Enterprise applications Toolkit

Browser wars: Episode II

Tags:
IE,
Firefox

Matthew Broersma ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 28 Feb 2005 17:10 GMT

The success of the Mozilla Project's Firefox browser has exceeded all expectations since its launch last autumn, grabbing a significant share of the browser market and sustaining about a million downloads a week. The browser wars are back, it seems.

But while the decision of which browser to use is relatively simple for users, the situation is more complicated for large organisations, many of which have become so dependent on Internet Explorer that a wholesale switch is practically impossible. The irony is that a few years back, companies were deliberately implementing single-browser policies as a way of cutting costs for development, training and the like. Security concerns have now given organisations all the reason they need to have another look at multiple browser support, with many enterprises evaluating Firefox or other alternative browsers, and some universities and public-sector bodies having already dumped IE. Microsoft has taken note and executed an about-face on its browser policy, announcing a stand-alone Internet Explorer 7.0 will begin beta testing this summer.

Browser policy decisions are complicated by the fact that many Web applications and internal enterprise systems currently require IE, and that Firefox is expected to attract more security problems as its popularity increases. Industry analysts say companies should prepare for a multi-browser world, but exactly what this new world will look like is unclear.

The Mozilla Foundation stresses that the real battle isn't between browsers, but between two types of technology -- Microsoft's, which is tied to Internet Explorer, and standards-based technology, which can be used with Firefox or any other standards-compliant application. In theory, this means that sites and Web applications that work with Firefox should behave the same way with Opera, Safari or other Mozilla browsers (like the Mozilla suite and Camino), and switching should no longer be an issue.

"The old world is about IE 5.5 and Microsoft proprietary things like ActiveX. The new world is about W3C standards," says Tristan Nitot, president and founder of Mozilla Europe. Testing internal applications for standards instead of for a particular browser may seem like extra trouble for companies, but in the long run it will reduce security risks and save money, Nitot says.

Momentum
There's increasing evidence that the Firefox phenomenon has real momentum. Many of the figures have become familiar; Firefox usage exceeds 25 percent on some Web sites targeting technical audiences, it has surpassed 25 million downloads, it is used by 5 to 10 percent of the Web population. Firefox hasn't been around long enough for enterprises to have adopted an official policy toward it, but many IT departments have made it their choice, according to anecdotal evidence and testimonials collected by the Mozilla Foundation.