I often use Internet Explorer (Ver 6.0) on my main system,
with Win XP. However, as a consultant I prefer using Netscape
(Ver 4.78) to visit client or potential client sites. Since
many no longer check to see how a page looks in Netscape, I can
often point out some changes to help Netscape users better enjoy
the site.
As an aside, it's true that earlier versions of Netscape Ver
6 would not run for many who tried them. However the current
version, 6.2, is working for most now. To write as if Netscape
is a dead horse is a grand design error.
While not true even six months back, I am now routinely
running into pages that simply will not load in Netscape. In
those cases I have been able to check, the culprit is a script
of some kind that won't run with Netscape.
To include such a script on your site is pretty silly, to
put it bluntly. It's easy enough to check to see what browser
is in use. If you haven't tested the script on that version,
don't run it. Or write your code in such a manner that a
failure doesn't halt the download of the page.
There's another trend in scripts that has negative
implications. More and more pages are using more and more of
them. Collectively they can slow download speeds, even on high
speed connections. Each script must be processed by the host
server. And this can slow things down during times of peak
demand on the server.
There is no point to using a script you can possibly do
without. Certainly none you feel compelled to use can be
allowed to crash a download. This amounts to throwing visitors
away. Can you really afford to do so?
About the Author
Bob McElwain For ANSWERS, click
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