Re: Alternative browsers -- PCTECH

On Wed, 7 Jul 2004 18:08:58 -0400, Dan Bale <dbale@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Multi-faceted post:
> 
> 1) Does the mere presence of IE make it "hazardous" or do you actually have
> to use it to be vulnerable?
Yes and no... Most of these new viruses require you to hit a website.
If you don't use it for web browsing, you should be fine.

> 
> 2) Is anyone using Firefox?  I'm wondering how stable it is (it's beta) and
> how soon it will shed the beta tag.
Yes, I have been using it since 0.4 or 0.5. It is very stable and I
use it all the time. Only switching to IE when I have to. It is going
to 1.0 in mid-September according to Asa on his blog
(http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/005924.html). Besides one
difference between open source betas and regular betas is in
open-source, when a new version comes out, it is considered stable.
Especially since you are running Win9x, you should use FireFox or
Mozilla. That way you can use the latest web technologies.

> 
> 3) Does Firefox have an email client (yet)?
Yes, as mentioned before ThunderBird, it is also beta, but very
stable. I run it at home and at times I have it running for days at a
time.

> 
> 4) If an email client is important to me, should I hold off on Firefox and
> use the latest Mozilla (which has an email client)?  If you're using
> Firefox, what email client are you using?  (free is good!)
Start using it now. If you find any bugs report them right away.

> 
> 5) Don't laugh, but I just upgraded my Win95 box to Win98SE last week.  The
> box is only 233MHz & 128MB ram, so my choices are very limited.  The Win95
> was originally loaded back in '97 over a Win3.11 install, and I've never
> done a scratch install until I did the Win98SE upgrade last week.  All of a
> sudden my PC is a lot faster!  Anyway, it seems as though I was somewhat
> protected by using Win95 because all of the vulnerabilities that were being
> exploited were "newer" technology that MS added in after Win95, i.e. the
> Sasser virus only affected XP (& 2000?), so my trusty Win95 box was largely
> unaffected.  I am connected to the internet via cable with a Gigafast
> router/firewall, and I use Norton AV and Spybot.  Is it a fair question to
> ask whether I am in good shape?
I don't care if you are running a top of the line computer, always,
ALWAYS, run and up-to-date Anti-Virus. Spybot, yes, you can still get
spyware. You don't really need a firewall since you are behind one.
But you should be set there.


One note, both Firefox and Thunderbird are not "full-featured". You
can usually find a plug-in for the additional features you are looking
for. One I would recommend installing is mouse gestures. Gestures are
awesome and I would never give them up!

-- 
Mike Wills
iSeries Programmer/Lawson Administrator
koldark@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.koldark.net