If you do a lot of web surfing and are concerned about spyware and adware infecting your machine, consider using Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. Currently, Firefox is much less susceptible to spyware than Internet Explorer for various reasons:

* Firefox does not natively support ActiveX, a mechanism many spyware and adware programs use to infect a browser.

* Firefox is not used by as many people as Internet Explorer, thus many spyware and adware authors have not targeted this browser.

* As Firefox is open-source, it seems (as of now) that security holes are being patched faster. As of this writing, several known Internet Explorer security holes still exist that have not yet been patched.

However, Firefox does slightly limit the sites accessible due to its lack of ActiveX support. In particular, many complex applications, including intranet or financial applications, may require using Internet Explorer. In that case, consider using Firefox for general surfing and Internet Explorer for office-critical and financial applications.

Mozilla Firefox: http://www.mozilla.org/

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