Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
•
Listen to the podcast: IE 7, Firefox 2.
Transcript
Hi everyone, this is Leo Notenboom with news, commentary and answers to some of the many questions I get at askleo.info.
So the big news this last week was the near simultaneous release of Internet Explorer version 7, and Firefox version 2. Naturally the tech press is all a'twitter over the feature sets, the competition, and what each means to the future of the other.
IE7 has been a long time coming. But I have to say that many of the changes really have me shaking my head.
For example, the address bar is now above the menu bar - and you can't move it. Now I'll admit, losing the address bar is a frequent problem, but cementing it to the top of the window in a new and unfamiliar location was not, in my opinion, the answer.
Example number two: where's the friggen home button? It's completely beyond me why they would move one of the most commonly used buttons to a completely different, and I'll say bizarre location.. (Can't find it? Look sorta off to the right on the bar that has the new browser tabs. Took me a while too.)
Now, I'm certain ... ok, I'm hopefully ... that IE 7 includes all of IE 6's security updates. There's also list of new security related features, most interesting of which might be the anti-phishing trap. Personally I'm looking forward to learning whether the "Diagnose Connection Problems..." tool actually helps - that's another very common problem I hear about here at Ask Leo!.
Firefox 2 is a more subtle upgrade. In fact, unlike IE 6 to 7, about the only thing you'll first notice after upgrading is that several of your extensions won't work - though those do seem to be getting updated relatively quickly. Like IE 7, Firefox 2 includes several enhancements - including, surprise, a new phishing filter.
But upgrading FireFox certainly isn't as jarring as upgrading IE. In fact, upgrading from IE 6 to FireFox 2 is probably less of a usage change than an upgrade to IE 7.
So here's my recommendation, for IE and Firefox users alike:
-
Upgrade to IE7. You can do it now, if you like, or you can simply wait for the expected push through Windows Update. I'm trying it both ways to see how that goes.
-
Also install or update to FireFox 2. I've done this on both of my primary machines.
The bottom line? IE is really a part of Windows and is used by many other applications. This and future updates should continue to improve the security of your system. But that doesn't mean you need to use it as your browser. Go ahead and use this opportunity to switch and begin using Firefox as your browser.
It's what I do.
I'd love to hear what you think. Visit ask leo dot info, and enter 10851 in the go to article number box. Leave me a comment, I love hearing from you.
This is a presentation of askleo.info, a free on-line technical question and answer service. Hundreds of questions and answers are online and ready to help solve your computer problems.
That's askleo.info.
Article C2823 - October 29, 2006
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
you have a wonderful site.I'm sure it's a lot of help to everyone that uses it. I will disagree with people who says IE7 is great. I would love to go back to IE6, but I haven't figured out how to change back.
Posted by: laverne hargett at November 11, 2006 7:59 AMI have a Dell XPS 600 with Pentium D CPU with 2.8 GHz with 1 GB ram and Window XP Media Center edition Version 2002 with Service Pack 2, I recently downloaded Internet Explorer version 7 upgrade. Since that time, I am not able to access the desk top icons (Short Cuts) to access the internet. However, if I open Internet Explorer and use my favorites to access a site it works ok. Thank you for any help you can give me,
Posted by: Rodney Horne at November 28, 2006 7:42 AMRodney Horne
I installed IE7 and now whenever i go to hotmail, it creates another page behind it. So, when i am finished with email, i have to close the second window also.
Any ideas why this happens????
PS... IE7 is crap and should not be forced down your throat with an automatic update.
Tony
Posted by: Tony at December 12, 2006 1:50 PMi've used Firefox for some time now and installed 2.0. I also have IE7 and I find after weeks of using them I use IE7 more. Firefox has a number of problems that IE7 doesn't have. The main issues are that you have to set them up properly to use either one. Many people are so predisposed to love one or the other they usually don't take the time to actually evaluate them carefully. While FF works well for most people I can list multiple problems with it. It performs best on highspeed line access but is abysmal on dialup. There is a utility that allows you to compact FF to help performance. It works well. FF doesn't always fill in saved userids and passwords properly. FF doesn't display all sites properly. FF doesn't display buttons on all sites properly. All of these things IE7 DOES properly every time.
Posted by: Michael Ferris at December 15, 2006 6:25 PMI have customized IE7 to my own use putting the Menu Bar at the top with the Google Bar tacked on the end of it. Then the Links bar is displayed and then the status bar with the tabs at the bottom. The only comment I'd make is there needs to me better colour on the tabs to differentiate the between active sites.
the bottom line is anyone who flatly state either FF or IE7 is "crap" is an idiot with little background in either.
ie7 is a poorly working browser. It does not use standard rendering of css which means that you still often have to write ie hacks in your code when programming a web page.
Firefox 2 on the other hand does render css as it should and therefore your valid web page shows as intended from start.
Posted by: Robin Cox at February 15, 2010 2:28 AM