Security threats Toolkit

Story: Thinking of ditching IE? Think again

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Sure, don't ditch IE. But that shouldn't mean ditch everything else. Unless you want to be writing websites in IE6, IE7 for XP, IE7+, IE (SP) future releases and what not. And keep on explaining to all your visitors and customers that if they don't go the IE route (which one?) as well you're not that interested in them really. As well as explaining to visitors and customers that do use IE but just happen to opt for more restrict security (e.g.: actually follow Microsoft's security recommendations each and every time) that you're not quite ready for them yet.

Excuse me but you have to be absolutely bongers to still believe that the entire world will dance to the tunes of you or whatever vendor nowedays. The future will bring an ever increasing fragmentation within the Microsoft market. Partly because Microsoft itself forces it by delivering various OS version specific (even SP specific) products like IE. Partly because not all Microsoft customers follow Microsoft security advisories in the same way or even all at once and that does impact functionality possibilities from time to time. Partly because Microsoft customers that want to switch won't switch all at once. Partly because a not so small number of Microsoft customers will not switch for the foreseeable future. And partly because a growing number of Microsoft customers will opt for alternative solutions. More and more even including the OS of their choice. And all that is excluding the growing number of people making use of all sorts of handhelds and what not that come with their own flavours and various versions as well. And all of that is excluding the increasing demand for user-friendly security that actually works and as such will add to the burden of making it all work for most and the most important few. Since that also is an upcoming market with various vendors with various products in various versions.
And no, we're not there yet. There's also the desire for identity management because people are getting barking mad from all the different passwords, identities, tokens, crypt-key's, personal certificates and what not that they need to carry around. And no, like all the rest mentioned before, you're not the one telling what others should use and like it too because you know what? Your competitor and even your business partner is telling them the exact same thing but mentioning different products. So you work with whatever the customer has.

Learn to deal with change. Learn to manage diversity. You're no longer in control. No single vendor is in control anymore because they're actually involved in creating fragmentation. So a demanding, one-sided, approach and attitude is not an option anymore. One size fits all? No more.

What's needed is a true open standard like ASCII, DNS, SMTP. Something that works with whatever browser (from whatever vendor on whatever platform) that respects that true open standard in full.

Ditch IE? Yes. Because it doesn't work with a true open standard. In fact, ditch everything that doesn't work with a true open standard. Which true open standard? I don't care. Pick one as an industry and move on.

But if I'm forced to choose I won't go for the one that put me in this predicement (fool me one..., fool me twice...). Plenty of ways to script around it and, besides, the hours saved by opting for a more modern alternative will allow for such scripting. Not to mention that IE users are used to years old stuff anyway so they're easily impressed anyway.

As for FireFox. It's not there yet. But boy it is improving and developing at a rate 10 times faster then IE. And FireFox is not the only alternative out there. All with enhanced user experience and security IE still doesn't offer.

Your choice because I already made mine a long time ago and I haven't looked back. Didn't need to.
Here IE is only used for WindowsUpdate and only for the PC's that are still on Windows.

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