That person isn't a responsible computer user.
1st, they shouldn't have msn, aim and yim running at the same time.
2nd, morpheus, XoloX, and BearSahre are full of spyware knowone should use them.
3rd, Spybot Search and destroy could clean up most if not all of thos browser additions.
4th, msn.com is full of spyware.
I can't imagine anyone dumb enough to get their computer that messed up. I see that VMware tools icon in the tray. My guess is that is a demo of how screwed up a coputer can be.
As for Firefox vs IE. IE has a better rendering engine that Firefox. Firefox is more secure than IE. So its a judgment call.
I use SlimBrowser, which is a skin for IE.