BenBishop.me.uk

It looks as though it really is the season to be releasing a browser with the recent official release of Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) and the third release candidate of Firefox 2. I can’t help feeling that the much of the coverage surrounding the releases really boils down to hype with the media and blogsphere trying to build this into another browser war.A ‘war’, ‘battle’, ‘face off’ or whatever you want to label it, regardless of who is contesting , requires two fundamental factors; 2 willing contenders.

IE7, while a massive improvement on IE6 with features such as tabbed browsing, RSS integration and improved rendering engine amongst others, it is still not right. Even with all the stink in the web community about the lack of a standards based browser from the major OS developer, IE7 is still some distance from Firefox 2 or even 1.5 for that matter. For all the effort that has been put into IE7 it’s ironic that as we enter a time for major change in the PC world with Vista, IE7 would have probably been a mostly cosmetic enhancement if it wasn’t for Firefox. Yet still I get the impression of IE7 being a ‘just enough’ browser to appease the majority and keep the web community just far enough from the door. I’d expect much more to come from Microsoft in future releases.

Firefox is continually evolving though, taking (relatively) small steps each time but each time getting the improvements right; creating a product that is a pleasure to use. The integration and perfection of the session saver add-on (extension) is a perfect example of doing the good things really well.

Battles require a contest and I can’t help but feel that from Microsoft’s point of view the browser battle is already won and aren’t really trying. Credit should be given to the IE team for the improvements to IE7 but they still have a long way to go until they are taken seriously by developers and designers and their browser being not being treated with the contempt it currently deserves. There will always be people who want to stray from the conventional but until businesses wake up and see the productivity and usability benefits, Firefox will continue to grow at nowhere near the rate it warrants.

From Mozilla’s and the privileged end users point of view, Firefox is still quite clearly a number of steps ahead of IE7 and they know this. While the gap between Firefox and IE7 has narrowed, and the competition will eventually benefit Firefox’s user too, I don’t get the impression the developers and people involved are too concerned about the developments coming from Microsoft at the moment.

A Browser War? A lovers tiff more like. Maybe in the future with the releases of IE8 and FF3 but at the moment this is just the beginning. As the consumer, the real benefit we will receive is an improved browser that many are forced to use in their workplace and the continued polish of an excellent browser in the home!