Zeldman weighs in on the recent revelations that Microsoft will stop releasing stand-alone versions of its IE browser. Among Zelmans many questions, he asks:
If AOL abandons Netscape, will Mozilla keep going? If so, will Windows users who do not upgrade to Longhorn switch to Mozilla (or Opera), or will they keep using the current version of IE6 for the foreseeable future? If they do that, will web development methods freeze? What happens to CSS3 and XHTML 2 if the bulk of web users (including AOL users) ?standardize? on a year 2000 browser for the next three to seven years?
I have a feeling that this is going to be quite important, for both people who build websites and people who use the web (ie, pretty much everybody). And, as Zeldman points out, the (mainstream) media is pretty much ignoring this issue. Every article I've read has been pretty clueless on this point, seeing this as nothing more than a financial transaction. When in reality, it hinges around the control of the code the internet runs on. Maybe "rich internet applications" (read: Flash) and "web services" (see: Apple's Sherlock and iTunes) are a way to do an end run around IE. The story isn't over yet.
Meanwhile, check out Mozilla Firebird.
Update: The story is making the rounds with the tech pundits: Joel on Software talks about IE and Firebird; Salon's Andrew Leonard calls the AOL-MS deal "unholy."
Posted by Karl
June 1, 2003 09:52 AM