I've been using Firefox since longer than I can remember, and a beta version has never been pushed to me. Auto-updates to release versions, yes. Beta versions, no (I am not subscribed to the beta channel and have never been forced to it). Regards to browser security, there's a newly discovered vulnerability in the SSLv3 protocol -- POODLE is the acronym. It's a combination of browser and server. SSLv3 was superseded some while ago by TLS, but many servers are still running SSLv3 (along with TLS). A secure browser connection that starts on TLS can be tricked into downgrading to SSL 3.0 (if the connecting server still supports it), and a hacker can intercept bits of the data flow when that happens. The expectation is that SSL 3.0 will not be patched since it's considered outdated. Servers that are running it will (should) soon be reconfigured to no longer support it. Users who are running old browsers that don't support TLS will no longer be able to connect to secure sites such as online banking or shopping after servers no longer support SSLv3. The recommended defense until servers are fixed to to eliminate SSLv3 is for users to set their browser to not allow SSL 3.0 connections (minimum TLSv1). If your old browser of choice (or requirement) doesn't support TLS then you're stuck being susceptible, and will be out-of-luck when SSLv3 is fully redacted. IE6 , for example, supports TLSv1 but the option is not enabled by default, it must be manually turned on. (TLS is currently up to v3, which IE6 does not support past TLSv1.) Test your browser

Raven, thank you. I sent all of this post to my tech and hope he reads it. I'm scared as I still have XP, and although I love IE because it is what I've always used, I am now using Firefox. I did go in and change the settings so it can't automatically upgrade. When I went to try to find out what "version" of Firefox my tech had installed, it looked like it was trying to update something. I got out of that fast. LOL My tech is looking around to get me a new computer as mine will soon be 10 years old. I am going to hate giving up my XP, but I will have no choice.

I thought the poem was really cute, but when I see a post like this I always have to wonder if it was copied from somewhere or if the OP posted something they wrote.....

I have always felt that if you are familiar with smart phones, etc. then the transition from W7 to W8/10 will be smooth. I have never had a smart phone and prefer not to have one. I like that my internet connection is at home and plan on keeping it that way. I find it very disturbing that MS is forcing this W10 upgrade on people. This is America! Shouldn't we have the freedom to make our own choices, and I do not like the idea of upgrading on an older system. I have seen first hand the problems that have arisen from upgrades. If it is not incompatible drivers, its something else. If I want a W10 I will go out and buy a new computer that has W10 factory installed with a warranty. I can not afford to lose my W7. I have several versions of OS's for a really good reason and need them as is. My son had an experience with his W8.1 that helped me to form my negative opinion concerning this free upgrade. Just before he shipped out for overseas he bought a W8.1 netbook for his wife since he took his W7 with, so they could Skype back and forth. She is familiar with her smart phone but not with Windows in general. During this time that my son was deployed is when the upgrade came out. My daughter in law had no idea what to do with this message that kept telling her to upgrade. Since she didn't know the difference between and update and an upgrade so when she asked my son if she should allow the update he said yes, so allowed the upgrade at the end of July (or was that August? I forget now.) Either way, the upgrade that he thought was an update went very badly and once complete the netbook would not boot into Windows and since he was in such a hurry to ship out he did not take the time to create the recovery media. To make an already long story short, I tried everything I could think of to fix this and ended up having to send it back to ASUS not even a week after the warranty ran out and have them reload the hard drive which cost him $210 USD's. He had paid almost $300 for it on base before he left so he ended up paying over $500 for this netbook. Very costly MS upgrade failure as far as I am concerned. I wish there were a way to make MS pay for the damage caused by this failed upgrade, but you know that would never happen and I have helped others online with the very same upgrade failure. Kind of makes me feel like my son and everybody else whose upgrade failed in this manner were used as lab rats. Out of curiosity, I would give anything to know the percentage of how many of these upgrades failed, for what reason the upgrades failed, how severe the failures were and how much the victim had to pay out of their pockets to fix the damage done.