Intoduction to Internet

There's A Safer Way To Surf The Internet

By Jeffery S. Miller



Almost everyone in the world has access to the internet. If you don't have internet access at your home, you can get it at the library or a cyber cafe. The internet has opened up a whole new world for people to communicate and to educate themselves. As the popularity of the internet has increased, so have the number of attacks and exploits ran on your system. What do you do? Let's discuss this, shall we?

Almost every computer is purchased with the default Microsoft browser, Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer works great if you're not concerned with vulnerabilities and exploits. Since the majority of internet users rely on Internet Explorer as their default internet broswer this is what most of the attackers hit. Internet Explorer has competition. Did you know this? Well, they do!

Firefox, Opera, and Safari have come into the mix with safer and more dependable browsers. I have never used Opera or Safari, but I can sit at my desk and tell you that Firefox is the best thing to ever happen to the internet!

What's so great about it? Well, first of all it's free. There is no charge in downloading the actual browser. Firefox blocks spyware, adware, and it blocks virus attempts. There is no way for the Firefox browser to download something without your approval. With Internet Explorer, you don't really have this option. Internet Explorer relys on ActiveX. ActiveX is not built in with Firefox and therefore your computer is safer.

Firefox offers extensions and themes to modify the advanced browser any way you wish. You can download items that will accelerate download speeds, stop java script, virus scan on links, download embedded videos into your desktop, offer weather forecasts in your browser, and the list goes on and on. In the default version you can clear cookies, cache, sessions, and passwords without ever leaving Firefox.

With themes you can customize your browser to look the way you wish. For Halloween, you can have your buttons decorated as pumpkins and other Halloween flare. Firefox is a creative design and it's open source. That means you can take the browser and design your own extensions if you wish.

Make the switch today or at least try it out. You'll wonder how you ever surfed the net without it!

Jeffery S. Miller is the author of Higgins: An American Story and The Ballad of J.D. Higgins. Miller is an avid Firefox user and hasn't regretted the switch from Internet Explorer. Browse the net with confidence! The author is not getting paid for this endorsement. He actually believes in the product. Feel free to visit the author's site at http://www.freewebs.com/jefferysmiller