if we build it, they will come

Mosaic
Netscape
Internet Explorer
Mozilla / Firefox
Opera
Maxthon
Lynx
Amaya

Above is a list of all the web browsers I have tried over the years I have been using the World Wide Web. At the moment I am using Maxthon (an IE derived browser) and, if I stop using it, I will probably end up using Lynx for the majority of my browsing.

Why? Mainly because all of them are designed to do the same thing - view pages on the World Wide Web. And that is it, no matter what else people 'claim' for their browsers, of what extra features they have or what one browser can or can't do - they all, essentially, do the same thing.

Of course people will go on about standards and security but, in my experience, if you use Windows and have decent anti-virus and spyware software installed, and don't go clicking on links in 'strange' e-mails which may come into your inbox, you have pretty much nothing to worry about. The main thing to remember is to keep the software updated. People don't need more security they just need to know how to use the tools already available.

As for web standards I haven't had much problem with any browser as long as the (X)HTML is written to the W3C standard and you don't want to do anything too fancy. I always follow my own rule that if it looks OK in Amaya then it'll look OK in any other browser - except version 4 / 5 browsers, but, as far as I am concerned the days of being completely backwards compatible are long gone.

All the above web browsers let you view web pages, everything else is just fluff.

But, as some people may lead you to believe, the browser wars are back on, and the winner this time could very well be the Open Source, Mozilla derived browser: Firefox.

If Firefox does win over the 'evil empire' of Microsoft it will be a hollow victory. Microsoft has said they will no longer continue to develop IE as a standalone product, new versions will only be available with new versions of Windows. Microsoft has left the war and is now concentrating on web applications, integrating the World Wide Web more into Windows so there will be no distinction between what is on your desktop and what is on the Web. A new battle is being fought. So while the Firefox battalions are celebrating their victory the sounds of a new, fresh battle will be heard filtering in from the next valley. It is not a victory if the other side walks away to fight another battle, one which is more interesting.

Of course a victory by the 'rebels' over the 'evil empire' will be short-lived. Whenever a revolution takes place the 'rebels' become the establishment. Firefox may dominate the web but then people will moan and complain about it's dominance. Combine it with Google and you have a fresh empire to rebel against. It won't be long before someone else is writing a new web browser and / or search engine to take on this new empire. And the wars will start again.

This is a peculiar human past time though. Re-inventing the wheel. Always seemingly creating something which is 'new and innovative' but, in the end, it's just another version of the same old thing. The same is happening in the new battle with web applications. The first shots are being taken in the realm of sorting and organising information. New search applications which will search the Web and your home PC for the information you are looking for. You need never get rid of anything again because now you will be able to find it easier.

It all befits the philosophical myth that if you 'build a perfect society, you will create the perfect human'. The more we 'innovate' the more laws we need to make sure people don't abuse the systems and technology which we have created. Building a perfect society, or web tool, never takes into account human nature and the inability of our minds to process all the information coming at us day in and day out. So people create tools to process this information for us. Doesn't help matters, just adds another layer of information onto the layers we already have, and the more you build, the more layers you need, the more laws ad infinitum.

On November 9th, the day Firefox 1.0 final should be released, the Firefox groupies say the Web will change. Like movies on DVD promised a better experience - better sound and picture quality but no improvement to content. The Web will not change. It will still be the same content displayed in a web browser, which was, seemingly, 'innovative' about ten years ago - but not much when you consider how long the written word has been around. The re-invention continues and one empire will be replaced by another, but nothing will really change.

I will finish with a 'Star Wars' analogy. Probably George Lucas will never make the final trilogy because once the rebels have won what is there left to say? A trilogy about a utopian society would be pretty dull. The rebels will be the new empire, which means they will have to subjugate those who don't agree with their way of doing things. An image of Luke Skywalker attacking a planet because the inhabitants 'don't think like we do' is not the heroic image most people would like to see.

As the old adage goes '..it doesn't matter who wins the election, the government always gets in'.

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