Happy Belated Birthday Firefox

I missed my favorite browser, Mozilla Firefox’s fifth birthday by one day. I hope it forgives me.

Firefox isn’t perfect, but what is? I’ve been using it for probably 4.5 years because it’s open source, it has tons of fun plug-ins, it doesn’t share my user-data, and it is generally stable (although it certainly has it’s quirks and problems).

Firefox is a model of what the Internet should be, not what media moguls, record producers, and other proponents of dying business models want to make it.

Bureaucracies and Web Browsers

Large bureaucracies seem to have difficulty with the web browser. Bureaucracies frequently pick poor web browsers (I’m looking at you Internet Explorer), keep the bad browser well past its expiration date, and then don’t allow their employees to download better, modern browser such as Firefox, Chrome, and Opera.

I’ve put some thought into why this is the case, and here is what I’ve come up with (please add to the list if you can think of any I left out):

• The people at the top don’t recognize a difference between browsers – “It’s all Interweb to me.” This isn’t malicious, it’s more a byproduct of ignorance.
• Fear of downloads – “Letting employees download and install programs on their own will trigger the end of the world.”
• Custom systems – Large bureaucratic organizations love proprietary, custom systems. “Screw that open source thing, I want something that is unique. Who cares if it has never been tested, is only compatible with the current web browser (planning for the future is for suckers), and will be buggy as hell… I won’t be the one using it.”
• “It’s free? It must be a virus or really crappy.”
• The CIO drank the Microsoft Kool Aid, then forced everyone else to do the same… Just as that evil dude from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom forced Indy to drink the blood of Kali Ma.

• Too few people (especially significant people in the hierarchy) speak up and make web browser selection an issue.

While I’m not a fan of Internet Explorer 7 or 8, I can kind of accept their use. What is inexcusable is the roughly 15% of web browsing being done with Internet Explorer 6; an eight year-old browser. IE6 usage is propelled largely by corporations that cling to it for a whole lot of poor reasons.

The reasons to upgrade from IE6 are that it is insecure, slow, and it doesn’t conform to current web browser standards. That last issue makes life a living hell on web developers for no good reason who have to specifically code and test for IE6 compatibility.

The good news is that IE6 usage is down roughly 10% from last year, and significant web sites are finally saying “no” to IE6 compatibility. Today, YouTube seems to have stopped supporting the decrepit browser. Music to my ears.

In other browser news, a US State Department employee named Jim Finkle became my hero when his question prompted this exchange with Secretary of State Clinton during a town hall meeting:

MS. GREENBERG: Okay. Our next question comes from Jim Finkle:

Can you please let the staff use an alternative web browser called Firefox? I just – (applause) – I just moved to the State Department from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and was surprised that State doesn’t use this browser. It was approved for the entire intelligence community, so I don’t understand why State can’t use it. It’s a much safer program. Thank you. (Applause.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, apparently, there’s a lot of support for this suggestion. (Laughter.) I don’t know the answer. Pat, do you know the answer? (Laughter.)

UNDER SECRETARY KENNEDY: The answer is at the moment, it’s an expense question. We can -

QUESTION: It’s free. (Laughter.) (BoingBoing)

It’s the little things in life… and that one put a big smile on this geek’s face.

The Internet is critical for so much of our daily work. As a consequence, the window through which we view the online world is important. Don’t settle for a second or third rate browser.

Practice safe computing with a modern browser.

Microsoft Ads Hit Rock Bottom

At this point, there is no reason to continue railing on Microsoft for it’s ads or buggy software. Quite frankly, I do not believe that they can do anything correctly, with the exception making good mice and keyboards.

• The Xbox 360 (my console of choice) is so freaking buggy that the company has blown millions and millions of dollars on replacing broken systems (mine included).
• Their public image sucks.
• Their software is bloated, buggy, and all too often ignores the user experience.
• Their advertisements are a disaster.

This is the latest and then quickly killed Microsoft ad for Internet Explorer 8.

(It is repulsive… you might not want to watch it)

Look… everyone knows what “private mode” is for. Additionally, it isn’t a unique selling feature because every other current browser offers the exact same thing (Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, & Google Chrome), so why bother making an issue of it?

Microsoft has so much money that if it had a good product that was worth selling, someone would be able to make an ok advertisement for it… but they don’t… except for their mice and keyboards (which they don’t advertise).

And then there is this browser comparison chart that Microsoft pushed out of its rear:

If it isn’t obvious, this is a big lie.

Practice safe computing by using Firefox, Safari, or Chrome.

Microsoft’s Shady Firefox Extension

A few month ago, Microsoft released a .NET Framework update that silently added an extension to Mozilla Firefox (If the user had Firefox installed).

In addition to installing the as advertised updates to the .NET Framework, it also installed the extension in Firefox without warning, and opened the independent browser up to some of the vulnerabilities of Internet Explorer.

This sucks.

I always encourage installing critical updates to software because they are necessary for security purposes. While .NET updates are not “critical,” they should not push add-ons for non-Microsoft software; especially without proper warning.

People who choose to use Firefox are generally not big fans of Microsoft’s browser for a reason.

The bright side is that the Microsoft add-on is incomparable with the Firefox 3.5b4, so if you want to rid your browser of Microsoft, upgrading to that version or just disabling the add-on are your best bets. Trying to delete the add-on requires editing your registry which isn’t worth the hassle in this particular case.

Shattering the Apple Fortress Myth in Seconds

I have two Macs, but I despise the myth that Apple has created an impenetrable and completely secure system. The “it just works” crowd drives me up the wall because while I like Macs and they are considerably more safe and stable than their Windows-based counterparts, they are far from perfect.

