Firefox vs IE (corporate setup)

EvilHomer3k · Post by **EvilHomer3k** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:28 am

I'm trying to get some information on what people use as their default browser at work (actually what the IT dept. has set up) as well as reasons why.

We are discussing going to Firefox from IE as our default browser. One thing that has come up is that we won't be reducing the amount of work that IT has to do in going to Firefox. The reason is that we will still need to support and run IE due to web sites not working in Firefox.

So, for you IT guys, what do you support and what is the default browser? If you've gone to Firefox, what problems have you encountered? What sites don't work with Firefox? Are you still supporting IE?

Please remember that this is in an educational/corporate environment so there need to be compelling reasons to move to firefox that outweigh the training (and yes, some of the people here will need training) and installation needed for Firefox vs IE.

As it stands, we have SP2 installed on all machines and are running SUS so IE/Windows are automatically updated every day. We also control the firewall settings via AD (end users can unblock things).

dfs · Post by **dfs** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 12:05 pm

I was curious if you would get any replies. I don't think the Corporate IT types I've encountered would even think about using Firefox.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 2:06 pm

Internet Explorer, because about 99% of business applications support nothing else.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 5:25 pm

Am installing firefox on all desktops and showing users some basics. Main problem I would have in corporate env (I work in education), is the lack of group policy to manage it and update it.

I see you are running SUS, but that can't be used for Firefox - the user needs to do the update (it's not a blatant prompt either, and extenstions tend to need to be reinstalled). SMS might be the only way to update firefox if/when it becomes a target. It isn't bug free and you could be left hanging with a ton of browsers which need updating by hand. FWIW, SUS updates don't always apply either - IE 6 SP1 was a problem child for me with SUS, but in general it is better for that environment than the individual user updates.

Currently, Firefox is an option for our users but I only default the people who routinely get spyware to using it. Some of them use it - esp after I show them the AdBlock extension...

I think FireFox is a bigger deal for any stray Win2k or (gasp!) 98 users...

Caveat - our serious browser apps (peoplesoft, oracle) are java/javascript, so they tend to work fine with either browser. YMMV, esp if you have custom apps.

dfs · Post by **dfs** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 9:06 pm

I think FireFox is a bigger deal for any stray Win2k or (gasp!) 98 users...

Why do you say that?

EvilHomer3k · Post by **EvilHomer3k** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 1:38 am

Currently, we're leaning towards installing Firefox on images but leaving IE as the default. I hadn't even thought about custom apps. Most of ours that I know of are php based but I'm not sure what is used by others (accounting, hr, etc.). I just know what is used on the web server.

I believe that pyperkub is referring to Firefox as a bigger deal (more important) because of WinXP's SP2. SP2 adds a lot of things to IE and windows that narrow the security gap between IE and Firefox/Mozilla/Opera. Those security enhancements are (AFAIK) XP only.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:39 am

dfs wrote:
I think FireFox is a bigger deal for any stray Win2k or (gasp!) 98 users...
Why do you say that?

evilhomer3k wrote:I believe that pyperkub is referring to Firefox as a bigger deal (more important) because of WinXP's SP2. SP2 adds a lot of things to IE and windows that narrow the security gap between IE and Firefox/Mozilla/Opera. Those security enhancements are (AFAIK) XP only.

Yup. MS isn't supporting IE from a security standpoint on those platforms as seriously as on XP. Example: No Popup blocker, no firewall, etc.

While the improvements to IE (and the OS) in XP don't make it secure - they make it more secure than 2k or 98. Merely having the firewall default to 'ON' will help immeasurably in preventing massive outbreaks once a system is compromised.

I haven't checked, but I'd also wager that the new MS anti-spy/mal-ware package doesn't run on 98...

dfs · Post by **dfs** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:43 am

Gotcha. Thanks.

Snow · Post by **Snow** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 1:55 am

I'd think the fact that Firefox doesn't give you direct ActiveX access to the operating system would be a big plus. However, I'm a Java/J2EE guy, so I'm not up to speed on all the ins and outs of Window technology vulnerabilities

Fireball · Post by **Fireball** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 3:38 am

I administer a 30-machine Mac network at my office. Since we're on OS X Jaguar, there's no up to date version of Safari for us to run. Last August I rolled out Firefox on all the machines as the default web browser, and it's proven more compatible and perfectly reliable. Most of the users seem to like it just fine. None of the sites we deal with require Internet Explorer, so we're lucky in that regard.