Browser·1,292 discussions

Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

Locked

The Firefox browser has been touted as a more security alternative to Internet Explorer and some companies have made the switch to Firefox mandatory. Does your company restrict or dictate the browser you can use while at work?

Topic

Looking at FF

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

We are currently evaluating Firefox to see if it will work with our applications before letting it onto most desktops. The main gotcha I have seen is corruption of profiles. I have had my profile corrupt for no known reason twice. For most of our users, that would be a problem, since they can’t tell the difference between the monitor and the PC.

We have implemented

In reply to Looking at FF

We have set Firefox as our mandatory browser, however we do have one application that “does not play nice” so we just created a shortcut for it that opens with IE. We have never had any problems with corrupt profiles or anything and in fact have seen less problems.

Well,

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

I can run Firefox because I have admin rights. We have no specific rule against it, but since the average user does not have sufficient rights on their machine to install it, effectively I suppose we are.

I have to keep IE around though, as some of our intranet stuff, as well as Lotus Inotes, pukes under firefox.

IRRC FF doesn’t need admin rights

In reply to Well,

I don’t think FF makes any registry entries when it installs, so I don’t think a user needs admin rights…

I am strongly suggesting FF

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

I am strongly suggesting FF, and in the not too distant future (if the security issues don’t approch IE) then I will be making it mandatory.

all i run

In reply to I am strongly suggesting FF

FF; i mean, it’s all run now. i dont run any fancy programs at this time. but i run it and download the plugins as necessary. i dont run yahoo games, but yahoo game and msn games (running online in the browser)are not supported and only work under ie. i never use that crap buit i have been seen that problem. the only thing that has been a diapointment for me is the network printer search. we have lots of printing devices and it cannot search for network printers.maybe it will get fixed in a later version or already fixed in 1.04

Yup

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

IE and Outlook
B*gger.

Outlook = Security Nightmare!

In reply to Yup

I’m sure I’ll see the OE is fine postings, but the reality is that Outlook and OE have issues.

Of course I’m not a huge fan of Exchange either…QMAIL FOREVER!!!!

Well I’m a developer

In reply to Outlook = Security Nightmare!

Only been at the new place two weeks so I don’t know how the IS boys are sorting out the security. The preview pane isn’t on so they must be aware of some of it’s vulnerabilities. It’s an almost total ms house at the moment, though there are background rumblings that there might be some customer driven changes to that. I’ve worked with several other environments and I’m not shy about saying so, so at least they are starting to hear about alternatives.

just get mozilla

In reply to Outlook = Security Nightmare!

ya’ll need the entire mozilla w/ thunderbird and FF and all that stuff it can do the outlook and planner stuff too.

Yes we do….

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

We have 2 people doing support for over 500 users. It is more efficient for us to support one browser (Internet Explorer). Yeah it has some security issues but with most of the users we support, that is the least of our worries. Just go to their office to help them with something and you will find a “stickie” on their monitor with all of their passwords on it!

Gah! The post-it problem…

In reply to Yes we do….

I swear users don’t think when they do this stuff. Some days I just want to switch to biometrics and be done with it 😉

Anyway, to my point.

Geekchic I think you are actually LESS efficient because of IE. Users can (and will) download all kinds of malware. Switching to Firefox will save you a ton of headaches and time. If you switch to the full-on Mozilla Suite you can even drop Outlook!! If you use Ghost you can add this stuff into the next image and just pop it on!

post it problem

In reply to Yes we do….

I know that can be counter to your security setup when users do that but don’t you force the users to change their password every 30 days or so? And I’m pretty sure when you service them and run across you let them know it’s not good to have their passwords out in the open. Have them write it down in a notebook or something and keep it in their desk. I do that and a lot of times they comply especially when I tell them scary stories about identity theft!!!

Oh yes, scary stories work for awhile…

In reply to post it problem

but 6 months later you go back to help them with something else and BAM…there it is again…stuck to the monitor. And they complain something awful when they have to change their password! I even conduct training classes on how important it is to keep data safe through the use of passwords, logons, etc…they sign up, call back and change the time and date, then just don’t show up. I am working on trying to get the training made mandatory. Oh well, it keeps me employed I guess….

Manditory training = less headache

In reply to Oh yes, scary stories work for awhile…

You should force your training on the users. They HAVE to know what to do and how to do it. If they really want to keep passwords around, use a PDA or at least a notebook in a locked drawer!

