IE Bash

It all started when Amit Yoran's office came out and advised everyone to abandon Internet Explorer for Windows. Amit works within the US Department of Homeland Security and this was evidently considered a matter of national security.

Actually it started a little bit before that. Possibly at the turn of the year 2004 which has already seen dozens - hundreds - of excellent exploits of this fine web browser.

Actually it might have started even earlier - perhaps when Jim Allchin took the stand in Washington DC and grinned and told judge TP Jackson that one could no longer extricate Internet Explorer from the clutches of that fine operating system known as Windows.

But it probably started even before that, back when Steve Ballmer traveled to Armonk to tell IBM his company would be abandoning their joint venture. But then again, Windows already existed by then, so it probably started even earlier, at the 1983 Comdex in Las Vegas where Billy G3 was caught with his pants down and another company's demonstration of a PC GUI desktop stole the show.

But Bill was still there, so it started before that. Come to think of it, it probably all really started the fateful night when William H Gates II rolled over in his sleep on top of Mrs William H Gates II and made the mistake of his life.

Whatever - last week IE for Windows lost market share for the first time in over five years. Unbelievable but true - both that IE has eaten more market share all this time, and that the trend has finally turned. Mozilla Foundation are getting about 200,000 downloads a day, so things are changing - gradually.

At time of writing MS have lost a single percentage point, but things can get worse, and if they don't, IE users will only get bashed more.

Welcome to the IE Bash. Below you will find links to all the excitement that the peons on the PC side have had to endure these past years and weeks. Schadenfreude, say the Germans, is the ultimate form of joy. Swim in it.

Microsoft Internet Explorer Multiple Vulnerabilities [2004-07-14]
http://secunia.com/advisories/12048

Vulnerability Note VU#713878
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/713878

Time to Dump Internet Explorer
http://securityfocus.net/columnists/249

US-CERT suggests firms exit IE
http://vnunet.com/news/1156389

Mozilla Gains on IE
http://pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116848,00.asp

Isn't Now the Time to Try a Linux Desktop?
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1622086,00.asp

Internet Explorer Is Too Dangerous to Keep Using
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1617927,00.asp

2004: Internet Explorer's year of shame
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39160000,00.htm

Another day, another IE flaw...
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/security/0,39020375,39159868,00.htm

Abandon Internet Explorer
http://www.google.com/search?q=abandon%20Internet%20Explorer

Why You Should Dump Internet Explorer - Lockergnome's Tech News Watch
http://channels.lockergnome.com/news/archives/
20040615_why_you_should_dump_internet_explorer.phtml

Browser Hijackers Ruining Lives
http://wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,63391,00.html

Abandon Explorer, pros advise
http://business.bostonherald.com/technologyNews/view.bg?articleid=34431

IE is broken: can you fix it?
http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/0,39023100,39159781,00.htm

Abandon Ship!
http://ls.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=689

Pus From Every Pore
http://www.webhostingtalk.nl/showthread/t-53932.html

Microsoft Magazine Recommends Mozilla Firefox Instead Of Internet Explorer
http://wi-fitechnology.com/displayarticle1294.html

Internet Explorer eaten by Mozilla
http://theinquirer.net/?article=17146

Rivals nibble at Microsoft's IE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3886861.stm