Firefox Strikes Back

In a move to counter Microsoft's underhanded attempt to distribute updates through Firefox, Mozilla has decided to make users aware of the malicious code Redmond has installed.

First you see this popup:


which shows you somebody has been up to no good.

This is part of their new blocklist for plugins:



Way to go, Firefox. Help us get rid of this nasty plugin.

Opera 10 Very Fast

I switched to using Opera 10 on Debian. Noticably faster with better rendering than Firefox.

Microsoft's Boldest Move Yet

This week on a regrettably Vista machine, I checked my firefox addons and saw something I didn't install: Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant. Whatever, I thought, I'll get rid of it.

Not so easy, the uninstall button is not available. A quick search found how to do it at annoyances.org which claims it came with Windows update.

So what is this component which is so important, Microsoft felt the need to install it on Firefox? According to Microsoft support:

...the .NET Framework Assistant enables Firefox to use the ClickOnce technology that is included in the .NET Framework. The .NET Framework Assistant is added at the computer level so that its functionality can be used by all users at the computer level instead of at the user level.

That sounds secure to me. What could go wrong? I'm curious why it doesn't do the same for Safari, which was installed on that computer, or for Chrome (which isn't). Oh, wait a minute... Its because the corporations behind them will take you to court over it!

Seriously, this is unacceptable. Firefox is not your product, Microsoft! I've spent my last cent on Microsoft products. No more. I'm switching off Windows. Now go away!

Firefox - Four Years Later

November 9th, 2008 will be the four year anniversary of Firefox 1.0 release. Since its inception, two things have happened steadily: Firefox has gained browser share, and Microsoft's Internet Destroyer has lost it.

IE's peak of 95.0% happened in Q2 of 2004, according to TheCounter.com. and today falls to 78.3%. During that same time frame, Firefox has gone from 2.4% up to today's 16.4%.


And things just got worse for Microsoft, with the release of Firefox 3.0 - its better than its ever been. So how long do we think it will take Firefox to get to 50% share?