Browser Wars: Round 1: Internet Explorer 6

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Browser Wars: Round 1: Internet Explorer 6

Aalaap Ghag, Sep 30, 2005 1010 hrs IST

To novice PC users, getting on the Internet means connecting and starting Internet Explorer.

Expert Review

The Good

IE has been built into the operating system since Windows 98. Because of this, a new PC is always ready to browse the internet without having to install any additional third party software. It's also arguably still the most popular browser, and hence there is lots of content on the web, even today, that only looks right in IE. For example, the Panasonic website with its DHTML menus, which are completely unusable in Firefox because of implementation incompatibilities.

Another plus for IE users is that it feels a lot lighter than any other browser at startup and even during medium use. This is due to the fact that when Windows boots up, IE is already in the memory so all it has to do is spawn new windows whenever you ask it to.

IE has also been designed to be very easy to work with for application developers to introduce Internet as well as certain other types of functionality in their applications without having to write lines and lines of code. Windows itself uses IE as a connection to the Internet from the operating system, making possible seamless system updates and other features that are very necessary in today's age.

The Bad

At last count, there were close to 90 unfixed security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, some of them dating back to as old as 2001. Hackers and crackers have found each and every hole and have managed to exploit them and use them to their advantage. Unless you only browse trusted sites like CNN, BBC and Techtree, it's next to impossible to spend a day browsing the Internet and not have any residue left when you log out - in the form of spyware, porn site toolbars, dialers and various other kinds of browser hijackers that not only change your homepage and make you visit a particular site, but also alter other search engine's results on the fly to link directly to their sponsor sites. After an IE browsing session, its imperative that you use a spyware removing program such as Ad-Aware, and an effective antivirus such as Norton Antivirus or NOD32.

In recent iterations, the developers have tried to make it a secure browsing environment by the addition of filters, pop-up blockers, and generally blocking certain kinds of "active content" from running without the user's permission. But even after this, the browser still isn't the safest.

The browser is pretty much a no-frills browser when compared to Firefox or Opera. It has no tabbed browsing and no configuration for searching. Yes, there's the new MSN toolbar that lets you block pop-ups and also allows for tabbed browsing, but it's merely an add-on to a plain vanilla browser and it doesn't ship with it.

It isn't possible to easily get rid of IE from your system. And even if you do, it's a bad idea since your system depends on it in more ways than one. Removing IE is definitely going to cause several applications and/or services to stop working. Fortunately, it doesn't throw a fit if you install another browser like Firefox or Opera and use it.