Internet Explorer.... The modern Edsel? Don't write it off yet ;)

First off, I use Google Chrome V4 now and am a recent convert from Microsoft's Internet Explorer(IE8). I have noticed a lot of IE bashing lately particularly related to standards support. I find this rather ironic since most of the things mentioned as non-standard are items that IE implemented as far back as IE3 but because the standard didn't exist they created their own. Things like opacity and shadows that everyone hypes in CSS3 were all working fine in IE3!!! Things still being worked on like transitions in CSS have been in IE since beta3. HTML5 items like databases and custom tags were all part of IE3 & 4. My demo site that was made exclusively for IE4+ used these and many other cool capabilities that were not available in any other browser. That is when all the competition disappeared and IE got slower and sloppier with every release.
Now I see many people writing IE off. I do not recommend this for business at this time! Microsoft is too large a company to just roll over and let this happen. Remember when Netscape said the same thing... Netscape was going to be the browser... Woke up Microsoft who then crushed Netscape. IE9 is going to reduce the complaints by being faster and more standards compliant and by IE11 I suspect they will be in the battle again, maybe even dominating. I also think the versions will be coming faster now there is competition.
Now on the other and... It would make sense to me for Microsoft to totally drop the browser and let others build them to run on Windows systems. After all they don't make any money on the browser. It would be quite an achievement to put something like Firefox on all Microsoft systems(I can't see Chrome with the Google/Microsoft wars ongoing).
This war really doesn't matter so don't invest to much into any specific browser. Try to go with browser neutral code or at least code that degrades gracefully like CSS.

Which Browser to Use?

Updated 2010-01-21
Well things have really changed but then again it has been 7+ years since my last update  . The desktop has a smaller market share. With 3G/4G finally getting rolled out smart phones are quickly becoming the surfing method of choice. Everyone uses the custom browser that their smart phone comes with. On the desktop there are now 5 main competitors(what a change from the 1-Microsoft-in 2002). In my opinion... 

1. Chrome is best for personal use.
2.  Safari is best for developers/designers and people that want the absolute best graphics(more failures than Chrome in my experience).
3. Firefox is a close 3rd.
4. Opera has some interesting otions(like voice)
5. Have to wait for IE9 to see if it is going to catch up with the rest. 

What’s next? Who knows on this one. I would expect that voice will finally start to gain ground but people won't adopt technology that doesn't work near 100%. For sure CSS3 will be widely supported since virtually all browsers(even IE9) support at least 95% of the standard. Standards are really starting to win because of the number of vendors. Now that is a surprise... Usually standards are the first thing to get sacrificed in competition but in this case all the vendors have committed to them so it is difficult to back out and the group force everyone else to support the standards.

Updated 2002-12-17
Most Netscape(NN) supporters have not backed version 6 thus NN is stuck at version 4 and has fallen out of favor. Meanwhile IE has now gobbled up 80%++ browser share. Wireless devices are rapidly taking market share from both browsers but these devices aren’t ready to be smart clients yet. They are advancing quickly however and are great where screen space is not important.  There is no doubt the “browser” issue has now become even more complex with many new devices supporting only XHTML, WML or proprietary languages.  NN is now relegated to the “Other browser” category for most sites that attempt to support multiple browsers… You know, basic web site with no advanced features… Like this site. Future updates will probably deal more with wireless devices like phones and PDA’s than NN. At less than 10%(for all versions) NN is no longer worth supporting a customized site.

Updated 2000-09-02
A new Netscape is in town. It is going to shake things up a bit. It might even take some market share away from IE(not much). Anyone that hates Microsoft will for sure use the new version. But much more important is that developers embrace Netscape’s guts to really attempt to support W3C/ECMA standards. I have updated this site and know both IE and NN6 enjoy the same experience. Let’s not kid ourselves. IE is still a better browser but Netscape V6 is a real step forward. I want to ensure that IE isn’t the only browser in town. I just don’t want to write 2 sites to support each browser.

Updated 2000-03-26
Well IE 5.0 has been released(with patches) but where is Netscape(NN)? Since AOL took over the browser it has gone to never-never land. Comparisons between the two browsers shows NN is starting to fall behind Opera(browser) in standards support. When looking at DHTML or CSS Netscape falls way short of meeting the standards. The object model is much more difficult and limited. The browser crashes repeatedly and I even found a JavaScript bug that corrupts Netscape. That’s right, you would have to re-install to get it to work again. It looks like AOL purchased the browser to ensure it gets buried…..But I could be wrong. Around 75% of traffic seems to be using IE4.0 or better at this time…..My how things change…..Just not as fast as I would like.

Updated 1999-02-25
Both Netscape and Microsoft say they will support the W3C DHTML spec. Ya, right… Anyway, IE 5.0 Beta has been exceptionally stable. Matter of fact it has been more stable than IE 4.01. I really like the auto-fill capabilities but from a user perspective that is about all you notice. It does load certain pages faster if they are built for IE 5.0. For some quirky reason I have to start it twice before the browser will display on one of my systems. Once it goes to a full release I would get a copy, but wait till then.
As for Netscape….I have not tried the 5.0 version so I can’t comment.

