How To Keep Your Computer Safe

Step 5: Switching Web Browsers & Email Clients

More than 90 percent of computer users worldwide use Internet Explorer as their default Web browser. Outlook Express is likewise the most widely used mail client in the world. That’s no surprise – IE and OE are integrated into the Windows operating system. But you do have a choice as to whether you use these programs or other programs, and you may want to consider switching to another Web browser or email client.

Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, sad to say, have lousy security records. Both programs have had and continue to have security holes, flaws that Microsoft can be slow to fix. Because of their integrated status into Windows, IE and OE can make your computer less secure (as we have discussed in earlier steps).  One of the easiest ways to step up protection of your computer is to install and use a different Web browser and email client.

There are several alternative programs available, many of which are free. (Contrary to our warning about being skeptical of “free” programs, these are software that can be trusted.)

One of the hottest browsers right now is Firefox, which is available for free from the Mozilla Foundation (www.mozilla.org). One of the reasons it is more secure is that it won’t run programs using Active X Controls. This protects your computer from being infected by automatically downloaded programs. Not only is Firefox more secure than IE, it also comes with many features IE doesn’t have: tabbed browsing (which allows you to have several web pages open at once within the same browser window), customizable displays, automatic pop-up blocking, and sophisticated privacy tools, just to name a few.

This is what the Firefox browser, with three tabs open, looks like:

Another option is Opera (www.opera.com). Opera is not free. You can download a no-cost version, but you’ll have to live with a permanent ad banner displayed in the toolbar. The ad-free version costs $29. Opera also offers pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, and increased security and privacy.

Here's some tips on how to get started with a new Web browser.

Mozilla and Opera each offer an email client, too. Opera’s mail client is M2. Mozilla’s is Thunderbird. Both programs have an integrated spam filter and a built-in news reader. Both support multiple accounts, and both will allow you to import your email from Outlook Express folders. Best of all, they offer better virus protection than OE.

You can also get many of these benefits from Eudora mail (www.eudora.com), depending on which version you choose. Eudora has a “light mode” (free, but with fewer features), a “sponsored mode” (includes an ad window and advertising toolbar links; does not include Eudora’s SpamWatch, a junk mail filter), and a “paid mode” (with all the bells and whistles; costs $50).

You can find other choices with a simple Internet search.

Go to the next step.

Last Updated: 6 January 2005