"In short: F$#K Internet Explorer." No need, there isn't anything that IE has that makes it inherently unsafe, and it is a rocking browser. 1) Get a GOOD personal firewall/anitvirus. You need it anyway, even if you get Mozilla. Norton internet Security is a GREAT combo... Zonealarm will help some if you need something free. 2) Keep up to date with Windows Update. You should be doing it anyway. 3) Do >NOT< just blindly say "yes" when a box pops up asking you to say yes :) 4) If you want pop up blocking, tabbed browsing and so on, just grab any of a million IE wrappers that do that (I use MYIE2) Mozilla is cool, and if you want it thats fine - but the simple truth is that a secure windows box, using IE and Outlook, is trivial.