Okay, first Microsoft announced that it would no longer be developing a stand-alone version of Internet Explorer, and then AOL announced that they will no longer be developing Netscape.
Did the two biggest browsers on the market really just halt development? What’s this going to mean? Everyone’s still debating over what it means that IE will be frozen at version 6 for the next couple years, this just makes things even more unclear.
I’d like to think (as someone who is concerned about web standards) that this will motivate people to switch to browsers that support standards, such as Mozilla or Opera. But the reality, I think, is that IE6 will continue to dominate the browser world.
Well
IE isn’t really going to be stuck at version 6. The deal is they’re completely merging it into the OS codebase, since they functionally won that court battle. The next two versions of windows are pretty experimental and are adding a LOT of previously distinct modules directly into the OS (like an MSSQL based filesystem for one) They can still provide it as a standalone program to contract customers that need it. IE6 is arguably already not standalone, part of the reason it is so huge is because it is pretty tightly integrated into the OS component wise.
Also, AOL signed a 7 year contract to use IE for their customers from now on. This is one of the reasons behind their shift in Netscape strategy. They tossed 50 developers and earmarked about 2 million to pay for continued Mozilla development.
As long as Microsoft controls their machines, I wouldn’t look for IE to lose very much in terms of market share anytime soon. Even through all the latest browser offerings, it’s still put barely a dent in IEs market share.
I still use IE, and I won’t be switching anytime soon. I’ve tried all the other browsers, and the difference is marginal at best for everything I do. I actually get locked out of more sites for not using IE, and considering I don’t really find IE painful, I have zero reason to switch. There’s shit that sucks about everything I use.
Moral of all this? Microsoft and AOL Time Warner make business decisions based on what is profitable, not what promotes web standards. They just happen to largely coincide… just not all the time unfortunately :)
Meh.
opera
And while to folks like us (who build web pages and use things that demand adherence to web standards) IE seems sloppy, to 90% of the people AOL and Microsoft target, the fact that IE is prettier and easier to figure out make the grade.
If you don’t know what web standards are (which most surfers don’t) there’s no need for a browser that supports them.
And..
That points to the crux of the issue. The only people who care about web standards are the people who build this stuff. Don’t look at the user base and ask “how can you not care about web standards!?” because it will always fall on deaf ears. Also in the end, it is what professionals are paid for… dealing with the complexities. In any standards based thing (which is most things… there are ISOs for truck trailors!) there will be variation… simply because there can be.