The reason, arguably, is that Microsoft Internet Explorer is notoriously insecure. Not to mention, web sites do not display properly sometimes on Internet Explorer. This is by design. In Microsoft’s perfect dream world, all users would be viewing web sites with Microsoft Internet Explorer which are being served by Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) web server and the site would be written in Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP) scripting language.

Fortunately for all of us, this is not how the internet works nor was it intended to work this way which is why we typically recommend Mozilla Firefox. Firefox is fast and extensible. When it springs a security “leak” it’s usually fixed very quickly.

By far, the most popular browsers are Internet Explorer and Firefox. While these browsers are fine for everyday use, there ARE other web browsers out there and you can take a look at their features and usage statistics at Wikipedia’s browser comparison page.

This page includes pretty much every browser you can think of and compares the native functionality of each one. The information is extensive and detailed but unfortunately it can be a little hard to follow since there is so much information. But, if you want to see what browser supports a certain feature, this is a great resource.

While this might sound like older hardware (it actually is) the fact that it’s still running strong is a testament to IBM’s server-class computers and the rock-solid nature of Novell Netware.

This server was purchased about 10 years ago and contained all the newest technology at the time. It uses what I like to call “redundant everything.” It has redundant, hard disks (4), processors (2), memory (2GB, Chipkill) and power supplies (2).

What surprised me is when I glanced at the server’s console screen the “uptime” metric read 1,097 days! That’s a little over 3 years of never being shut down.  I think the last time it was shut down was after a hurricane hit the area and the power was out for about 10-days on a stretch.

Because of examples like this, we always like to recommend IBM servers because we know they will last and run solidly for our customers in the long term. However, these days we recommend OpenSUSE Linux as the operating system. Free, solid and flexible.

The add-on allows you to export your saved passwords and login hosts to an XML or CSV file that can then be imported into another browser or computer.

Be sure to not keep the export files available for anyone to access as the data is stored in non-encrypted plain text. When you are finished with these files, be sure to securely delete them, preferably using a secure deletion application.

The new 9.0 edition is faster, safer and easier to use. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition gives you free rock solid protection for your basic security needs. The combined anti-virus/anti-spyware scanner in AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition runs up to 50% faster than earlier versions and doesn’t get in your way. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition also delivers new anti-phishing detection techniques, which can quickly and accurately determine whether or not a web page is hosting a phishing attack. Additionally, version 9.0 comes with basic anti-rootkit protection to ensure protection against sophisticated hidden threats.

AVG 9 supports Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. In the near future, we will be recommending that all our clients perform this upgrade. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, feel free to contact us and we’ll get it taken care of quickly. Click here for the upgrade.

Although not feature-packed, Sumatra PDF is blazingly fast and useful enough to do the job. It makes you wonder why Adobe Reader is so “heavy” for what it is. Just a PDF document reader.

Try it out. I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

One of the sessions at Barcamp Tampa Bay, presented by Nick Pettit of Done21.com, brought a concept to light which, when you think about it, is so very true. Nick said, “The by-product of business is knowledge.” And what better way to promote your business than to share that knowledge with the world.

Well, that concept is the express purpose of this blog. Thanks for the inspiration! Cheers Nick!!