Battle of the Internet browsers

Our internet surfing experience depends entirely on what the internet browser can do. In case you are not aware, there's actually plenty of Internet browser in the field, but only few are talked about.

While some unknown browsers can be actually better than the usual type we use, but it is justifiable to stick with the known brand as you cannot be sure about security on the peripheral browsers. Talk about browser hijack, keyboard logging and auto-install spywares.


In the days of IE4/5, I use Netcaptor. This is an 'overlay' to the anemic Internet Explorer -- that is, it is not really a separate browser but uses the IE system. It only adds function like tabbing and auto-complete on web forms. I like Netcaptor. Small footprint. Easy to install and manage. But it also inherits the IE bugs. So when the first Firefox came out with tabbing, i switched to a 'real' separate browser.

So, i will let you in on my experience trying and testing the big four in internet browser arena.1.


Internet Explorer 7/8b1 - you cannot escape this one since it comes with all Windows OS purchase. IE is so enmeshed with the OS and even MS Office that attempting to remove or brute uninstall it can cause the system to crash.

Previously in IE6, there is no multiple tabs, so you ended up cluttering your desktop with plenty of windows. IE 7 is respectable with its tabbing. I like the way it handles New Tab or Click to open New Tab. The New Tab opens right next to one you are presently on.It is, however, like its parent system (Windows OS) slow and has a bad caching attitude.


One of the things IE7 needs is the ability to store login/passwords securely, like the other browsers. But since microsoft products are known for their security vulnerabilities, it is very unlikely IE will put this feature. In other words, IE is just too unsecure to be trusted with passwords.

IE beta 1 - I made a mistake of downloading and installing the latest Internet Explorer 8 beta 1. I thought i would see some improvements. Took me awhile to download, and even lonnnggeerr to install. When i finish installation and tried it, my system went crazy.

Everything drops to slow-motion. I am sure something is hogging all the Page File and CPU processes.So i opened Task Manager, and lo and behold, there were 2 iexplore.exe processes running with same humongous bandwith. I then realized that IE8b1 is nothing but an 'overlay' to IE7. It cannot even open a single website other than the MS homepage. I have to check the button "Emulate IE7" before it starts its snail-pace crawl to open Yahoo! website.

I decided to 'uninstall' the stupid and useless IE8b1. I went through the Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. After a reboot, i thought i finally gotten rid of IE8b1, to my dismay, my laptop's IE is still showing version 8. I have to make several reboot before my IE7 is restored. But by then, the effect if IE8b1 remained. IE7 is as slow as its proposed upgrade.

My advice? DO NOT install anything that is Microsoft beta.2.


Mozilla Firefox 2/3

I started using Firefox because of its multiple tabs, something that IE6 didn't have. Although IE7 'copied' most of the features of Firefox, but i still have preference for Mozilla because it is faster in loading webpages, and i like the stored logins/passwords for my membership sites, like blogger.com. It can even handle such security conscious website as my Yahoo! e-mail.



Firefox also has this "Restore Session" option, just in case i accidentally closed the browser. This allows me to open Firefox with all the websites i have previously opened.I also like the Add-ons for Firefox. Unlike the IE add-ons which are totally useless and downright annoyances, the Mozilla add-ons are great solutions to some of the things i like to do when browsing.

There is the Video downloader, which can 'get' video from youtube.com or similar websites. Another add-on serves as download manager for softwares. Another can download, unattended, all photos in a website. There's one that blocks autoplaying of Flash advert, making the webpage loads faster. If you want to see the flash ad, you can click the the box to make the flash load and run. Neat!My only annoyance in F2 is that i have no control over New Tab. If i click Open in New Tab, the tab will open at the farthest end of the line. No option to make it open beside your present tab.Recently, Mozilla released Firefox 3, and i promptly downloaded and installed it.

But alas, it is Firefox 3 beta 1. It lost the simplicity in version 2.x. I have the feeling that Mozilla hired/pirated a programmer from Microsoft's IE team to develop this latest version, considering the garbage features of the new version. I really think that version 3 has made my browsing more difficult. Since Mozilla attempts to make F3 Vista-compliant, so you can see annoyances (called *features*) that you can see *only* in Vista.

