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Anonymous

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Yes I use Firefox too,much better browser with a lot less hassle, never did trust IE..........
 

chebby

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Gerrardasnails:I don't think you needed to use the opening line - I would say that 99% of people do and will still be using IE for the next 10 years.

28.8 percent of browser users in Europe use Firefox....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_adoption_of_Mozilla_Firefox

Globally the Firefox share is more like 20 percent and still growing strongly..(it was about 17 percent in 1st quarter 2008)..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers

Not sure where you got '99%' from for IE usage. I work for an American corporation employing 270,000 people worldwide (and usually extremely conservative about the software it permits for employee use) and they have stipulated Firefox should be used instead of IE for over 2 years now for security reasons.
 

JoelSim

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fatboyslimfast:I'm a firefox... (to paraphrase MS's annoying advert...)

Yeah, what's that all about, it sats to me that they are very worried about Apple. And not much more.
 

fatboyslimfast

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Pretty much.

I have to support IE, but am desperately trying to convince the powers that be to roll out FF... I just get the idea that MS don't really give a t055 about things like this...
 

Gerrardasnails

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chebby:Gerrardasnails:I don't think you needed to use the opening line - I would say that 99% of people do and will still be using IE for the next 10 years.

28.8 percent of browser users in Europe use Firefox....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_adoption_of_Mozilla_Firefox

Globally the Firefox share is more like 20 percent and still growing strongly..(it was about 17 percent in 1st quarter 2008)..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers

Not sure where you got '99%' from for IE usage. I work for an American corporation employing 270,000 people worldwide (and usually extremely conservative about the software it permits for employee use) and they have stipulated Firefox should be used instead of IE for over 2 years now for security reasons.

Fair enough. I got that figure from the top of my ignorant head. I have used Safari before but will now try Firefox as well to see what all the fuss is about.
 

RodhasGibson

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Hi Guys, Must admit I am a little worried at the moment, but my computer know-how is very limited. We have two laptops at home, which are used for banking,shopping,browsing,Emailing and storing photos/music.We both use google or windows media to do most of this. Is this a wise move or have you guys got some good safe advice for me.oh we have norton 360 2009 installed which seems to be working fine at present. Any expert advice very welcome thanks.
 

John Duncan

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It's just a browser. On balance I think Firefox is probably a better (Windows) browser than IE, particularly in it's latest incarnation (though that's more Vista's fault than IE per se).

But Safari is the coolest of the lot (if only they'd let you change it's Google search bar to .co.uk)...
 

John Duncan

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RodhasGibson:Thanks John and Joel forgot to mention both laptops came with Vista Home Premium installed is this a help or hindrance in your oppinion thanks.

Don't get me onto whether Vista is a help or a hindrance - as a user interface specialist, I'll be here all day.

But if I could only use one browser, it would be Firefox. It's free, it's reliable, and it is secure more of the time than any other - ie updates are created much more quickly than for IE, which suffers from the MS "turning an oil tanker" issue somewhat. Firefox made a big thing of being subject to security exploit loopholes for 9 days in 2006, while IE was subject to them for 250 days or something, which gives you an idea of their relative safety levels.
 

RodhasGibson

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Sorry John methinks I should have gone for apple, damn it. Now if I download firefox, does that mean altering our Email addresses as well? If so would they be .co.uk or .com as we have at present.cheers btw glad the builders did a top job. Any snagging still to do?
 

professorhat

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Although just to put your mind at rest slightly, if you are using the firewall in Norton or Windows as advised, you would have been protected from most of the security flaws in Windows / IE. This doesn't mean you can be complacent about it (e.g if you don't have one, an internet router with a built in firewall would also be a good recommendation), but there is a lot of scare-mongering about Windows / IE. Using Firefox is a good idea, but if you prefer IE and have the relevant security products in place (i.e. anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewalls etc.) in place, you should be fine. The biggest threats normally come through emails or dodgy websites - just ensure you don't open any emails you're not sure of and avoid browsing in the, shall we say, seedier corners of the internet. Norton 360 was rated highly by PC Pro last year by the way.
 

John Duncan

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RodhasGibson:Sorry John methinks I should have gone for apple, damn it. Now if I download firefox, does that mean altering our Email addresses as well? If so would they be .co.uk or .com as we have at present.cheers btw glad the builders did a top job. Any snagging still to do?

No, you don't have to change anything. Just install it, and when you first run it it'll ask you if you want to make it your default browser. Your mail client (presumably you're using MS Mail, or do you only use your internet provider's web mail?) should just stay as it is.

And no, the work is all done - the important bits of the stereo are back, though the turntable has still to come - this is dependent on me being able to afford to have them come back and do full built-in shelving in the New Year (not looking good currently)......
 

RodhasGibson

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Hi Prof, nice to hear from you, yep the norton version I have has all the things like anti-phishing, anti-virus anti spyware etc cost was close to £50 but I paid £24.99 for it.[pc world] does up to 3 laptops.I use google for my Email provider and 3G mobile broadband [have 5bar signal strength here] which is lucky I think. regards Rod
 

John Duncan

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As for anti-virus software, i got completely sick of Norton taking over my life and charging me through the nose for the privilege, so changed to AVG's free version. Kaspersky is also highly regarded, though I can't speak for it.
 

RodhasGibson

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Hi John, Thanks for your help really appreciate it, I"m using Google Mail and am connected to 3G Mobile Broadband. I have google set as my home page so if I go Firefox can I just add it to my favourites list or make Firefox my home page, which is preferable from your point of view. Good to see your nearly back to normality on the home front. cheers Rod
 

JoelSim

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JohnDuncan:It's just a browser. On balance I think Firefox is probably a better (Windows) browser than IE, particularly in it's latest incarnation (though that's more Vista's fault than IE per se). But Safari is the coolest of the lot (if only they'd let you change it's Google search bar to .co.uk)...

There is that John. Annoying when it keeps bringing up US retailers! I've saved google.co.uk as a bookmark so it's ok ish
 

russ74

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professorhat:Although just to put your mind at rest slightly, if you are using the firewall in Norton or Windows as advised, you would have been protected from most of the security flaws in Windows / IE. This doesn't mean you can be complacent about it (e.g if you don't have one, an internet router with a built in firewall would also be a good recommendation), but there is a lot of scare-mongering about Windows / IE. Using Firefox is a good idea, but if you prefer IE and have the relevant security products in place (i.e. anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewalls etc.) in place, you should be fine. The biggest threats normally come through emails or dodgy websites - just ensure you don't open any emails you're not sure of and avoid browsing in the, shall we say, seedier corners of the internet. Norton 360 was rated highly by PC Pro last year by the way.

I agree. As long as you have a good software firewall, spyware and AV installed with real time scanners you should be fine. Luckily you can get them free. I use Antivir AV, Sunbelt Personal Firewall & a number of antispyware programs, though the real time scanner is covered by windows defender. Plus don't forget to run them. Running CCleaner every few days will also help. On the browser front I primarily use firefox because of it's add ons but also use IE 7 and Opera. All have their uses, though this forums section never renders properly in opera. Above all though sensible browsing is advisable, leave the naughty sites alone.Or buy a Mac or install one of the many linux distributions (que lots of hair pulling, shouting and long searches on forums) and be virus and spyware free.
 

John Duncan

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JoelSim:
JohnDuncan:It's just a browser. On balance I think Firefox is probably a better (Windows) browser than IE, particularly in it's latest incarnation (though that's more Vista's fault than IE per se). But Safari is the coolest of the lot (if only they'd let you change it's Google search bar to .co.uk)...

There is that John. Annoying when it keeps bringing up US retailers! I've saved google.co.uk as a bookmark so it's ok ish

Yeah that's what I've done (as well as it being home page), but is a major omission - I think there's an under-the-covers hack but it should just be configurable. I put it in Apple's suggestion box.........
 

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