English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

The general theme that seems to surface in my research on Internet Explorer is that the browser is simultaneously the most used and most criticized browser available. This means, for one that it's a little hard to find unbiased info about IE. Secondly, because IE is the most widely used, it is also a sensible target for malware developers who want to affect as many machines as possible.

Another trait that sets IE apart is that its design interfaces with the Windows operating system. While this could increase browser-system cohesion, which would be attractive for an IT manager, it could possible lead to extra exposure risks to the system's critical programming, which is another major concern.

The existence of these sentiments is supported by commentary abundantly available online, similar to the content of these two blogs, IEBlog: Security is an Industry Problem and Web Browser Vulnerabilities: Is Safe Surfing Possible?

The ideas mentioned above will be used in the discussion of IE's particular strengths and weaknesses in the body of the white paper itself. Of course, gauging web sentiments isn't a very strong way to support an argument, so what I need to do now is look for specific figures about the frequency of vulnerabilities in IE as compared to other browsers, and find specific examples of IE interfacing with the Windows operating system and how that effects the browser's security and utility.