Reply to: France and Germany warn against Internet Exlporer

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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?

[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 ?

[DiscoStu]

ClientCo have just had us all install Firefox

[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.

[Tarquin Farquhar]

A Google search for a whole range of relevant terms, such as might be used by normal people, should immediately direct me to a document hosted at microsoft.com that explains how to protect oneself against these exploits in language even normal people can understand. It doesn't.

Yup. Simple as that.

[NickFitz]

<Zealotry/>

Installing IE8 would be pretty easy too. Even The Register aren't laying into IE, so it can't be that bad...

Explaining the crucial aspects of a serious problem, with a link to the information people need and instructions on how to find the place that MS have (unwittingly) hidden it, doesn't strike me as "zealotry"; pointing out that most people wouldn't know how to follow MS's directions and suggesting an alternative approach that will protect them immediately is merely my attempt to be helpful, whilst also pointing out how utterly useless MS are at coping with this kind of thing.

A Google search for a whole range of relevant terms, such as might be used by normal people, should immediately direct me to a document hosted at microsoft.com that explains how to protect oneself against these exploits in language even normal people can understand. It doesn't. Furthermore, it doesn't because there is no such document. All MS have put up is a document that hides advice by default and is tricky to follow even for experienced geeks. (It also ranks poorly in search results - they own a search engine and they can't even manage basic SEO.)

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?

[d000hg]

<Zealotry>

Installing IE8 would be pretty easy too. Even The Register aren't laying into IE, so it can't be that bad...

We've said it before, and given the particulars of this vulnerability, we'll say it again: security measures like DEP and ASLR, or address space layout randomization, matter. As ugly as this vulnerability is - to say nothing of its ability to remain undetected for nine years - the fact that Windows 7 and IE 8 were able to withstand the "highly sophisticated" attacks that felled Google is testament that Microsoft is making significant progress.

[RichardCranium]

The new people are more discreet and know how to administer Rohypnol, which makes things a bit more peaceful

FTFY

[NickFitz]

It would have been really funny if that had been written by that Russian bloke that's built a huge search thingie, you know, the bloke who works all weekend and the highlight of his life is to tell us what he had for lunch. Especially since it is targeted at one of the few single people on here, someone who is out pubbing and clubbing it until the sun comes up, having adventures with brawls, drunks, drug-pushers, Police, vandals and all manner of ne'er-do-wells.

... and that's just the downstairs neighbours

Though not since the kidnap/torture trial. The new people are all nice and respectable, which makes things a bit more peaceful

[RichardCranium]

Get a life Nick the Geek!

It would have been really funny if that had been written by that Russian bloke that's built a huge search thingie, you know, the bloke who works all weekend and the highlight of his life is to tell us what he had for lunch. Especially since it is targeted at one of the few single people on here, someone who is out pubbing and clubbing it until the sun comes up, having adventures with brawls, drunks, drug-pushers, Police, vandals and all manner of ne'er-do-wells.