Thanks Ian! I enjoyed the giggle :)
One of my loyal readers pointed me to this site, coincidentally after reading my blogpost about the Bit9 assessment which placed Firefox 1.0.7 as the most dangerous non-malicious software out there:
http://www.cweiske.de/
It seems the owner/author doesn't like IE and is blocking access to IE users. That's his prerogative but its awfully short sighted. Why? Because IE7 is a massive improvement in security and CSS compliance - because Firefox is becoming a bigger target and the bad guys are targetting it more often and if not kept right up to date leaves its users at risk - because even Opera is exploited (recent example)
On further thought, although I did giggle when I first saw the page, now that I've thought further about it the giggling has stopped.
The author says Opera and Firefox are "better" - how are they better? Better CSS compliance? IE7 has taken great strides in addressing that problem. Are the alternative browsers "safer"? No they are not. As has been said in the past, all the bad guys need is *one* exploit. Firefox and Opera can be and have been targeted - in fact just recently there was a hostile circulating that was targetting IE *and* Firefox exploits.
It is dangerous to tell somebody to stop using IE because it is a "paradise for virus programmers" and point them to Opera and Firefox without also warning them to regularly check for security updates for those browsers and practice safe hex. Firefox and Opera are also subject to exploits and vulnerabilities - it concerns me when I see sites that forget to mention that fact. At least with Internet Explorer, if you have Automatic Updates enabled you will be notified of the latest security updates.
The fanboys need to stop saying "use this - its better". They need to say "use this - its better - but make sure you check back regularly for security updates and patches, and always practice safe hex". Windows Update does not patch Firefox or Opera or any other alternative browser. You have to look after yourself. Remember that. If your friends are using an older version of Firefox, especially one that does not have an inbuilt update ability, warn them that they have to go out and get those updates.