In the PC era, how can IE browser win and the web era?

For a long time, the IE and Firefox camps have been in conflict with each other, and disputes over the advantages and disadvantages of browsers are endless. In the past few days, this inpeaceful browser market has suddenly become more noisy. The story-filled browser products between IE and Firefox appear in front of people in a brand new fashion-IE7 and firefox2.0. For a time, the developer community and end users of both parties started a new round of debate from the perspectives of development and use. W3C standard support, Web Ajax support, multi-tab features, network security features, and so on. I don't think Tim Berners-Lee would have imagined that a small program, worldwideweb, built into the nextstep system, would have such a big impact. Nowadays, the Internet has become an important part of the lives and work of many people. According to ComScore world metrix data, as of June this year, the number of Internet users worldwide had exceeded 0.7 billion.

Browsers, as the entry to the Internet, naturally become the focus of attention. The competition between Microsoft IE and Netscape (later Mozilla Firefox) for more than a decade, I believe many people are familiar with it. The end of the story is always so unexpected. I thought that the online scene was acquired by AOL. With the advantages of Windows system integration, Microsoft took full control of the Windows platform's Web interface portal by IE6. Who once thought that, over the past two years, Firefox has relied on the support of open-source and developer communities. Over the years, Firefox has quietly returned to users with two editions, 1.5 and 2.0. This return seems to have awakened Microsoft, and the five-year-old IE 6 browser is also released in version 7.0. Is the new round of IE and Firefox coming soon?

 

Before looking into the future, let's look back at the past? You can find interesting places. When Marc andreeson and Jim Barksdale created Netscape in 1990s, they designed to create an independent software that allows PC users to easily access network content on any platform. This forward-looking idea in the PC era makes it rare for competitors, including the Windows platform Netscape, to have full control over the web interface portal. Afterwards, they even more boldly imagined that as the network develops and applications run on the Internet, the Netscape browser will replace the default Windows user interface and become the first choice for users, windows background is of little significance. This advanced network service concept touched Microsoft's nerves! However, Microsoft, which started relatively late, is still lagging behind in browser technology, and an ambitious plan was born. The desktop environment of the system is inclusive of the network, whether it is PC local content or network content, can be accessed in a unified browsing environment. to turn Web browsers into "a function of the PC operating system" rather than independent software. This is a good idea that browsers are mainly used to browse the Network Content of the underdeveloped network. Based on the advantages of the system platform, ie also provides a richer experience for local Windows applications. At that time, Netscape imagined that all applications were running on the network. Because of the immature development of the network, the browser in the PC era declared that IE would eventually win.

As you said just now, you may have discovered that the network application environment originally conceived by Netscape is exactly the same as the current software. The Web application era has arrived, and this network-based software service tide is no longer a bold idea. Companies and applications targeting consumer computing or commercial computing, such as Google and salseforce, are around us. Is it a coincidence that firefox1.5, a descendant of Netscape, was 2.0 launched at this time? Laomei's Internet Explorer 6 has been unable to communicate with the young Firefox for five years. It seems that Firefox has once again taken the lead in the Battle of browser technology. However, what is more similar to the current situation is that Microsoft once again felt the crisis brought by network services to Windows systems, launched the ie7.0 competition, and also launched a new generation of PC operating system Vista, the System-mounted policy of ie7.0 appeared again. Will the Web Age repeat history?

Maybe not that simple. The biggest difference this time is that the software application environment has been gradually migrated from PC applications to more web-based applications. Our network needs not only to browse online content, but also to use network services. The browser role will be integrated into a wide range of network applications as a service operating environment. The Web interface of the browser will become the entry to a wide range of network services. The operating system needs to provide more technical support for Web applications, the latest Microsoft. it is still unknown whether the netframe 3.0 feature can complete this task. It is a challenge for Microsoft to build more web applications that rely on the winfx feature so as to exert the features of IE. At present, the power of open-source communities and the features of third-party Windows platforms are more portable. therefore, the advantages of the system platform do not have any absolute advantages over ie and Firefox over the past decade, how to make the browser more compatible with network service applications will become a key factor to win.

As a result, we can see that Microsoft has started the Windows Vista desktop environment, such as the development of the side bar, and the windows platform applications have also joined its live network service plan, allows more applications to directly access the network. The Firefox browser is also integrated with the developer community and web service vendors such as Google. It has released many practical software service application plug-ins in its browser to build an interface for accessing Web applications on top of the operating system.

Therefore, with the development of the PC era to the web era, browser functions change. Internet Explorer and Firefox are behind the competition for browsing the surface features of network content. What is broader is who can better understand that software on the network is a competition for services, make the browser truly a window to the Web application world. Does Firefox really say "rediscover the Web? IE7 and firefox2.0 have already kicked off this competition. Maybe, we also hope this is another long-lasting competition! In the PC era, how can IE browser win and the web era?