Today I declared my independence from Internet Explorer. I'm fed up with all of the problems that it has and security risks. The problem is since the demise of Netscape circa 1999, there really hasn't been a good reliable alternative. Then I ran across something that mentioned the new Mozilla Browser Firefox. I gave it a whirl and immediately loved it. Simple, elegant, not bloated. Just like the old Netscape Browsers. It also has Pop Up blockers and extensions you can install to read RSS feeds. Of course I haven't quite got the hang of that yet, but I'm working on it.
I then decided to try the Mozilla mail program Thunderbird. It seemed to be working until I decided to try and import my old Outlook stuff. About 90% into the conversion, it bombed out. So I was stuck with folder after folder of useless data. Worse yet, I tried to delete the folders and try again and it just kept bombing out. I then uninstalled the program only to find out that when I re-installed it, it still had all of my email information and yes, the corrupted folders. Ugh.
So I've scoured my registry for every last reference to Thunderbird and will try one more time. If it doesn't work, then it looks like its back to Outlook for me. Doesn't anyone make a good Windows compatible email reader? Andy has set up his GMail account so that all of his server mail gets sent there. I was thinking of doing the same, but I am a bit uneasy with Google having access to all of my emails. Nothing is ever 100% safe.
Try hitting alt-T in Firefox. It brings up a new tab for browsing as opposed to setting up new windows. Very handy.
Eudora Pro is still out there, and it works great. I'll get you a copy if you like. Thunderbird still has a lot of problems, though I think it will settle down and be my reader of choice, I'm still on Outlook. V2003 has a lot of improvements, and works great for me.
Joe
Tabbed browsing was the number one thing that got me to leave IE behind for good about 3 years ago. I can't imagine going back! You can configure Firefox so that when you control-click on links, it opens them in a tab in the background... so you can read through an article, click interesting looking links, and then go check them out when you're done, without having to move windows all over the place or refocus the original article.
As for email, does Eudora still make a free, adware version? Or there's always Pine. ;)
firefox is my new browser of choice. Very nice.
Oddly enough, I too have switched to Firefox, precisely because I got scared of the IE phishing bugs. I still need IE for our publishing system, but I use Firefox or Opera for everything else. (Still torn between the two.)
(I used IE to post this, though. OMG I'VE B33N HAX0RED!!!11one)