MOZILLA FIREFOX

Mozilla firefox is the new kid on the web browser block. In 1998, Netscape communications opened the source code to their web browser and assigned some staff members to work on making it better. Seven years and many release later, the result of that effort is Mozilla firefox. Netscape communication, since acquired by America online, no longer has any official ties to the Mozilla foundation, which is now an independent nonprofit organization

Microsoft released internet explorer 6 in October 2001. Firefox and its predecessor Mozilla have seen many revisions over that time, and currently offer more comprehensive support for web standards than does internet explorer. Firefox is available for windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and is a free download at http://www.mozilla.com.

Internet explorer still dominates still dominates the web browser market, but firefox is becoming increasingly popular, especially with people who create websites.

NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR

Once the dominant web browser, netscape navigator is now a version of Mozilla firefox than has been modified to have the netscape brand rather than the Mozilla brand. In terms of how they display web pages, netscape navigator and Mozilla firefox are identical. You can download netscape at http://browser.Netscape.com.

The important thing to remember about netscape is that the browser has a long history, and once dominated the market. Netscape went nearly four years between browser releases, and at one time netscape 4.7 was extremely popular. Unfortunately, now it exists mainly to cause pain to web designers. The problem with netscape 4.7 is that it’s old, and its support for current web standards is woefully lacking. With firefox, much effort was put into making it adhere as closely as possible to published standards. The bottom line is that pages that look great in internet explorer, firefox, and take this into consideration as you design your pages.