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Spencer Smith
Microcomputer Support Specialist
spencera@darkwing.uoregon.edu
Over the past few years, advertising firms and other companies have made browsing the Internet increasingly annoying. The popup advertising, spyware, and malware that some web pages push onto your computer compromise your privacy, security, and your computer's stability. There are some recovery tools available, like SpyBot and AdAware, but it would be better to keep these intrusive programs off your computer entirely.
Because of the way Microsoft Windows is designed, Microsoft Internet Explorer is deeply embedded into Windows. This allows spyware and adware deep access to the Windows operating system. In addition, Internet Explorer has "features" that are exploited by the spyware authors, such as ActiveX and other integrated scripting operations. Since IE comes with every copy of Windows, it's easy for the spyware authors to assume those features are present and active.
There are several alternative web browsers that have fewer vulnerabilities. Firefox, Mozilla, and Opera are excellent choices to replace IE. Not only do they lack the deeply embedded hooks that are built into IE, they have several other features that make them advantageous.
Firefox, Mozilla, and Opera all have built-in popup blocking. With this feature turned on, most of the more common popup windows simply fail to pop up, totally eliminating the pesky in-your-face advertisements. Since those popup ads often carry their own spyware and adware, an intrusive popup window can lead to a cascade of unwanted windows, all installing and running their own spyware and increasing the load on your computer. (Note: While it is true that IE now also blocks popups under XP S2, it continues to be plagued with other serious issues. See "Security Alerts" in this issue.)
Mozilla comes with an email program, news reader, and other enhancements that make it a good choice for those needing a full-featured web browser. When Netscape was bought by AOL, the coding team branched out and created Mozilla. Based on the same code base, it incorporates most of the features of Netscape without being a corporate-owned product.
Firefox is a light, small, fast browser that has all the standard features. Made by the same people who created Mozilla (and Netscape as well), it's a great browser for those who don't need all the clutter, features, and add-ons that IE and Mozilla provide.
Opera advertises itself as the "fastest browser on Earth." It's snappy and feature-rich. The free version does integrate ads into the menu bar, however. To get rid of the ads, you need to pay for the product. Still, as a light, fast browser, Opera has many advantages.
If you're plagued by popups and your computer is slowing down from its load of adware and spyware, you may want to consider one of these alternate browsers.
For more information on Mozilla, Firefox, and Opera, see the following websites: