Internet Explorer - no longer ready for prime time

Microsoft's Internet Explorer is on the ropes. We've all had to endure the pop-ups that Internet Explorer happily ushers in, but it's the security flaws that are making it hard to justify continuing to use the world's most popular browser. A few years ago I wouldn't have dreamed of trying out a browser other than Internet Explorer. But curiousity got the best of me and I did try and I found that there was a whole world of innovation. Amazingly, web pages look pretty much the same in Mozilla or Opera (why? because the standards for publishing web pages aren't controlled by any one corporation).

But for many people, the prospect of switching to a new browser is too hard to even begin to contemplate. All I can say is those people are going to suffer. The minute pain of switching to a new browser is nothing compared to the pain of pop-ups and rampant viruses. Oh, and I'm not the only one who is recommending that, where possible (and for many people it isn't possible to completely eschew IE), you should ditch Internet Explorer and try another browser.

Stephen Wildstrom writes in the June 29th edition of BusinessWeek: "Until Microsoft proves it can fix IE's security bugs, you're better off using one of a few good alternatives as much as possible." And in the wake of the latest Internet virus/worm that exploits a security flaw in Internet Explorer, writer Paul Boutin was interviewed on NPR and said the exact same thing to Alex Chadwick: "stop using Internet Explorer."

Okay, people are you listening?