The powers that be…

In reply to Manditory training = less headache

will not approve the “forced” training…YET. I am still working on that one and getting closer everyday…

Keep fighting!

In reply to The powers that be…

Your only hope is forced training. You can always bribe them to come (until it is forced) with lunch or breakfast 😉

if I had a budget…

In reply to Keep fighting!

breakfast or lunch would be a good idea. I usually collect “free stuff” from tech fairs to give out to participants but food would definately help.

Lost faith

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

Firefox has been my browser of choice both at home and at work for some time now and I seriously considered deploying FF as the default Windows browser at work. I’m now glad that I didn’t. When FF works, it works great, but my experience has been that it increasingly hangs more than IE ever did and I’m finding myself slowly moving back to IE despite its problems. I hope at some point my faith in FF will be restored, but until that time, my users will use IE.

Reply To: Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

In reply to Lost faith

hate to say it, but i stick w/ IE @ work because it works with almost every website out there, FF doesnt like certain features on several bank websites and our crappy retail software support company’s website… i do use FF @ home tho

Reply To: Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

In reply to Reply To: Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

The occasional incompatible website I can live with, instability I can’t.

Show me a website FF doesn’t like

In reply to Reply To: Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

I have yet to run across a website that FF 1.0 has trouble with. While pre-1.0 releases did have some problems, it looks like most of that has been sorted out.

Okay, here’s one

In reply to Show me a website FF doesn’t like

http://boxoffice.printtixusa.com/westates/movies?v=2449

I do have version 1.0 and the movie listing is way off to the right. I suspect the website itself is flawed in a way that IE doesn’t care about.

Our intranet sites do not work very well with anything other than IE; those sites that download Active-X components for instance. I certainly do nothing like that at home; but executives love the integration of Active-X and dot-net and never mind the ceaseless invasions of spyware enabled thereby.

GAH! DIE ACTIVE-X DIE!!!

In reply to Okay, here’s one

Why do the managment types love Active X? It is a nightmare that just opens you up to all kinds of goodies. .Net can be locked down, but it takes some work and C# isn’t quite there yet IMHO. I love using VS and developing in C++, but C# is kind of wonked out.

Ya, that page is wonky. I think the tabling is funkified. Hmmmm…perhaps that is the problem with IE? It lets things slide????

A disciplined IE?

In reply to GAH! DIE ACTIVE-X DIE!!!

I can only imagine a “disciplined” IE… then they’d have to design all of their ActiveX and .Net to be as disciplined… WHAT?

My personal site was designed for IE, and I’m having some issues getting the CSS and DHTML to work right in FF – it’s as much a learning curve for me as it is MS’ continued non-adherence to standards or their own interpretation of the standard… ACK!

I hate how MS makes their own standards

In reply to A disciplined IE?

Why don’t they follow the standards set forth by various entities that probably know better than MS what is going to work out in the long term…

JUST KILL IT

In reply to GAH! DIE ACTIVE-X DIE!!!

There are reasons to love active X but not good ones.
I have found a few web pages that will not load with Mozilla. “error This site is only accessible with IE 5.5 or higher” , there is ONLY One reason for this so those pages can keep what they have.
Within a year or so all of them will be forced to change if they want any traffic. speed channel is one the last time I checked.
Have Fun All Bill MacGregor

Recommend, not impose

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

We at the computer systems group have the policy of recomending the web brower or email client to use, and explain the users the reasons behind those choices, but we do not impose what to use, we recommend some and do not recommend others. Until now it has been good policy for us and for users.

What do you recommend?

In reply to Recommend, not impose

Which browser and e-mail client do you recommend?

recommend IE and lotus notes

In reply to What do you recommend?

Depending on the organization your working for sometimes it would not be feasible to change over because of the time and money being spent. But for security and compatiblity reasons we use IE as our browser mostly because of properitary apps we use and have outlook as our email client. But I am a fan of Lotus notes because of it being much more secure. Outlook does not have the features lotus notes has but we use exchange 5.5 here and this organization is pretty large so it would be a monumental job to convert over.

i recommend

In reply to What do you recommend?

hi
i have two major user types, administrative staff and research & develp. Staff. At the Administrative i have Ie 6.x and MS outlook,this works fine because its a small group of users within a Windows Domain, alltough the other users use eudora, firefox, netscape et?. We recommend firefox for e-mail and mozzila for web browser client.

well….

