Explorer, Opera or Firefox?

[fLYtRap]

Hi,

I have just installed Opera software and I was wondering if it is a good choice. I went to this site to check security for the browser and to compare it with Explorer 6 that I was using so far. I notice 1 thing that got me to thinking that test for Explorer showed AnonyLevel : 2 and test for Opera showed AnonyLevel : 4. That would mean that Explorer is safer than Opera, which is strange since Explorer have 128bit encryption and Opera 256bit.
What do you guys using?

[CogoSWSDS]

IE6 when I have to, otherwise Firefox 2.0.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I use IE6 on XP and IE7 on Vista.

Tried the others - couldn't see the point. IE6/7 do the job that I need them to.

[lumis]

Ditto to what CogoSWSDS said

[Dv8ted2]

Firefox - Take back the web

[ofbarea]

IE6 when I have to, otherwise Firefox 2.0.

I do the same. With Firefox is more difficult to get spyaware infections.

[fLYtRap]

Does anyone know how to block REFERER in IE6?

[fLYtRap]

Ditto to what CogoSWSDS said

[ofbarea]

Does anyone know how to block REFERER in IE6?

You should try SpywareBlaster and Spybot-S&D Immunize feature.

[GKar]

Firefox because you can customize it with almost any addon you can think of, particularly in the area of security.

[fLYtRap]

I think I'll get rid of Opera and try Firefox. Its unbelievable that Opera doesn't have free email support That sucks...I have a problem with something and can't find a way to fix it...

[videobread]

I switched to Firefox a few years ago and am very happy with it. I never use IE. Funny thing, two or three years ago US Homeland Security recommended Firefox and said that IE was not defensible. No bull. What a slap to Microsoft.

[FulciLives]

I only use FireFox now and have been using it for a long time. Note that FireFox is available for multiple platforms, i.e., Windows, MAC OS, Linux, etc.

I do use IE 7 in WinXP Pro but only when using Microsoft's website to do the update thing to Windows or Office etc. otherwise I only use FireFox. Seems that the Microsoft update process doesn't really work unless you are using some version of IE.

I also use FireFox in Linux when I'm "fooling" around there. The Windows and Linux versions look pretty much exactly alike and appear to work exactly alike as well. This helps when using another platform you may not be all that familiar with (I'm still a Linux newbie). In other words the program looks the same so that helps smooth out the fact that you are using another OS that you may not be all that familiar with.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Alex_ander]

I stopped using Opera after Firefox appeared: Opera can't properly save pages due to total renaming of related files to short names (haven't looked into versions 8 and later, don't believe they changed this). If you want to edit saved HTMLs, you'll find this feature disappointing.

[fLYtRap]

I stopped using Opera after Firefox appeared: Opera can't properly save pages due to total renaming of related files to short names (haven't looked into versions 8 and later, don't believe they changed this). If you want to edit saved HTMLs, you'll find this feature disappointing.

Yes that was the problem that I didn't like in Opera. When I went to Auctiva's web site I notice that I can only see HTML in item description and I was not able to switch it to designer mode or full size editor.
Anyways am running Firefox now and I like it.

BTW

If anyone needs it I found the way to block referrer check:

1- in Opera hit F12 and uncheck it (thats one of the things that I like about Opera)
2- in Firefox go to: documents and settings/...your name.../application data/Mozilla/Firefox/profiles/default, and there find the file 'prefs.js', open it with notepad and copy this text into it: user_pref("network.http.sendRefererHeader", 0);
close the browser before closing the file
3- in Explorer install and run Proxomitron

Than go to http://www.proxomitron.info/ and run the PCFlank test to see if its working properly

[CrayonEater]

I'm not sure that you mean by free email support; Opera supports email just fine, without plugins. And none of the issues that have been described here have been a problem for me. I've been using Opera since version 6 and, other than the ads at the top-right (which can easily be blocked with a HOSTS file from Sponge's anti-Spyware site (perhaps the bigger HOSTS can block this too).

