Issue.2

fall-1997

for CIS staff
and others at the University of New Hampshire.
prepared by jim.cerny@unh.edu

Technical note: this document is making limited use of Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) features. What you will see depends on the browser you are using. In Netscape 4.0x, for example, the section heads show red and there is a big yellow "BW" that runs through the document in the background.

Netscape Reviving Stand-alone Browser.

According to ZDNet's News, Netscape "is working on a plan to separate Navigator 4.x from its Communicatior client suite and give back to users what they once had -- a thin browser client." Check the whole report.

Apple to Bundle Explorer with MacOS.

At the MacWorld Expo in Boston, Steve Jobs announced that Microsoft is investing $150 million in Apple stock, with a quid pro quo that Apple will bundle Microsoft Internet Explorer with the MacOS. Check the news report.

Browsers Usage on UNHINFO.

When a Web browser and server exchange information via the HTTP protocol, this includes a number of information request fields . One of these is an identification string "HTTP_USER_AGENT" that the browser sends to identify itself. We include this id as part of our UNINFO log. Knowing the browser use can help in designing Web pages, deciding which features to include or exclude. And it is another data point when we review supported products.

Our most recent snapshot of browser use (we don't include it in our routine log analyses) was for the log of the complete week from 21-JUL-1997 through 27-JUL-1997. We divided the analysis into browsers used from "unh.edu" addresses and from outside "unh.edu" addresses. Of particular interest are the Netscape (Mozilla), Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE), and Lynx browsers. Here's what we found:

 ....................................................
   source   Netscape   MSIE      Lynx
   of hits  versions  versions  versions
 ....................................................
   unh.edu 
               113       18        9
   outside unh.edu
               537       91       16
 ....................................................
   browser usage ratios
 ....................................................
   unh.edu
     ratio Netscape:Lynx:MSIE  28:4:1
     ratio Netscape:Lynx  7:1
     ratio Netscape:MSIE  28:1
   outside unh.edu
     ratio Netscape:Lynx:MSIE  216:1:85
     ratio Netscape:Lynx  216:1
     ratio Netscape:MSIE  2.5:1
 .................................................... 
   browser releases in use
 .................................................... 
   unh.edu
     range of Netscape versions: 1.0N to 4.01
   outside unh.edu
     range of Netscape versions: 0.9 beta to 4.01
 ....................................................

Our experience is consistent with browser usage reported by sites such as WebTrends and at Dave Garaffa's BrowserWatch. Some sites organize their data according to the desktop family of systems in use, such as at HotWired (look in the lower left part of the window).

To give you a better sense of how the id's appear and the diversity, we include the list by versions for UNHINFO hits from the unh.edu domain for that week.

ActiveX.

Much is written about ActiveX as one of the programming technologies available to extend HTML pages (others include JavaScript, Java, and Perl CGI). In Microsoft's own words:

ActiveX is a set of technologies from Microsoft that enables interactive content for the World Wide Web. With ActiveX, Web sites come alive using multimedia effects, interactive objects, and sophisticated applications that create a user experience comparable to that of high-quality CD-ROM titles.

To use ActiveX you need to have either a current version of Microsoft Internet Explorer or a current (3.x or later) version of Netscape with an ActiveX plug-in installed. There is also a matter of trust, since system .

There are some excellent sources of information about ActiveX:

http://www.activex.com: CNET's special ActiveX site.
http://www.microsoft.com/activeplatform/default.asp: Microsoft's ActivePlatform site, of which ActiveX is a part.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdwebcat/content/activex/: ZDNet's ActiveX introduction and reference.

Browser humor.

People always like to make up humorous top-ten lists. Here is another list from CNET's DIGITAL DISPATCH: March 6, 1997 (slighly edited here):

...................................................
TOP TEN INTERNET EXPLORER BUGS

Poor Microsoft. If it's not one bug in Internet 
Explorer, it's another. What's worse, there's a 
whole list of bugs about to be revealed ... ten 
to be precise:

10. When you press Ctrl-Alt-Delete-F10, the stock 
    market crashes.  Try it and see!
9.  It fails in its industrial espionage mission 
    to scan the hard drives of Larry Ellison, Scott 
    McNealy, and Jim Barksdale.
8.  Runs better on the MacOS than on Windows.
7.  Due to a last-minute switch by a frustrated 
    programmer, the Help function brings up the 
    Kama Sutra.
6.  Browsing http://www.netscape.com/ crashes MSIE. 
    Wait, that's not a bug.
5.  Turns the IntelliMouse into the StupidoMouse.
4.  Uninstaller for MSIE also deletes Duke Nukem.
3.  Child safety rating system blocks microsoft.com - 
    mistakes "ActiveX" for "sex".
2.  Search for "Microsoft ethics" points you to 
    http://www.mafia.org/
1.  It doesn't make any money for Bill Gates.
...................................................

[end of CIS Browser.Watcher Issue.2]