Bug-ridden browsers put Net enthusiasts at mercy of hackers
The latest news is that those testing advanced versions of Microsoft's Web browser, Internet Explorer 4, are pleasantly surprised by its new features.
At the same time, though, they complain about several drawbacks and bugs, specifically the fancy new Active Setup feature which makes installation difficult.
All this comes at the same time as Microsoft faces a challenge with the current release of Internet Explorer, version 3.
This involves security flaws and the potential for malicious Webmasters to wreak all kinds of havoc on your hard drives using Internet Explorer as the gateway to your computer and all the data stored in it.
Microsoft, quite wisely, has made sure that a patch is available for the security holes, discovered by some college students.
In fact, Microsoft posted a message last week saying the patch would be available within 24 hours, which is a rapid response for a company of its size.
My concern, beyond the obvious implications for data security and privacy, is that this revelation about serious bugs in Internet Explorer 3 has emerged even as Microsoft is shifting focus away from this version towards its flagship version 4 browser.