I own another – more popular – site on the fear of flying. The site gets an average of 1000 visitors a day, and my stats program allows me to see where in the world my visitors come from, along with information such as what Internet browser they are using.
That may seem like a pointless bit of information, but it relates to why I’m posting this review.
My stats show that a huge percentage of Internet users are still using Internet Explorer 6 to browse the Internet.
So what I hear you say….
Internet Explorer 6 is outdated, and insecure. In this day in age, it’s more important than ever that we all protect our data. Using such an insecure web browser is just asking for trouble. The following is taken from the Wikipedia page for the browser;
This version of Internet Explorer is widely derided for its security issues and lack of support for modern web standards, making frequent appearances in “worst tech products of all time” lists, with some publications labeling it as the “least secure software on the planet.”[2]
Because a substantial percentage of the web audience still uses the outdated browser, campaigns have been established to encourage users to upgrade to newer versions of Internet Explorer or switch to different browsers. Some websites have dropped support for IE6 entirely, most notable of which is Google dropping support in some of its services.[3][4]
Over nine years after its release, it continues to receive patches for security vulnerabilities nearly every month.
If you are using this browser, you really need to update asap. All Internet browsers are free of charge, and you DO have a choice.
Microsoft have always had the largest market share with it’s Internet Explorer browser. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best. The ONLY reason they are top of the table is because the browser is already installed on every single Windows PC. The majority of computer users are not even aware that there is an alternative, and they presume this is the only way to get access to the Internet.
In truth, Internet Explorer is slow, buggy, and sometimes insecure. I haven’t used any version of the Microsoft browser for many years now (apart from on work computers where I – unfortunately – do not have a choice), and I don’t plan on doing so in the future.
So what are your alternatives;
There are many browsers to choose from, but the biggest are Firefox, Safari (Apple), and Google Chrome (my personal favourite).
All of these are faster and more secure than even the newest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer. If your Internet is running slow, it’s likely to be caused by a slow browser…… Do yourself a favour, and install a faster browser TODAY.
Download Google Chrome at http://www.google.com/chrome. Install it and set it as your default bowser. Give it a week or so to get used to the slightly different browser, and then I dare you to tell me you haven’t noticed an improvement in your Internet performance.
