=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This E-mail is Sponsored by: Small Dog Electronics
--> Specializing in New & Factory Refurbished Apple computers <--
Surf to <http://www.smalldog.com> Check out our daily specials!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=476
Cyberdog Returns: Is Apple Readying a Mozilla-Based iBrower?
By Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac
May 29th 2002
>From Open Doc to Open Source.
Remember Cyberdog? The multifunction ''parts'' built on Apple''s OpenDoc (at the time,
a rival to Microsoft''s OLE), which combined browser, telnet, email and news.
Developed to demonstrate the power and simplicity of OpenDoc, Cyberdog was designed to
show you didn''t have to write bloated, RAM-hogging applications to get performance
and features. OpenDoc, of course, died. As did Cyberdog.
Fast forward to 2002. The chaps and chapettes over at The Register suspect it might be
a jolly good show if Apple, with its recent AOL deal, develops a killer browser on the
back of the OS X version of Mozilla. And makes IE the spy who had to go back out into
the cold (that''s an obscure pun for those who remember IE was originally based on
Spyglass).
Sound far-fetched, asks The Register? It is.
But perhaps not all of it. After all, the Apple-AOL deal can hardly have had Gates
doing handstands over in Redmond. At IGM, we think that Apple''s not yet at the stage
where every controversial carefully-scripted statement Steve''s about to make is
passed around the M$ executive suite. Take, for instance, his controlled anger over
the original Microsoft settlement, which included a billion bucks worth (mostly
Windows and PC stuff) of gear for schools. No way did the Chief Fruit Picker take that
lying down.
The big problem with Mac OS X browser sluggishness, which has been well documented
here and elsewhere, is that the code is not yet optimized for browser performance, and
MS can certainly use that as a defense, particularly as iCab, Opera Software and the
Omni Group have made similar statements. Jaguar (OS X 10.2) will hopefully resolve
many of these issues.
But while these companies have delivered frequent revisions to their browsers,
Microsoft has dragged its feet on OS 9 and X versions of IE. A 5.1 version of IE for
OS 9 came out a few weeks ago, while Windows has had 6.0 for some time. MS also likes
to make a splash with its numeric revisions; a dot-something update doesn''t get a lot
of press, while whole number updates get Mac users talking, downloading and upgrading.
Plus, it''s not like MS gets any cash up front for IE (as opposed to Office).
But an anti-IE chess move or not, Apple would do well to encourage other browser
developers who do develop according to strict html standards, and who don''t try and
junk Sun''s Java for an older, inferior version, and who don''t try and avoid
QuickTime and MP3 merely to foist another proprietory ''standard'' on the world.
I think we''ve just figured it out: Microsoft is now Apple. Not the Apple of 2002, but
the Apple of the 1980s. Remember how everything was proprietory back then? AppleTalk,
EtherTalk, ABD and so on? Whereas Apple is about ''open, open, open''. 802.11b.
IEEE-1394. USB. IDE.
And Open-Source browsers. Like Mozilla.
Post your comments at:
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=476
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Copyright (c) 2002 Insanely Great Mac. All rights reserved. This article
may not be republished in part or whole without explicit written
permission from Insanely Great Mac.
Brought to you by Insanely Great Mac <http://www.insanely-great.com/>
To SUBSCRIBE - send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with subject
subscribe macnews
To UNSUBSCRIBE - send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with subject
unsubscribe macnews
Subscription problems/questions please email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
