Opera/Mozilla

[lee16]

hi,
i have only ever used IE and have heared that there are some alternitives that are "safer" such as Opera/Mozilla.

so,

1) Is it "safer" to  change from IE to another browser?

2) If i did change would i still be able to use Windows update?

3) Where can i get these other browsers from

4) Is there anything else i need to no on this subject.

--lee

[.: Mac :.]

1) yes
2) yes
3) www.mozilla.org  or  www.opera.com
4) not that I know of

[fhn]

Download the Zip version of Firefox 0.9.  Extract FF and click on the FF icon.  This will automatically launch FF.  No need to install the FF program.  To remove the program, just delete the Firefox-win32.0.9 folder.  Also search the hard drive for the Mozilla and Talkback folders and delete them.

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/

F.

[Hawk]

2) If i did change would i still be able to use Windows update?

Windows update only works with IE...  :'(

[lee16]

Ok MacLover2000 has told me i can use windows update if i change my browser and Hawk has told me it only works with IE, are u sure?

Another thing i forgot to ask, does Opera/Mozilla have its own update system like IE?

--lee

[Eddy]

Both are right about the windows update.

To update from the website (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com) you need a browser with ActiveX, currently that is only IE as far as I know.

But windows has a build in update option. That one can always be used if you don't want/need to do it from the website.  

[lee16]

Ok thanks for that

I have downloaded Firefox now, and i went to tools, options, advanced and click update and it said there was no updatets, so i decided to explore the browser more, so i went to tools, extensions then clicked update, then it said it encountered a problem, so i clicked details and in the error box it said- "DOM inspecter", should i be worryed at this?

[fhn]

It's the default installation for FF.  Perfectly normal.  It is also possible to add extensions like mouse gesture to FF.    Just click on Get More Extensions.

F.

[lee16]

Wow yea thanks for that, i have added loads of extensions now, this is way different from IE, thanks for the help guys.

--lee

[teedoff087]

Both are right about the windows update.

To update from the website (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com) you need a browser with ActiveX, currently that is only IE as far as I know.

But windows has a build in update option. That one can always be used if you don't want/need to do it from the website.  

You really can't use Windows Update with activex controls in any other browser but Internet Explorer. No other browser will be allowed to use it. You could install an activex control into Firefox and it still wouldn't work because they are coded differently and Microsoft made it this way so they can attempt to take over the world. That's just the way Microsoft is. You can't even use Office Update in any other browser. You are right about the automatic updates though. You can also download them directly from the windows website with other browsers. The only advantage to Windows Update is that you can scan when you want to. If you want to use something to check for updates without using IE or Automatic Updates, try Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer. I know, sounds like a technical name, but it works well.

[Lisandro]

Lee, at least, look the 'best' posts in this thread:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=9;action=display;threadid=5695

You can search the board or look the threads titles and see that in last week there are some other interesting discussions about browsers, IE, etc. here.

[dadkins_1]

If you must use a different browser, use Mozilla. Firefox is still BETA. Only use BETA Software if you don't mind problems/losing your important data. I plan on trying Firefox once it is out of BETA....not before. YMMV  

[BlitzenZeus]

Firefox is quite stable, and not using the software since it is beta is just an excuse.  I've used less stable final release software than earlier versions of Firefox

I test beta software in my spare time, I've seen some beta software that was released as full version I wouldn't touch with a 10' pole.... aka Kerio 4x!

[Max M.Wachtel III]

Hi-
I use firefox for everything except MS sites and when I want to scan with a online scanner that uses ActiveX
like"house call".
(the MS beta newsgroup doesn't work right with firefox)
Have you tried the RSS Reader yet?I love it!
-max

[.: Mac :.]

Have you tried the RSS Reader yet?I love it!

Jobbs said OS X Tiger will have Safari RSS. allowing it to view RSS feeds. I had never heard of RSS before that so will someone kindly tell me what RSS is? Jobs demoed the browser but never said exactly what RSS is.