Off-Topic

I haven't used IE since Mozilla (before it became firefox) came out.

The only times I use IE is when Firefox doesn't work for some reason (and that usually fixes itself within 5 minutes)...

hmm, i don't remember that last time i used I.E., once Firefox was out, I kiss I.E. goodbye. Now that chrome is out, it really hard to recommend I.E. to anyone.

Black_Rose said:

"Anyone who is still using IE should move to firefox like right now"

Not if you're concerned about security. Firefox isn't much better than Internet Explorer in that regard.

LordAndrew said:

"Black_Rose said:

"Anyone who is still using IE should move to firefox like right now"

Not if you're concerned about security. Firefox isn't much better than Internet Explorer in that regard."

The thing is that hackers tend to go for IE because it's the more popular one with the general public since it already is on computers. The average computer user/consumer isn't going to get some new browser, they'll just stick with what's on there. That's one of the only reasons Firefox is "safer."

I <3 Firefox. I use a bunch of its add-ons.

RedRoses said:

"The thing is that hackers tend to go for IE because it's the more popular one with the general public since it already is on computers. The average computer user/consumer isn't going to get some new browser, they'll just stick with what's on there. That's one of the only reasons Firefox is "safer."

I <3 Firefox. I use a bunch of its add-ons."

Firefox also still extremely popular though, and therefore a big target as well.
It's a fine browser, but it's wrong to assume that switching will automatically make you safe.

Yes Firefox is popular too but as I said earlier, the average consumer is going to use IE just because it's on the computer already. Maybe I should've defined 'average consumer' because it could mean different things to different people I suppose. I think of an average consumer of computers as someone who will do the simple stuff like use Word, go on some instant messenger, and semi-use the Internet for random stuff like email and youtube. The gist of the stuff.
The average consumer is someone like my uncle. He uses the computer for burning cds for his photos, check his email and stocks, use Word and other programs similar to it, and use youtube and mapquest. Very basic stuff.

I doubt that this type of person will look for another type of browser to use and they'll know even less about hacking and safety precaution.

That's why hackers would be more likely to aim for IE rather than Firefox. That's just my opinion though since I'm not a hacker so I dunno their minds.

I'm making a sweeping generality I'm aware of that. :]

Has IE been safe to use in the last 8 years? I remember with IE 6, there were security flaws they refused to patch for some reason. IE7 looks cool, but I would never trust Microsoft with anything online. When I'm on a public computer I usually use Google Chrome. It has enough simplicity, but without the weird memory leaks and such that firefox sometimes brings upon itself.  At home I run Linux, and I use a Firefox-based social browser called Flock. It works pretty well.