Now that IE is a more secure browser than FF or Safari (you KNEW it was coming), it's time to take another look at the old dog.

If the loss of the features of Firefox's plug ins is bothering you, try the free IE7 add in, IE7Pro. It adds the most commonly-used features of Firefox to IE7, including bookmark synchronization, an integrated spell checker and on page search, enhanced tab management, and a lot more. It's user-scriptable as well.

What kind of impact does IE7Pro in terms of performance? Ie increase in startup time of IE, longer to load certain pages etc etc...

I've heard of IE7Pro, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I'll be sure to do so now though, so thanks for the suggestion Illy.

mm Why you need something like this, while you can get firefox for free?, i don't try to go off topic here but i used to firefox for awhile now, and i tried to back to IE with version 7 but i was shocked with the lagging and user experience.

I'm not a fan of browser add-ons/plugins as their usually the first thing to "go wrong". But if it's on page spell checking you want just grab www.IESpell.com it's light, fast, transparent enough to forget about, and works perfectly on every version of Windows.

@XP_2600 - You did disable the Phishing Filter in IE7 right? That or too many BS plugins is the only thing I've ever seen make IE lagg.

To answer your question XP_2600, I do use Firefox at home, but I only use IE at work for various reasons (e.g. compatibility, existing Favorites, extra installation/maintenance, etc.) and that's where I plan to try out this add-on.

As I said in my first post, the hackers are now specifically targeting FF and Safari over IE (not surprising, IE is patched up pretty tight in Vista), which means having them on your machine is a security risk. Plus, FF crashes a LOT more than IE. I'm all for FF, used it almost exclusively for the last couple years - but I have access to a crapload of information at work that if compromised would be very bad. As a sysadmin who is free from many of the security restrictions normal users have to keep data secure, its my job (and yours) to use products that are least likely to cause issues. So I have to keep an open mind about what is best NOW, not 5 years ago.

Well, Firefox is running fine for me.

<sigh> It's nice to know people actually read topics....

Okay.... But I hope you're not using the "IE7Pro" addon on those computers with such highly confidential data.

Besides, I'm not sure if it's accurate to believe that the majority of hackers are focusing on FF more than IE now, and avoid the browser because of that. A bad security glitch could pop up one day under any piece of software, no matter how tight it's believed to be patched up. And it's not just the web browser that's at risk. You have programs like Java, Flash, Acrobat, Windows Media Player, IE7Pro, and etc. that could all be a risk. If you're running under Vista, then at least you have UAC protection no matter what browser you're using.

When it comes to web browser security, my #1 rule is beware of add-ons. I'm not saying avoid them altogether (which wouldn't hurt), but keep them to a minimum and only use ones from sources that you absolutely trust.

Damn Chug, I think we got the same rule book.

Acrobat's plugin was the only downfall found in Vista during the TecCon hacking contest. The Apple/Safari combo gave it up much sooner, and with out any 3rd party help.