If the sending of an HTTP-REFERRER is a concern for you, you can easily disable this - much more easily than you can in FF. The problem is blocking referrers will cause havoc with a lot of sites, especially many download sites, so it's not really a viable option unless you don't mind turning referrers back on when they are needed.

I use both Opera and FF regularly. Opera is definitely faster and I like that it natively supports mouse gestures (FF needs a plugin, called Mouse Gestures) and is much more secure. FF, however, is almost flawless in it's rendition of webpages (some say FF, being Gecko based, is the standard-bearer anyway), and has a rich selection of plugins available. There are times when pages won't render properly in either Firefox or Opera, so I have to use the other. I NEVER use IE except to test malware and exploits, which is about all it's good for.

The point being, both Opera and FF are good. Don't give up because some website made some unverifiable claim. Both are worth trying extensively before making a decision.

P.S. Proxomitron is a good tool, though it's a little tough to use properly and I've hardened FF and Opera sufficiently that I don't really need it. I believe K-Meleon natively offers the same filtering capability as Proxo, though, again, the problem is writing effective rulesets for it.

P.P.S. To all who use IE "when needed", bear in mind that sites that require IE - excluding intranets and dedicated web apps - are very often malicious in nature, which is why they want to force you to use IE. I've never run across a public website, save for one online-learning site, which required me to use IE and which did not contain exploit code. YMMV.

[cim]

Firefox, always!

[SanderMan]

Same here firefox and IE7 when I have to (for stupid sites that don't work correctly on firefox).

[Marvingj]

I was so disappointed in IE, I went to Netscape ( still disappointed).. than founded Firefox. Will stay for now....

[lordsmurf]

Firefox.

[Des]

Opera, IE when I have to. Firefox looks interesting and if I was to start fromscratch I would probably use it but I'm too set in my ways to change.

As for email, Opera has built in email that works fine, but doesn't segregate multiple email accounts into seperate inboxes. For 'power'email (on my desktop) I use Thunderbird, though I find the filtering function often goofs.

Other than that I have had very few issues with it on w2k, xp or vista.

--dES

[vhelp]

Hi guys.

I stopped using Opera after Firefox appeared: Opera can't properly save pages due to total renaming of related files to short names (haven't looked into versions 8 and later, don't believe they changed this). If you want to edit saved HTMLs, you'll find this feature disappointing.

Hmm.. that's interesting. I use Opera all the time. Been using it since I can remember.
I think mine is version 7.50 currently. Anyway. I save pages a lot because they come in
handy, later, when I'm not on line and/or when I only want a simple browswer to view
certain sites I need to see, again and without any bauged loadup time. In this case, I
will usually use Netscape or sometimes, IE (if i'm on my XP Home) and the pages load
up perfectly correct. When I want to save a web page from inside Opera, I do:

--> File\Save with images as..\
--> Then, I create a sub-folder and give it a name that matches closely, the webpage
or topic.

The other thing I like very much about Opera is the Session feature. I just found out
about this a couple of days ago, and I'm really liking it. Now, normal people don't have
more than a couple of TAB pages open. But crazy people like myself have over 30,
and when googling around, will have 60 or more TAB's.
But, sometimes I need to create a (they call it, session) profile of pages I've been to
and remember their places/positions in the TAB menu bar. Then, I start another Opera
browser and begin an "extended" google search. There, I'll have a growing 15-30 more
TAB 'ed webpages, but I don't want to loose them, cause I always want to remember
wher I left off, in my brain. So, I go and do the following:

--> File\Sessions\Save session\

..and I create a (unique) session name. Not much too it. But, the next time I boot
up and want to surf the web, I have a shoice at Opera's start-up screen, where it lists
all the saved Sessions and offers me the choice to load each one up during Opera's
load, and there you have it. If I just want the last saved session that normally starts
up (with all my TAB's -- prob 40 or more sometimes -- I got 54 going right now) I let
it load this up, daily. And then I continue where I last left off. But, if I want to do
some more work in one of my *other* sessions, than I have the choice of just loading
that session or any number of sessions. I just have to [x] click the check box that
is associated in the load-up listing

Thus, right now, I'm trying to develop a an organized routine that will work in my
favor, to this new feature.

