Internet Explorer – the best browser to download other browsers; so I’ve heard. I totally agree; every other browser sucks at this job. This almost unofficial slogan has been interpreted wrong all this time. Honestly, I’ve found no problems with IE ever. From the beginning, I’ve wondered what it was I did that made me choose Windows IE over other browsers despite repeated testing of new browsers as and when they came. Surely, I must be doing something wrong.
I troubleshoot PCs from time to time – sometimes my friends’ too. Being an IE user, starting Internet Explorer is my go-to action for browsing. There are times the owner of the computer, with an almost ninja-like agility, tries to stop me from doing it. I can see a part of them dying when they don’t succeed. For a time I thought they really cared about their computers. Who knows? Maybe IE was indeed a rogue browser and it has not caught up to me yet; it still might’ve claimed unsuspecting victims. These fantasies, however, have since shattered. I’ve found the real reason behind their fear when the browser finally opens up. The image below should sum it up.
Yeah! The internet is, no doubt, the native repository for information. Still, it also hosts software that construct metaphorical slums all over your browsing space. That is not all. These individual toolbars unnecessarily hog your system resources. For more computer savvy, that would be your RAM and CPU cycles. Do developers of crapware make nearly as many add-ons for other browsers? I hardly think so.
Internet Explorer has got a lot better over time and has consistently worked out to be my number one choice for browsing. I’ve used every major release of Chrome, Opera, Firefox and even Safari. I have to say, Safari, in my experience comes second. There are times I’ve helped people avoid complete reformats of their computer systems. That should account for something – I, clearly, know better than you all. But, no one has ever come to give Internet Explorer another try. It rests, waiting for it’s turn, in the event of an inevitable failure of their “favourite browsers”.
So, whose fault is it? Microsoft? Definitely not. They’ve always managed to keep Internet Explorer on the position of ‘my favourite browser’, so it is not the fault of Microsoft. IE, as of now is the only browser that fully supports hardware rendering of their HTML5 web pages; it’s the others who have to catch up. Maybe we could blame the makers of these add-ons. They don’t give much thought to the inconvinience it could cause to have their toolbars around. Then again, if you read their respective licence agreements carefully, the toolbars help most of them keep their software free. The others are just screwing with you.
The real problem with Internet Explorer
The real problem with IE is YOU. It is you, the user, who has been consistently inconsiderate of the troubles you’d face using nasty shareware. If you give it some time and thought, you’d actually be able to see where you’re going wrong. All you need is to read and observe the key words. Check the right boxes in toolbar installers. This will help you avoid the troubles you might have to go through.
If you’re reading this in any browser other than IE, I’m sure I’d find one toolbar just waiting for the accidental launch of Internet Explorer. In a world where legal binding cries for a minimum amount of attention, it baffles me to see carelessness of this degree.
This is the last of me you’d ever find on this matter. I’m almost loving the fact that I’m only one of the few who use Internet Explorer – I get to keep all its awesomeness to myself. Do check out Browser You Loved to Hate.
The only people who know my birthday are the good people at XBOX. I’m looking forward to their Rewards program becoming available in India. The rest of you can buy me gifts all year. Just click on Buy me stuff from the menu for more details.