On 19/05/2004, at 8:24 PM, Mordechai Peller wrote:
Some of signs that is might slip are increasing computer literacy in the general public, increased awareness of Mozilla and Opera (media reports, Opera on mobile phones, etc.), and increased acceptance of Linux. We can aid this further by educating our friends, family, and clients.
Opera will never do it. The UI is butt ugly, the usability is woeful, and the whole thing feels a whole lot cheaper.\
The only way I can see a browser beating IE is if it looks, feels and behaves like IE in every way possible. They don't need to reinvent the wheel in terms of UI design and interaction -- they need to mirror it, which in turn lowers the learning curve required to "switch". This is the big flaw in Mozilla and Opera right now -- they look and feel different, and people are afraid of change.
<sidenote>
My biggest gripe with Mozilla et al is that they don't use the Win/Mac standard GUI form elements and widgets, which not only cheapens the look (IMHO), but instantly causes the browser (and all the user's favourite web pages) to feel unfamiliar or foreign).
</sidenote>
What they DO need to do is beat IE in regards to security, performance, preferences (cookies, scripting, security, etc), and yes, standards compliance, and sell the browser on these points. I've got some nice ideas on how Opera or Mozilla could be marketed to the masses, but I see reason to give those away for free :)
--- Justin French http://indent.com.au
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