NOTE: This was written sometime around 2004!
> And, curiously, the text > size choices under view in IE don't change the size at all. Blame *that* little bit of *nastiness* on the CSS and on Microsoft! This is merely one *more* reason to get away from IE! (There are *many!*) > What browser are you using? I'm *glad* you asked! :) I am using the FireFox browser. To put it bluntly, FireFox absolutely, unequivocally, undeniably, and superbly, *Blows IE out of the water*!!! You can download it at: HTTP://WWW.MOZILLA.ORG Best part: 100% *free*!!! No, I don't work for them, am not affiliated with them, yadda... but I absolutely *love* this browser! Here are just a "scratch-the-surface" list of immediately noticed (and *appreciated!*) benefits: 1) Instant, easy, and "universal" Text Resize. Just press [CTRL] - or [CTRL] + to decrease/increase text size. This is what I did with the Orban site, but with the text forced into that 400 pixel-wide single column (why???) that made it rather awkward to read. Some sites also use that (IMHO: Dreaded) CSS "feature" to force-allocate text into buttons, etc, so that when you resize, it "spills out" and messes up the look of the rest of the page, or the text starts to overlap. In those cases, I usually end up enlarging it to read the articles/info, then shrink it again so that the (poorly designed, IMHO) navigation buttons look and work properly again. 2) ****None**** of the below: (A) Site-installed spyware/scumware (B) Browser hijacking (C) Malicious code execution (D) Changing of your "Home" page without consent (E) Pop-ups/unders (Hooray & Good Riddance!!!) You do have the ability to easily "white list" specific sites that make *proper* use of them, such as banking, etc. Case-in-point on the scumware: With just *one click* my wife accidentally had about 3 *dozen* pieces of spyware/scumware installed onto her laptop within mere *seconds*. It was a pop-up that said, "Would you like to set your PC's clock?" She thought that was innocent enough, and made the mistake of clicking it. Within minutes, she was asking me to correct "something strange" on her screen. (Ugh!!) About an hour and a half later, I had all of the scumware removed, and she now knew better. :) It was not long after this that I was told about FireFox, and have *never* looked back! :) She really likes it, too. Ok, back to the list... 3) Instant ability to *stop* flashing/animated and *distracting* nonsense on sites that ABuse it. 4) Instant ability (when feature is installed seperately) to block not only individually egregious advertising, but to also (with a little editing) block the entire *servers* that feed this stuff. (You'd be *surprised* at how "clean" some sites look after just blocking *one* annoying ad server!) This also includes the ability to block annoying "scripts" on certain sites... things like those animated "cursor chasers" that are only "cute" for the first 4 seconds... UGH! 5) The ability to block "Flash" with a simple keystroke sequence. This is less "permanent" than using the AdBlock "extension". (Their term for powerful, useful, tiny "plug-ins" which add nice features/conveniences to the browser.) You can simply "hide/unhide" it with the keystroke toggle. (SHIFT-CTRL F) 6) Drastically improved *control* of *Your* browser! IE gleefully surrenders control of *just about everything* to the whims of the site's designers. With a good site, this is not such an issue... but with a *compromised* site, or a malicious site, you are now in for *big* trouble! One of my pet peeves: Sites that change the color/appearance of *MY* browser's scroll bars/buttons. This is only a small, but highly visible, demonstration of how insecure IE actually is. FireFox does not permit any of this nonsense. The scrollbars/buttons retain the appearance that *I* choose for them. 7) After converting every PC in my home and the station to FireFox, subsequent spyware sweeps have turned up ***nothing***!!! Every month (while we were still using IE) I would sweep these machines, and every month, there would be literally *dozens* of spyware "things" lurking. All installed by doing nothing more than merely visiting various WEBsites. Once I installed Firefox, I did an experiment... 5 months of no sweeps. Everyone was using their browsers as before. Not even *one* spyware "thing" was to be found... on *any* of those PC's! That sold me. I have been SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS about the benefits of FireFox ever since! :) Everyone that has started using it has had an "Ah-ha!" moment, as they realized the fact that it gave them better control! Everyone *loves* the easy Text Resize and AdBlock! *I* love it because it saves me several hours each month, not having to purge spyware & scumware out of everyone's systems! :) 8) When you install FireFox, it painlessly, flawlessly, imports *everything* (except the scumware!) from your IE favorites, settings, etc! When you launch Firefox, there are *all* of your Favorites, perfectly preserved! :) I also highly recommend letting FF set itself as your default browser, and make sure that IE is *not*. 9) You also want to install the "NoScript" plug-in. Trust me, this one is worth more than your PC, the desk it sits on, you, and your computer chair's weight in PLATINUM! With this installed, there is virtually NOTHING that can infect your system. If a site cannot run ANY JavaScript, it can NOT do anything nasty! You can even visit geocities sites with impunity! You won't have any annoying popups, annoying-as-all-getout "sliding" menus that bob up and down as you scroll, etc. All of that garbage is done with scripts. Disable them or enable them selectively, depending on the site. (It is also whitelist controlled, and you can selectively set the sites permitted.) I have even tested it on KNOWN MALICIOUS sites, and it prevented ANYTHING from happening. The site appeared as a blank page. NICE! A subesquent virus scan revealed NOTHING. It works! 10) You should also get the ADBLOCK plugin AND the list of annoying servers for it. 95% of the TOTALLY ANNOYING ads will be GONE, and MOST sites will look much "cleaner" and will be easier to read! Only the "tame" ads will remain. There are many more reasons why FireFox is your BEST browser. Check it out. Your PC will thank you. ;)