France and Germany warn against Internet Exlporer

[VectraMan]

IE8 is secured against those particular exploits in its default configuration

Which is all you need to know. How secure would Firefox v1.0 be today? Comparing an up to date Firefox with a 9 year old version of IE isn't really fair. Your instructions for installing Firefox are much the same as installing IE8, except with IE8, users can keep using the internet icon they're used to. I wonder how many people have had Firefox installed by "expert" friends or relatives, but continue to use the internet with the IE icon they're used to? Ordinary people don't care about browsers, they just want to "see" the internet.

I think half the problem is that the resistance to Vista means a lot of people still running XP, and haven't changed from the default installed IE6.

[DiscoStu]

ClientCo have just had us all install Firefox

[Andy2]

I installed forefox but when I double click on the shortcut to launch it it takes ages to come up while internet explorer starts instantly
why is that ?

[threaded]

I installed forefox but when I double click on the shortcut to launch it it takes ages to come up while internet explorer starts instantly
why is that ?

And you manage to obtain gainful employment as a contractor in IT?

[VectraMan]

I installed forefox but when I double click on the shortcut to launch it it takes ages to come up while internet explorer starts instantly
why is that ?

It's because Firefox is bloatware. Or perhaps that Windows already has most of the IE components loaded, although that doesn't explain why Chrome is so fast at start up.

That's the main reason why I still use IE. I gave Firefox a try when it came out, but I found I'd get bored waiting for it to start and click on IE and use that instead.

[Andy2]

And you manage to obtain gainful employment as a contractor in IT?

yes I am doing very well , thank you
The point is why use a browser which takes forever to start.
IE may have bugs but for a quick browse on the net it is faster.
I use firefox only to login to banking sites.

[DiscoStu]

It's because Firefox is bloatware. Or perhaps that Windows already has most of the IE components loaded, although that doesn't explain why Chrome is so fast at start up.

That's the main reason why I still use IE. I gave Firefox a try when it came out, but I found I'd get bored waiting for it to start and click on IE and use that instead.

Firefox is anything but bloatware. The entire installer is about 7mb in size!

It's improved lots since it was first released, I'd suggest giving it another try. It's worth it for the addons alone.

[Pogle]

Get a life Nick the Geek!

Hey - don't dis the Fitz, I find him very informative and occasionally am in awe at his knowledge

[d000hg]

Still, you're correct; if people are running up-to-date installations of certain recent Microsoft operating systems then installing IE8 would be the best option for them.

Perhaps you can provide a five-step guide on how to do so, suitable for explaining over the phone to non-tech savvy individuals?

Hmm. I'm pretty sure I got IE8 through Windows update. Which users should have on.

I might be wrong, possibly IE8 required more explicit action than "OK" But it was hardly difficult.