You need IE to run many anything that needs Active X controls, so I suggest you keep it. It is possible to uninstall IE, but since it is a major part of Windows (needed to update the OS) you have to go into the registry to delete it, and unless you know a lot about the registry DO NOT GO INTO IT! I have ruined some computers just when I was trying to teach myself how to use the registry, and several times had to fully reinstall the OS (1 computer I wrecked so bad that I just gave up on, though luckily it was an old 300 mhz IBM)
Anyway, that junk you hear about IE not being safe, is just crap. I love Firefox, but that is just because there are so many add ons for Firefox, not because of any increased security what so ever. In fact when talking about speed IE is a faster browser, with Opera by far being the best, but it is incompatible with most websites (because it cannot support flash, once they get that down it will be the Firefox2).
I personally prefer Firefox, and use it all the time but if you seriously believe that keep on reading...
A newly uncovered vulnerability in most browsers can allow hackers to spoof the URL displayed in the address bar and the SSL certificate, a security firm warned Monday. The one exception? Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
Danish security company Secunia posted an alert describing the vulnerability--which affects Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Konqueror--as a "moderately critical" problem.
The vulnerability impacts every browser that uses the open-source Gecko browser kernel--nearly all except IE--because of a flaw in handling International Domain Names (IDN). Hackers can register domain names with certain international characters that resemble other commonly used characters, said Secunia, to spoof the address and trick the user into thinking they're at a legitimate site and/or it's secured by SSL.
Such spoofing vulnerabilities are typically exploited by phishers who try to dupe users into divulging financial information at bogus Web sites that resemble real-life banking, credit card, or retail sites.
The vulnerability has been confirmed in the latest version of Firefox, v. 1.0, as well as in Mozilla 1.7.5, Opera 7.54u1, Opera 7.54u2, Safari 1.2.4, Konqueror 3.2.2, and Netscape 7.2. Other editions of these browsers, however, may also be at risk, said Secunia, which posted an online test on its Web site.
Currently, none of the vendors have provided fixes for the flaw.
Hot on the heels of Monday's disclosure of spoofing vulnerabilities in most non-Internet Explorer browsers, a security researcher Tuesday unveiled another trio of bugs in Firefox and its Mozilla cousin.
The flaws, all of which involve some user action, can be used by hackers to drop code onto a PC, muck with the about:config element of the browser, or steal cookies that, for instance, provide instant access to protected Web sites.
"If you create a hybrid of a .gif image and a batch file you can trick Firefox," claimed the German researcher identified only as "mikx" by Danish security firm Secunia, in his original warning of one of the bugs.
"Since the hybrid renders as a valid image, Firefox tries to copy the image to the desktop when dropped. By creating the image dynamically and forcing the content type image/gif, the file can be of any extension (e.g. image.bat or image.exe). Since Windows hides known file extensions by default, a user can only tell that something went wrong by looking at the file icon, which is different of course. If the user does not care or know what this different icon means, a double click to view or edit the "image" he just dropped executes the batch file instead."
The vulnerabilities have been confirmed in Firefox 1.0 and Mozilla 1.7.5, the most current editions of the open-source browser and browser suite, respectively.
While Mozilla Foundation developers have implemented fixes, they haven't been rolled into a patch or a new version that can be downloaded and used without recompiling the code.
Not for Profit
Myth - "Firefox and Mozilla are Not for Profit" - Example
Reality - "The Mozilla Corporation pays its employees from the revenues we receive from our product. We are very fortunate in that the search feature in Firefox is both appreciated by our users and generates revenue in the tens of millions of dollars."
"Now, the Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit entity that develops and distributes Firefox, is forming a for-profit subsidiary that will eventually capitalize on the browser's popularity. The Mozilla Foundation will announce today that it has formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, Mozilla Corp."
"Unlike the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, the Mozilla Corporation will be a taxable entity (that is, a for-profit rather than a non-profit)"
Myth - "Firefox has lower System Requirements than Internet Explorer"
Reality - Internet Explorer 6 has much lower minimum System Requirements than Firefox 2
Recommended to run IE:
486/66 MHz CPU
16 MB of RAM
11.5 MB of free disk space
Windows 98
Minimum to run Firefox:
233 MHz CPU
64 MB of RAM
50 MB of free disk space
Windows 98
Another Myth is than Mozilla is the fastest browser.
WRONG! Opera is the fastest. Go to http://www.howtocreate.co.uk/browserSpeed.html#winspeed
for more details.
Faster than Mozilla
Myth - "Firefox is Faster than Mozilla"
Reality - Ironically Mozilla 1.8 is faster than Firefox 2.x in 5 out of 7 measures of performance.. - Source
Notes - Considering Firefox is supposed to be the lighter, leaner version of the Mozilla suite, this is very surprising.
This is from Mozilla Themselves:
Downloads
Myth - "Firefox Achieved 150 million downloads in January of 2006"
Reality - "Oops. We recently introduced a bug into the counter and it's being fixed. We're not quite there yet. Sorry for the confusion. We accidentally counted the 20 million people who updated from Firefox 1.5 to Firefox 1.5.0.1 this week.
Go to http://www.spreadfirefox.com/node/21923 for the source.
