There are any number of handy utilities I use to streamline the development process and general computing activities which consume much of my time. In many ways, I am not much different than any other “power user” who has assembled various software tools and shortcuts to improve workflow and remove as much repetitive drudgery as possible from daily routines. After all, there is so much fascinating information to review online, not to mention paying work demanding attention, why spend any more time than necessary performing such mundane tasks as filling out online forms and the seemingly infinite number of user name and password screens which present themselves?

Firefox, my current personal browser of choice, offers some built in functionality when it comes to filling out forms and storing user name and password information. The inclusion of these features is most welcome and another significant improvement over the aging Internet Explorer interface. For those of you who haven’t yet tried Firefox, you will soon become addicted to the tab browsing available with this browser but there is so much more. In fact, Firefox is highly extensible and there are a wide variety of plug-ins which allow you to customize the Firefox browser in any number of ways. (Be sure to check out these plug ins online if you have downloaded the browser.) But I digress. I will leave a listing of my favorite Firefox extensions for another article.

I have experimented with several tools which automate the sign in process and have been using a PC Magazine Editor’s Choice, Roboform on a trial basis off and on for a couple of months. The product can be downloaded for free but has limited functionality. The Pro version allows for unlimited username and password creation and several additional features. For a complete list of Roboform’s Pro features, click here. While I am always anxious to find freeware and shareware alternatives, any software which contributes to your productivity, and in this case online security (more on this later), is certainly worth paying for (in this case Roboform Pro retails for $29.95 as of this writing).

If this article were simply an advertisement for the software, it wouldn’t warrant my time or yours. (I never write on behalf of vendors; nor do I ever profit from purchases made through this web site unless I expressly state a link is an “affiliate” link in the body of an article. (The Google Adsense Ads which are clearly listed support this site and are, by definition, affiliate links.) What makes the story interesting is that Roboform appears to have a significant conflict with the latest Firefox release (version 1.06) which is crashing my browser every time it loads. Resolution of this issue, is taking time and negating much of the time savings the program has created for me during my evaluation period. To be fair, it appears some, perhaps all, of the problems I am experiencing are a result of having an older version of this company’s Firefox plug-in installed. A completely new installation may not experience the issues which have taken up several hours of my day. I will certainly publish the solution, and any additional insights as to its origin, when the problem is ultimately resolved.

Still, this software conflict highlights challenges faced by developers and end users...... Please read on.......

Roboform is a cross-platform solution. This utility is designed to work with various incarnations of Microsoft’s ubiquitous Internet Explorer; Netscape Navigator; Mozilla, even Palm and Pocket PC platforms. In short, Roboform attempts to be your personal information vault across all the hardware and software platforms you might use. This makes the product compelling for end users who don’t want to remember user names and passwords in the first place much less pay for and use different tools in different situations to assist with this task. All browsers are security risks. Although Internet Explorer gets the lion’s share of bad press, this is mostly a simple function of “market share.” The vast majority of online web surfers (roughly 90% as of this writing) rely on this browser; consequently, the “bad guys” devote the bulk of their nefarious activity towards this browser. (These guys are not only talented coders they understand how market forces dictate how to get the most mayem, or cash, for their time and effort.) Firefox’s recent surge of popularity is attracting attention. Security issues are reported with increasing regularity and the open source developer community responsible for Firefox’s evolution, have been conscientious about issuing patches, or dot releases as they are known in techy circles, to address these flaws as they are exposed. This drive to keep Firefox current, not to mention more secure than Internet Explorer which has become a “selling point” in terms of this browser’s growing market share, is nothing short of admirable.

However, even companies who presumably have superior resources, such as those selling commercial software, have to expend a great deal of energy to ensure that their wares are compatible with each new incarnation. I will tell you to always patch, or upgrade, your browsers as soon as you are made aware of a new release. After all, the vulnerability(s) causing the update have been public for some period of time prior to the new release. Every day you surf the web using an outdated browser is a day you, and your data, are at heightened risk. Don’t let the bad guys win because you are running outdated software (particularly when all popular browsers are free).  Don’t worry too much if you, or whatever IT resource you might use, isn’t checking up on your browsers’ health each week. A typically configured system running Internet Explorer and/or Firefox, will periodically “call home” and check for updates. However, if you aren’t sure if you have the newest release, you can surf to Windows Update and see if there are any critical patches for Internet Explorer, not to mention the rest of your XP system.  (Just don’t try to use Microsoft’s online tools using Firefox, parts of Microsoft’s site requires proprietary Active X Controls which Firefox doesn’t support for security reasons. The browser wars are really back and I see no sign of the struggle being resolved any time soon. ) You can also download the latest version of Internet Explorer (version 6 Service Pack 1) directly from this link.  Microsoft is known for moving things around, so if this link is bad when you read this, try going to Microsoft’s download site and using the search function to get the latest version information. Firefox can be “forced” to check for updates by navigating to Tools|Options|Advanced and pressing the Check For Updates Button. You can also visit Mozilla’s web site and download the newest version directly.

As for me, my browsers’ are all current; I just have my browser of choice, Firefox, crashing due to an incompatability with what has been a useful, time saving, resource. I miss my tabbed browsing. Relying on Internet Explorer is like taking a step back. I will let you know how I ultimately get Roboform and Firefox to coexist once again..... I just hope it doesn’t take too much more time.