Internet Explorer, my constant companion, my muse, my friend, has decided to turn on me. Suddenly I was getting tons of pop-ups, where the Google toolbar pop-up blocker had been serving me well in the past. And certain words started getting highlighted and underlined, much like Microsoft’s evil Smart Tags technology. And graphics on web sites were being replaced with ads. As if that weren’t enough, my Google searches were being intercepted, and the first page replaced with ads.
This all happened seemingly at once, as gremlins set up camp in my computer and on my brain. I downloaded and paid for a spyware/adware cleaner, which helped somewhat but not completely.
And then I decided to try Firefox.
There are some weirdnesses, and I’m having to learn some new habits. But overall, I’m loving it. It’s fast, the interface is clean and simple, and it has tabbed browsing and industrial-strength pop-up blocking.
This is a good thing.