Firefox is anything but Secure with multiple unpatched vulnerabilities allowing exposure of sensitive data to local users. You only need one vulnerability to be insecure. Since Firefox v1.x was released, users have been exposed to over 150 security vulnerabilities and countin
Firefox is the Most Secure Web Browser"
Reality - Opera is currently the most Secure Graphical Web Browser in Windows.
Myth - "Firefox Vulnerabilities are Quickly Patched"
Reality - Multiple vulnerabilities have remained unpatched for a long time. - Source
SA12403 - Unpatched since 08-30-2004
SA12580 - Unpatched since 09-18-2004
OS Integration Security
Myth - "Firefox is More Secure because it is not integrated into the OS"
Reality - "The issue of not being part of the Operating System is an interesting one though that is frequently the subject of misunderstanding. IE is part of the Windows Operating System so that parts of the OS and other applications can rely on the functionality and APIs being present. IE in turn relies on Operating System functionality to do it's job. To be clear there are no Operating System APIs that IE uses that are not documented on MSDN as part of the platform SDK and available to other browsers and any other software that runs on Windows. The security of any browser is irrelevant to if it is part of the operating system. If we are to debate security of browsers then let's bring in relevant arguments and accurate details about different possible attacks rather than rely on the irrational fear that because IE is part of the operating system it must be exposing OS functionality to the web. This is not the case as any software has access to the same set of OS APIs and can therefore expose the same set of OS functionality as IE."
Myth - "Firefox is More Secure because it does not use ActiveX"
Solution to Spyware
Myth - "Firefox is a Solution to Spyware"
Reality - This is very misleading and can lull users into a false sense of security. Use the free Secure XP Guide to properly secure your system and get a REAL solution to Spyware. Firefox is nothing more than a Web Browser. Installing Firefox does not clean your system of existing Spyware infections or protect you from manually installing anything in the future, including Spyware. These can come from Downloads, Email Attachments, File Sharing and by other means. You can still easily get infected with Spyware using Firefox as these exploits demonstrate:
"Earlier this week, I blogged about a site doing a bunch of different exploits, depending on what you are running. One of the things the site will do is detect if you have Firefox, and attempt to exploit it, using the InstallVersion.compareTo() vulnerability. There are actually a number of sites running this exploit, and one of our researchers, Adam Thomas, was kind enough to take some pictures. Going to a site with an older version of Firefox got him just a bucket-load of Spyware." - Source
"Visit the same page in FF and, with the JRE up and running, the below happens. Being a curious soul, I agreed to the install - and quickly wished I hadn't! In a flurry of remote downloads, numerous changes to the registry took place and a sizeable amount of IE specific installs began downloading. Amongst the assortment was DyFuCA, Internet Optimizer, ISTsvc, Kapabout, sais (180 Solutions), SideFind, Avenue Media and something called djtopr1150.exe lurking in the Temp folder."
Reality - "ActiveX gets a bad rap as the cause of all of Internet Explorer's security woes. But it's just not so. Old myths die hard! There's no doubt that Internet Explorer has more than it's fair share of security holes, but very few of them have to do with ActiveX. ActiveX controls are packages of code that can run in the context of the browser. They are installable through a link on a Web page. Exactly how different is this from having a link to an executable file that you have to explicitly run? Essentially not at all, except that the ActiveX version is more convenient. Even with Firefox you can download and run an executable file. Does this make Firefox unsafe? In fact, Mozilla and Firefox's support for XPCOM, a plain text and platform-independent software model, is very comparable to ActiveX once you get the user to click "Yes." The complaint against ActiveX has always centered around the ability to install native code from across the Internet, but this is less unusual than it seems, and ActiveX arguably makes things more secure. When you encounter an object tag referencing a control that you do not have installed, you then have the opportunity to install it. Under the default security settings, you will be warned before this happens and given an opportunity to approve or reject the installation."
Anti-Phishing
Myth - "Firefox 2's Phishing Protection is better than Internet Explorer 7"
Reality - "Internet Explorer 7's Phishing Filter finished at the top of 3Sharp's list as most accurate anti-phishing technology, catching nearly 9 out of 10 phishing sites while generating no warning or block errors on the 500 legitimate websites tested."
Integrated Search
Myth - "Firefox was the first Web Browser to include an Integrated Search feature"
Reality - Opera was the first browser to include an Integrated Search feature in Opera 5 in 2000.
Pop-up Blocking
Myth - "Firefox was the first Web Browser to include Pop-up Blocking"
Reality - Opera was the first browser to include Pop-up Blocking in Opera 5 in 2000.
Blocks All Pop-ups
Myth - "Firefox Blocks all Pop-ups"
Reality - Firefox does not Block all Pop-ups. PopupTest shows the "Drop down Popup" and the "Sticky Popup" are not blocked. Other types of Pop-ups continue to get through.
Also if you want to see something just plain stupid type about:mozilla into the Firefox address bar to get "The Book of Mozilla". FIREFOX IS NOT A RELIGION.
Now. Even though I am currently using Firefox to post this blog, I'm an just tired of people bad mouthing IE.
I rest my case.
Go to: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/FirefoxMyths.html for more information.