Battle Lines Drawn Between Browsers

I got a bit of a snicker out of this one:

"Leal says that even if Firefox use exploded, it would still be hard to get off Internet Explorer internally where Web-based tools, such as teller applications and virus monitoring, rely on the Microsoft software's features. "

Excuse me, but isn't it "Microsoft software's features" that generate the need for the virus monitoring in the first place?

And those Microsoft software features are sooo valuable...

...to the antivirus software vendors...

Hey, look here, Steve ....

If Firefox use explodes, that's the end for Mozilla.

I don't know about you, but I would feel very bad about having to replace my computer because the browser exploded.

I don't care if Firefox is free, I just couldn't deal with that additional expense.

And...besides...what if it took my fingers off, or sent nasty little things into my eyes?

Can't have that, nosirree.

No exploding browsers for this old boy.

Nope, nope, nope.

dino, you're spending too much time on the computer anyway. It's a lovely day, go outside for awhile.

latest daily stats from http://webreference.com. Scroll down a little and on the right.

41429 Visitors

OP 1.32% Saf 2.33% NS 3.20% FF 21.55% IE 55.18%

Actually, Firefox itself does not have to blow up to hurt FF's reputation. It's the perception that counts.

Where I work we have a Windows 2003 server on which I have an account that I use very occasionally. I installed Firefox.

Some time later, a coworker had difficulty updating a manufacturing accounting package that we sell. He spent a significant amount of time on the problem and ended up having to reinstall IE. And that fixed the problem.

And you know whose fault it all was? Mine, for installing Firefox. You see, the way my coworker see's it, a browser, or as MS would say, "Internet Technology", is at the very core of any modern operating system. And when you start replacing the core components of your OS, you are bound to run into incompatibilities. (He didn't say this exactly, but I have a pretty good idea of the underlying logic.) I had to explain to my boss that Firefox is quite self-contained and that whatever problem they were having with the 2003 server it had nothing to do with FF. Everyone politely listened. I'm not sure that they believed me.

The important thing to remember is that these people are not stupid! They are technical people and are good at what they do. But they are immersed in a "Microsoft World".

When I install FF, or any OSS software on a machine, I always have a certain trepidation. Because the next thing that goes wrong on that machine, whatever the real cause, is likely to be "my fault".