Latest Older Firefox, we hardly knew ye... 2005-03-01 - 11:22 a.m. Some of you, many of you in fact may not remember this, but there was a time when Microsoft wasn't interested in the Internet. Back in the mid-nineties, as the Internet turned from just being a Scientific and Defence community backbone into something that we may all be able to use, the browser of choise was called Mozilla. Then Mosaic. Then Netscape, which was Mozilla under a different name. I remember trying to buy Netscape shares the day they went public. In the time it took me to run home (because the brokerage house wouldn't take a check) and get some money, their IPO price had risen by $75. Micro$oft began to awaken from its slumber, realizing that there was gold in them thar hills, and the Browser war took off in a big way. The average user benefited most, because Netscape and Microsoft when from release to release souping up the features, fixing bugs, throwing in more and more goodies to make their product more attractive. As is well recorded, Microsoft finally won that fight, by the integrating Internet Explorer into their operating system. Consequently, there hasn't been a browser upgrade in five years. But over the past few months, there are signs that the whole thing might be starting up again. Firefox, a new, open source browser is the current darling underdog of the IT comunity and has managed to put a sizable dent in Microsoft's browser share of the last few months. Netscape, smelling blood in the water, has also begun to wade back into the fray, and now Microsoft has fallen below 90% browser market share for the first time since the last millenium. So one might think that there will be a fresh round of upgrades and new 'goodies' for us humble users, no? Perhaps they'll pay us to use their browser or start throwing hookers in our bedroom windows... Nope. Firefox has caused Microsoft to open an eye, and it will release Internet Explorer 7.0 very soon, ahead of its next major OS release (which kind of puts the lie to that whole fully integrated into the Operating System defence they used, huh?). But as good as Firefox is, it doesn't have so many great features that Microsoft can't hit them all in one fell developing swoop, and maybe throw in an RSS reader just to shut us up for another five years, which it will undoubtedly do. This is not a war, it is a rebellion, and one that will shortly be crushed, unfortunately. But we must always remember the heroes of Force Firefox, for they have brought unto us a new release of Internet Explorer, something that comes barely twice a decade. And that ain't hay... Name: Catpewk Age: 43 Status: Separated Kids: Yes Cats: Yes Fish: Yes Dogs: No Lemurs: No Profession: Geek Passion: Writer Religion: In Progress Photos Leave a Note Email Catpewk All Your Comments are Belong to Us Profile PaganNews.com Start a Diary Write a Note Previous Next