June notes

What Browsers are available ?
Internet Explorer 6.0
IE, Internet Explorer, is supplied with every copy of Windows operating system. It is built into the operating system and cannot be removed as it is also used to recognize file and programs on your computer. This has been the subject of the Federal case against Micro-Soft being a monopoly. Other browser manufacturers claimed that Micro-Soft exploited this and banned other browsers. When Bill Gates tried to show that there was no conflict in front of Congress, his computer crashed proving the validity of the case.
Since it is already installed on all Windows computers it is the most used browser. The basic computer code is copied from the original free, open source browser Mozilla. The code has been modified to suit MS needs and has many problems with security. MS has issued over one hundred fixes to repair these problems, but they still exist. Many expert recommend that you use IE when surfing the web only when there is a special need, like downloading Micro-Soft updates.
Several ISP’s like AOL use modified versions of IE and require that you start on their home page using their version of the browser. With all these problems, it still accounts for 80% of the surfing today. The program itself is very large and seems to run slower then some other browsers according to articles in PC Magazine.Several third party programs are available to fix some of the problems, like Google’s tool bar which blocks pop-up and verifies site address. It also lacks features like "Tab Browsing" offered by other browsers. It’s biggest feature is that it installed on every Windows PC . Micro-Soft is planning a newer version, but the early reviews point to problems with privacy.
Netscape 7.2
Netscape had an 90% share of the surfing market until Windows 98 was brought out. It blocked the use of Netscape and although the problem was fixed, the delay gave the market to Micro-Soft.
The early Netscape browser version 4 was a direct copy of Mozilla. At that time high speed connection were rare and Netscape offered disk copies of the software. Several ISPs used netscape as their browser of choice . (Ameritech, Earthlink). The early versions had excellent control of "cookies" and security.
AOL bought Netscape 2000 and the browser quality suffered. About 2 years ago AOL spun-off Netscape as a separate company and the quality has returned and the speed is greatly improved. It follows the code for Mozilla very closely and uses the same plug-ins and controls as Mozilla.
It offers skins (different color schemes), and pop-up blockers . Is it more secure, or are there less problems because there are fewer users? I do not know, but it seems that there are few reports of problems and no reports from "nerds" about flaws.
There are appearance problems with poorly written HTML web pages. IE is more tolerant of programing errors. There is a Beta version of Netscape 8.0 available which offers tab browsing.
Since Mozilla and Netscape are so similar we won’t review Mozilla.
Firefox 1.04
This is a slimed down version of Mozilla that is fast. I don’t know how fast, but magazines report as much as a 35 % increase in page loading. It is an open source browser and is the browser of choice for "Nerds".There was a security problem announced two weeks ago with FireFox, When you had some other software running on your computer there could be a problem. The fix (version 1.04) was posted one day later. It offers Skin, Pop-up blocking, and tab browsing.
All of these browser are free for downloading. It seems that Netscape and FireFox are more secure from all reports. Micro-Soft claims that is because less people use them and they offer less profit to people who load spam and gain control of computers. They are also open source and all of the code is open to the public. Therefore it would seem that if they could be exploited it would be easier then I.E.’s secret code. Some claim that Micro-Soft has built in back doors so they can ensure that no one is illegally using their software. I don’t know the answer.
There are other browsers available at a cost like OPERA. Opera is a fast and small browser, but it costs $39 to download. It has no reported problems and is used by some very security aware users.
Experts suggest that LINUX is the most secure operating system and is much like APPLES operating system. Linux is open source and free, but requires that users have computer knowledge and a awareness of how they work to use it. Both Linux and Apples code is based on UNIX which was developed for main frame computers by Bell Labs. It is still the major operating system for internet servers. It was made open source when Micro-Soft Windows system became the main operating system for Personnel Computers.