In the past, I’ve recommended to friends and family that they run Firefox instead of Internet Explorer to gain better security and usability on Windows systems. I’m re-evaluating that stance now that I’ve learned about a new feature of Windows Vista that restricts Internet Explorer and runs it inside of a jail. It’s called Protected Mode, or Mandatory Integrity Control, and it means that that spyware and adware are less likely to infect a Vista computer.
As far as I know, Firefox doesn’t (yet) run inside the “jail”, so Internet Explorer is probably the more secure choice — yet another reason to admire the technical engineering effort that went into Windows Vista.
Despite the improved security of IE 7 in Vista, I enjoy the usability of Firefox, including the ability to disable JavaScript from running by default, using the NoScript extension extension. Does anyone know whether there’s a NoScript extension available for Internet Explorer? If not, I’m sticking with Firefox.