Firefox 3.0 goes Alpha but little word yet on IE8

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Saturday, 09 December 2006 17:57

Your IT - Entertainment

Interestingly, support for older operating systems will be dropped, forcing those who refuse to upgrade to a newer operating system to use Firefox 2.0, an older version of IE or a different browser. There’ll be no Firefox 3.0 for Windows 95, 98 and ME, while Mac owners still stuck on OS X 10.2 or earlier will get no Mozilla love either.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing – these older operating systems are effectively obsolete and are a clear and present security risk even today to those who insist on using them, so if a love of Firefox forces users to upgrade, it’s a good thing for those users and the Internet at large.

With some European countries, like Germany, already having over 30% of users choosing a version of Firefox, Microsoft cannot afford to ignore Internet Explorer as it did with IE6. In the early days of the 1990’s Netscape Navigator/Internet Explorer browser wars, Microsoft fairly regularly churned out new versions. But after IE6 things went quiet, with Microsoft missing out on the tabbed browing revolution for years.

When IE7 was launched, Microsoft’s IE website said that ‘We heard you’. Well, finally! People had only been complaining for years. All that can really be said is: Microsoft, the web users of the world hope you’re still listening. Let’s see a new IE8 sometime in 2007 – perhaps even by mid 2007. There is some early information on IE8 at websites like InternetExplorer8.net but it's all still early days yet.

Now that Vista is out the door, you’ve got plenty of resources to pump into a better, safer web experience for all, and with most users still on IE, you’ve got a real responsibility to ensure that your users are not only safe online, but enjoy the best web browsing experience possible.

That’s clearly isn’t the case with IE7, with it missing many features available in other browsers. The clock is ticking, and the numbers of defectors are rising. Mozilla aren’t sitting still, nor are Maxthon or Opera.