(this article includes parts adapted from my wiki)
A lot of people (not as many as some years ago, but still too many) have no idea what a “browser” is, yet they browse the Internet (or, more precisely, the World Wide Web) regularly.
How can that be? Well, due to some clever marketing (such as putting “Internet” in the application’s name), typical user ignorance and dislike of learning (people typically learn the bare minimum to do something, and then do everything in their power, including heavy effort if necessary, not to have to learn an iota more) and the fact that most users tend to stick to “whatever came with the computer” (in fact, with the operating system), those people use Internet Explorer (IE) without thinking, without realizing that
- there exists a kind of program called “a web browser”,
- IE is one, and
- IE is not the only one, there are others.
Continue reading ‘Why NOT use Internet Explorer’
As everyone should know, Internet Explorer is a very insecure browser, and daily use can quickly turn a Microsoft Windows PC into a spyware-ridden, spam-sending slow, unstable abomination. 
I don’t use IE at home, because Mozilla Firefox is infinitely better and more secure, but I’ve found that many people, even those otherwise educated and intelligent, think of “the Internet” as “the blue E”, and, when wanting to open a site, open IE without thinking.
So I had to do something about it.
Now, while I think that (as of mid-2005) it is still to early to implement this as official policy in a company (many bad sites or incompetently-designed intranet applications only work with IE - and sometimes only with a particular version), it can be useful in many home / small office networks.
Continue reading ‘Limiting Internet Explorer to Windows Update’
Spyware is a big problem these days. Most Windows PCs have a lot of it, without the user’s knowledge; many crashes, slowdown, popups and browser hijacking (for instance, changing the home page without your consent, and you can’t set it back to what you want) are symptoms of a spyware infestation.
Continue reading ‘Avoiding and removing Spyware’
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