Which IE?

I use Win98SE,but very rarely use the IE5 that comes with it-prefering Mozilla 1.71 or Opera 7.52.The Win 98SE and IE are as security patched as I can get them,and Eudora covers my e-mail requirements.
My question is this:Will I be safer security wise by sticking with the older tech. but barely used IE5,or better with an updated IE6 with all the added potential vulnerabilities(plus bloat)- on the rare occasions that I might actually use it?
Many thanks!

 

Hello Perkin,

Given that you use IE very little, I would use IE5.5 which is safer than 5.0
if you're not doing so now - not clear from your post.

Get it here v5.5 sp2 http://browsers.evolt.org/?ie/32bit

Regards - Charles

 

perkin--If security is your main concern, I would definitely advise IE6 SP1. Improved security is the main advantage to IE6 over IE5x.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/critical/ie6sp1/default.mspx
And regardless of what new version of IE you get, be sure to go to Windows Update for the latest patches.
P.S. I am no expert, but I have never heard or read that IE5 is less vulnerable to security problems than IE6.

 

Jim, this issue is really about what Perkin uses IE for. If its to access MS sites, don't see the need for IE6, since Perkin makes it sound as if surfing is being done with Opera and etc.

Perkin should clarify how IE is being used a bit more.

Regards - Charles

 

Use of IE

Well guys,my use of IE really boils down to access to MS sites,plus the odd occasion(getting increasingly rarer) when a page will not display properly with Mozilla or Opera.

 

I only recently upgraded to IE6 SP1 from IE5.5 SP2 because I read that it (IE6) was supposed to be more secure (which, in this context, is a purely relative term).

Whichever version you have for the few things Opera/Mozilla can't do, it's important to keep your copy of IE under control. Have a look at this two year old article about IE settings;https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/btw/ie/ie-opts.htm

It's quite scary to see that this level of precaution was thought necessary well before Berbew/Downloadject et al.

Deleted your duplicate post PeteC

 

Thanks Togg for the link(all 1.8mb of it!),but I had implemented most of its recommendations anyway.The only snag being that using the full recommendation renders IE virtually(no pun intended) unusable I feel,so one has to compromise a liitle maybe.It should be mandatory reading for all IE users nevertheless!

 

I haven't used the older IE versions for a while so am rusty on exactly what features they have but given the way you want to use IE, the simple solution is to set the security on all but trusted sites to as high as you can make it and then add the 'must use' sites to your trusted list and set security for trusted to medium. It's easy to do with IE6.x but dang me if I can remember about 5.x or 4.x versions.

I know that IE6.x is much larger code than the earlier versions but quite a bit of that is due to 'hardening' with the added security features adding bulk. If you have room, I'd strongly advise running the latest IE6 version as it's a bit safer than earlier ones.