acceptable to run 2 browsers?

Shinto

Hi everybody,

Since yesterday's IE7 security alert, i downloaded Firefox and have been using that since. When the security patch for IE7 comes out, i'll probably go back to using IE7 cos i'm very familiar with it.

When i return to IE7 should i delete the Firefox software from my computer or would it be ok if i just left if there in case i need it in the future?

Are having two browsers ok or does it use too much resources? Thanks.

(i know Firefox is supposed to be better but i'll go back to IE7 cos i'm stuck in my ways)

keane2097

The browser won't use any system resources unless you start it up. Having it installed on your system won't cause any problems.

Firefox is superior anyway imo.

ethernet

Leaving it there won't do any harm. You can run a instance of both at the same time if you want!

Gonzovision

While your at it, give Opera and Google Chrome a shot. Both are very good browsers.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Don't bother going back to IE7 tbh

Capt'n Midnight

Shinto wrote: »

Hi everybody,

Since yesterday's IE7 security alert, i downloaded Firefox and have been using that since. When the security patch for IE7 comes out, i'll probably go back to using IE7 cos i'm very familiar with it.

When i return to IE7 should i delete the Firefox software from my computer or would it be ok if i just left if there in case i need it in the future?

Are having two browsers ok or does it use too much resources? Thanks.

(i know Firefox is supposed to be better but i'll go back to IE7 cos i'm stuck in my ways)

It's good to have a second browser in case your main one gets broken or hijacked , with just one browser you could very easily be painted into the corner.

Also firefox uses it's own DNS cache which helps
adding noscript to firefox will make it more secure too.

cL0h

Shinto wrote: »

i'll go back to IE7 cos i'm stuck in my ways)

That reminds me of the people who wouldn't leave their homes before hurricane Katrina hit.

I do multi browser development and regularly use 5 different browsers on one windows installation.

Overheal

Everything yore used to in IE is still there in Firefox anyway.

leninbenjamin

Shinto wrote: »

(i know Firefox is supposed to be better but i'll go back to IE7 cos i'm stuck in my ways)

you needn't go back if it's only the familiarity thing. Firefox is immensely powerful. The entire user interface can customised using themes and the inbuilt tool-bar customisation. If you think you'd be safer with Firefox, but prefer the IE environment you can always install a theme from the add-ons site to make it look like IE, as well as repositioning all the buttons to what you're used to.

this may sound like an awful lot of hassle, but it's very quick to do. go to the add-ons site and download and install the themes (they aren't very large usually, most are less than 2MB). then hit view>toolbars>customise to change the button layout to what suits you.

have a look here for an IE7 based theme: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4988


I have my install of firefox looking like chrome because it's cleaner imo. And i have all the buttons, the address space and bookmarks condensed into the one toolbar, with an add on that hides the menu bar and allows me to toggle it when i need it. great for the laptop as this configuration maximises the space for the webpage.

astrofool

Just mind to keep both browsers fully up to date with security patches.

dublinpd

Whatever browser you use it should be updated...
It's such a good idea have more than one installed. It goes further than security reason, that means some pages are better running IE or even some plugins work only in that borwser....

It's up to you which one you're gonna use..

LoLth

dublinpd wrote: »

Whatever browser you use it should be updated...
It's such a good idea have more than one installed. It goes further than security reason, that means some pages are better running IE or even some plugins work only in that borwser....

It's up to you which one you're gonna use..

almost agree 100%.... it should be , whatever browser you have on your system, keep it 100% up to date with security patches. no point having a fantastic firefox if an exploit uses iexplore.exe to execute remote code.....

if using firefox, I would recommend you install no script and ad blocker. from what I've read, opera has these by default and of course you can turn off or set to notify code of different types in IE , its more awkward but it is there.

if you are really worried about vulnerabilities on web browsers, have a look at sandboxie (free for personal use iirc) that compeltly seperates your browser from your system memory and dumps everythign after a session. quite handy.

egan007

It's funny that you are going back to IE7

So they patch the one hole you know about....maybe you should research all the other holes

My fav feature with Firefox s that it keeps itself update quite unobtrusively.

