You
must be aware of the battle between the two huge
browsers of today! Do you know which one really is
the better one. Thousands of articles have been
published regarding this matter but you cant simply
read all of 'em. Thats why i've collected tiny bits
of information on this topic from various popular
sites to bring you the best page about the Browser
War!
Dont Count Netscape Out Yet ...!
It's almost become conventional wisdom
by now: Microsoft's Internet Explorer now dominates
the browser market. What's more, based on accounts
both from the MS trial and comments from many in the
so-called "know", you're led to believe
that Netscape Communication's Navigator has as about
as much market presence as 286 PCs.
Well, for those who prefer data to
opinions, the facts show that Netscape's product has
not gone away. Indeed, it's actually doing pretty
well in some areas where you might expect much less
from them.
ZD Market Intelligence conducts a study
of actual PC end-users (both commercial and consumer)
which collects thousands of detailed responses. The
newest results show that Netscape browsers, although
no longer the market leader, are not some doomed
product line.
For example, the data on PC buyers that
purchased a PC in the first 8 months of 1998 shows
that IE does have a larger share than Netscape, but a
full 46 percent of these recent customers, the ones
that bought when the IE hype has been loudest, still
use Netscape as their browser.
Sure this number is down from both 1996
and 1997, but my analysis draws on the relative size
of the decline. Given the pace of the internet
market, I'd be in agreement on the death of
Netscape's browser if their share had dropped 15
points or more. A drop of only 5 market share points
leads me to conclude that there is some real
resilience here.
Battle of the two Sumo browsers ( Cnet
Special Report )
With all the talk of
Netscape's free
source code and rumors about Microsoft's
Internet
Explorer 5.0, you might think the 4.x
browsers are yesterday's news. Nothing could be
further from the truth.
On April 2, 1998, Netscape
released Communicator 4.05 with speedier Java
performance, an updated VRML viewer, and some mail
enhancements. If you're a Netscape user who's been
thinking about jumping ship, this update might be
enough to keep you anchored. While the world is
waiting for a single browsing experience, both
products continue to drift apart.
For example, both new
browsers support dynamic HTML, which lets Web
developers create multimedia Web pages without
resorting to plug-ins like Shockwave. Each browser
supports the same basic functionality, based on the cascading
style sheets (CSS) specification, but the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
has yet to publish a standard for some of the most
important pieces of dynamic HTML, such as how to move
graphics or other objects around on a page. For now,
the two browsers use different--and largely
incompatible--techniques.
And even though your mother
told you not to push, both browser manufacturers have
ignored maternal advice and gone whole hog for push
technology. The goal of push is to deliver the
information you need when you need it, saving you the
trouble of searching and clicking a thousand
different hyperlinks. But once again, Netscape and
Microsoft have different implementations that are
substantially incompatible.
Do you sense a theme here?
The consumer electronics arena settled the Beta vs.
VHS debate long ago, but those of us on the Internet
will have to suffer through yet another battle of
incompatible technologies, leading to Web pages that
work in only one browser or the other.
Thankfully, all is not lost.
Both browsers have definitely improved Java
performance, and both largely support the new Java
1.1 standard from Sun. Both have more capable email
clients and newsreaders that support HTML-formatted
messages. And the 4.x browsers also offer
improved interfaces that are more powerful yet
simpler to navigate.
But which one is right for
you? In a way, because the 4.x browsers are so
different from each other, the choice has become a
bit easier than it was with the
3.x versions. We, of course,
have our choice, but you can also try our Decision
Maker, updated for Windows 3.x, Macintosh, and
Unix. Just enter your own preferences, and see which
browser is best for you. Or you can read on as we
compare the 4.0 browsers head-to-head.
Who will be the future dominant
... ?
The 4.x browsers
haven't been out for long, but both Microsoft and
Netscape are spilling some sweat over the next
versions of their Web tools.
The big difference this time
around may be that Netscape is no longer working from
the dominating leadership position it once had.
Depending on whose numbers you believe, Microsoft and
Netscape may already be running neck-and-neck for
browser share. And even the most Netscape-friendly
estimates show Microsoft gaining ground fast.
For that reason, the 5.0
browsers may be the most important versions yet. But
what does the future hold for these two browser
suites? Microsoft has kept mum on its plans, but
Netscape has been a bit more vocal. The company's
first step was splitting
Navigator 4.x from the rest of
the Communicator suite and offering it as a
standalone browser. Netscape also recently announced
an all-Java
version of its browser
(due later this year), which, if successful, would do
a lot to validate Java as an application platform.
Netscape has also announced plans to give away the
source code to its 5.0
browser, a decision that could mean
life or death for the company, depending on how the
public accepts it.
Both Netscape and Microsoft
are rushing to win the battle for the Internet (and
intranets) and will probably continue to unleash new
browser upgrades for some time yet. But we're pretty
certain both companies will start beta testing their
5.0 browsers this year. So that they can build a
dominant browser for tomorrow!
For comments, suggestions or any type of questions
... feel free to email me!
