Flaws may mean it's time to drop Microsoft browser

"The attack — a virus known as Download.Ject or Scob, depending on which security-software company is trying to sell you its products — is actually a one-two punch. Its creators took advantage of flawed versions of Microsoft's Web server software. The server problems were fixed in a patch released in April, but there are still a lot of unpatched machines out there. This allowed placement of an installer program on Web sites users might otherwise trust.
When an IE user views a Web page from an infected machine, the server plants the virus. Fortunately, the installer snagged its copy of the virus from a computer in Russia, which on Friday was disabled. But machines that were infected received a program that collects sensitive information such as passwords and credit card numbers and sends it to a third party.
Because there's no patch for IE users, Microsoft offered suggestions to avoid being infected, but the steps create problems of their own. For example, users were told to turn off Javascript capabilities and bump IE's security settings to high — actions that will affect how many Web sites display and behave.
Until Microsoft gets its act together, the safest thing to do — along with religiously keeping up with patches and updating antivirus software — is to use a non-Microsoft browser. That includes Netscape's latest (channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/); its open-source first cousins, Mozilla and Firefox (www.mozilla.org/download.html); and Opera, a shareware program that you can try for free, then purchase (www .opera.com). Firefox is my personal favorite (see www.chron.com/firefox), and a new version, 0.9, was released earlier this month.
Getting away from a Microsoft operating system would disengage you from a lot of these problems. However, the major alternatives, buying a Macintosh or installing Linux on your PC, have their own downsides, not the least of which is reduced compatibility with the rest of the Windows world, and the cost and hassle of replacing software and possibly hardware."