Very much like IE development. They give you features that average users do not need. Instead of focusing on a faster and secure browser, Mozilla jumped into the Vista bandwagon and now designs F3 like it is a Microsoft product -- too much security features you'd think it is an anti-virus, slow, visual aesthetics that increases the bandwidth/memory hog - just like Vista. It also crashes everytime I upload more than 2 photos on my Facebook.

I actually compared F2 and F3, opening the same number of sites (same websites). F3's process- use is twice that of F2. So i stuck it out with my F2.Anyway, this is still beta stage. I hope the final version of F3 will be more stable, and still faster.3.


Opera 9.5.1

I used Opera before, during the days of IE4/5 and Firefox was still in diapers. Opera is one of the early adopter of multiple tabbing.I dropped it then because it was still buggy and cannot handle frames and scripts properly.The latest Opera browser comes as a surprise. It offers a lot of stuff you have no need.



I don't know why it seems the term 'upgrade' actually meant 'garbage'.


There is a Widget in Opera. I thought this is as useful as Firefox's Add-ons. Turns-out to be the same 'useless' (for me) stuff like the ones they offer in IE.On the plus side, after i installed Opera, it immediately imported my IE Favorites. Now this is neat. Saves me the trouble of finding my favorite sites all over again. The password storage is like Firefox too.

On the multiple tabbing, Opera offers four ways to open new browser: Open in New Tab, Opne New Window and by allowing you to open a new site in the 'background', either as Tab or separate window. This is because if you select Open in New Tab, the present window will jump to that new tab. Background loading of new tabs is already common in IE7 and F2.Setting it apart from its closes rival, Firefox, Opera is less annoying when it comes to remembering last opened browsers. Unlike Firefox and IE, Opera does not ask you if you really would like to close all tabs.

Or in the case Firefox, does not ask you if you like to Restore old sessions or Start a new session. For HTML websites or static homepage sites, Opera loads it from cache quickly. Opera is like "have no fear" for crashes.

So for people who would like to keep websites ready when they open the browser, Opera is the way to go.One distinctive feature of Opera is Website High-Speed Dial. You will see this when you click an empty New tab. You can drag-and-drop favorite websites into the speed dial list.

The purpose is that you can immediately load the website by clicking on the screen-image of the website on the list. I like this feature. Although it is sort of redundant to the Personal Links.I also like the page preview when i hover the mouse in a tab. No need to click on the tab to see if it has finished loading.

The password storage also rivals that of Firefox. One of its original feature is the ability to store preset information like First Name, LastName, Address, Country, City, Tel. number. This is useful for any websites you enter that requires registration. Saves you the time to type in the usual information.

The downside of all these previewing is the high usage of CPU and memory resources. So if you have a lot of open websites with dynamic contents, you can experience a slowdown in overall PC performance. Opera can go as high 90k of process hog.But great if you have 2 GB+ memorry. Mine HP NX6310 has measly 512MB.One annoyance with Opera is that during loading of page, it freezes the slider bar.

Unlike Firefox and IE which allows the user to use the slider bar while the page is still loading.Also on Yahoo email, Firefox can store the login/password and automatically opens the site.

But in Opera, you have to use the Magic Wand to put the login/password.

4. Safari

This is the attempt by the folks at Apple to get back at Microsoft, considering that MS is trying its best to integrate well its products like MS Office into the Macs. Since IE wouldn't work well in Mac, neither the Firefox, because Apple has a native browser called Safari.


Now Safari has just gotten a new twist, it can now be installed in Windows/Intel machines.

Mesmerized by the distinctive Apple layout/ graphics, and can't afford to own a mac, i decided to download the Safari for Windows and give it a try.

After all, Apple promises Win-Safari as 2x faster than Firefox 2. If them Apple folks are shameless to claim superlatives for their browser ("The world’s best browser."), then it must be good. I'm sure Steve Jobs is not one for false advertising claim. But duh, Safari was a letdown. I mean, when you have Firefox 2, you can't help compare the 'others' to Mozilla's. Speed? what speed.


