Browser Basics

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crash

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Joined: Dec 02, 2003

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Posted: 04/14/2003 11:16 pm

Internet Browsers: How you view the web

Most are familiar with the common versions like Internet Explorer and Netscape. You may have even heard of Opera or Mozilla, which are gaining popularity. As a user you generally choose what’s supplied on your computer. If you are running a Windows system it comes loaded with Internet Explorer making it the most used browser statistically*. If you are running a site that you want to be viewed by more than the casual observer however, say a eCommerce store, then you need to consider the fact that not all browsers will display your site exactly the same. While this problem isn’t as bad as it once was thanks to organizations such as the w3c it is can cause lost traffic and lost sales due to your site displaying incorrectly, incompletely and not at all in some cases.

The first step is to get familiarized with alternate browsers; most are free or offer free versions.

Internet Explorer: Microsoft’s internet browser. Statistically the browser used by most on the internet. IE is very forgiving if your site is not standards compliant.
Windows, Mac, $Free.

Netscape: Based on Gecko now (by Mozilla). Netscape is forgiving if your site is not standards compliant but not as much as IE.
Windows, Mac, $Free.

Mozilla: the basis of the original Netscape, a more barebones browser. Great for those that do not need the tricks provided with IE and Netscape and want a simple browser.
Windows, Mac, $Free.

Opera: Similar in function to the others, has the added feature of tabbed browsing. Instead of having multiple windows covering your desktop and your taskbar it organizes them within the main Opera window. Opera is very useful for testing how a site will look without CSS working. Windows, Mac, Linux, OS/2, Solaris, FreeBSD, QNX, Symbian. $Free w/ ad’s, $Pay to remove ads.

Konqueror: A desktop environment for Unix systems. Built within is a browser that is not very forgiving if your site is not standards compliant. Konqueror is a bit more robust than a straight text browser but it is still great for testing and browsing.
Unix, Linux, [windows but not easily], $Free

Galeon: Gnome’s browser, another Unix/Linux desktop environment like Konqueror based on Gecko (Mozilla’s rendering engine).
Unix, Linux, $Free

Safari is an open source Apple/Mac browser that utilizes a KDE core (Konqueror).
Apple/Mac, $Free

There are more browsers out there but above is a list of the most commonly used browsers. For more visit http://browsers.evolt.org/ , they have a list of just about ever browser available.

For more information and news regarding browsers you can visit http://www.upsdell.com/BrowserNews/ .

Making browsers work for you

When designing websites you should never forget accessibility. AnyBrowswer.org has a handy list of accessibility links that should be reviewed. As technology advances access to the web has been gained by those with accessibility issues such as color blindness, vision impairment, hearing impairment.

The w3c (World Wide Web Consortium) has worked hard to determine and present a set of standards for all to live and work by. Many beginning webmasters, designers and site hobbyists are not familiar with them or the fact that not all browsers comply with all standards.

Web Standards is a set of protocol for languages utilized in creating web pages.

Each language has its own set of defined standards that evolve over time; as new ones are added others depreciate.

For example, CSS1 (Cascading Style Sheets v1) was created to eliminate the necessity of Font tags (size, color, font, etc) and make it easier to control the visual appearance of text via a single command internally (on page) or externally (off page). [w3 CSS tutorial]

WebStandards.org is another group that that fights for Standards Compliance and works with browser companies, authoring tool makers and peers to educate the masses regarding the importance of web standards and compliance. They also are behind the browser upgrade campaign and encourage webmasters to help visitors understand the need to upgrade their browsers.

WebMonkey has a browser comparison chart that shows what technologies are useable in what browsers, a handy reference that should be on every ‘favorites’ list.

* Browser Stats: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

updated: Nov 10, 2003 - crash

[ Message was edited by: JimBot 11/10/2003 10:43 pm ]

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