Chrome or Firefox & Why (Windows 8)

[sedrosken]

Chewy, you raise a good point, but Java not being for the general populace? There are plenty of java applets out there for the average person, if you look for them. Also, a lot of people play Minecraft, which requires some form of java. Not gonna elaborate here.

But you did raise a good point with security - I had honestly never thought of that. But isn't Linux largely immune to malware, barring instances that specifically target web browsers or other programs? Should I be looking for an antivirus for my Linux box?

Flash is still a major player in the browsing experience, but I think HTML5 is a rising star myself. Maybe a couple years from now no one will need flash player except for old snippets. But flash still being a major player is my main reason for applauding the inclusion of flash player - Adobe really should lighten up, and I could see them doing that with enough money being involved. I always figured Chrome used a customized Adobe Flash Player plugin. I guess I was definitely wrong there.

 

[Mercutio]

I largely disagree about Java. The biggest single non-corporate use is almost certainly Minecraft, though Blackboard is also a pretty big deal for college students. I don't think Minecraft justifies the continual risk for malicious applets.

As far as Linux goes, no you don't need an antivirus application. You do need to keep your machine updated and you need to do what you can to block advertising (adblock plus) and to consider whitelisting javascript on trusted sites only. Those three things are probably the best ideas there are for end-user Linux security.

 

[Chewy509]

Re: Minecraft - I didn't realise Minecraft was delivered as an Applet? I thought it was a standalone desktop Java application? (If the latter, Java can still be installed, but the browser plugin removed). I don't play Mindcraft, so not sure?

Re: Blackboard - Having used Blackboard whilst at Uni over the last 3 years, didn't realise it needed Java itself. (Or at least the components I used only required JavaScript to operate).

Second what Merc said regarding Linux...
1. Ensure you're home is set to noexec mount option...
2. Use Adblock Plus, and NoScript (for JS whilelisting). Only have Flash and Java plugin's enabled when absolutely needed...
3. Keep it updated...

In that case, you'll avoid most malware... (Note, the above also works in Windows as well - instead of noexec, set a GPO to disallow execution of code from %AppData%, that'll stop most drive-by download trojans in their tracks - http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/396103-cryptolocker-prevention-kit-updated ).

 

[Handruin]

Re: Minecraft - I didn't realise Minecraft was delivered as an Applet? I thought it was a standalone desktop Java application? (If the latter, Java can still be installed, but the browser plugin removed). I don't play Mindcraft, so not sure?

Re: Blackboard - Having used Blackboard whilst at Uni over the last 3 years, didn't realise it needed Java itself. (Or at least the components I used only required JavaScript to operate).

Second what Merc said regarding Linux...
1. Ensure you're home is set to noexec mount option...
2. Use Adblock Plus, and NoScript (for JS whilelisting). Only have Flash and Java plugin's enabled when absolutely needed...
3. Keep it updated...

In that case, you'll avoid most malware... (Note, the above also works in Windows as well - instead of noexec, set a GPO to disallow execution of code from %AppData%, that'll stop most drive-by download trojans in their tracks - http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/396103-cryptolocker-prevention-kit-updated ).

I also believe Minecraft is a Java application and not an applet. You do not need a web browser to play Minecraft therefore one can avoid integrating the JRE with their browser to reduce their security risk. This is how my desktop is setup. I installed the 64-bit JDK and do not have Firefox connected with it so I can run Minecraft.

I rarely find a need for Flash any more. After my last OS reinstall I had forgot to install Flash and it was numerous months before I even found a website that required it. I still don't think it's installed on my home system.

Much like you've suggested, I run ad block plus and Ghostery on my setup which helps to further reduce the risk. Firefox has been pretty good lately with automatically disabling out-of-date java runtimes known to have security issues. I'll get a in-window popup asking to activate java.

 

[Handruin]

Very interesting.

Is it possible to get a breakdown of the different versions of Windows: 95/98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7/8 etc?

Sorry, no. There was no more granular detail of the various Windows OS versions. That would be interesting data though.

 

[Mercutio]

If an end user installs Java, whether it's to play Minecraft or for any other purpose, are they going to have the technical ability to disable the Java plug-in from their browser? Blackboard in all the implementations I've seen, most definitely wants users to have a JRE plugin as well.

As far as Flash, it depends a lot on one's habits. I'm still annoyed from time to time when I run in to a site that works on an older Android tablet but not on my phone, let alone my desktops and laptops.

 

[Handruin]

If an end user installs Java, whether it's to play Minecraft or for any other purpose, are they going to have the technical ability to disable the Java plug-in from their browser? Blackboard in all the implementations I've seen, most definitely wants users to have a JRE plugin as well.

As far as Flash, it depends a lot on one's habits. I'm still annoyed from time to time when I run in to a site that works on an older Android tablet but not on my phone, let alone my desktops and laptops.

Depends on the user like most things. I surmising from your point that the typical basic user isn't going to know how to disable Java from their browser. However, the Minecraft crowd may be slightly above the typical user. My point earlier is that Firefox is trying to help mitigate the risk by automatically disabling out of date Java versions. It's not a perfect solution but it helps a little.

 

[Mercutio]

Almost all the systems I see that have Minecraft installed are being used by teens and tweens. Many of them don't even know how to install software, to the point that I've seen numerous machines that have (no joke) more than 200 copies of Minecraft.exe in the Downloads folder.

 

[Stereodude]

My point earlier is that Firefox is trying to help mitigate the risk by automatically disabling out of date Java versions. It's not a perfect solution but it helps a little.

Or by disabling the current version... About half of my PCs have had Firefox disable the latest version while the other half are okay with it. I have not figured out the method to the madness.

 

[Mercutio]

Is Mozilla disabling because of deal-breaker day-0 security issues? That's... not wholly unreasonable on some levels.

 

[sedrosken]

That whole "200 copies of Minecraft.exe in the download folder" sounds too hilariously stupid to be true, but I'm sure it is. Yeah, I suppose java isn't really essential.

But Flash is still very big, that much can't be denied. It's a major point of detraction from the Apple iDevices is the lack of support for flash, isn't it? Guess I should consider myself lucky that YouTube converts to .mp4 on the fly for them.

Kinda weird that the iDevices don't have flash but the Macs still do...

 

[ddrueding]

"200 copies of Minecraft.exe in the download folder" rings very true. Along with the 200 copies of the new version of reader/flash that they were promped to update to, but then didn't realize that they had to do something beyond download it.

Along the same lines, step one in repairing a printer is clearing the print queue of the 200 copies of the same document that they tried over and over before calling you.

 

[sedrosken]

Haha, wow. And I thought I had to deal with some stupid people. Did you have to delete each queued copy one by one?

 

[ddrueding]

Nope. All the downloads had completed over the last several weeks. They thought that every time it prompted for an update it was a new update, and that they had been installing them correctly.

 

[CityK]

1. Firefox ... works for me. No real reason to change.
2. Chromium ... mainly for tweatdeck....seems all right for browsing, but find I'm more effective with firefox because of configurations etc.
3. on occasion, something esoteric like Konqueror

Linux .... So seldom use Windows any more.