is IHatePopups, a ten dollar program from the same company that makes the wonderful IHateSpam). But perhaps it will keep people from installing the evil Earthlink Total Access package (see below).

Here’s an article about the new Google toolbar, and here’s where you can download a preview version if you want to experiment before Google declares that it’s ready for an official release. […] continued

Here’s a little feature of Internet Explorer that might come in handy – an easy way to save your list of Internet Favorites. If you use the Favorites list very often, it would probably be a pain to reconstruct it if your system crashes or you buy a new computer.

In Windows XP or Internet Explorer 6, click on File / Import and Export / Export Favorites. You’ll create a simple file named bookmark.htm that lists all the items on your Favorites list. You can import that file and recreate the Favorites list on any other computer. Slick, eh?

There’s another update for Internet Explorer versions 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0, to fix a slew of vulnerabilities that have come to light recently. Here’s an article with details. Everybody and their brother are trying to find ways to break Microsoft products. Microsoft has issued quite a series of security updates during the last few months, so columnists and competitors and Microsoft-bashers have had lots of opportunities to criticize Microsoft for the weaknesses in its software. Personally, I don’t think there’s any complex software on the market or in the foreseeable future that could stand up any better to the kind of concerted attacks now being leveled on Microsoft software – and Microsoft has responded reasonably promptly to each new problem when it’s been brought to their attention. […] continued