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An Explanation of Internet Browsing
Browser Standards Compliance
A web browser is the utility intended to display documents such as this article. The web browser's primary purpose is to translate documents formatted specifically for the internet into viewable pages containing text, images, and other visual or audible components. There are many web browsers available on computers today, including the popular Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator/Communicator browsers. Other browsers include Mozilla, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Konqueror, AOL's adapted Internet Explorer browser, and several more. Each of these browsers are developed by different organizations with different goals in mind. The features they include with their browsers are dependant upon their intended user audiences. Since the internet is viewed by many different groups of people with varying intentions, internet standards is an issue necessary to understand. Compliancy to internet standards allows all browsers to display specifically formatted data in the same way, allowing web developers to ensure greater certainty of how their documents will be viewed by any user. The most common rule of compatibility used by web developers is to design their pages around what is referred to as Fourth Generation browsers. The reason for developing for Fourth Generation browsers is that these browsers support a well rounded set of features and options that enable web pages to be more dynamic while maintaining some compliancy with standards. However, it is important to note that every browser, even the Fourth Generation and most recent browsers, still yet vary and support different features in different ways. Although Fourth Generation browsers are currently the most popular baseline, most browsers, including the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, continue to stray from full compliance to internet standards, hindering the functionality that web pages can be developed without foregoing some certainty. For this reason, often web developers and web masters feel it is necessary to warn site visitors of the possibility of inconsistencies while viewing their pages. The use of features that may be incompatible with a few browsers is not intended to limit the experience of users surfing with less recent browsers, but to take advantage of and offer the possibility of these features to any user who chooses to use a more compliant browser. To take advantage of the greatest standards compliancy and to maximize any internet experience, it is always recommended that a surfer upgrade their browser to the latest version whenever one is released. Software developers are constantly working to improve browsers for many reasons, including standards compliancy, speed, efficiency, user friendliness, and security. Certain browsers are also better equiped than others to comply with standards or fulfill the needs of their users. Considering a different browser is recommended as well. Additionally, it has been announced both by Microsoft and Netscape that their browsers will no longer be developed or advertised as before. Microsoft has decided to incorporate its browsing engine directly into the new Windows operating system, no longer naming it Internet Explorer, and avoiding some of the anti-trust issues they've experienced. Concerns have arisen from this decision because Microsoft IE is widely known to be the host of numerous internet security loopholes. Further, Netscape has amputated its browser development department, forfeiting the rights and structuring policies to a now independent organization, The Mozilla Foundation. The Mozilla Foundation is being touted as the current browser war king. The organization promotes standards compliancy and practical features as its two most important development goals with its two application suites. The first suite is the continuance of the old Netscape project, Mozilla. Mozilla includes in its package a browser, an email and newsgroup client, a chat client, and a series of web development tools, all packed full of nearly every imaginable feature. Their other suite is a collection of independent applications designed to be speedy, small, sensible, and secure. Firefox, their second internet browser, is extremely easy to use, lightning fast, and retains all the best features of Mozilla, including pop-up blocking, customizable themes, and built in web development tools. Camino is the Macintosh equivalent of Firefox, Thunderbird is their second email and newsgroup client, and a calendar application is under way. The browser war will likely continue on into the future, but any browser that is standards compliant and has the features desirable to internet surfers of any creed is worthy of a try. Consider becoming accustomed to a new browser and an entirely different internet experience may await. Helpful Links The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the primary web standards organization: The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), another web standards organization: The Web Standards Project (WaSP), a web standardization support group: *Recommended for Standards Compliance* Opera free download page: Microsoft Internet Explorer free download page: Netscape Navigator free download page: This article was written by Adam Stuart, the web developer for Knollwood Farm online and recent Information Systems graduate from Eastern Michigan University's College of Business. |