Don't agree. I've tried them all , and not because I've been hit with nasties using IE -- it's never given me any grief. No, I just fancied trying out the opposition but in the end I came back to IE. Firefox is not plug-in friendly with those plugins that that are commonly used in IE (RealPlayer, Flash, Shockwave) even though it may have good support for other plugins that I myself rarely need. Opera still looks crude when loading some web pages, some in fact it doesn't open completely. So IE does everything I want, especially now it has a pop-up blocker and BHO controls, and because I keep all my browser defences locked up tight and always up to date, IE has never dropped me in the proverbial brown stuff. So why should I change? Because it's from Microsoft? --- I'm not that perverse.

What's this trash talk about Firefox not being plugin-friendly? The three plugins you mentioned (Flash, Shockwave and Real) are among the best supported by Firefox. I have them working flawlessly on Windows and Linux. Installation was very straightforward, too, especially that of the Macromedia ones. So don't spread misinformation about Firefox supposed unfriendliness with plugins.

You have to love IE!!!!!
IE flaw puts Windows XP SP2 at risk

Is it possable to post (somewhere) guides to properly configure the 3 main broswers?
Thanks Mike

Um, what is there to configure? Except for installing plugins, which is as simple as downloading and installing it at the respective manufacturers' websites.

Configuration is all based on personal tastes anyway: I doubt many people would like to use FF the way that I have it configured, and I can't stand how all my friends configure their FF.

code65536
Thanks for the reply.
I would like to learn more about this.
There are several mentions in this thread about how to set up your browser, and you mention your personal FF configuration.
I was wondering if there was somewhere I could look for more info, that is more organized, or only on settings. I have FF on one computer and IE on another. I just seemed if I want to test them, I should have them set up right, or atleast try differant things, and like everybody, security is very important.
I also don't have any plug-ins that I know of.
If you think this thread is the best place, I will take more time and try to sort it out.
Thanks Mike

mike1061;
for starters - some info;
for IE - see This and This

for FF/Moz see This and This

review the links and choices and explore the sites in depth...

also - check out the section browser spy here

that'll keep ya busy for a little while

i'd also recommend Spybot Search & Destroy and Spyware Blaster which both take care of (by immunizing and/or removing) some BHOs and other mal-ware that may happen to infect your system...

Spybot S&D
Spyware Blaster

Myself I use FF and don't ever intend to go back to IE. Not only has my spyware infection gone down to as close to zero as you can get, but my virus, worm and trojan infection is down 99.99%! Also I recomend you use Thunderbird as an email client!

Yes Kyliefan001 very smart move using FF but you are still not completely spyware, virus, worm, and trojan infection free! If you are running FF on XP you have the biggest and worst spyware, virus, worm, and trojan infection all in one on your system it’s called XP. The only way to be 100% free is to run Linux and FF.

WOW 160+ i didnt think it get this far i just hope poeple my just learn to get rid it

EyeForOne
Thanks for the reply.
I will look into it. I have been busy and forgot about this thread.
Thanks Mike

the ONLY reson why I and many others still have IE installed (we dont use it much though ) is that you can only use windows update with internet explorer 5.5 or above. microsoft made sure firefox would not be able to do this, but I hear that in firefox 2.0 it'll be possible.

and oh yeah, when making websites you need to make sure the layout is okayin both browsers

1.5* LOL skipped a version

LOL. I just became a member. personally, at home I use Firefox...but, isn't this supposed to be a forum for CDFreaks?

You mean this thread is not about CD?

What about the CDfreaks that use the internet? LOL

I gave ff a very long and hard look, so long I went through tabbed browsing withdrawals when I had to stop using it. Way too slow!!! I would hit the bird button, literally go to the kitchen to the kitchen for a nice chilled rockstar, come back, and still no firefox. WTF! Checked task manager and it was running. Interesting...it must have been running on my box to some dip on mars for all I know! If someone could tell me how to make it run faster than ie and actually make an appearance on a xp box, I would love to hear it. I miss all the nifty stuff firefox has, but I gave up dial-up and I'll be damned if I am going to wait for a browser to open when I am using cable. I have tried most of the other operating systems and all you guys that are getting ready to reply don't waste your finger strength. I wouldn't even think of telling you to switch to xp!

yes sometimes I find it doesn't close properly so you need to go into task manager and stop it in the processes to get it going again. as far as the speed issue you could get the extension called "FasterFox" or just do this:
1. Type "about:config" in the adress field.
2. Set the value of network.http.pipelining to "true".
3. Set the value of network.http.pipelining.maxrequests to "100".
4. Set the value of network.http.proxy.pipelining to "true"
5. Set the value of nglayout.initialpaint.delay to "0"

Thanks slayerking, I will try it. I hope it works because I really miss all of the cool functionality that ff has.

I tried FireFox, it doesn't feel any better than IE. And some websites I go to only works with IE, the incompatibility is really what annoys me. Currently I'm using Maxthon, it's based on IE so it's compatible with almost all websites, and it has pop-up blocker and tabbed browsing.

After you guys install Firefox or Opera, what do you do with IE?

Nothing - it's still there though I rarely use it. Almost always FF for me, I can't get into Opera no matter how much I try. I guess some feel like that about FF.