You are not a good tech if....

[Mr. Rude]

And as a side note....

AVG for the win!!!

[Casino Jockey]

And as a side note....

AVG for the win!!!

better idea.. buy a mac and don't worry about viruses

[symposes]

better idea.. buy a mac and don't worry about viruses

Atleast until everyone has a mac, and people start writting virii for it.

[yahurd]

Both firefox and IE allow the user to install programs (activex is a program). Anytime you install a program that isn't screened/validated/etc... you run the risk of installing a spyware/virus.

[RUDE COMMENT DELETED] firefox allows you to download the program and lets you open it later it doesnt "run them" and as for activex?no IT DOES NOT ACCEPT THESE EXECUTABLES AND VIRUSES IN DISGUSE IT FINDS THE RIGHT *certified* PLUGIN AND INSTALLS FOR YOU IT PROMPTS, AND WARNS IF UNVERIFIED IT IS infinity more secure because its not so beat into the os and many programs rely on it and it looks at files, so given ms's shoddy security record, be very worried veiwing ANY page with the browser
(more at kmfms.com)
IE HOWEVER LEAVES THE DEFINITION TO THE MAKERS SO "flash player 9 from macromedia,inc" CAN BE ANY VIRUS
[RUDE COMMENT DELETED] we are suppose to be looking out for people not claiming inferior technology is superior

*note on the history of activex*
the applet was a part of java introduced along with hotjava, static images became animations all was wonderful, now to kill off applets and keep its monopoly as java is universal, the holy war on java and netscape began,
soon after the victory they replaced critical parts with microsoft parts, killing universibility, the web belong to microsoft, now firefox became blazingly better
"had tabs first, had spellchecking first, was secure first" now microsoft races to catch up so ie8, if history repeats itself should be available in 2010 while firefox three, in a few months, and firefox three, while unfinished is avalable at mozilla.com and installs under the alias minefield so consumers dont think its finished, so remember [RUDE COMMENT DELETED]so
and
interesting that so much of the tech community support would be trolling on the horrible browser, interesting indeed [RUDE COMMENT DELETED]

Atleast until everyone has a mac, and people start writting virii for it.

people write viruses for exploits they write them because they CAN. if not code red, such a powerful virus, would have been written for xp? kill off computing as we know it? NOOOOO it was written for nt 4.0 which ms put out to pasture

[alogram]

I have a Dell desktop and have had no problems with it.

BUT I will probably not be buying another Dell. My former boss bought one that did not work right out of the box. They called Dell, a tech was sent, told boss's wife to let it "run through the processes" and it would be fine.

It wasn't. So, finally they got fed up with not being able to understand the tech support, and sent the computer back. The real reason I will never buy another Dell is because it took nearly a month to refund their money, and this was not a cheap computer.

Oh, and the tech guy that was sent to their house told them that Toshiba is one of the best...and that he rarely has calls to repair them. Any truth to this?

(I really don't know if you can ever get an honest answer to that though...it seems that every brand has people that really love them...and those that really hate them.)

I really really want to buy a notebook.....but I feel so uneducated about them.

Oh, and I hate IE, love firefox. And I hate McAfee.

Just my two cents!

[Ree]

I realize that this is an issue that can get rather heated. People can be almost fanatical about their computer brands, OS and choice of browsers, security, etc.

I ask that we all remember to keep comments civil, or take the discussion to www.fratching.com

[Mr. Rude]

In regards to the notebook question, I'd go for an Acer...Fast turn around time on repairs. Not many issues with them. Toshiba has had a bad run as of late, mostly to do with power ports lifting off the board....At least from what I've seen

[LostMyMind]

firefox allows you to download the program and lets you open it later it doesnt "run them" and as for activex?no....

IE can downloads the program and lets you run it later. It's an oh-my, could it be. A setting. So be a good tech and turn it on if it bothers you that much. That pop-up warning is not from the download install but the OS security asking if this is ok. You can say no (just like for firefox), it don't get installed. The problem is plainly simple. People click on the "yes/ok" without knowing what they're installing. That is a user problem, not a browser problem. Keep your firefox security myths to yourself.

we are suppose to be looking out for people not claiming inferior technology is superior

By the same token, we shouldn't claim technology as superior when it's just average. Firefox is not the superior browser, it's actually slower on my computer than IE7. I don't like firefox interface. So it makes it inferior for me. However, I also don't go around demanding that people delete firefox because I don't like it. Because I'm a good tech, if the computer is in front of me. I will set up the browsers (both of them) to maximize the protection of the computer. A good tech will never enforce their fetishs on computer that aren't theirs.

I have never gotten a virus through IE. That right, NEVER. So it's not the browser, it's the user not setting it up correctly for their browsing habits.

*note on the history of activex*
the applet was a part of java introduced along with hotjava, static images became animations all was wonderful.....

Hey dude, relax. As well as, go learn some computing history. I don't have to because I was alive and in the industry then.
OLE was renamed to ActiveX. OLE was in existence with Windows 3.0. Much before Java was even thought of. So please keep your myths to yourself. Applets idea was stolen from Microsoft. And we all know Microsoft stole their idea from Apple, which stole theirs from XEROX, which stole theirs from..... well you get the idea now?

people write viruses for exploits they write them because they CAN. if not code red, such a powerful virus, would have been written for xp? kill off computing as we know it? NOOOOO it was written for nt 4.0 which ms put out to pasture....

A virus can written for anything, including firefox. A virus on one computer is no threat. Maybe that owner of said computer might think different. But if a virus don't spread. It's just a minor nuisance. Code red was written for a very specific purpose, to bring down nt 4.0. Why, because nt 4.0 at that time was the most popular business servers. XP wasn't, unix wasn't. And nt 4.0 is still used. It's not gone. That OS security hole was plugged up and life went on. Maybe you're heard of the Happy Email virus. It spread because of the simple fact that majority of computer users will "install/open/run" anything as long as it looks interesting.

yahurd, let me ask you a simple question, have you ever written a virus? And I mean from scratch, not from visiting a website and modifying another's virus. Well, I have. I never spread it, but I've written them. Although mine were just prank virus with clues for the non-clueless to know they been pranked. So don't try to tell me "why virus are written".

[LostMyMind]

I really really want to buy a notebook.....but I feel so uneducated about them.

Well, every brand has their good models and their crappy models.

I love Toshiba, my current laptop is one and zero problems. However, my brother-in-law's laptop (HP brand), the motherboard fried and power supply issues all within a few months. Another brother-in-law got a gateway and he's not having any problems so far.

Your best bet will be to find a laptop that you're liking. Check that model for reports (simple google should be enough). If there are alot of reports of problems, sigh and find a different one.

Oh, and I hate IE, love firefox. And I hate McAfee.

Just my two cents!

Everyone has their preferences, which is good. If everyone like the same thing, it would be a very boring world indeed.

[Rapscallion]

Closing the thread - take it to Fratching, please.

Rapscallion