This is the most rediculous thing I've ever heard from a successful corporation like Symantec. What an amateurish and uninformed thing to say. I used to have shred of respect for them, but no more.
IE 6 was released in October 25, 2001. Firefox 1.0 was released November 9, 2004. Firefox is LESS THAN 1 YEAR OLD! Internet Explorer 6 has been floating around for 4 years and hasn't been actively developed in over a year and a half. It's a 1.0 version, people! Security patching near the beginning will spike, then trail off, naturally, as the browser has a chance to steep. Firefox is in that spike period. IE 6.0 is in coast mode of near zero development.
==================
IE 6 - 222 security patches since release
Firefox - 52 patches since release, only 13 critical
==================
As of this month [September, 2005], SecurityFocus reports 2 unpatched vulnerabilities in Firefox 1.0.6, versus 56 unpatched vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer 6 on Microsoft Windows XP SP2.
I'd say the IE 7 team has their work cut out for them. It's also clear that the Mozilla team patches the holes immediately. The IE team has left known critical vulnerabilities lie for over a year. Unacceptable!
I also see conflicting reports of IE's exact number of patched and unpatched vulnerabilities. That's because MS buries their bug list. At least, with Firefox, they are made publically available. There is nothing to hide. We can log on at any time and see all outstanding bugs. What a fantastic way to develop software! Who can actually say, with all certainty, that IE's unpathced vulnerabilities lie at any given number. That's only the number the public knows about.
And finally, the most important test - the end-user test. The "proof is in the pudding" test. Having been an IE devotee since the 4.0 versions, and having used Firefox as my prime browser since 0.7. I can personally attest to the security hassles IE had created for me, my work associates, clients, friends and family. Since switching to Firefox over a year ago, I have had ZERO spyware attacks or any other browser-based compromise of my system - and neither have the 36 people I have using Firefox now. People thank me daily for the recommendation. I've even seen people switch back to IE for one evening [fully patched on SP2], and have witnessed their machine immediately get riddled with spyware, requiring a full OS reformat and reinstall. I've seen this happen at least two dozen times. I watch people struggle with this POS browser, while the Firefox crew happily surfs the web safely. I'd be a fool to switch back to IE now.
Discussion on:
Message 295 of 1
The best of ZDNet, delivered
ZDNet Newsletters
Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox
