Internet Explorer 8 may not be best choice

Letters have clogged the mailbox this week as people are preparing for summer and doing some spring-cleaning. Let's get right to it.

Question: I can't believe you recommended Internet Explorer 8. I installed it a couple weeks before your article ran and had all kinds of problems with it and had to uninstall it to get my computer back. What a piece of junk it is.

Answer: Obviously, there have been millions of installations of IE8 and not all of them will go well. My column certainly wasn't a technical endorsement of the product but rather for consumers with a recent computer (two years old or newer) and a gig of RAM or more, I don't see any reason not to try it, because, as you say, you can always uninstall it if you don't like it.

I personally will keep using Firefox. For business customers, I would use what your IT department recommends, but I would not be in a big rush to move to IE8 until you test your existing applications with it.

I am certainly sorry your install did not go well, but one thing I would suggest is make sure you have current video drivers for your computer's video card or chip and also have at least a gig of RAM.

Question: You wrote a column about Rebit backup software, but on their Web site I also see hard drives. I am confused. Do I also have to buy the software then too if I buy a hard drive from them?

Answer: No. Rebit comes in two varieties. You can buy the software and install it on your own external drive — warning: it takes up the whole thing — or you can buy a Rebit-branded drive that has the software already installed and ready to go. This is more expensive but less hassle. Just make sure the drive you get either way is about twice the size of the computer drive you plan to back up.

Whatever backup method you select, the key is to actually use it.

Question: Your review of Gimp photo editing software said it was free and just about as powerful as programs like Photoshop. I don't understand how software like this can be free and be as good as you say. What's the catch?

Answer: Software like Gimp, and OpenOffice and Linux and hundreds of other titles out there, are developed by smart people who donate their efforts for the greater good. This "open source" initiative believes that a whole bunch of people, each doing a little bit of work, can develop some pretty cool code. This has worked in the past and will continue to work in the future.

What has hampered the open source community is the lack of paid support options. If Gimp breaks, you have to rely on user groups and others to help you fix it; if you buy Photoshop and it breaks, you can call someone and they will help you fix the problem.

That support is part of what you are paying for. However, you will find many open-source products to be high-quality and ready for your use.

James Derk is owner of CyberDads, a computer service company and tech columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail address is jim@cyberdads.com.