# Friends don't let friends use Internet Explorer. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 16, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233 "2010-01-16T20:38:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/21 "2010-01-18T02:05:09Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Does one exist? Does it block Google ads? I don’t notice them. [Read](https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/gighmmpiobklfepjocnamgkkbiglidom)if you want more info. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/22 "2010-01-18T03:22:34Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Now corroborated by the [German government](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8463516.stm), which says IE ist nicht gut. Those of us in the know have been saying this for ages. If you’re using IE or know somebody who is, bin it and get Firefox! Or Seamonkey. IE is a major security risk. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/23 "2010-01-18T04:02:06Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > I don’t notice them. [Read](https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/gighmmpiobklfepjocnamgkkbiglidom)if you want more info. Interesting. It says my current version of Chrome doesn’t support extensions and I need to download the “Beta Channel” of Chrome in order to get it. Is that like… a test version? Has anyone had problems with it? ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/24 "2010-01-18T14:10:37Z")
My primary browser is Firefox, but I also have Chrome, Safari (I ahve a PC btw), Opera, Netscape (yes, Netscape, you know the one with the “N” in the corner?), and 5 different versions of IE (I’m at work, they’re at home, but off the top of my head they include IE6, IE8 and IE3.1). Why? Because I used to (and still do, to a much lesser extent) design webpages. While I’m in full agreement with the OP and a majority of responders that people should ditch IE for FF (or really, anything else), a majority hasn’t (last numbers I saw was that 2/3 of us still use some form of IE) and it’s really dickish to design a page that 2/3 of the people can’t read properly. Yes it’s their own damn fault for having/using IE, but it’s still dickish to say “screw you, if you’re not using FF, then I won’t let you view my page properly!” That said, I remember a conversation I had witha client who wanted me to design a page for a company, an Intranet site that would only be used inside that company if I recall right. I mentioned that I design pages to view correctly in almost all browsers, and he snapped back with “they only use IE there!” and how it was “pointless” to design it for some “flash in the pan” browser that “isn’t widely used” (ie FF). I deisgned the page to appear correctly on IE (and used it as the primary browser on that project), but I still tested to make sure it was ok on FF before it was unveiled to the customer. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/25 "2010-01-18T17:01:37Z")
Firefox is the only browser I personally use, but I have four installed on my PC: FF, IE, Chrome, and [Flock](http://flock.com/). Flock is Mozilla based, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Brandus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Brandus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/26 "2010-01-18T18:19:28Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > Friends don’t tell friends what they should or should not do. No, those are called “strangers”. ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/27 "2010-01-18T18:29:28Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Now corroborated by the [German government](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8463516.stm), which says IE ist nicht gut. Those of us in the know have been saying this for ages. If you’re using IE or know somebody who is, bin it and get Firefox! Ich bin IE. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/28 "2010-01-18T22:16:59Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Interesting. It says my current version of Chrome doesn’t support extensions and I need to download the “Beta Channel” of Chrome in order to get it. Is that like… a test version? Has anyone had problems with it? It says “Beta”, doesn’t it? I’ve been using it for a while, and it’s been nothing but smooth sailing for me. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/29 "2010-01-18T22:23:55Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Interesting. It says my current version of Chrome doesn’t support extensions and I need to download the “Beta Channel” of Chrome in order to get it. Is that like… a test version? Has anyone had problems with it? Damn you, double post. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/30 "2010-01-18T23:58:46Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > It says “Beta”, doesn’t it? > > I’ve been using it for a while, and it’s been nothing but smooth sailing for me. Google is just really, really conservative about upgrades, IMHO. A lot of the beta features should be in the final version, and a lot of the development ones should be in the beta. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/31 "2010-01-19T04:14:34Z")
Problem is, I can’t abandon IE completely because there are 2 major services I use that don’t recognize FF or Safari at all. One is a pet food ordering system, and the other is the timecard system. I have to have IE at home and at work just for those two suppliers so I can punch in/out if I work from home and so I can get food orders done from home if needed. Sucks, but there it is. I open IE just for those two things and then close it immediately! ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/32 "2010-01-19T04:56:33Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > It says “Beta”, doesn’t it? > > I’ve been using it for a while, and it’s been nothing but smooth sailing for me. I figured as much, it just seems weird to call a browser a “channel”. Anyway I went ahead and downloaded it and have been using the ad-blocker. Pretty sweet, although I have had to manually block a few ads. But since I mostly go to the same websites anyway you only have to block ads on that page once and they’re gone forever. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233/33 "2010-01-19T05:44:57Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Problem is, I can’t abandon IE completely because there are 2 major services I use that don’t recognize FF or Safari at all. One is a pet food ordering system, and the other is the timecard system. I have to have IE at home and at work just for those two suppliers so I can punch in/out if I work from home and so I can get food orders done from home if needed. > > Sucks, but there it is. I open IE just for those two things and then close it immediately! Firefox and Chrome both have an add on called “IE Tab” that opens up the tab in a rendering of Internet Explorer from your Firefox/Chrome browser. So yes, you can run Windows Update from another browser. [Here](https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/hehijbfgiekmjfkfjpbkbammjbdenadd)is Chrome’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-dont-let-friends-use-internet-explorer/525233.md?page=1)