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BROWSER WARS PART II
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Once upon a time there was the Netscape browser at 90% market share
and all the "other" browsers on the other side. The smart site
developer felt safe in coding everything to Netscape specs and just
let the other browsers fend for themselves.

One night while getting a peanut butter and banana sandwich, Bill
Gates tripped over the Internet and declared that it would surely all
be his. Soon Internet Explorer was released and all had a good
chuckle. It made web pages appear as if created on an Etch-A-Sketch.

But Internet Explorer continued to improve and with the help of
having it forced upon every Windows user, it soon replaced Netscape
as the 800 pound gorilla. All this in the face of constant damage
from its virus-friendly nature.

Moving forward to 2002, Netscape is now in the hands of America
On-Line (AOL) but AOL ships Internet Explorer to its users who make
up about 50% of the world's Internet users. But Netscape has recently
undergone a major face lift and people are liking it. Overcoming IE's
domination could take years to overturn... unless you happen to be
AOL.

CompuServe, another AOL property has just announced that they are now
basing their service on the Netscape browser. CompuServe is no longer
a big player but still big enough to serve as a proving ground for
AOL.

So, where does this all leave us? For me, no problem. I've always
tested my sites with Netscape, IE and Opera. If (when) AOL switches
browsers, I will have little to worry about. I stress cross browser 
compatibility.