[plug] Losing to IE

[Leon Brooks]

> A recent Slashdot.org feature article suggests (somewhat
> ludicrousy IMO) that because Netscape is such a terrible
> browser, the Linux operating system will never become
> mainstream(I didn't know that was the goal of Linux in
> the first place?) and lose 'the war', to IE and therefore
> Windows.

Well, that's not _quite_ what the article said.

History should have taught you that Microsoft are good at _presenting_ a
product as better when it isn't, _presenting_ the One Holy Microsoft Way
as the winning way when it isn't, and so on. At this instant, IE is a
far faster and smoother browser than NS (and never mind the security
issues), which gives a pretty good _appearance_ of substance to
Microsoft's misrepresentation.

Web Developers with less technical savvy than you (and they are legion)
will see the nice Microsoft product set functioning faster and smoother,
with their own eyes and on their own machines, and turn to it in droves.
You know this will happen because you have seen the like happen before,
and the stats say that it is happening _now_.

What this means instantly is that they will test all of their web pages
in IE and nothing else, so if something only works for IE, they won't
know until somebody else complains. If very few complain, they won't
act.

What this means in the near future is that they will use Microsoft's Web
products more and more because they "go with" IE and IE is better
integrated into them. This will not only amplify the instant effect, but
in many cases these wallies will make a decision akin to "well, I've got
very few complaints about nifty MS special features so far, let's add a
few more." The functionality of their website will slowly become more
and more MS-addicted. This already happens.

Where Mozilla is crucial is in being able to show this market segment a
browser which is smoother and faster than IE, free of licencing
constrainst, also safer, lighter in weight, more portable and (a very
important part in their eyes) configurable.

As Mozilla embraces new standards and technology, and fills out the old
standards faster than IE possibly can, and can legitimately be touted as
a superior browser, some of this lost ground _may_ be recovered; we may
be back to at least a two-browser situation. And where there are two,
there can be more.

Without a viable competitor, "we" the non-MS-devotees will be crowded
into a noticeably shrinking corner of the Internet. It will be
increasingly Microsofted by stealth and default.

Right now is a pivotal point in browser history. Right now, the
non-too-bright flocks of wannabee web designers are spiralling,
moth-like, closer to the MS camp in rapidly increasing numbers. Every
day without a workable Mozilla to shine the light of open source and
more importantly open standards on this section of the computer
community will make this slide noticeably harder and harder to stop.

What Linux and everyone else besides Microsoft is fighting for right now
is not so much to win a browser war as to win a server tools war based
around the browsers, and if that war is lost then Microsoft will
effectively Borg the Internet through its users. GAME OVER PLAYER <1>