Firefox Problems

I've used IE up until about 6-7 months ago. Up until then, I would have to run spybot about every three days and get rid of 87-100 spyware items....Now with Firefox, and the settings I have on it, I have been spyware free for about 4 months. I did have to use IE for my Launchcast account to see my videos, then after that, 33 spyware items found. I have had nothing but good luck with Firefox, I just can't get the plug in and extensions to allow me to use my Launchcast account, even with the extension designed to do so, must keep tweaking I guess. *** Edited 11/8/2005 11:37:43 PM UTC by Wild Willy***

I've used IE since I got online (1997).

To this day neither Spybot nor Adaware have found an actual instance of spyware on any of my PC's that I remember. Cookies? Yes, but as we all know, a majority of the time cookies aren't the evil they're played off to be and they're often necessary for useful, productive browsing.

Then there's things that these progs define as 'spyware' that I want on my system (the Alexa toolbar comes to mind).

If a service is putting 33 pieces of spyware on your PC, it is not a reputable service to be dealing with. More than likely this is a case of the spyware/cookie confusion and also more than likely all 33 did not come from one source.

In fact, I can pretty much guarantee it. :)

The IE thing to me, seems to be a classic case of people blaming the tools they use rather than the common sense they use mixed with a healthy dose of paranoia with few exceptions.

*** Edited 11/9/2005 12:03:56 AM UTC by Lord Gonchar***

If everyone would only update there browsers once and a while they wouldn't have these problems. I know people that don't even know what updating the browser means.

A web browser or email client should never allow someone to install software automatically, just by previewing an email, or browsing to a web page. I shoudn't have to be a security expert just to check my email. That said, I use a webmail client, don't run as administrator to keep these things from happening to me.

IE does a number of things outside of security wrong. No transparent background .png files, you have to hack around a number of css bugs, and it renders pages much slower than Firefox, Safari or Opera.

There have already been exploits with Firefox that have been taken advantage of. I believe an update fixed at least one.

It's just the nature of the beast. Firefox will see issues similar to IE once the marketshare becomes comparable (and worth exploiting).

The other things are indeed issues, but relatively minor ones for the average end-user. I doubt any site is rendered even close to useless based on the incorrect way IE handles it.

I'd like to see the numbers on the rendering thing, because while I don't doubt it's 100% true, I also suspect that for the average web page it amounts to fractions of a second. The kind of thing that sounds good on paper but has little to no real world implications.

I know it all sounds like excuses and it is, but I think there's an awful lot of people switching over to Firefox because it's so 'in' right now, not because they legitimately had an issue with IE.

Don't get me wrong, use what works for you. Who can fault that logic?

You're right, Gonch.. Wild Willy's "spyware" mess is probably most (if not all) cookies, which are generally productive (i.e. "this user saw that ad 5 times, don't show it anymore")

The thing I will give Firefox is that by default, its settings are a lot more strict with regards to cookies being allowed, etc. This would logically follow why the "reduction" in "spyware" when Wild Willy changed over to firefox.

It's the whole "perceived value" thing (oh.. wait.. wrong thread).. I mean "perceived threat" thing. If you think cookies are bad, and let paranoia get the better of you, then perhaps Firefox is for you just simply for peace of mind. In the meantime, I'll go surfing with my patched, zonealarm & virusscanner - protected internet explorer, and stay away from sites that are shady(www.winyourheartsdesireforfreeeventhoughitcoststhousandsofdollars.com)Oh yeah, and porn/hacks/illegal mp3s. That's where a good portion of the baddies come from.

I just like Firefox better than IE, Opera better than Firefox. It's all prefrence, and it get's annoying when people start saying "this one is right for you!" They all have their pros and cons. The main flaw with IE was ActiveX and it's deep ties into the OS, but as long as you're not an idiot, you'll be fine. I just prefer the features, amount of memory, and quick startup times of Opera. And when it crashes, it stats up again and takes you right back to the page you were on. It's the little things that I enjoy about Opera. :)

There are 2 main reasons I use Firefox on Windows.

The first is that Firefox is not tied into the Operating System like Internet Explorer is, and thus inherently has less of a security 'risk'.

Secondly, all my settings are stored in one directory, which makes portability to another machine, or reconfiguring after a reinstall, easy. With IE I had to save part of the registry as a file (Security zones, with sites added to different zones, etc) and it was a pain the butt.

Yes, Most of my spyware were cookies, but once in a while with IE it was registry entries. I have not had any spyware registry entries with firefox.

I too have a problem logging in with FireFox. I've cleared my cookies, chache, and have used three differnt anti-spyware programs to scan for spware. My computer is completly clean. This has been going on for a few weeks or so.

I just downloaded Firefox and like it a lot better than IE. So far I have had no problems on this site or any other. In fact some web sites now load faster.