IE7 For XP Beta 2: Has Firefox Met Its Match?
The new public release of Internet Explorer Beta 2 is, according to Microsoft, more stable and ready to be used. But is it ready to go up against Firefox?
Find out at http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=186700892
Below is part of what Ed Bott blogged today:
"If you're too busy, here’s the conclusion:
On a straight, feature-for-feature comparison, IE7 stacks up well against Firefox. If its improved security model lives up to its design specs, malware distributors will find it much more difficult to make a dishonest living, and the tabbed browsing features in the new release should make it much easier to deal with multiple pages.
The biggest hurdle that Internet Explorer has to overcome, however, is one that doesn’t fit on any features chart. Its tattered reputation - especially when it comes to security - has created an indelible negative impression among the technically savvy users who’ve enthusiastically adopted Firefox so far. Even if the final release of IE7 improves mightily over the current beta, building that new and improved reputation will be an uphill climb.
The security features in IE7 look good on paper, but this week's release marks the first time IE7 has been thrown into the crucible that is the Internet. The criminal gangs that control the malware racket are going to be gunning for IE7 and mercilessly probing for weaknesses. I'll need to see a year's worth of security bulletins before I’m ready to accept the idea that this time it really is different and IE7 is genuinely safe enough to recommend without reservation to friends and family members.
"Good enough" isn’t good enough for Microsoft in the case of IE7. On issues of security in particular, they're going to have to earn back trust from a generation that's been burned pretty badly by security flaws in Windows and IE. That will take time, and there's no guarantee of success.
Meanwhile, Firefox has one pretty huge ally. Visit Google's home page using Internet Explorer today and you'll see the first ad to ever appear on that page - urging you to switch to Firefox."
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=1313