[WEB4LIB] Firefox revolution over?

[Thomas Dowling]

Roy Tennant wrote:
> The CNet Anchordesk is claiming that the Firefox revolution is over 
> aborning, due to the announcement that Internet Explorer 7 will be 
> released independent of Windows as early as this summer (in beta). See 
> <http://www.cnet.com/4520-6033_1-5666404-1.html> for the opinion piece 
> and <http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5577263.html> for the story.
> Roy
> 
> 


IE 7 will end the perception that IE is a gaping security hole, and will 
kill off any hetergeneous browser environment.  After all, XP SP2 ended 
the perception that Windows is a gaping security hole and killed off any 
heterogeneous server and workstation environment, right?

Fact is, IE rapidly became a much better browser during the period 
Microsoft was actively dealing with a threat from Netscape.  Unless we 
can foresee a future in which Firefox pushes IE totally off the map, 
it's good (for the majority of users) for Microsoft to respond to 
Firefox as a threat.  A very large number of Windows users will end up 
using a better browser.  And those who care will still have access to an 
even better browser.


-- 
Thomas Dowling
tdowling at ohiolink.edu