"me too" or...
Personally, I install and maintain a "latest version" copy of both IE and Netscape. I use Netscape for as much of my browsing as is possible, and then use IE ONLY for those pages which refuse to produce useable output unless IE is used _AND_ whose source-location I deem secure/safe/trusted/friendly/whatever...IE is, IMO, important to have for visiting certain sites, one being the O/S's support home, others which are biz related and are to some degree a personal choice issue... I try not to EVER use Outlook or any of its variants as an email client at home, because I believe that the miscreant society spends the majority of their time on planning and executing attacks against microsoft products, specifically targeting the MS's inbuilt browser and email clients because of their "universal" appeal to the consumer world. At work, I am stuck with it, and so I rely on our company's network security team to limit "incoming", and my own modest brain cells to think before blindly opening email entitled "hey, I gots a reel good gift for yuz, checks this dirty pix out, bud", or "Open dis virus and infect your system, you stupid moron, yaz just...can't... resist it" and other similar fodder... Because statements like the above generally stimulate an IMO undue amount of negative email directed at MS,(if not at me for reminding people of how people generally get infected in the first place <g>) claiming that MS is responsible for these problems, I feel a need to be clear in qualifying the suggestion of avoidance. Unlike some of our members, I do not blame Microsoft for the bulk of this security problem, because an inflexible platform, while likely impervious to attack, is about as much fun as a visit to the dentist and about a productive as a squeezing blood from a stone. Conversely, a flexible platform, offering capability and "open spaces", by its very nature invites those who have criminal intent to use that platform to their advantage, using the naivette, ignorance, and sometimes downright stupidity of the "masses" to further the criminal aims within that environment. This is regardless of whether theirs is the intent of the common-variety dime-a-dozen snake-oil con-game crook (often email harvesting schemes and questionable product claims) or that of the international saboteur, from selling illegitimate product licenses to alquida activities... These neato devices we have on our desks yield one undying truth: You have to deal with the bad to get the good. FWIW, to those who feel an immediate need to reply to this email with a trouncing of MS and a hallelujah to Linux, an interesting, though altogether too brief paper is http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/linux/2002/01626655.html , interesting because in spite of the predictions of those who father Linux as the savior of the computing age, security, mom and apple pie. etc, etc... as the platform is embraced, it too becomes subject to these efforts... In any event, for the forseeable future, relying too heavily on the intrinsic Microsoft email and browser capabilities is fraught with danger and should be avoided whenever possible. I think Microsoft's O/S(s) are, for the most part, superior to all other available, afforable, universalist choices, but I do not think it is wise to rely on the fluff-stuff like email and browser. One more note. If you're using the MS Media player (or any other, for that matter...), I'd seriously consider getting a software gate (firewall) to limit its ability to talk to the world without your express permission. Oh, and if you use Limewire or any of its child-apps for file-sharing, well, let's just say you get what you ask for. The analogy to safe sex has never been more apropo. aj * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