EvilMonkey

egan007 wrote: »

It's funny that you are going back to IE7

So they patch the one hole you know about....maybe you should research all the other holes

My fav feature with Firefox s that it keeps itself update quite unobtrusively.

Firefox has no security issues?

Capt'n Midnight

EvilMonkey wrote: »

Firefox has no security issues?

of course it has issues

But if you aren't logged in as an administrator you won't be as exposed as using a browser integrated into the OS

As posted above use noscript and ad-block,
opera is usually more secure out of the box but not quiet as tweakable

EvilMonkey

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

browser integrated into the OS

Explain this to me, IE is no more integrated into the os than any other app. Opera has issues too.

samhail

i only use Firefox too.
You need two browsers - one of the guys loaded that bebo virus msg into his IE, tried to fix it and gave up, went to the trouble of installing firefox - and went back to bebo to check out the video he was caught in at the weekend *shakes head*

Overheal

EvilMonkey wrote: »

Explain this to me, IE is no more integrated into the os than any other app. Opera has issues too.

"The idea of removing a stock install of Internet Explorer from a Windows system was proposed during the United States v. Microsoft case. CriticsI][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"]citation needed[/URL][/I felt that users should have the right to uninstall Internet Explorer freely just like any other application software. One of Microsoft's arguments during the trial was that removing Internet Explorer from Windows may result in system instability."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer

Donald-Duck

Overheal wrote: »

"The idea of removing a stock install of Internet Explorer from a Windows system was proposed during the United States v. Microsoft case. CriticsI][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"]citation needed[/URL][/I felt that users should have the right to uninstall Internet Explorer freely just like any other application software. One of Microsoft's arguments during the trial was that removing Internet Explorer from Windows may result in system instability."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer

Couldn't use the microsoft updates page without it :P

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Overheal wrote: »

"The idea of removing a stock install of Internet Explorer from a Windows system was proposed during the United States v. Microsoft case. CriticsI][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed"]citation needed[/URL][/I felt that users should have the right to uninstall Internet Explorer freely just like any other application software. One of Microsoft's arguments during the trial was that removing Internet Explorer from Windows may result in system instability."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Explorer

so the operating system depends on the browser which depends on the operating system which depends on the browser which depends on the operating system which depends on the browser which depends on the operating system which dep...

something's not right:p

chin_grin

Donald-Duck wrote: »

Couldn't use the microsoft updates page without it :P

<cof> link: http://windowssecrets.com/2007/09/13/02-How-to-run-Microsoft-Update-using-Firefox </cof>



Also please stick with Firefox! Please, think of the children.

aidan_walsh

chin_grin wrote: »

<cof> link: http://windowssecrets.com/2007/09/13/02-How-to-run-Microsoft-Update-using-Firefox </cof>



Also please stick with Firefox! Please, think of the children.

Uh, that still uses Internet Explorer...

Donald-Duck

aidan_walsh wrote: »

Uh, that still uses Internet Explorer...

Yep, I think he'll find if he removes IE from the control panel that it won't work anymore

vibe666

i use Opera & Firefox mostly, with a little IE7 thrown in for the activex stuff when needed.

been using Opera for years and it pains me that it's so good in so many areas but falls flat on it's face in the face of Firefox's plugins feature. if they could have developed that the way firefox did I'd do 95% of my browsing in Opera alone. as it is firefox is necessary for so many reasons due to it's flexibility.

i'm actually finding opera is slipping behind further recently too, since FF3 came out. such a shame.

Capt'n Midnight

Don't forget that there are plugins that allow you to open a page/link in another browser , one handy feature is you can set some pages to open in particular browsers. You can set browsers to use different proxy servers so you could send IE though the safer more filtered one and have FF go direct or what have you.

For IE
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/223 Firefoxview

For FF
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/35 IE View
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1190 Opera View
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6438 Safari View

There are others that allow you to open a tab using a different engine so you could have trident displaying in FF

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419 IE Tab

vibe666

CaptnMidnightopedia strikes again!

dude, is there ANYTHING you don't know?

i have a mental image of you with a direct net connection in the back of your head like neo in the matrix.