The browser war...
2003-06-01 14:49![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blufiveAs I mentioned in my last post, many people, on seeing the settlement in the AOL/MS antitrust lawsuit, have proclaimed the end of the "browser war", the death of Netscape, and the forthcoming global domination of Microsoft.
So, how do things look in the trenches?
Since I got really interested in the workings of the Web a couple of years back, things have moved on a great deal.
About 18 months ago, I would wander into web authoring forums, and people hadn't heard of Mozilla. Netscape was a swearword, and IE6 was the bee's knees. Only wackos used CSS for layout. Over on the browser stats front, IE5 was king, Netscape 4 was the biggest minority browser, and Mozilla was nowhere.
Oh, how things have changed. Now, most web authors who are any good at their job have heard of Mozilla. Many of them use it, and/or know that it has kick-ass support for CSS. Netscape can still be a swearword, but only if the number "4" is in close proximity. The virtues of CSS layout are proclaimed from the hilltops at regular intervals, and IE6 often gets complaints about its standards support. IE6 is king, Netscape 4 is dying - and Mozilla is rising steadily.
Maybe Netscape is dead, but if so, it's passed the torch on to its offspring: Mozilla.
The future? Mozilla.org is getting ready for its next major release, as is Netscape. Microsoft? They don't seem to be doing anything. In fact, there are reports that updates to Internet Explorer will now only be available as updates to windows. In any case, IE hasn't had any significant enhancements for 18 months.
The early adopters are moving. Microsoft, confident in victory, is resting on its laurels. Does it sound like there could be an upset coming?
So, how do things look in the trenches?
Since I got really interested in the workings of the Web a couple of years back, things have moved on a great deal.
About 18 months ago, I would wander into web authoring forums, and people hadn't heard of Mozilla. Netscape was a swearword, and IE6 was the bee's knees. Only wackos used CSS for layout. Over on the browser stats front, IE5 was king, Netscape 4 was the biggest minority browser, and Mozilla was nowhere.
Oh, how things have changed. Now, most web authors who are any good at their job have heard of Mozilla. Many of them use it, and/or know that it has kick-ass support for CSS. Netscape can still be a swearword, but only if the number "4" is in close proximity. The virtues of CSS layout are proclaimed from the hilltops at regular intervals, and IE6 often gets complaints about its standards support. IE6 is king, Netscape 4 is dying - and Mozilla is rising steadily.
Maybe Netscape is dead, but if so, it's passed the torch on to its offspring: Mozilla.
The future? Mozilla.org is getting ready for its next major release, as is Netscape. Microsoft? They don't seem to be doing anything. In fact, there are reports that updates to Internet Explorer will now only be available as updates to windows. In any case, IE hasn't had any significant enhancements for 18 months.
The early adopters are moving. Microsoft, confident in victory, is resting on its laurels. Does it sound like there could be an upset coming?