IE Again

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Have you noticed my sidebar link stream lately? Are you getting the message? Do you know what to do?

IE-users, I don’t hate you, but thus far, Internet Explorer has held back the rest of the web, and the effects of its flaws have snowballed in recent days. There has never been a more opportune time to switch to a web browsing client with better security, more frequently useful updates, closer compliance to web standards, and a non-monopolistic outlook on the web and its users. I know a lot of you are “used to IE,” and that switching takes time and effort. It’ll take a day or two to acclimatize to a new browser, but once you’re done, you’ll be free of many hidden security traps and limp standards support, and it’ll be a brighter, clearer path ahead, for you and for the rest of the web.

(Oh, while you’re at it, you should also dump Outlook Express, delete Windows, and install a stable Linux distro. Or buy a Mac. Simple, right?)

Also see MeFi.

Comments

  1. The Dane says:
    2004-07-01 at 19:23

    Okay, Pow. I’m with you up until the monopoly-thing. Since when has monopoly been a valid reason for using a product or not? The fact is, it’s not. Judge something upon its performance and aesthetics, but don’t let your politics influence your decision of whether or not IE is worth it.

  2. Mikoid says:
    2004-07-01 at 20:14

    I have convinced one person (Charo) to switch! I’ve done my good deed for the day!

  3. nikkiana says:
    2004-07-01 at 22:32

    While I think it’s unrealistic to tell someone to go out and install Linux or to go buy a Mac, I do think that it IS a valid endevor to let people know that there are alternatives out there than Internet Explorer and Outlook Express which are just as easy to use (easier in my opinion), more secure, upgraded more frequently and support standards better. Not to mention they’re open source and available to you at absolutely no cost. Seriously… if you had a beat up Chevy Nova being held together with bondo and duct tape and someone was giving away Corvettes for free, would you still be driving that dumpy car? Get with the program, man. ;)

    But anyway, now that I’m down off my soapbox… One of the things my boyfriend and I have started doing is when we find out that friends are having major spyware issues due mostly to using IE, we sit down with them and install Spybot first, clean up their computer, then download Firefox, give them a quick lesson in customization, and they use Firefox and are very happy with it. Most people are either too lazy or don’t think they have the skills to make the change. Sometimes you’ve got to go and physically be a catalyst.

  4. The Dane says:
    2004-07-02 at 00:09

    nik, I would definitely take the Corvette. Then I’d sell it and get a ’57 Nomad and cherry it out. I’m not sure how that fits the analogy, but that’s what I’d do. Well, I might go for an Impala instead….

  5. Paulo says:
    2004-07-02 at 00:29

    The Dane, mayhap we might be referring to different definitions of monopoly, as I intended no political connotation. This begs the question: what’s a monopoly? *

    In my case I refer more to IE’s huge strangehold on browser share, and the complacency that it has engendered in further development of the browser. While I have no complaints about a *good* browser developing a monopolistic share — and IE was once a good browser that just failed to keep up — I do have qualms about an application growing such a following, then banking solely on its established embeddedness to maintain a lead without further response to the needs of the wild, wild web jungle. My complaint isn’t so much the idea of the monopoly itself so much as the use of an innovational stranglehold to further enforce that monopoly.

    * Yeah yeah, I know what question-begging really is, I just did that because it annoys you and I couldn’t resist. ;o)