Is Firefox/Opera safer than IE? What about IE 7?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

I understand that one can "lock down" IE (i.e.
http://www.helpwithwindows.com/Win [...] safe.html) so that
it is relatively safe to use. The question becomes: is it then as usable
as before such measures were taken? We heard earlier in the year how
some security experts were telling us to consider using alternate
browsers (i.e. Firefox, Opera, Mozilla) since there were far fewer
security issues and they were patched much more quickly. Now we hear
that IE 7 will soon make an appearance. Will it be the answer some have
been waiting for or will it be essentially the same engine with more
security built in?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

James wrote:
> I understand that one can "lock down" IE (i.e.
> http://www.helpwithwindows.com/Win [...] safe.html) so
> that it is relatively safe to use. The question becomes: is it then
> as usable as before such measures were taken?

No.

> We heard earlier in the
> year how some security experts were telling us to consider using
> alternate browsers (i.e. Firefox, Opera, Mozilla) since there were
> far fewer security issues and they were patched much more quickly.

Definitely patched more quickly.

> Now we hear that IE 7 will soon make an appearance.

Soon to beta, maybe. When it will actually go gold probably be all that
soon.

> Will it be the
> answer some have been waiting for or will it be essentially the same
> engine with more security built in?

I seriously doubt that MS is starting from scratch. And as long as IE
holds over 50% of the browser market, it is the biggest bang for the
buck target, and as such is much more likely to get hit than any other
browser.

I still use IE, but I wouldn't use it for anything critical, like
on-line banking, internet purchases, or anything other than viewing
known websites, that are designed to be viewed better in IE.

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