Re:Netscape? no thanks.
on
Netscape 6.2
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· Score: 1
While Gates and company may find your outlook encouraging, I think there are still many who refuse to use the default "everything" as dictated by Windows. I run an ISP, and a healthy percentage of our customers don't want anything to do with IE, in any version.
With the release of XP, a lot of our customers have been turned off by its integration into every facet of their computing XPerience, and have requested copies of alternative browsers. Most of them have reported favorably on Netscape, in its later iterations. Some new XP users have even asked for copies of Linux, because they didn't like the way all their choices were taken from them by Microsoft.
Your scenario is also weak in that you seem to think that only Microsoft can code for content. Netscape 6.2 renders everything we could throw at it, interacts with every login we could muster (ftp, remote, ssh) and kept right on ticking.
Speaking of cross platforming, one of the strongest points for Netscape is that, where users have to interact with other platforms, or work on several, they can take it with them. One install disk will enable the sysadmin to install it on Mac, Linux, or Windows. The user's bookmarks, email, and so forth can easily be migrated from one machine to the other, regardless of OS. Try that with IE!
Finally, when enough people stop making alternative choices, then content will become so hackneyed as to be unworthy of the surfer's time and effort. Then some wonderboy will code something new and fresh, that won't be Microsoft specific, and the race will be on again. That's basically how Linux got started, and Java, and XML, and so forth. M$ may try to leverage their software with content, but the trend among surfers seems to be away from "one program, one way" sites. I don't think M$ is anywhere near the super-dictator state they're seeking, and I personally don't think they'll ever reach it.
Before you post comments indicating that you haven't tried anything since Bill Gates told you not to, download the thing and try it. Our tests show that the new Netscape 6.2 renders pages as fast as IE 6 (and 5.5), and loads within tenths of a second as fast.
The problem with gripers like you is that you want something all new in the box, fresh from Microsoft, that works just like "the old way." If that attitude prevails, your choices will soon be reduced to one.
Pull your head out of the sand and work with the new stuff every once in a while, just for fun. You'll be surprised at what you find.
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While Gates and company may find your outlook encouraging, I think there are still many who refuse to use the default "everything" as dictated by Windows. I run an ISP, and a healthy percentage of our customers don't want anything to do with IE, in any version. With the release of XP, a lot of our customers have been turned off by its integration into every facet of their computing XPerience, and have requested copies of alternative browsers. Most of them have reported favorably on Netscape, in its later iterations. Some new XP users have even asked for copies of Linux, because they didn't like the way all their choices were taken from them by Microsoft. Your scenario is also weak in that you seem to think that only Microsoft can code for content. Netscape 6.2 renders everything we could throw at it, interacts with every login we could muster (ftp, remote, ssh) and kept right on ticking. Speaking of cross platforming, one of the strongest points for Netscape is that, where users have to interact with other platforms, or work on several, they can take it with them. One install disk will enable the sysadmin to install it on Mac, Linux, or Windows. The user's bookmarks, email, and so forth can easily be migrated from one machine to the other, regardless of OS. Try that with IE! Finally, when enough people stop making alternative choices, then content will become so hackneyed as to be unworthy of the surfer's time and effort. Then some wonderboy will code something new and fresh, that won't be Microsoft specific, and the race will be on again. That's basically how Linux got started, and Java, and XML, and so forth. M$ may try to leverage their software with content, but the trend among surfers seems to be away from "one program, one way" sites. I don't think M$ is anywhere near the super-dictator state they're seeking, and I personally don't think they'll ever reach it.
Before you post comments indicating that you haven't tried anything since Bill Gates told you not to, download the thing and try it. Our tests show that the new Netscape 6.2 renders pages as fast as IE 6 (and 5.5), and loads within tenths of a second as fast. The problem with gripers like you is that you want something all new in the box, fresh from Microsoft, that works just like "the old way." If that attitude prevails, your choices will soon be reduced to one. Pull your head out of the sand and work with the new stuff every once in a while, just for fun. You'll be surprised at what you find.