Netscape’s death leaves more questions unanswered…

I used to think the death of Netscape would make web design a more attractive profession to me. <a href=”http://www.deftone.com/blogzilla/archives/a_new_foundation_and_layoffs.html”>Per this post</a> on the current state of da Mozilla org. However… (Read on)

11 Replies to “Netscape’s death leaves more questions unanswered…”

  1. But having multiple platforms is good because competition breeds innovation. One reason the browser is in such a sorry ass stagnate state is because there is no big rival to IE anymore. Where’s the incentive for MS to *noticably* change/improve IE anymore? There is none.

    Really, ’tis the same ideology people use to refute socialist ideas in politics…

  2. Good point about the innovation; I didn’t think of that. Pro’s and con’s I guess, it’s just so non-black and white, even sorting out how innovation fits into the picture, at least for me, is tough. Maybe I’m excited about my current project (fixed a bug after a week of crunching); either way, it’s such a blur.

    As for the politics, I don’t know much about them; I lack the forte in that arena.

  3. That’s just it, I can’t! There are a plethora of new browsers (may be old to some, hehe), and I guess I just feel innundated with choices. It’s one thing to choose a video editing program (NLE):
    – premiere, After Effects, Combustion, Apple’s (forget the name), Vegas Video

    But, you never really had a choice with web browsers; it was IE and Netscape. You had a use for either one, not a choice. Now, suddendly you would think at least the carrot was no longer dangling over your head, and you could just use IE cause it was the only one there was; instead there are tons.

    If I knew wtf Firebird was, I could tell you. My point isn’t that Firebird itself is odd, rather the emergence of more than 2 web browsers.

  4. firebird uses the opensource mozilla engine, as netscape (for example) did. “netscape” and “firebird” are just shells around a opensource, standards compliant (the best i know) renderer with some spices added. actually, the only thing i would call “odd” is microsofts implementation.

  5. With IE being at least for now closed off and no longer enhanced until Longhorn ships, any innovation in the browser market space will be a ways off if it is to come from Microsoft. For that matter, if they stick by that proclamation, then that means that any enhancements that are available in Longhorn’s “certainly renamed browser” will not be available to XP users, and will CERTAINLY not be available to 98 users.

    That being said, keep in mind also that there are fledling projects within Microsoft to build a Flash competitor. With the new desktop being tied directly into DirectX with 3D effects and the shutdown of IE, I presume what is happening is that the development of a major competitor for Flash is actually in the works. What better way to hamstring MM than close it off from the developments it will have in the back lab while building in new technologies directly into the browser.

    So, in a nutshell. The web is going to change, eyes open step forward. If you plan on utilizing new technologies that can be accessible immediately (oh like CSS2 for instance) then you options are clear really. Generally the way I look at it, when dealing with standard HTML and Javascript, if it test out in Moz or Firebird it will generally work in IE too, though not usually the counter. ActiveX and .NET are a different beast and limit one to not only a specific browser but to a specific platform, so I never consider them anyway. We are on a Flash site here aren’t we? IF you want Mac heads or Linux heads to (now est. 10% or more of the market space combined and growing) work with your sites, then you have to make a decision to support technologies that they can use as well.

    I understand the confusion, but the only cross platform technologies that guarantee this going forward are Mozilla’s Firebird, Flash and ick ..Java. Though I use IE in development for obvious reasons, more times than not, if I develop for Mozilla Firebird, I am successful with IE, and Opera, and generally feel I am covered. Oh yes, and Safari too ;)

    Good luck and don’t fall for FUD.

  6. I swear, I don’t know how you guys do it. That very comment at aiming for one technology knowing that the rest will pretty much work; Jesus, how can you sleep at night? I’d start smoking again, and be a nervous wreck trying to get all of that to work.

    Still, I could use a competitor to Flash; would certainly make things interesting in utilizing DirectX. Utilizing DirectSound in VB was fun, and that was just version 7.

    All I hear is people (web peeps) bitch about not having a browser follow standards; I just thought the LACK of innovation was a good thing in their case because now they had one browser to work with. If innovation is what da web peeps want, right on, more power to them. Just tell me how to embed my Flash, and how to make my blog work (on most browsers that matter, anyway….)

  7. FireBird is slim and fast. If you want a browser that is lighweight and work then FireBird is the best out there. I use it as my main browser..

    1. Excellent standards support
    2. Tab-interface
    3. Skinnable
    4. Fast fast fast
    5. Built-in popup blocker
    6. Some nice extensions for development purposes

    Also helps that it usually runs Flash a bit faster :)

  8. Well, first, I do smoke quite a lot, and sleeping has always been optional, not to mention my intake of caffine is seconded only by … um … well ..

    However, the likelyhood of something working in Firebird and THEN IE is far more likely than the reverse, as LONG as dealing with standard content. If I do something specific to ANY browser, I am doomed. This hold true for many reasons even pertaining to IE. With the number of versions of IE out in the wild, from 4.0 up to 6 (shall I even mention the one for Mac?), there has to be reasonable testing done to maintain if nothing else that level of interoperability.

    Firebird is faster, smaller, more graceful and gives me a better baseline to start with, with reporting tools that surpass those of IE. Just look at the Javascript Console and tell me if that right out doesn’t make you a religious zealot.

    I am not religious about it though. Was just looking for the best tools to speed my development, and Firebird met those needs. Use IE, and ignore at the Minimum of 10% of web users, and since well you can only have 1 version of IE at a time, then in truth, you are ignoring a lot more, as where is your IE 4, 5, 5.5, 5.5 SP1 ….ect … ad infinitum

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