Firefox vs. Internet Explorer
Ok, so with that intro out of the way, I figure I should post a real entry that is both technical, and won't scare away anyone who came over from The Tweedles. Let's talk about the new browsers that came out this week. There's a brand new Internet Explorer 7.0, and also a new Firefox 2.0. Now a lot of you are still IE folks, and if you haven't tried Firefox you should. It's easy enough to install; Just follow the link and you'll have a new browser running in about 5 minutes.
The main reason I would suggest switching is security. It's not that Firefox has less bugs (although it might). It's rather that hackers and spammers and all the other evils want to attack the largest crowd they can. And in browsers that means IE. It's like using a combination lock to secure your bike if everyone else uses a key lock. A thief is going to get really good at picking key locks so they can steal the most bikes, even if the combination lock is no harder to pick.
The second reason is that it's open source. A lot of you may not really understand what open source is and why you should care. The idea is that one group can write a program that achieves something, and everyone else can use that program to do anything they want, for free. The programmers gave their free time to make the product and they're happier the more people use it. The reason to support them is more philosophical than anything else. Do you wish all software was free? If so, support the open source community. Linux is the other big open source program most of you have heard about, but Linux is a little rough around the edges for most users. Firefox on the other hand is ready for general use, and anyone who can figure out IE should have not problem with it. It's the easiest way to show your support for free software.
The third reason is the new features. A lot of the features are in both the new IE and Firefox, but if you're going to upgrade anyway, you might as well combine it with the first two reasons and get Firefox. The one I want to focus on is RSS, Really Simple Syndication. It's almost as easy as the name would suggest. Once you've upgraded to Firefox, in the title bar beside http://thetweedles.net/tech there will be a little orange button that looks like sound coming from a point. Click it! It should ask you if you want to add a live bookmark. This means that when you look at this page in your bookmarks you'll be able to see from the bookmark menu all the posts I've made. Now you don't have to visit the site just to be disappointed that I've fallen in to a well and haven't posted in a while. Most of the blogs you read will support RSS, so start using it!
So upgrade you browser. Every time you visit a site it tells the site owner what browser you're using, so I'll know!!!
The main reason I would suggest switching is security. It's not that Firefox has less bugs (although it might). It's rather that hackers and spammers and all the other evils want to attack the largest crowd they can. And in browsers that means IE. It's like using a combination lock to secure your bike if everyone else uses a key lock. A thief is going to get really good at picking key locks so they can steal the most bikes, even if the combination lock is no harder to pick.
The second reason is that it's open source. A lot of you may not really understand what open source is and why you should care. The idea is that one group can write a program that achieves something, and everyone else can use that program to do anything they want, for free. The programmers gave their free time to make the product and they're happier the more people use it. The reason to support them is more philosophical than anything else. Do you wish all software was free? If so, support the open source community. Linux is the other big open source program most of you have heard about, but Linux is a little rough around the edges for most users. Firefox on the other hand is ready for general use, and anyone who can figure out IE should have not problem with it. It's the easiest way to show your support for free software.
The third reason is the new features. A lot of the features are in both the new IE and Firefox, but if you're going to upgrade anyway, you might as well combine it with the first two reasons and get Firefox. The one I want to focus on is RSS, Really Simple Syndication. It's almost as easy as the name would suggest. Once you've upgraded to Firefox, in the title bar beside http://thetweedles.net/tech there will be a little orange button that looks like sound coming from a point. Click it! It should ask you if you want to add a live bookmark. This means that when you look at this page in your bookmarks you'll be able to see from the bookmark menu all the posts I've made. Now you don't have to visit the site just to be disappointed that I've fallen in to a well and haven't posted in a while. Most of the blogs you read will support RSS, so start using it!
So upgrade you browser. Every time you visit a site it tells the site owner what browser you're using, so I'll know!!!
posted by Ze Ace at
10:23 PM
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