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Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6.0 has captured a 30 percent market share just seven months after its release - sending Netscape's usage plummeting to an all-time low of 7 percent.........It's do or die time now for Netscape
Story here [betanews.com]
MSIE is certainly taking a toll on Netscape as IE6 continues to gain users. First as more sites migrate to the broader CSS capabilities of the newer browsers, NN4 users will increasingly encounter sites where their five-year-old browser cannot pass muster.
It is not just CSS issues either. I am noticing more and more sites that are making use of the *iframe* tag. The fact that NN4 does not fully support HTML4 and relies on propriety tags *layer*, *ilayer* does not bode well for web developers considering the move to validation. Yes, you can simply choose NOT to use iframes and some very basic CSS, but it the long run, I suspect many won't.
The other issue, perhaps more threatening to Netscape, is that Opera offers a (more than) viable alternative to those who simply do will not use MSIE. At least for some, this was the primary reason for choosing Netscape's browser.
It has been mentioned here before that the Opera stats recorded by TheCounter.com may be questionable (under-reported) but what is recorded is still trackable as a noticeable trend. Opera's reported stats are fast approaching parity with Netscape 6 (Netscape 6 adoption rate appears to be slowing, while Opera's continues to increase).
[thecounter.com...]
IE6 with all it's rendering bell's and whistles is loved by a number of web developers as well. Those inclined to make heavy use of DHTML are adamant in their support of MSIE, and yes, I suspect that even a percentage of those who have taken the Web Standards tack, at least occasionly look at IE's filters and fancy scrollbars with hidden envy.
These same stats reflect the quick adoption rate of IE6 (compare previous month's stats). So, I wonder, what will be the outcome? If AOL does use it's Netscape browser as the new agent for AOL 8 then things will certaiinly be different. But will they? Or will the current trend only be delayed....
Netscape's moment of truth is near.
That said, Netscape 4 deserves to die. The NS4 code is over 5 years old now, and desperately needs to be laid to rest. The Web Standards project policy of making sites that "degrade gravefully" for NS4 users is spot on - make sure they can access the content but make no effort to make it attractive - instead display a polite message encouraging them to upgrade to a standards compliant browser:
As for standards compliance and "bells and whistles", Mozilla (and NS6) has these in abundance. A lot of designers are annoyed with IE6 for it's "broken" interpretation of some CSS rules (particularly the box model) which are holding back advanced web techniques significantly.
Do not underestimate Mozilla (and through it NS6) - it is a truly superb browser (I use it as my default over IE through choice) and version 1.0 could make quite an impression. It is also looking almost certain that AOL will use the Mozilla rendering engine for their software at some time in the near future, which should at least partially help redress the balance against IE.
Finally, remember that the web would be a far less interesting place if it was only served by one browser - without competition there would be no drive for improvement.
Many more developers will choose to use great features like iframes and CSS.
I also like the idea of NOT having to branch my code after NN4 dies.
As for the success of Mozilla, I don't like the idea of having to go back and rewrite code because a simple proprietary implementation is not supported (such as document.all).
Life will go on :)
The "bells and whistles" I was referring to are MSIE propriety introduced around the time of IE5.5 - specifically filters (alpha is a good one!) and color properties for scrollbars.
The last was ridiculed widely when first introduced, but since that time has shown a definate popularity and increased useage on more than a few sites.
I certainly DO hope that Netscape can solve some of the issues that still plaque it, such as it's appetite for system resources and it's shear bulk. K-Meleon may be the answer here.
In any event, it does appear that the NN4 users are not migrating to NN6.x as Netscape had hoped. The adoption rate has been very poor for a "next generation" browser. I don't believe that can be disputed at all.
Personally, I was hoping to see NN4.x users migrate to v.6 en masse, but sadly some of the most vocal detractors of v.6 are from the v.4 delegation.
I look to the day when Web Standards is a de facto reality and browser manufacturers can focus on adding features that users want.
One of the main reasons I belive Opera is catching on so fast is that it is the first browser to truly provide a plethora of user friendly features, including Opera's outstanding keyboard/mouse short-cuts.
Excuse me while I try to recall the last time I used "plethora" in a sentence............................... nope! Can't recall one! .......Now where was I? Oh yeah, MSIE and Netscape have both lacked vision, imho, as far as inovative interface is concerned. Both are greatly improved browsers as compared to previous iterations, but niether has delivered much of anything new in the way of user interface. For that, MSIE and Netscape both must look to the Opera browser as the current high-water mark.
Competition is good! ;)
Have you seen gesture recognition for Mozilla yet by the way? I use it all the time (it has all the functionality of Opera's plus more besides, and it's relatively easy to cusotmise if you know JavaScript and don't mind getting your hands dirty): [optimoz.mozdev.org...]
Parts of the IE6 box model are still borken (as I found out a few weeks ago when I tried to implement a CSS-only layout) - there are some details here and more elsewhere on the web: [glish.com...]
I'm surprised at the slow take up of NS6 as well - I think it's because earlier versions (like 6.0) were slow and buggy and they agave the browser a bad name. Anyone who has used a recent build of Mozilla will know that this is changed, but the bad reputation gained by the early NS6 releases still hangs over the browser.
If AOL embeds Mozilla, it's usage will soar, funny thing is most AOL users won't know that they are using something different!
That was the biggest blunder they could have made.
If the early builds had truly been "ready for prime time", all the IE security problems would have worked for them throughout last year. As it was, anyone who wanted to shift browsers found a mess and told their friends about it.
Didn't they listen to any 3rd party beta testers? The flaws were blatant and destructive to user productivity! now the road back is much steeper.