However, during a 'hackers SuperBowl', where the three major browser -- Firefox, IE7 and Safari, were put to hacking test, Safari fell to hackers in two minutes. Safari might be a wee bit better in speed and aesthetics over Firefox and IE7, but since it migrated to Windows, its developer were caught surprised by its vulnerability to Windows hackers. Among its famous flaw is the so-called "carpet-bombing flaw".

"While using Safari with default settings it automatically opens
unwanted or booby-trapped file with no prompting on the Windows users desktop.
Due to this problem unwanted icons flood your desktop. Whenever a person opens
Internet Explorer the unwanted file automatically causes all your notepad files
to open. Sooner or later this force fed file takes full control of your computer
where you are unable to do anything. "

Source: Browser review

Despite the hype, Safari is such a newbie in Windows browsers. Their are websites with scripts that failed to load.

Captured Market

The problem with browsers created by major software and OS-makers like Microsoft and Safari is that these two are using their browsers as a vehicle to push their other products.

IE and Safari users are like 'captured market'. Plenty of extra software installed in your system, without your knowledge or even forcibly installed (you can't update if you do not include another product), or user has been misled during updating to also install another program.

Apple Software Update, which is bundled with QuickTime and iTunes in Microsoft Windows, automatically selects Safari for installation when it is not detected on a user's machine.

John Lilly, CEO of Mozilla, stated that Apple's use of its updating software to promote its other products is "a bad practice and should stop." He argued that the practice "borders on malware distribution practices" and "undermines the trust that [software companies are] all trying to build with users."

Apple has responded to Lilly's statement, saying that the company is only trying to ensure users have the latest updates to Safari.

Source: Wikipedia

5. Google Chrome

Here is the new kid on the block. Not content with the GoogleTalk IM, search engine giant, Google, just couldn't help itself from joining the browser war.


The result? Google Chrome.


Well, they tried, but.... Chrome is yet on its beta stage, and this is the most minimalist browser i have ever seen. Still full of bugs. It cannot even load most websites, especially ones using server-side scripts. To my disappointment, facebook.com will not load. Chrome has got an attitude against PHP/JSP-powered pages.


I can see that Google has the intention to make Chrome as an 'all-in-one' browser. They can integrate GoogleTalk, GMail and all other Google widgets into their browser.


But until those things happen and until i can see any compelling features in Chrome, i think i will be safe with Firefox for now.

My Verdict? It's a toss between Firefox and Opera. I use them both alternately in my laptop.

Choose your browser well.

Safe surfing.

Choosing antivirus for your PC

Last May 24th, our Kaspersky 6.0 antivirus license expired. Although the Kaspersky is still active, but the Update portion is greyed out. meaning, we cannot update the signature and virus db anymore.And not suprisingly, my laptop suddenly got trojan/worm that keeps popping up with various .exe and .bat files from my C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32. Kind of pesky trojan.

Although KAV was able to catch it trying to make changes in registry, but the the trojan's ability to create multiple files faster than KAV can handle. So i have to set to Deny all that pops up, one-by-one.To my horror, my directories multiplied. The worm created a mirror of my drive C: and E: (partition drive). I am suppose to have C: (root), D: (CD), and E: (partition). Now i got G: (mirror of C:) and F: (mirror of E:). When i double-click on the mirror drives, the worm gets crazy. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of denying access of the worm to the registry, i opened up HijackThis to see what is going on inside my PC. Well, HJT showed the worm or trojan has installed itself as a Browser Helper Object (BHO). I am using Firefox 2.0.0.14 and IE7.

I just can't tell which browser the bug latched into. So while doing battle with KAV on one side, i deleted (fixed) the BHO from HJT.Then i open Task Manager and killed the worm process running there under my name.After the pop-up warnings subsided, i rebooted my laptop.

The directories were restored, but my My Computer icon was corrupted. I had to install XPTweak software to rebuild the icons.

I opened Windows Explorer and went to C:\WINDOWS. I saw two explorer.exe files with different icons. Once was an exe icon, the other a folder icon. I deleted both. Then i opened another Explorer windows, and i saw another explorer.exe appeared on the list.

