Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Mozilla is not a browser

Author:Jason Levine
Posted:4/14/2000; 10:59:21 AM
Topic:Mozilla is not a browser
Msg #:16262 (In response to 16181)
Prev/Next:16261 / 16263

um, can we just say that it's a good idea that an OS has an HTML-rendering component as long as it's a)replacable, b)disable-able, c)completely-documented and d)not forced as part of the default shell's UI?

No, I don't like that idea, mostly the (d) part. An operating system manufacturer has to decide on many things, and if they decide that some of the critical functions of the UI require HTML rendering (e.g., all help files will be rendered via the HTML renderer, or the desktop will be a pure HTML document, or whatever), then they can require the HTML renderer to be part of the implementation of that UI. Saying differently would be like saying that you should be able to choose whether or not to install the PostScript renderer on a NeXT -- you can't make that choice, because the entire display is rendered in PostScript, so it's a necessary part of the UI.

For the same reasons, I can't say that (b) is a good idea, either. For both of those options, if you want to dispose of, or not to install, the HTML renderer, then choose another operating system. They should have the ability to choose to embed HTML throughout the operating system and depend on having the tools there to deal with that.

As for (a), I could live with the notion that it's a good idea, in the abstract and perfect world, for the integrated web browser control to be replacable, but given the state of things, I don't think that Microsoft should be forced to do so, and I don't think it would be a good idea for them to allow it. When they implement HTML rendering that deeply in the operating system, then it's a critical matter of stability that they control the renderer for that HTML. For example, say I'm a user, and I install a renderer that Netscape has provided as a swap-in. There's a bug in that renderer, though, such that it can't deal with the HTML desktop that I've created; whenever I try to log in, the renderer chokes on the HTML, and crashes the login process. Microsoft shouldn't have to deal with this; it would be like if they allowed you to swap in a new kernel.

Lastly, I completely agree with (c) -- they should document all of their operating system, down to the little useless, legacy API functions that nobody uses.

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