Yesterday at the CanSecWest Pwn2Own 2009 in Vancouver, Charlie Miller entered a Apple Safari hacking contest that began at 3:15 pm and won it before the clock struck 3:16. He fed the Mac a link and once it was clicked, he took control of the target machine. Simple as that.

Charlie won $10,000 and the Mac that he conquered. 

A patch will be issued at some-point in the future to remedy the weakness. 

For the record, later at the same contest, someone who goes by “Nils” defeated Microsoft’s future browser, Internet Explorer 8 (which hasn’t left Beta) and Mozilla’s Firefox.

The lesson to take away from this is that no one should assume that a platform is unbreakable. If you own a Mac and have developed a case of Apple arrogance, give yourself a reality check. That arrogance is putting your computer and your data at risk.

Always install security patches and practice safe computing.

Microrant

Meet the Geek Whisperer’s latest contributor, Jason, and enjoy his first post:
* * * * *

I don’t know how many of you out there have tried a Microsoft program in the past five years, but has anybody noticed that they are the opposite of user friendly.  Seriously, with the exception of Internet Explorer, which at this point is pretty much just an out of date and unsecured rip off of Firefox, Microsoft programs are getting clunky.

Let’s start with Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003 (that’s the big suite that contains Word, Excel and Powerpoint).  These two programs are excellent. Easy to use interface and everything just seems to flow.  And then Microsoft releases this garbage:

 

For those of you who don’t recognize this picture, that’s Windows Vista and the annoying pop-up that says, “Hey you, Stop!  This might be bad for your computer or it might not be bad at all. I’m not sure even though you clicked OK ten times. So please click ‘Continue’ or ‘Cancel’ one more time.”  I mean really, does it need to be there?  The idea is great – Mac has been doing it for years.  But Microsoft couldn’t get it work correctly.

Then Microsoft decided to release Microsoft Office 2007, cherry on top of Windows Vista.

Let me just say that after ten years, when an industry has a standard file format that works with everything (.doc, .ppt, and .xls among others) – releasing something brand new (.docx, .pptx, .xlsx among others) that doesn’t work with anything before was a really bad idea.  The new file formats are not backwards compatible and are more of a pain in the butt than they are worth. And That’s the first big problem with Microsoft Office 2007 - the new interface is even worse.  Why – if the toolbar at the top of the screen that has been there since the very first version of Windows works and is the same toolbar that everyone has gotten used to over the past 20 years would you replace it?  And why would you replace it with some funky “ribbon” that is nothing like and in no way relates to what everyone is used to? Why completely change something that works just fine and replace it with something flashy and clunky? 

And lastly, and most importantly – why would you not keep the previous toolbar option available so users of previous versions can use them if they so choose?  I HAVE NO IDEA!  But I do have a suggestion for all of you out there – skip this Office, just like you should be skipping Windows Vista and deal with what you’ve got.

But wait – there’s more – there’s the new Windows 7 – but I’m going to save that for another day.

Private Time with Your Computer

“Private Browsing” was first induced on Apple’s Safari browser quite a few years ago. When activated by a user, private browsing prevents your web browser from retaining and cacheing information. Typically when you surf the Internet, your browser saves a lot of information including:

• History – a list of pages you have visited.
• Cookies – text files that are sent to your computer via your browser, from the server of the web site you are using. These can be sent for purposes such as authenticating your computer or for tracking your behavior. They are not bugs, malware, worms, or viruses, contrary to popular belief. 
• Temp files & other cached items - Which could be anything from text to images, to code. It is possible for evil programs to hide in some of these. 

Basically, private browsing stops your computer from recording your history, cacheing, saving cookies, or temp files. For all intents and purposes, if someone were to look at your browsing history, it would appear that you did not go anywhere.

You should be aware of private browsing because it is about to become a ubiquitous feature for web browser. Some form of private browsing is already part of Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and the latest beta of Mozilla Firefox. It will also be a feature in Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.

*Private Browsing is not a default. You must turn it on each time you begin a browsing session.

*This is the most important part about private browsing, and the reason I wrote this post…

It will not protect your computer from viruses, malware, worms, or other forms of evil code!!!

This is crucial to understand because porn and other illicit sites that you may not want other people seeing you visit are among the most frequent carriers of viruses, malware, and worms.

 

Some other names for private browsing are:

• Incognito (Google Chrome)
• Stealth mode (the alleged final name for Mozilla Firefox)
• InPrivate (Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 )
• Porn mode (because that’s what it’s used for)
• Privacy mode

This mode of browsing does have other uses than watching illicit material. It can be good to enable when checking your email on someone else’s computer. It might also come in handy if you are shopping for a gift for a special someone who uses your computer often. It is also a favorite of privacy freaks, regardless of what they are browsing. Some people just don’t like having a record of their actions.

Practice safe computing, even in porn mode.

Please Just Switch to Firefox

Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 has been available for download for a couple of weeks. Please download it. If you are browsing the Internet with any version of Internet Explorer (The big blue “e”) you are putting yourself at unnecessary risk, with no benefit.

 

Firefox > Internet Explorer

Why is that?

Firefox is much faster than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 and is a touch faster than Google’s Chrome. However, it has more functionality than Chrome, and is infinitely more secure and bug resistant than Internet Explorer.

Basically, there is no reason for you to use another browser. Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 has what you are looking for… it even has “Private Browsing,” AKA “porn mode” (Stay tuned for more on porn mode tomorrow).

Seriously, go download Firefox 3.1 Beta 2, it is PC, Mac, and Linux compatible.

Using a strong browser is a good way to practice safe computing.