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Try to go to the Windows Update page with Firefox, and you’ll find that you just can’t update your operating system unless you’re “running Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or later.”

Well Of COURSE Microsoft won’t let you download their update to their Operating System for a browser other than their own!

But there is a quick and tidy solution for this and other IE-dependent web sites: IE Tab for Firefox.

Installation (running version 1.5 or 2.x of Firefox):

1. Go to the IE Tab Add-On Page, and click the Install Now button. A window that looks like this will pop up:

2. Click the Install Now button. A new window will pop up showing a quick install, and then asking you to click a button to Restart Firefox. Click the button. When you’re back in Firefox, it’s ready to go.

How To Use:

3. In Firefox, right-click the tab that you are working in, and you’ll see the following pull-down menu:

4. Left click Switch rendering engine, and the page will re-draw using the Internet Explorer engine! You’ll know your page is being rendered by IE by the little icon in the tab:

Now, try re-loading the Win Update page, and you’ll see it’ll be perfectly happy working within Firefox.

To switch back to Firefox, simply open a different tab, or do the same steps above; namely, right-click the tab and select Switch rendering engine. You’ll be back, safe and warm at home.

Enjoy!

As we mentioned in #10 on this Top Ten list, one of the great things about Mozilla’s Firefox is the hundreds of add-ons, written by third-party companies and individuals that take Firefox from Excellent to The Best. We use many add-ons, but if we had to select one, indispensable add-on that everyone surfing the Internet with Firefox should have, it is IE Tab by Hong Jen Yee.

There are STILL some web sites, most of which use either .asp or .aspx scripting languages, that don’t work quite right in Firefox and for which you would normally need to crank up Internet Explorer to make full (or in some cases, any) use of. A perfect example is Microsoft’s own Windows Update page.

But with IE Tab installed, you CAN run Windows Update right from Firefox. The ultimate compatibility test.

Read our blog entry on how to Install and Use IE Tab.

Microsoft typically releases critical security patches to their Windows operating system and other software packages on the second Tuesday of each month. This is commonly known as “Patch Tuesday.”

Leaving no stone unturned, the bad guys have come up with a way to scare you into opening up email that purports to regard critical Microsoft updates, but when you click on the enclosed link, a server attempts to install a Trojan virus.

The email message describes a “Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer” that fixes a critical security flaw in the browser. It comes with a link entitled “Download this update.”

When users click on this link, they are taken to a server that attempts to install the virus Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Agent.avk.

The program then attempts to replicate by going out to other computers on the Internet and install the same software.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You would typically NOT receive email alerts when Microsoft releases their security updates. Instead, if you have Automatic Updates turned on, you’ll see a little yellow shield icon in your taskbar. The icon looks like this:

This is from Microsoft. You need to double-click the icon and install the updates.

123 Technology

No respectable Top Ten list would be complete without Mozilla’s Firefox, so that’s where we’ll start. If you still ask, ‘Why Firefox and not IE 7′, well, here’s additional ammo:

* Internet Explorer 7 still has bugs - not surprising given that it’s essentially a brand new (version 1.0) browser from Microsoft, and we rarely trust 1.0 versions of software from anyone, especially Microsoft. Here’s a glaring real-life example of a problem that we encountered in the field with IE 7 (might get a bit technical; keep your seatbelts buckled):

“Acme Insurance” was using several applications with executables drawn from a server. At some point, they started getting a scary error message whenever they tried to open the applications (paraphrasing): “This application is from an Unknown Publisher and may be dangerous. Would you like to proceed (OK or Cancel)”…

Turns out that the ’some point’ at which this started to happen was when Internet Explorer 7 was pushed to their desktops automatically by Microsoft’s monthly Updates (they called the update ‘Critical’ and rolled it out to everyone). Everyone naturally upgraded from IE 6 and IE 7, ooh’d and aah’d over the revamped interface (and tabbed browsing a la Firefox version 1.0 of the year before), and were happy as clams.

The problem: it gets complicated, but Internet Explorer is not just a browser. It’s actually the place where network access privileges are stored and manipulated for the entire Windows Operating System. Confused? Well, let’s just say it goes back some ten years when Microsoft insisted on torch-welding IE 6 onto the Windows OS and contended in court that the two were evermore inextricably intertwined (and coincidentally neutered the upstart Netscape browser and ended the browser war of the 90’s).

Well, MS changed things in IE 7. Surprise. And the technical settings that had to be changed in IE 7 to make it work like IE 6 to re-enable free access to Acme Insurance’s own internal network would bore you, but suffice it to say, the changes we had to make were, at best, a technical workaround.

Now, back to Firefox. Clean, way ahead of it’s time with tabbed browsing back in it’s 1.0 incarnation, more robust and subtly refined in 2.0, and they address security holes much more quickly than Microsoft. That’s good enough for us!

Two final notes:

1. As of this posting, Firefox had just released their latest version:  Firefox 2.0.0.4.

2. Firefox is not just great for its built-in functionality, but also for the (now thousands) of add-ons written by happy programmers that significantly enhance its abilities. Check out the add-ons!

… Coming Attraction: #9 on our list of the Top Ten for ‘07 is one of the best Firefox Add-Ons no money can buy (because it’s free)! Coming soon.

We’re crazy about making the little (or big!) annoyances in Windows go away through third-party add-ons, software, and tools. We’re constantly reading, testing, evaluating… And every once in a while a tool or program or add-in is SO good that it finds its rightful place on our own desktops - the ultimate compliment.

Coming forth are our TOP TEN “gotta have,” “would happily sacrifice my left foot to keep” utilities or programs for 2007. Keep tuned to this station for more.