As an Internet developer, browsers are a definite occupational hazard. Love them or loathe them, browsers are an essential ingredient in experiencing the World Wide Web. Your browser controls your whole approach to the web, determining how you navigate and view websites. It is an important fact, often overlooked, that there is no 'one true way' of viewing a piece of HTML - despite what many people say.
At home, I use AWeb-II. It's a solid, fast and very comfortable browser to use. I've tried IBrowse and really couldn't stand it. Voyager was good, but not that good. I really don't find MUI comfortable, so perhaps it was natural I would aim towards AWeb - though I did take other factors into consideration before settling on Yvon Rojzin's excellent browser.
At work, my choices are more limited. Internet Explorer is practically banned from the office after version 4.0 succeeded in messing up several useful pieces of software, slowing several machines to a crawl and causing several very odd crashes. So, we use Netscape. Not the greatest piece of software in the world, but useable. Given the choice, I would prefer AWeb on the PC, but this isn't an option.
Browsing the Web is all about options. The user should have total control over what they see and how they see it. If someone wants to view all their pages in 24-point heavy gothic script on a 640 x 480 screen, or view in text-only mode - without Java, Javascript, RealAudio, garish MIDI files or 200k JPEGs saying "Click Here To Enter!" (a real example, believe it or not!) - they should be allowed to. I don't recall the HTML specification saying "...and thou shalt use only the one browser: you know, the one with the bugs and those damn BLINK tags that some people think are the ultimate in WebCool (TM)". The web is about accessible information, not the latest in avante-garde graphical dead-ends.
At work we have a simple fact to deal with when creating pages - think of the worst case. We have users from all over the world (what website doesn't?) - some connected from very remote locations with dodgy phone lines, obsolescent computers and yesterday's "Cool Browser of the Month". We can make some assumptions, such as a minimum of 640x480 and 16 colours, but that's about it. If we aim higher, we must justify the need and then build-in ways of allowing the page to degrade tastefully for those who may not be able to view the flashier features. Flashy stuff is fine, so long as people with any set-up can access the information - a little mis-alignment or lack of colour/sound is fine, so long as the message gets across with the minimum of inconvenience.
My fear is that the web is becoming an online DTP application. Controlling the styles and features of a web page is one thing, but forcing specific fonts (most of which are system-specific) or setting frames and graphics to a specific screen size is against the ideas of HTML. What about those who browse the web in braille? Or through HTML-to-speech systems? Or using a Psion palmtop computer with 16 greyscales and a cramped screen? Or what if you just want the images turned off?
If you want a web set out like the fixed dimensions, typefaces and colours of a printed page, why not try something like PDF? PDF is a wonderful creation, though the Amiga is sadly inadequate in appropriate tools, and you can define everything with pixel-perfect precision - and superb portability.
We all forget about the other person, in this case the target audience. It's easy to do: when I designed these pages, the graphic image above was fine for my high-speed link, but it starts to get a bit daunting on a slower link during GeoCities' peak access times - however, people can simply switch off images and view the information without any problems (remember: tasteful degradation). So let's have a bit of care and consideration - and get rid of those awful banners ramming a particular browser down the viewer's throat. I'm sure all you Amiga users take note and download the latest copy of Internet Exploder so you can view a few bloated web pages. *grin*
What's this? Have I gone mad and totally contradicted myself? Well, yes... and no. You see, Netscape have done the honourable thing and released Netscape 5 for free. Not just that, but they've released the source code too! With a free licence from Netscape you have permission to use the source code for your own applications, or to port it to a particular system. With me yet? Yep, this means some enterprising Amiga coders could pick up the source code and develop Netscape Communicator 5.0 for Amiga. Any takers?
The excellent, bloat-free and highly useable Opera browser is going to be ported to the Amiga. If you haven't registered your vote, take a look at the Opera Software website and register your thoughts and approval of an Amiga port right now! The sooner we get browsers such as Opera and Netscape running on the Amiga (to draw comparisons between AmigaOS and other systems running the same software), the sooner we can get the message across that the Amiga is an excellent platform for Internet exploration.