The Fox Is In Microsoft's Henhouse (and Salivating)

[salvorhardin]

Great article in the NY Times concerning the success of Firefox, with obligatory disingenuous Microsoft shill comments. Seriously, if you're still running Internet Explorer please realize that moving to either Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla suite or Opera will prevent almost 100% of all problems you've been having with your computer involving spyware and viruses. Similarly, if you're still using Outlook Express, you need to move to Mozilla Thunderbird.

The Fox Is in Microsoft's Henhouse (and Salivating)
By RANDALL STROSS
New York Times
December 19, 2004

<snip>

Firefox 1.0 was released on Nov. 9. Just over a month later, the foundation celebrated a remarkable milestone: 10 million downloads. Donations from Firefox's appreciative fans paid for a two-page advertisement in The New York Times on Thursday.

<snip>

Microsoft has always viewed Internet Explorer's tight integration with Windows to be an attractive feature. That, however, was before security became the unmet need of the day. Firefox sits lightly on top of Windows, in a separation from the underlying operating system that the Mozilla Foundation's president, Mitchell Baker, calls a "natural defense."

For the first time, Internet Explorer has been losing market share. According to a worldwide survey conducted in late November by OneStat.com, a company in Amsterdam that analyzes the Web, Internet Explorer's share dropped to less than 89 percent, 5 percentage points less than in May. Firefox now has almost 5 percent of the market, and it is growing.

<snip>

All Microsoft can offer Internet Explorer users are incremental security improvements, new patches to fix holes in the old patches. In Windows XP Service Pack 2, the company claimed as a major security advance a notice that is displayed if the user takes an action within Internet Explorer that sets off a download of a tiny application called an ActiveX control, which can take control of your PC and, in a worst-case instance, erase your hard drive. "Users still must make informed decisions," Mr. Schare added. (With Firefox, users do not have to make decisions about these miniprograms, which are blocked by design.)

<snip>

Mr. Schare of Microsoft does have one suggestion for those who cannot use the latest patches in Service Pack 2: buy a new personal computer. By the same reasoning, the security problems created by a car's broken door lock could be solved by buying an entirely new automobile. The analogy comes straight from Mr. Schare. "It's like buying a car," he said. "If you want to get the latest safety features, you have to buy the latest model."

More here...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/business/yourmoney/19digi.html

[trotsky]

1. Mozilla user here, have been for a few years now.

While I don't hate Microsoft, they have serious problems with the way they design software. Some of those problems stem from trying to assure backwards compatibility, and some come from trying to make the PC experience as easy as possible. Either way, those weaknesses have ruined the Internet and even general computer experiences for millions of people.

And I'm sorry, but that Microsoftie's response of buying a new car for the latest safety features is just plain stupid. A defective car that endangers other cars on the road (which is what an infected PC essentially amounts to) is almost always recalled and replaced/repaired at the manufacturer's expense.

I am thankful that MS is beginning to experience the pinch from Mozilla & Firebird. Maybe it will provide the needed pressure for them to clean up their act.

[Deja Q]

2. What you said is why I hate them...

They're a big success yet they have a huge history of bullying others, overcharging for their products, and selling a product that goes beyond a reasonable amount of in-built flaws.