German government drops Explorer

Fears that Internet Explorer is leaving government organizations open to attacks have lead a number to consider alternatives to the Microsoft Corp. software.

The German government's office for information security this week decided to drop Microsoft Internet Explorer. Their move follows the decision earlier this year by the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team to switch from Internet Explorer.

The German government department recommends the Opera Web browser technology as an alternative to Microsoft's.

Opera CEO Jon S. von Tetzchner said in a press release: "All software has bugs, but there is no doubt that Microsoft's tight integration between browser and operating system, together with the implementation of technologies like ActiveX and Visual Basic, is a security hazard to all Microsoft users. In Opera, worried Microsoft users will find better replacements for Internet Explorer and Outlook Express."

The Web Standards Project recently began a campaign to encourage Web surfers to abandon Internet Explorer. They said: "Internet Explorer can make your computer unsafe. Why not switch to a browser that's more secure?"

In June Windows users were been warned to avoid using Internet Express until a serious hole in the browser's security was fixed. Russian hackers had placed code on popular Web sites that was allowing them to gain control of PCs.

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