Supported Browser Evaluation (Fall 2005)

Submitted by jjanssen on Fri, 06/17/2005 - 15:35. Browser Standards

Introduction

APU’s strategy of web based education relies on using a web browser as the primary delivery mechanism to access information. IMT is responsible to support applications and services that rely on web technology for faculty, students, staff and computer labs. IMT’s current web browser standards do not reflect recent industry changes, especially concerning security and platform support.

Netscape - Netscape's market share continues to decline and previously supported features – built-in email and Mac platform support – are no longer part of Netscape’s strategy and product development.
Internet Explorer on the Mac platform – Microsoft is discontinuing support of this product as of December 31, 2005, thus placing Apple Mac users as risk concerning security and support. The software will no longer be available for download, and no updates will be made available.

Two newer browsers, not currently on our supported list, represent an opportunity:

Mozilla Firefox - has become one of the most innovative browsers; its speed, features, and security have allowed it to reach 14% US market share in a short amount of time. Running the same way on both Windows and Mac OS X, it provides an excellent replacement for Netscape on both platforms.
Apple Safari - the most used browser on the Mac platform ships with every computer. It is fast, behaves in a way mac users expect, and supports web standards. It will be quite natural to formalize our support for this product.

IMT's Architecture Working Group (AWG) was asked to conduct a review and make a recommendation. In order to attempt a comprehensive and objective review, we developed standard Browser Evaluation Criteria which can be used for current and future evaluations. We then conducted reviews and testing of all current and candidate browsers in Fall 2005, and produced the following recommendation.

Recommendation

Based on our evaluation, we have made the following recommendations:

Replace Netscape with Mozilla Firefox on the Windows and Mac Platforms

Netscape no longer carries the benefits which made it a good browser in the past. Since outsourcing the creation of Netscape 8, AOL has dropped support for the Mac platform, dropped the messenger e-mail component that many liked, and has turned the product into a hybrid between Mozilla and IE. The idea behind the latest version was novel, to have the browser automatically choose the layout engine from Mozilla or IE depending on which web site you were visiting. However, the implementation leaves the user with a very inconsistent and confusing experience, and worse performance than using IE or Mozilla independently.

Mozilla Firefox has become an innovative and efficient browser. Firefox is written by many of the same minds behind the original Netscape and those responsible for open standards on the Internet. Its simplicity, lightweight design, and security have caused its adoption among advanced users. The rate at which it is able to patch security concerns, fix bugs, and offer new features while maintaining stability is sign of a mature product built on a flexible base. While not expected to dominate the market any time soon, it has been the only browser to make a small dent in Internet Explorer's market share since replacing Netscape. We believe Firefox will make a fine secondary browser to the default on both Windows and Mac.

Replace Internet Explorer with Safari on the Mac Platform

Internet Explorer on the Macintosh. Microsoft is completely dropping support for this product on Dec 31, 2005, and hasn't released an upgrade in two years. IE on the Mac was a completely different product from the Windows version and uses a different layout engine. Due to the tight integration of IE with Windows, proprietary extensions such as Active X were not available on the Mac version, and therefore the benefits of cross-platform were not experienced. The brand compatibility decreased further when IE on the Mac never advanced beyond IE version 5. IE 5.5 was a significant release for Windows and of course many sites now require version 6. It is not feasible nor responsible for IMT to continue supporting this product beyond the life of Microsoft's support commitment.

Safari is the current default browser shipping with Mac OS X. Apple has produced a native browser with speed as a primary goal, and natural integration with the operating system. It has improved with each release and updates are available through the operating system update feature. It has been known to set an example for adopting web standards, which is important for pages to display properly on all compliant browsers. However, some web sites have been slow to adopt these standards and don't test their pages against Safari. Firefox will serve as a more up-to-date alternative to IE for Mac users in these cases. Safari is the most used browser on the Mac platform, and it will be quite natural to formalize our support for this product.

Table 1: If approved, this would change IMT's Tier 1
supported browser application list as follows:

Current	Proposed
Windows XP:	Windows XP:
Internet Explorer	Internet Explorer
Netscape	Mozilla Firefox
Mac OS X:	Mac OS X:
Internet Explorer*	Apple Safari
Netscape*	Mozilla Firefox