I've found Firefox (FF) to be more malware free. In fact, I test it on plenty of porn sites just to make sure. In order for this to work, you need to use a combination of antivirus/antispy software and FF add-ins.
- Get a decent antivirus client with real-time scanning and free updates, ie. AVG or Avast.
- NoScript (FREE) - this is a FF add-in that blocks JavaScript and prompts for approval, thereby negating a majority of malware on the web. You can whitelist sites you want to pre-approve.
- Spybot Search & Destroy (FREE) - use Teatimer and immunize your Internet Explorer (IE)/FF browser with regular definition updates.
There are many alternatives to what I've listed above, but these are free and will get you started.
The problem I've found with FF is that with too many add-ins, it will frequently become unstable. The biggest problem is when you close the browser and it closes, but continues to run in the background. It won't let you launch a new instance without first terminating the original firefox.exe process, which you can usually tell because it has the most memory usage.
The other problem with FF is that sometimes, it refuses to launch even without firefox.exe running in the background. This is due to the add-ins. One of them is acting up and causing FF to launch in an aborted state in the background. To workaround this, terminate all the firefox.exe processes running and launch FF in safemode by holding down "Shift" while launching FF. It should eventually prompt you with a safemode prompt -
http://www.nirmaltv.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/firefox-safe-mode.jpg. You can simply click "Continue in Safe Mode", but you'll still want to figure out which add-in is causing the hang up and get rid of that f*cker.
As for Chrome, Chrome works fast and great for the limited number of sites that actually will work with it. Support is growing by the day, but it still falls behind IE and FF. The other downside is that Chrome doesn't automatically block JavaScript or other scripting, which creates risk if you happen to land on an infected website.
I have all three browser installed on my main Windows 7 machine, but I use FF primarily for security reasons, and Chrome as the back-up for sites that are compatible and known to be virus free. I use IE only sparingly for idiotic sites that refuse to expand browser support for the other two.
IE can be made secure, but I don't want to hassle with that.