-vhelp 4331

[fLYtRap]

If I just want the last saved session that normally starts
up (with all my TAB's -- prob 40 or more sometimes -- I got 54 going right now) I let
it load this up, daily. And then I continue where I last left off.

Thats sounds like a good plan...what are you searching for BTW?

[vhelp]

Thats sounds like a good plan...what are you searching for BTW?

Well. Its not a question of what I'm searching for. But, more or less, *how* I'm searching

Sometimes, my search is on mutliple levels.. my search might be for:

--> delphi components
--> an algorithem in a certain color space
--> a command-line tool that might relate to one of the searched (and found) components, above
--> a quicky thought on a topic I read in passing (but can't remember) might relate to the algo, above

So, I might open a second Opera instance, with a blank page and start my search branch
from there. As I search (via google) and find (click on url links) pages, TAB's begin to fill
the space. I usually start clicking on a bunch of url links, in this manor.. I click what
might be the first interesting link (related to my search) and as its loading the page,
I'll head back to my my main google seaching TAB, and click on the next URL link, and
again, bounce back to my main TAB .. doing this repeatedly as I see fit in my searches.

This has the advantage of not lossing a place (at least in your head). When I am finished
with the google page (ie, p1, p2, p3 .. p10, p11, p12) I might go to the next google seached
page, and quickly review the results, and select more links to to load, etc., etc.

Then, when I feel like it, I start reviewing those pages that have already finished loading
and read what I thought was interested or related to my search that I selected in the
google search links, to begin with.

And those pages worthly of keeping, I keep, and they become a part of the new
session, if I choose to create one -- whatever I decide to relate and name it -- for future
recalling and reading.

Should I (at a later time) decide to load up a saved session, I might choose to "desable"
those pages I recall as being full of images/gifs/flash/ etc., so that they load that
much faster. I like that you can turn the image loading to off, for any given page.

Now, I'm sure there is a setting somewhere in Opera, to turn on CACHE so that the
pages do not get re-downloaded ever time. Mind you, not all pages are re-downloaded.
I think its just those who have pages that automatically are set to re-download/refresh
the webpage. I'd rather just like to turn this off, and just start reading the CACHE'd pages.

Oh, yeah.. I'm still on dial-up.

-vhelp 4332

[fLYtRap]

Oh, yeah.. I'm still on dial-up.-vhelp 4332

One more question, how do you deal with all the cookies and spyware that comes along while going through so many pages

[vhelp]

One more question, how do you deal with all the cookies and spyware that comes along while going through so many pages

I'm not sure I understand the question, though I do run some cleanup'ware tools.
Adware is one example. I also use a firewall, which is currently Defender Pro, and
have never seen a hint of intrusion, so far, ..if that helps to answer your question.

-vhelp 4333

[fLYtRap]

One more question, how do you deal with all the cookies and spyware that comes along while going through so many pages

I'm not sure I understand the question, though I do run some cleanup'ware tools.
Adware is one example. I also use a firewall, which is currently Defender Pro, and
have never seen a hint of intrusion, so far, ..if that helps to answer your question.

-vhelp 4333

Everytime you go to a page this page is setting a cookie on your hard drive. Some pages sets up to 10 different cookies, from which some of them are good and some bad (advertisment, tracking, spyware, trojans tec...) If you allow all cookies to be written on your HDD you will get a lot of suspicious cookies that you don't want. Do this, go to your browser cookie settings and set all the cookies to promt and you will see what am talking about. Just emagine if you have 50 pages open you could have up to 500 unwanted, spy and tracking cookies.