Browser Security News

Every week I’m reminded Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 is the world’s most popular browser. Tucked away at the bottom of the weekly feedback report for my website is a breakdown of the browsers used by visitors.

It’s not difficult to understand why IE6 dominates. The browser, or an earlier version of it, is built into Windows. It works - up to a point. So for many people there’s no obvious reason to go looking for an alternative. In fact, the majority of users never give their browser a second thought.

Many expert users think they should. There are a few technical flaws with IE6. Despite the company’s propaganda, it suffers from Microsoft’s cavalier approach to security and continual patching over the years means the software code is a bit messy. Overall the program is a touch bulky and therefore doesn’t always perform well.

Some people object to IE on political grounds. Microsoft’s departure from industry standards offends technical types. Internet Explorer 6 has only two credible rivals. Top of the list is Firefox 2.0, an open source browser that can be downloaded from http://www.mozilla.org. Browse for some browsers - Home Office - AtHome - Technology - smh.com.au