Updated 1998-08-23
Microsoft has all but closed the doors on Netscape. It is no longer a question of which is better. IE4.0 comes with Windows 98 and is integrated into the system. Businesses will use IE because it will require less administration and integrates into IIS servers easily. Critical mass has built up on the client base for IE. Soon Microsoft may have to support Netscape like Apple just to ensure they don’t get those nasty law suites. It would be strategically sound for Microsoft to throw away a few mil. As for the active desktop you can install it but make sure you do not select the option to show window contents while dragging. This option only creates a lot of overhead for your system and no real gain.

Updated 1997-11-01 originally published 1997-09-25
With IE4.0 released and NN4.03 you can upgrade both but do not install the Active Desktop(IE4). Both are as stable as previous versions(yes, they still crash). The advances made with DHTML take browsing to a new level and are definitely worth the upgrade. Even if you surf strictly for content you get advantages. The ability to hide and display content dynamically in itself gives great advantages.
Both browsers support Cascading Style Sheets(finally) and DHTML expands CSS capabilities. The differences between browsers referencing CSS will probably be resolved with a little from both sides(not exclusively one side). JavaScript has become the standard scripting language and with DHTML extensions is going to create havoc on Java’s future. Many things you just can’t do with JAVA can be done easily with DHTML. Securing scripts from the client is still a major stumbling block for scripting languages(You can’t stop clients from stealing code). Layer technology will not likely survive standards committees. VBscript will not survive as a client scripting language unless Netscape^® adopts it or Microsoft^® create a free plug-in(to bad). Netscape^®has new life(for now). NN4.03 is not as good as IE4.0 but is very close. It has a prettier interface than IE4.0. This has become more a personal choice than ever.

Actually, the browser war is over, Netscape^® just doesn’t know it yet;)
There are really only two browsers, Netscape^® Navigator(NN) and Microsoft^®Internet Explorer(IE). I know about Lycos, Mosaic, etc. but they are so limited in usage that it is hard to count them. At this moment use BOTH(Netscape^® and Microsoft^®)! But use V3.*, neither has a stable V4 yet. I suspect that IE4 will be stable but let’s wait till October 1st and see.
If you have to choose I would recommend Microsoft^®’s Internet Explorer(particularly on Windows95/NT). Microsoft^® has the standards, the money, and a free browser. Not to mention I personally think the capabilities are far superior to Netscape^®. By no means is Microsoft^® perfect. I have several issues with things they do(you might see a few on different pages), but they have the best browser.
Netscape^® makes a very good browser. They used to be first by a long shot. Now they are a close second. IE Version 4 will shut the door but it will take years to take effect. Remember….this is today, tomorrow an even better browser could pop-up(but would it be good enough to buy it?). IBM^® will probably buy Netscape^®’s browser before Netscape^® gives up(they need A browser for junk OS/2).
As a technician I cheer for Netscape^®’s cause but as a business owner I buy Microsoft^®.

Netscape V6... Now Firefox

Updated 2009-11-25
Netscape died/transitioned to Firefox and has now taken around 40-45% of desktop browser market. Firefox is fast to load pages and more standards compliant than Microsoft and it is free. Advances in technology and surprisingly the adoption of .NET for a development platform has actually helped Firefox’s adoption. This is because .NET attempts to adjust for the various other browsers on the market automatically. Keep going Firefox 

Update 2002-01-07
Well it has been over a year and most sites do not support it. Even fewer users are switching to it. I have abandoned supporting it here as well. This is not good. I would like it to succeed now that they seem to have their heads on straight even though as a developer it creates a lot of headache for me. 
Update 2001-02-15
Oh, Oh…. Final version has been out a while now… Many sites are not supporting it. This is not good. It looks a lot better, and really does support W3C/ECMA as much as you can expect. Is it because everyone is used to working with the previous crap they don’t want to change? Come on people, if you ever wanted Netscape to succeed now is the time to back them up!
As a developer I would like to have only one browser… simplifies things. As a user I want choice. It may be I just don’t like a particular company. Whatever, I want to choose. Besides I want to make sure people who use systems other than Windows** can still use the Internet.

Published 2000-09-02
Netscape Navigator Version6(NN6) Preview 2 is out. What an improvement… and this is still beta. The browser fails less often. It has a smaller footprint(size), is faster and more efficient. My hat is off to Netscape. They realized they made several key mistakes with NN4 and have done an about-face. Ever since NN3 I have not supported Netscape. They continually created their own proprietary tags that made no sense. A prime example of this was the LAYER tag. At that time I realized they did not have the expertise to create a top-notch standard. They were too busy trying to keep up with IE. Things got thrown in that would have never have passed cooler heads.

Netscape thought they could tell everyone else what to do(sound familiar). They thought everyone would follow whatever standard they put out. Were they ever wrong. That is not to say that IE has not tried the same thing(they have), IE just drove the standards committees to adopt IE standards using logical arguments.

