Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome vs. Firefox

And again it is a customer's question that triggers me to write on this blog. The customer, thank you Steve H, asked simply "What is your opinion of Microsoft Edge vs Firefox?".

Here is my reply:

I strongly advise against using any web browser from Microsoft!

I collected some articles for your enjoyment that can give you some background for my various reasons. The articles quotes are in no particular sequence.

Test Link

Microsoft Edge introduces new security risks in Windows 10     https://betanews.com/2015/07/30/microsoft-edge-introduces-new-security-risks-in-windows-10/

IE, Edge Users at Risk from Serious Browser Security Flaw      https://www.tomsguide.com/us/edge-ie-flaw-no-fix,news-24565.html

Windows 10 users ignore Edge for a reason     https://betanews.com/2015/10/19/windows-10-users-ignore-microsoft-edge-for-a-reason/

Windows 10's new browser Microsoft Edge: Improved but also new risks     https://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/windows-10s-new-browser-microsoft-edge-improved-but-also-new-risks/

Before you ask let me please preempt the question about Google Chrome vs. Firefox:

So far the main argument for Chrome was "it is faster". That was and is a phony argument that shows a deplorable lack of knowledge by the people using it. I'll give you an example.

Let's assume from the moment you click on a link to having the new web page in front of your eyes it takes all together 10 seconds.

90% of that time is needed to get the many little files that comprise a web page from the server these files reside on to your computer. We and/or the web browser have no way to make that faster.

The last 10% of the time is used by the web browser to "convert " the many little files into the picture we see; this process is called rendering. And that actually was where Chrome was faster.

MS Edge, the new version of Firefox and others have closed and/or eliminated that speed gap.

If Chrome were 30% faster in rendering the web page that would be only 0.3 seconds. Even in a direct A/B comparison we would not be able to experience that difference.

Additionally: The Chrome web store, from where you'd download any browser extension you might want or need, has been plagued by rogue extensions (only one example here, there are many more!). You may find way too late that the extension you downloaded and installed was rogue.

So for me it is clear:

No to Google Chrome and ANY Microsoft browser; IMHO the only well supported alternative is Firefox.


Stay safe.

How to stay safe in 2017 - Short List

Here is a short list of in my experience the most important steps you can take to keep your computer and your data safe. have I have added e few remarks for clarification.

1. Update your software.
   Not only Windows but all other regularly used programs as well;
   for a Windows PC this includes (but is not limited to)
   -   Adobe Flash (beware of fake download sites!)
   -   Adobe Shockwave
   -   Web browser(s)
   -   Email client
   -   Java (if installed; mostly Java is not needed at all!)
   -   Office programs
   We always have to keep in mind that some programs still don't update automatically and quietly in the background! Checking manually hardly ever has hurt anything.
    
2. Back-up to an external hard drive.
   Done regularly and correctly this currently is the only protection against ransomware viruses!
    
3. Use a password manager.
   For single machines see Keepass, for more than one machine see LastPass and include all cell phones and tablets in the count!
      
4. Use a unique password for every account.
   Everybody has many, many accounts; you need a password manager!
    
5. Use random passwords
   Easily done only with a password manager!
    
6. Turn on two-step verification everywhere you can.
   If you have a cell phone that you really use, otherwise this is pretty useless.
    
7. Read and think(!) before you click.
   "My" first commandment for safe computing.
    
   
8. Enable full-disk encryption
   On a single home computer? Only protects your data when the machine gets stolen.
    
9. Put a six-digit PIN on your phone and set the phone to wipe it's contents if the PIN is guessed wrongly too many times.
   

Do you have questions to any of that? Please feel free to ask them in the comments, I will reply. Maybe not immediately but I will.

Stay safe.

NO to Google Chrome - Here is Why

Here is a quote from this article on The Register:

Chrome leads the browser pack with 504 reported vulnerabilities followed by Internet Explorer with 289 and Firefox with 171. Some 1035 flaws were reported across all browsers including Opera and Safari, up from 728 in 2013.

"Reported vulnerabilities" are in layman's terms known weaknesses in the program code of the web browser that have been or could eventually be used to hack through a given web browser into computers.

Why would a person want to willingly live with more risks than less?

This seems to me to be a good time to talk about the most common argument for Google Chrome, at least as far as I hear from my customers. The argument is "Yeah, but Chrome is faster". Mostly I get that from younger people or grandparents who quote family members or friends thereof.

That argument is "true" only to a laughably small effect that IMHO is totally irrelevant.

Every web page is made up of often numerous files; these files have to be transferred from the server computer of that web page into our computer. The time this transfer takes is solely dictated by the real life speed and performance of our Internet connection. Our computer and the web browser have next to no influence on that transfer.

Only after all the files that comprise the web page are on our computer the web browser can begin to build the visible web page on the screen. Yes, in doing this Google Chrome is faster than other browsers but this is maybe 10% of the total time it takes from us clicking on a link to the web page appearing on our screen.

Let me do the math for an extremely slow example: Assumed it takes 10 seconds from click to visible page (which is quite long!). 90% of this time is waiting for the transfer of the file(s), that is 9 out of 10 seconds; only 10% (equals 1 second) is what the browser takes to actually do it's job of giving us something to look at. Even if Google Chrome were 20% faster than another browser that would amount to being 0.2 seconds faster over all. That difference is well below what humans can perceive!

My point is: "Faster" is by no means "better"!

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

Stay safe.

What browser?

I got an email from a customer and believe my reply might be of interest to many people. The customer quoted an article from another blog(?) that recommended to search directly out of the URL field. Here is my reply verbatim as I sent it:

The crux with all these "easy" tips is that they all play right into the industry's game.

The more searches any given search engine gets to perform the more money they can ask for their aggregated info on what we search for. The search engine companies may not directly advertise to us but the companies that buy this aggregated search information can then advertise better and more directly to us.

• It's a fact that Bing and Yahoo (they use Bing) do NOT show us what in the search results are paid advertisements.
• It's a fact that way too many advertisements get abused to get malicious programs on our computers.
• It's a fact that some web browsers (like IE and Edge, both from Microsoft!) make it very difficult or don't allow us at all to suppress advertisements.
• It's a fact that Google does not allow us to suppress certain advertisements in Google's own Chrome browser.

All the before said and more is behind my STRONG recommendation to use only Firefox as I set it up for my customers.

And I urge my customers to search ONLY out of the little browser specific Search window:

because when you search from there you get a Google search result

MINUS any advertisement(s),
PLUS the red, yellow and green Web of Trust ratings right by every search result.
AND your search with Google has happened anonymously!

Update Jan. 10th 2017:
Sadly around November 5th 2016 Mozilla, the organization that supplies Firefox and Google have removed that piece of code from their download pages; some details are here.
If you remove the WOT extension or add-on from your Firefox browser it currently can not be re-installed!
Google recently made the WOT extension available again.

If that is not reason enough for any of my customers it's their decision and their money if I have to clean up their machine again.

 Stay safe!