2
I'm not liking at all Firefox 4 (seriously... and for so many reasons) so I was thinking to downgrade to 3.X. In both Windows and Linux environments, would this imply security risks for my system?
vemv
Posted 2011-06-12T19:22:54.510
Reputation: 640
5
Firefox 3.6 is currently still getting security updates, so won't be a problem at the moment, but they'll drop it reasonable soon, so it might be better to get used to Firefox 4, or work out how to make Firefox 4 more like 3.6
For example:
http://redherring2.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/firefox-4-restoring-firefox-3-ui
https://superuser.com/questions/203184/is-there-a-way-to-make-firefox-4-less-ugly
Douglas Leeder
Posted 2011-06-12T19:22:54.510
Reputation: 1 375
4
3.6 isn't so bad, but I wouldn't go back any further.
Using an older browser is just asking to get hacked, as they don't always continue to get security patches and many malware authors now initially target legitimate web sites. They'll hack the web site first, and use that to perform drive-by downloads on unsuspecting users second. So if your system isn't up to date you could get infected just from normal browsing.
Joel Coehoorn
Posted 2011-06-12T19:22:54.510
Reputation: 26 787
1+1 - this is a reason why a lot of fan sites (e.g. for sports) tend to be a bit dangerous. The site owners aren't malicious, but they often aren't as expert on keeping their site and servers secure as you'd hope, or don't spend enough time keeping things secure. – Steve314 – 2011-06-12T19:54:51.077
Well from what I know firefox 4 is a bit more secure than 3.x, so I would assume that some risks would be implied. – a sandwhich – 2011-06-12T19:44:59.270
1Firefox 3 shouldn't be too bad, though there are no doubt some risks you would avoid with a more recent browser. The real horror stories are the people who still use Internet Explorer 6. A fair amount depends on the types of web sites you visit, though - some are much more heavily targeted by black hats than others. Facebook needs to be treated with care even if you have the most recent browser version and anti-malware tools. If you feel the urge for pirate cracks, porn etc, beware. I've wiped and re-installed everything on a few machines after someone had that urge. – Steve314 – 2011-06-12T19:48:45.883