Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Bixby on February 05, 2020, 08:24:55 AM

Title: New Browser needed
Post by: Bixby on February 05, 2020, 08:24:55 AM: I currently have Internet Explorer 11.00.9600.18231. Been getting message on Youtube that my browser will not be supported soon.

Running Win 7 Pro 64bit at this time. Will be updating to Win10 sometime in the future but not just yet.

Any suggestions on a good browser? Firefox or something else that will get along well with AH3?
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Spikes on February 05, 2020, 08:46:39 AM: I'd assume Chrome has the majority of the market share. Firefox is also fine.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: 100Coogn on February 05, 2020, 09:19:23 AM: +1 for FireFox. Been using it for over 5 years without issues.

Cooogan
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: OldNitro on February 05, 2020, 09:30:23 AM: FireFox +1

Google is NOT your friend!
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: save on February 05, 2020, 09:38:21 AM: Firefox here both in Linux and Windows, with strict tracking and uBlock Origin.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: FLS on February 05, 2020, 10:11:59 AM: Google and Mozilla have a very close relationship. Also, Google is the default search engine for Firefox.

Brave seems pretty good.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Bizman on February 05, 2020, 10:17:05 AM: I prefer Firefox over Chrome since by default FF doesn't run in the background after closing.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Bixby on February 05, 2020, 04:14:22 PM: Thanks for the input all.

I have installed Firefox and it is working fine. I do have a few more questions.

Logged into AH3 game and flew awhile. NP. In game I went to task manager and see that AH seems to use its own browser "ahbrowser.exe*32". Then to AH Bulletin Board, it still uses I.E.11 browser. So...if I disable IE11 in windows control panel (does not seem to be able to be deleted) will the BB then use Firefox as default browser? I really would like to be rid of Micosoft as much as possible.

Also...what "phone home" garbage can I remove from Firefox? Thanks all...<S>.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: jigsaw on February 05, 2020, 08:03:20 PM: Brave is another browser that's gaining popularity with people who don't like to be tracked to death.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Bizman on February 06, 2020, 01:30:48 AM: Quote from: Bixby on February 05, 2020, 04:14:22 PM
Also...what "phone home" garbage can I remove from Firefox? Thanks all...<S>.

There's not much, the most of it already has asked for confirmation during the first few runs. If you didn't pay notice to that, you can check it in Settings>Security etc.>How Firefox gathers and uses information (translated by me but you'll most likely find them).

Another thing is not to register to Sync and other Firefox online services. And if you further want to improve your privacy, set it to use the Privacy mode all the time and use DuckDuckGo as your default search engine and make FF delete all history and cookies at closing. They're all there quite easily to find.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Easyscor on February 06, 2020, 06:22:45 AM: Also in Firefox, once you start tightening up your privacy settings, you'll need to manually make entries to allow cookies for the AH bbs, your bank, online shopping sites etc. Those feature buttons are just above Logins and Passwords. The AH bbs site is a good place to start learning/testing how those work.

Some websites can be a pita and require opening up to ALL tracking, just to review your latest doctor's visit for instance. Personally, that makes those unsecure sites as far as I'm concerned.

:cheers:
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Denniss on February 06, 2020, 10:44:41 AM: For Firefox I recommend the ESR version. Too many feature experiments in the mainline which often require fixes after release.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Bizman on February 06, 2020, 11:06:45 AM: Is Firefox ESR Safe?
Firefox ESR is not ideal for most personal users. ESR versions of any software are generally slightly less secure than the release versions. This is because security patches for the ESR version have to be specially developed for these versions, since the ESR may not be functionally the same as the release version.
support.mozilla.org › en-US › questions (http://support.mozilla.org › en-US › questions)
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: save on February 06, 2020, 02:30:28 PM: Thanks Bizman, ducktogo is my search engine as well, also I run 1.1.1.1 as DNS server with TLS (encryption)
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Denniss on February 07, 2020, 07:44:59 PM: ESR is the longterm "stable" version without feature updates, aimed at business customers/larger companies. Do you really believe it's less secure than the experimental standard branch?
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Bizman on February 08, 2020, 08:04:35 AM: Quote from: Denniss on February 07, 2020, 07:44:59 PM
ESR is the longterm "stable" version without feature updates, aimed at business customers/larger companies. Do you really believe it's less secure than the experimental standard branch?
I have no opinion there, my previous post was a direct copy from Mozilla Support, the link below the text. I guess they know their product better than anyone else. At least they should.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: oboe on February 08, 2020, 10:52:36 AM: I just learned Opera comes with a built-in VPN you can enable. Can't get to AH website or forum with it enabled however.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Bizman on February 08, 2020, 12:27:00 PM: Windows 10 has a built-in VPN as well...
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Shuffler on February 09, 2020, 08:33:29 AM: If I understand correctly, with Opera... you can hit the high notes.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Denniss on February 09, 2020, 09:51:22 PM: Isn't Opera Chinese-owned?
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: oboe on February 10, 2020, 12:08:05 AM: Opera is a Norwegian company but has branch offices in Poland, Sweden, and China.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: Denniss on February 10, 2020, 06:27:24 AM: Opera Software was bought by a chinese investment company. Not sure I would trust them anymore.
Title: Re: New Browser needed
Post by: oboe on February 10, 2020, 08:09:02 AM: Quote from: Denniss on February 10, 2020, 06:27:24 AM
Opera Software was bought by a chinese investment company. Not sure I would trust them anymore.

Did some research and I concur. While still a Norwegian company and supposedly subject to Norwegian privacy laws, personally I find Chinese ownership unsettling. Looking for another browser myself now.