Well with Netscape V6 NN is supporting the W3C/ECMA standards very closely. They have dropped tags that were not adopted and they have included IE tags that have got into the standards. I am finding that IE5 requires more non-standard code than NN6. IE now has to get rid of the “document.all” script tag and we are closer to a standard browser than ever before. That is not to say there aren’t coding work a rounds required….just not near as many.

I want to support Netscape’s venture in being 100% standards compliant. That is why this site was built for both NN6 and IE5. Previously I just let NN in but a lot of stuff did not work. With NN6 only some demonstrations don’t work. All the cool buttons and configuration etc. all works.

On the down side Netscape is going to alienate a lot of developers since they have removed tags like LAYER from NN6. Also it’s “simpler” client interface is not very pretty which may take some people time to adjust(if ever). The toolbars could be better. NN6 actually works better on IE sites than sites built for NN4. Hopefully developers will forgive Netscape and recognize it took a lot of guts for Netscape to do this. It was not an easy decision.

Congratulations Netscape…. Get the final version out please…. I want people off NN4.

What Standard Platform?

Updated 2010-01-21

I have had time to try out 5 of the current top browsers and compare them in several aspects. Chrome & Safari are best. For developers/designers I think Safari wins, for basic users Chrome wins. Firefox comes in a very close 3rd. Opera is the "cool" toy of the bunch especially the voice component but it's CSS3 seams to be quirky. Finally IE8 which has fallen drastically from first to last n a few years. With the release of CSS3 Chrome, Safari and Netscape really rock. IE9 is going to support CSS3 but that will be a few months away. This blog has been customized specifically to take advantage of CSS3. There are numerous nice styling features you will not see if you are not using one of the top 3 browsers. One of the CSS3 features that could really help out display issues is the multi-column layout. It will allow applying different layouts very easily to accommodate displaying the same page on numerous different interfaces(something like having multiple XSLT files for one XML file but XSLT used html code where this is all within very simple CSS structures). The next few years should be very interesting... I expect Opera's voice interface(or similar) to become the rage. It actually works pretty good.

Updated 2009-10-27

We have new versions of all browsers, operating systems and just about everything else. Unfortunately we are in more mess than ever. Firefox(Netscape) has gained alot of ground but the real changes are the 3G mobile devices like iPhones. They mostly have their own version of some browser that simulates another browser ;( and they can rotate the screen. Screen sizes have gone crazy. Anything from 120X120px past 4120×3096px and new wide screens are everywhere. Even Mac’s are becoming more popular(about time).

If you want to talk about development platforms that is a whole other discussion.

The standard Computer web user….Current

• Microsoft Windows(89%), Linux/Macintosh (11%)
• Internet Explorer(40%+), FireFox(47%+), Other (13%+)
  
  • CSS
  • XML
  • DHTML
  • JavaScript
  
  
• Supports 24 or 32 bits(display 16,777,216 different colors).(95%+)
• Has at least 1024×768 screen resolution(87%+).
• Has at least High Speed(80%+)

Updated 2001-06-08-merged from Standard User

We still have a lot of difficulties in web development but at least some of the issues have been
resolved on the PC client front. We will never have a 100% standard. This is
about as close as it gets. Of course other interfaces like WAP create a whole
new temporary issue(until 3G round 2).

The standard web user….

• Microsoft Windows (95%+)
• Internet Explorer Version 4.0+ (86%+)
  
  • CSS
  • XML
  • DHTML
  • JavaScript/VBScript
  
  
• Supports high quality graphics(93%+)
• Has at least 800×600 screen resolution(90%+).
• Has at least 56kbs modem(82%+)

These stats are based on users that saw banner ads on millions of US sites.
You may have a site that caters to other configurations but anytime you have
better than 80% following the same standard it makes business sense to adopt
it.

On a future note the adoption of broadband access is growing very fast
where it is available. Eventually interactive video will become the standard
and we will be on to a totally different client interface.

Published 1997-09-25

Ya, right. Anyone that thinks that is dreaming. If you want to create an absolute minimal
page then it should work on any browser, but as soon as you want to do anything
cool you are into specific browser issues. It is now to a point that for a developer you
have to consider three browsers(Netscape^®, Microsoft^®, others)
with Microsoft^® and Netscape^® each having several versions that
all support different functions. Then you have to think about the different operating
systems like MAC, OS/2, Unix and Microsoft^® Windows V***, again each with
their own supported functions for each browser.

What are the users settings? Do they have JavaScript enabled? What if they specify their
own fonts, background or other options?

After all that you still have to worry about screen resolution and browser window size.

My old site at one time had three views(one for each browser). In each view there was code
required to handle different operating systems and versions of each browser. Without this
I couldn’t show many functions available to the specific browser. I have now enhanced this
site to demonstrate IE version 4.

As for JAVA? Most companies making development tools(Symantec^®, Microsoft^®,
etc.) have added functions only available on a specific platform. Unfortunately without
these added functions JAVA is limited to the “sandbox”.

So what was that about standard platform????? Ya right.