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

As a help desk personel I see the wisdom in supporting only one application as a standard. I would like more choice in the office but then it gets out of hand with everyone wanting their own personal config. If their is a problem that cant be fixed, a quick download of a prepared ghost image and re-insert profile, and the customer is back and running in minutes not hours. Keeping it simple is a wiser choice.

On the flip side, if FF is having problems going to certain sites that require plugins, it is an easy wasy to police where and what your users are going in terms of job related surfing. Also having a backup browser is a good troubleshooting tool in small offices that experience internet issues. Whether you like it or not, its about functionality in the workplace to reduce downtime, its the admins job to make that call. Do I think FF is a decent browser? Yeah, but I wouldnt jump on the bandwagon just yet to implement it as a standard because you have issues with MS. There is no guarantee against malicious code just because most is an attack on MS, sooner or later FF will be a target once it gets too popular.

still using IE

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

Yes here at my company we use IE as part of our mandatory setup and image of our PC’s. It is used because some of our apps are properitary and they work well with IE and I don’t think we will rewrite any of the apps just to appease FF. So far, as long as we stay vigilante with our security at the server level and have certain rights on the users locked out so they cannot download or go to certain websites we are fine. I am interested to see how microsoft will tackle the security problem and waiting for the IE upgrade to see how good it is.

Does your company dictate the browser you use at work?

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

Yes, but implicitly – by writing code that will only work properly under IE.

of course!

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work?

Boss order is more than a law for all of us! And if he says something, we, the poor workers, have to obey!

IE is required

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

We require that IE in its various incarnations is used. All of the applications that we use, with only 1 exception, requires that IE be used. Switching to another application and/or vendor is not an option. Sometimes, there are only 2 or 3 companies that provide the products and they all require IE. We’ve not experienced the security issues that a lot of companies seem to have experienced… Thank goodness!

Must Use IE

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

I work for a company that provides a specialized audience of users a Web service. This service requires the use of IE 5.5 or higher. Any other browser often will not work, especially with Macs. Now that Msft no longer supports IE for Macs, Anyone using a Mac cannot use the service. If IE is provided by anyone other than Msft (like AOL, Roadrunner, MSN) the client usually has problems. Some say that it is a simple matter of re-coding to get other browsers to work, but I am not a programmer, so I don’t know how simple or complex it might be.

Yes – MSIE…

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

Nothing to add to the title…

Firefox is gaining fast!

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

I have to use IE @ work, but prefere to use FF @ home…much more to the way I surf.

Go with Fire Fox and Thunderbird

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

Go with FireFox you save in the long run. FireFox block unwanted popup and banner and is more secure then IE 6, if you will notice MicroSoft introducing IE 7 to compete with FireFox. IE7 problem is it has bugs in it, cause it still tied to the OS.
If you want a more secure web browser go with FireFox you will never regret it and also use Thunderbird Email it has spam, privacey control a lot better than outlook express and is not tied to the os but work with it

Student from Kaplan University

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

I would think that security would be a business’s priority. I am just wondering why you ask this question? If Firefox is more secure then why not use this as the company browser?
Sure makes you think though.

It is more than that..

In reply to Student from Kaplan University

Politics, environment testing, user feedback, etc are all very important in actually rolling out new app.

Security reasons?

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

Im the network admin for my company and I still let users use any browser they choose. If I were to modify our policy id force Firefox as the only internet browser on the network.

Why?
Virus, malware, worms and hackers…. are targeting software where they have the largest audiance. Im not saying Firefox is better but its good to at least try to stay where there is least attack.

Dees Your Company dictate the bowser you use at work?

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

Yes – IE or Netscape.

No real choice

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

“Dictate” is the word. I work for a Federal government agency, and we’re nothing but Microsoft, just as it comes installed on our machines. Anything else not only makes our IM support folks really, really antsy, it’s actually an actionable violation of agency policy.

At home, of course, I do whatever I damn well please.

Government is wacky anyway

In reply to No real choice

I worked for a time with the Army and DOE. I gotta say that standization is a thing unknown to the feds. They standarize hardware and software, but not practices or even what is/is not a security threat.

Look at various sites that can’t even talk to one another because they do their security differently…

It does not!

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

My company does not dictate which web browser I should use. Instead I have the liberty to choose which one I deem good.

Thanks

I’ll never tell

In reply to Does your company dictate the browser you use at work

I work for the government…they dictate, and watch everything on my and everyone else’s the work PC… with the exception of the dictators. They get to play.

[Author]

Replies