Internet Browsers & Other Must Haves

[Casual Observer]

I'm being forced to get a non-Macintosh laptop for work, and the last time I owned a Windows box was the pre-popup/adware/spyware/etc. days. I ran Windows 98SE and just used Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Well, now I'm getting a Compaq laptop for work, which will run (presumably) Windows XP Pro.

Any suggestions on which internet browser to use that is the most secure in todays hostile web enviroment? On my Mac I use Safari and sometimes Firefox with no problems. Are there any other programs out there that boost web-performance for the PC? Again, my example is my Mac and the little apps like "Little Snitch" (detects all outgoing/incoming IP transmissions), or "Broadband Optimizer" (script that unlocks certain Unix based features).

Also, the last time I owned a PC (I barely use them at work now to surf the web), I used shareware apps like "ACDSee" to view pics, and "Winamp" to listen to mp3's. I hate to sound out of the loop, but are these apps still popular, or have they been replaced by a better downloadable sharware app?

I sure would appreciate your help, and please spare me the lame Macintosh jokes. You'll noticed I refrained from Windoze bashing in this post (well.. almost! ).

[editor]

Firefox is still the leadning non-MS browser for Windows, thought a lot of people have affinity for Opera.

Mozilla has evolved into a suite that incorporated mail and newsgroups as well. Because of that it's heavier than Firefox.

The Mozilla e-mail client is available as a standalone called Thunderbird.

When I run Windows XP on my Apple Powerbook, I don't use ACDSee, I just use Windows built-in picture viewer.

Which, I guess brings up another point -- you may not have to get a second laptop. I have a 17" Powerbook (1.33GHz) and it runs XP just fine in Microsoft's Virtual PC. The key is to have enough RAM. It was usable with 512megs. But once I boosted the laptop to 1.5gigs, it screamed.

[Casual Observer]

Which, I guess brings up another point -- you may not have to get a second laptop.

[Subdude]

I usually use Firefox, but some sites don't work on it, including my favorite site - this one. It comes out kind of garbled, with avatars scattered around. I probably set something wrong in the settings.

[editor]

I usually use Firefox, but some sites don't work on it, including my favorite site - this one.  It comes out kind of garbled, with avatars scattered around.  I probably set something wrong in the settings.

That's very strange, because when I go to this site from work I only go it in Firefox on Windows and haven't noticed any problems.

Is anyone else having trouble?

[jmancuso]

nope, no problems and i have been using firefox for quite a while now.

[YakuzaIce]

I usually use Firefox, but some sites don't work on it, including my favorite site - this one.  It comes out kind of garbled, with avatars scattered around.  I probably set something wrong in the settings.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah this always happens to me. If you refresh a couple times it usually all goes away. It only comes back if I clear cookies or something.

[LTAWACS]

Use FireFox or Conga.

[editor]

Yeah this always happens to me.  If you refresh a couple times it usually all goes away.  It only comes back if I clear cookies or something.

Sounds like the old Slashdot bug. If you make the text larger, then smaller, does it fix itself? If so, it's a known issue with Firefox that I think was fixed in one of the recent builds.