Restricting freedoms in the name of safety and security can go too far.

Take this recent tech support call from a family member. She hadn't been able to get on the internet for days. She called Comcast, which provides her cable modem. Things looked fine on their side, they said. They suggested something on her computer wasn't working right. Using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer as the web browser might be the problem, they offered.

Having used this Windows XP computer myself, I'm familar with all the popups that the ZoneAlarm security utility generates. "Someone is trying to attack your computer on Port 80. Do you want to allow it? [YES] [NO]".

You shouldn't have to answer questions like this. On Mac and Linux you generally don't have to worry about security.

The questions are technical and irritating and easy to guess wrong at.

Apparently, my relative choose the wrong answer once. The answer apparenlty meant "Please, completely protect me from the internet by disallowing me access to it." Once she turned off ZoneAlarm, the internet connection started working again.

Not only did this issue have nothing to do with Internet Explorer vs. Firefox, but it is Internet Explorer that has such a reputation for letting through viruses and spyware in the first place, causing people to turn to solutions like the paranoid ZoneAlarm application.

For a real alternative to this mess, I recommend Linux, which I have used for the last several years. It works well. Yes, it has some quirks of its own, but overall it is a more pleasant experience compared, and it not nearly so likely to protect you from the internet like this.