Sampling Two Browser Upgrades

Yesterday I did something I haven't done since September 2001 -- reviewed a just-shipped Microsoft browser. In my column I try the new Internet Explorer 7 and compare it to the new Mozilla Firefox 2.0. (Note: I reviewed the Beta 3 release of IE 7 last July.)

Join me online today at 2 p.m. to talk about these reviews and any other tech topics you have in mind. All browsers welcome! (If you miss the chat, you can read the transcript at anytime.)

More on IE 7 and Firefox 2

It was easy to take up the 950 words (or however many yesterday's column added up to) when describing two complex programs that people will use for hours each time they use a computer. Here are a few more thoughts about these two browsers:

* Search plug-ins: Both browsers' Web-search boxes can be used with your choice of search sites; you can download and install new search plug-ins with a couple of clicks, then remove them just as easily (this is a big change from earlier Firefox versions). IE 7, however, also lets you create a search plug-in of your own in a few short steps. I used this feature to add a washingtonpost.com search shortcut to my copy of IE 7.

Fortunately, there's already a washingtonpost.com search plug-in for Firefox. (Click the first "Washington Post" link, not the second.)

* Right-click options: Ever come across a reference on a Web page that puzzles or intrigues you? With the most useful right-click command ever, Firefox 2, like earlier versions, will run a Web search for whatever text you've selected. IE 7 lacks that. Instead, you have to select the words in question, copy them, then paste them into its search box, then hit the Enter key.

* Find features: Firefox 2 is worlds better than IE 7's conventional find feature. It has a find-as-you-type search feature that will instantly jump to the first word matching what you've typed. It also lets you highlight every occurrence of that word or phrase on a page.

* Cookie control: Internet Explorer 7 allows you to block "third-party cookies" -- the tiny text files placed on your computer by advertising networks to track what ads you view on the Web. Firefox used to offer this feature as well, but for some reason that setting was removed from Firefox 2's Options window (if you'd already set Firefox 1.5 to reject third-party cookies, however, that setting will remain in version 2).

That's a surprisingly bad move by Firefox developers who usually don't go overboard when they try to simplify the program's interface. You can, however, still adjust that setting in Firefox's about:config screen. Type "about:config" into the address bar, then type "network.cookie.cookiebehavior" in the "Filter" box that will appear below. Double-click that line, type "1" in the "Enter integer value" box, then click the OK button. (This will also run in next Sunday's Help File.)

Windows Defender Ships

Another Microsoft application ended a long beta test this week: the Windows Defender anti-spyware utility.

The major change between the old Beta 2 release and this final version is that it's now a Windows XP-only download -- Windows 2000 isn't supported anymore. Also, Windows Defender will now create a System Restore point automatically before doing anything with a suspected spyware item.

I'm glad that I no longer have to issue a ritual "yes, this is a beta and beta versions are inherently risky, but it's been perfectly fine in my day-to-day experience" warning when I talk about this program.

Electronic Voting Follies (Cont'd.)

Tuesday's Washington Post featured a story about one of the dumber interface glitches in computing history. The electronic-voting terminals used in three Virginia jurisdictions cuts off the last names of some candidates on the page that lets voters review their selections one last time before casting their vote. Why? The onscreen font's too big, and the developer of this system somehow forgot to make sure that it wouldn't cause this problem. Well, duh.

(I've seen a similar lack of attention to the basics of interface design in the WinVote machines I've used to vote, as I noted in an old e-letter. (Click here and search for "WinVote.")

Maryland, meanwhile, continues to have its own issues with Diebold voting machines. A story in Thursday's Post outlined how Diebold replaced circuit boards in its voting machines to stop them from randomly freezing while in use. Fair enough, except the company seems to have worked very hard to keep this little bug-fix out of the public eye.

What really makes me mad is how long it took Diebold to figure out how to fix this issue. This "screen freeze" problem surfaced in September of 2002, but Diebold didn't settle on a fix until early 2005. In plain English, that's almost two-and-a-half freakin' years! Hey, Maryland, when are you going to ask for your money back?

I'd feel more confident about electronic voting if I didn't keep getting the sense that the companies behind this hardware were leaving quality-assurance work to their third-string employees.

Two other links on electronic voting for you to ponder:

* If you want to be completely freaked out, read Ars Technica's treatise on how electronic voting systems can be hacked to steal elections.

* If you want some hope that this can eventually work read this Wired News story summarizing the advice of two computer scientists on how to construct a reliable and verifiable e-voting system.

Sunday Wrap-Up

Elsewhere in Sunday's personal-tech pages, we had these stories:

* In Web Watch, Frank Ahrens noted a spot of good news for online newspapers (forgive me if I express an unusual interest in that topic) and notes a new blog explaining the science behind all those hilarious mishaps chronicled daily on YouTube (no, really).

* A summary of the first week's worth of postings on our new Post I.T. blog.

* And in Help File, I try (and only partially succeed) to find software to get Google Maps out of your computer's address book, then offer a way to make an unwanted connect-now prompt go away in Windows.