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IE8 vs. FF 3.05 (on W7 64 bit)

flexy

flexy

Diamond Member
IE8 loads basically "instantly".

The biggest shock when i type a term into the search box (i configured IE to use Google search as default like in FF)

IE8 works WAY faster, while it takes approx 2 secs for FF to display the search results, also Google searching with IE8 is WAY faster, results come up almost instantly.

I think i have a new fav browser...

 
Does IE8 have the same search function like Firefox? It's really annoying that you have to actually hit find on IE when it just happens instant on Firefox.
 
well...3-4 seconds...vs. "instantly"....i am litereally meaning "instantly". But what puzzled me is that also the search via search box (google search) is way faster. I type in a term, and google is almost instantly on the screen, while FF still goes through some URLs and at least needs 2 secs to actually display the result.
 
uh...IE is packaged into the kernel on windows 7. it's no suprise that it loads "instantly".

you pay a lot of security and customizability for that load speed, as has been proven time and again.
 
Originally posted by: Fayd
uh...IE is packaged into the kernel on windows 7. it's no suprise that it loads "instantly".

you pay a lot of security and customizability for that load speed, as has been proven time and again.
Click to expand...

Yea cus there's so many hackers looking for W7
 
Originally posted by: Fayd
uh...IE is packaged into the kernel on windows 7. it's no suprise that it loads "instantly".

you pay a lot of security and customizability for that load speed, as has been proven time and again.
Click to expand...

In the kernel? Sure about that? 😉 More likely answer: it's been pre-loaded into RAM for insta-launch because of SuperFetch.

As for security, IE on Vista and 7 is not an easy target. I'm certainly interested in hearing about any method of attack that you think would overcome WIC and Protected Mode without direct user assistance.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if major parts of IE are in the kernel in Win7. MS does that all the time with products. Win6 saw the integration of the web server into the kernel (http.sys). It's their ultimate fail back tactic. How you gonna beat kernel performance? You ain't.
 
Considering that Vista saw a concerted push to move as much stuff as possible out of the kernel for security reasons, to the point that Internet Explorer runs at the lowest possible Integrity level, even lower than a non-Admin user... no, I don't think exploiting IE is going to get you into the kernel 😉

Have you read up on Windows Integrity Control? Seriously, take ten minutes and read both pages of this article. http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1887 Snip:

  • Untrusted ? processes that are logged on anonymously are automatically designated as Untrusted
  • Low ? The Low integrity level is the level used by default for interaction with the Internet. As long as Internet Explorer is run in its default state, Protected Mode, all files and processes associated with it are assigned the Low integrity level. Some folders, such as the Temporary Internet Folder, are also assigned the Low integrity level by default.
  • Medium ? Medium is the context that most objects will run in. Standard users receive the Medium integrity level, and any object not explicitly designated with a lower or higher integrity level is Medium by default.
  • High ? Administrators are granted the High integrity level. This ensures that Administrators are capable of interacting with and modifying objects assigned Medium or Low integrity levels, but can also act on other objects with a High integrity level, which standard users can not do.
  • System ? As the name implies, the System integrity level is reserved for the system. The Windows kernel and core services are granted the System integrity level. Being even higher than the High integrity level of Administrators protects these core functions from being affected or compromised even by Administrators.
  • Installer ? The Installer integrity level is a special case and is the highest of all integrity levels. By virtue of being equal to or higher than all other WIC integrity levels, objects assigned the Installer integrity level are also able to uninstall all other objects.
Click to expand...

As you can see, IE is running about as far below the kernel's Integrity level as you can get a local process. If people disable UAC and therefore disable Protected Mode, then IE will be running at whatever level the user is at, like other browsers, but certainly not as SYSTEM.

Another good explaination here. Snip:

In IE7?s Protected Mode?which is the default in other than the Trusted security zone?the IE process runs with Low rights, even if the logged-in user is an administrator. Since add-ins to IE such as ActiveX controls and toolbars run within the IE process, those add-ins run Low as well. The idea behind Protected Mode IE is that even if an attacker somehow defeated every defense mechanism and gained control of the IE process and got it to run some arbitrary code, that code would be severely limited in what it could do. Almost all of the file system and registry would be off-limits to it for writing, reducing the ability of an exploit to modify the system or harm user files. The code wouldn't have enough privileges to install software, put files in the user's Startup folder, hijack browser settings, or other nastiness.
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by: Fayd
uh...IE is packaged into the kernel on windows 7. it's no suprise that it loads "instantly".

you pay a lot of security and customizability for that load speed, as has been proven time and again.
Click to expand...
I the benefits of the doubt this was meant as a joke. I certainly hope so.
 
i heard that IE8 hasn't been too impressive so far as far as rendering and support goes, whic his very unfortunate. I mainly use opera, but have to use IE for incompatible websites sometimes.
 
Util IE8 actually supports web standards like every other browser out there, I'm sticking to Firefox. When basic CSS wont even render properly, you know they're still behind.
 
Both the standard and the 64-bit versions of Internet Explorer run like crap for me on W7. Firefox is faster and more responsive. Although, Chrome and Iron are still loading faster than Firefox for me.
 
IE8 still has a lot of issues with displaying pages properly. There is a huge bug with Netsuite.com for those who may or may not use it. It's annoying.
 
I uninstall IE8 and went back to IE7 a few months back and can't remember why.

I still use Firefox but maybe I should give IE8 another try.

Has anything improved with IE8 in the past couple of months?
 
I dunno about you, but my firefox search results load basically instantly (less than 1s). I have it opening in a new tab, too, which probably contributes some to that load time.
 
Yeah i really liked IE8, i can customize it so the buttons are basically in the same place as they are in FF 3.0 (all to the left of the address bar) ill definately consider using it instead of FF when windows 7 is released. I never liked having to download 3rd party things because windows cant do what i want it to do.
 
Originally posted by: flexy
IE8 loads basically "instantly".

The biggest shock when i type a term into the search box (i configured IE to use Google search as default like in FF)

IE8 works WAY faster, while it takes approx 2 secs for FF to display the search results, also Google searching with IE8 is WAY faster, results come up almost instantly.

I think i have a new fav browser...
Click to expand...

Hahaha, sounds like they did some crap under the hood of W7 to lag data being sent to browsers other than IE. Modern hardware should allow for Google (of all pages) to load quickly. The onyl reason it might not is because of some BS under the hood.
 
Originally posted by: zerocool84
Originally posted by: Fayd
uh...IE is packaged into the kernel on windows 7. it's no suprise that it loads "instantly".

you pay a lot of security and customizability for that load speed, as has been proven time and again.
Click to expand...

Yea cus there's so many hackers looking for W7
Click to expand...

Actually, I'd bet that hackers are hunting for exploits right now. new technology tends to be buggier and acceptance is only 6 months out.
 
Actually, I'd bet that hackers are hunting for exploits right now. new technology tends to be buggier and acceptance is only 6 months out.
Click to expand...

Actually, you've got that backwards, in Microsoft's case at least. Vista verus XP SP2 versus RedHat versus Ubuntu versus OS X :camera:
(courtesy of Jeff Jones)

Microsoft's Security Development Lifecycle is the reason. They're systematically reducing bugs at every possible stage of software development, testing to find as many as they can, and trying to build in mitigation to reduce the possible impact of the ones that do survive. To which I say, :beer: good job :beer:
 
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