I clicked on the file and it says it came from MS. I mean the file properties description says it is from MS. No problem.I opened the two browsers to see if something will come up in the directory. Nothing.I ran HJT again. There are two BHOs remaining:O2 - BHO: ietzbpaq.dll - {29109876-7619-9101-7012-901938475192} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ietzbpaq.dllO2 - BHO: skqncbib.dll - {32023698-6984-8541-9654-698745012523} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\skqncbib.dllI tried to located them in system32 but the files are not there. My folder view is set to "view hidden files and folders".

Well, as long as it doesn't give my KAV a knee-jerk, i guess the trojan/worm is under control.

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Anti-virus Galore

I have reviewed and tried several anti-virus software.

I tried McAfee, the one that is supposed to be licensed and can be downloaded from P2P. I discovered it has a backdoor and can be turned off by third party programs, and when used in Internet cafe, it can be overwhelmed and crashed out of the PC. Verdict: Out.

Then there was Symantec's Norton AV. It usually comes with a new PC. Norton is like Vista. Its installation space is as large as Office 2007. It is sooo annoying with all those warning signs. It can't even distinguished legit windows operations. I guess MS Vista copied their UAC from Norton. If you think you can use Norton effectively from the time you bought your PC until after one year, you are wrong. You may be able to ignore its warning to register and get a license; you may see that your PC is connecting to Live Update, but the truth is, it is not protecting your PC after the expiry.

It will just warn you a virus or worm has been found but it will not clean it. If the file affected is a vital .exe file, it will just quarantine the file -- change the file extension, and promptly crash your system. Regardless what Norton-lovers will say, the program sucks. So i removed it from my PCs. Rejected.

I tried next, Panda's Titanium. Nice and simple layout. Not so much security feature. Quick updating. But when i installed it in internet cafe setup, the hapless Panda just got hammered by viruses and disappeared from the tray. Rejected.

My sister-in-law sent me from the US, an original licensed CD of AVG. I thought it was just another "cheap" anti-virus. But to my surprise, it withstood the internet cafe's onslaught of bugs.

It was easy to install and quick to update. The way it handled infected files is superb. Not like McAfee or Norton's quarantine. In AVG, if the virus is on its DB, cleaning is automatic. Otherwise, it gives an option to Delete or quarantine.

There was one virus which infected excel and word files. Under McAfee or Norton, the file would have been deleted or quarantined. But in AVG, it cleans automatically without damaging or corrupting the file. It was only anti-virus and anti-spam. So the spyware passed through. Nevertheless, i liked the performance and highly recommended it to my clients. I suggest you buy an original licensed CD. Not the one you can download from P2P (antivirus coming from P2P contains trojans). Do not bother using the Freeware - it does not clean, only warn you.

Finally, our company purchased Kaspersky Anti-virus 6.0 Enterprise . I used KAV when it was still v.3 or 4. I wasn't impressed. But this v. 6.0 was different. Easy to install and easy to configure. Even easy to update. After i ran the first-time scan, it caught a lot of bugs in my laptop. It even cleaned my flash drives of some worms that my 'pirated' AVG (because my previous license has long expired) did not capture.

It has anti-spam (e-mail), anti-phishing, anti-banner, anti-dialer, anti-spy features. There is also pro-active defense (I only checked the Application Activity Analyzer and Registry Guard. I turned off the Office Guard). I also turned-off Mail scanning, as it can caused problems with my MS Outlook. But overall, the KAV is very efficient and ruthless to the viruses, trojans and worms. I love it when the pop-up warning gives a Delete/Apply to All option.

Almost always, even when the filename is something like explorer.exe, it should be deleted. Highly recommended.

I really hate it when the office internet speed goes down because someone's PC has got a host of spywares and worms. So now, i requested our IT to purchase the Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 (an upgrade from our KAV). Since almost all of us are online most of the time.

Do not be fooled by all of those P2P, torrent-downloaded antiviruses. Buy licensed antivirus. That's the real security for your PC.

Have a safe internet surfing.