Posted on 01/04/2005 4:26:26 PM PST by Coleus
|
|
 |
|
|
Is this internet prodigy about to knock Microsoft off its pedestal? A Miami teenager has created a free web browser that has been called Bill Gates's worst nightmare |
A MIAMI teenager is basking in the glory of helping to create a new internet browser at 17 that is now challenging the grip of Microsoft, which once held a virtual monopoly on web surfing.
Computer analysts say that Blake Ross’s browser, Firefox, is a faster, more versatile program that also offers better protection from viruses and unwanted advertising.
Industry experts have dubbed the new software “Microsoft’s worst nightmare”, according to the technology magazine Business 2.0. It hailed Mr Ross, now 19, as a software prodigy. He is also a talented pianist and “an unbelievable creative writer”, according to his mother, Ross. “Anything he does, he does well,” she said.
As a seven-year-old Mr Ross became hooked on the popular computer game SimCity, designing and budgeting his own virtual city. By 10, he had created his own website. He later created his own computer applications and online text games.Soon he was reporting computer software flaws to manufacturers online.
At 14 he was offered an internship at Netscape in Silicon Valley. His mother drove him out to California for three summers in succession.
At Netscape, Mr Ross was introduced to the Mozilla Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes “choice and innovation on the web”.
Mozilla was already trying to develop an open-source alternative browser to Microsoft’s Explorer, which many analysts felt had grown clumsy and outdated. Mr Ross and his friend David Hyatt began working on a small, user-focused browser. What began as an experimental side-project turned into Firefox.
Mr Ross is quick to point out that he was one of a large team at Mozilla who worked on the project for five years. “It’s a big volunteer effort,” he said. In fact, the pair left before the work was completed, but Mozilla credits them with making the breakthrough. After he left to go to university, Mr Ross continued to be a “significant contributor”, according to Mozilla.
The task involved throwing out all the old codes and rewriting the entire system so it would support all websites on the internet. While Firefox still has a long way to go to rival Microsoft, it seems to be catching on. Firefox has received dazzling reviews from industry analysts. Recently some 10,000 Firefox fans raised $250,000 (£131,000) to take out a two-page advertisement in The New York Times. It is not just in dividual users who are taking interest. In December, the information technology department at Pennsylvania State University sent a note to college deans recommending that the entire 100,000-strong staff, faculty and student body switch to Firefox.
Mr Ross, now a student at Stanford University studying computer science, is taking it all in his stride. As a volunteer on an open-source product, there was no financial reward.
Microsoft professes to be unfazed. Windows executive Gary Schare said: “We’re seeing the natural ebb and flow of a competitive marketplace with new products being introduced. It’s not surprising to see curious early adopters checking them out.”
Not content with making a huge dent in Microsoft’s browser share, Mozilla, the foundation behind Firefox, is also going after Microsoft’s Outlook and other e-mail packages.
Called Thunderbird 1.0, the package works on Windows, Macintosh and Linux and has been praised by the industry and press for finally offering a challenge to Microsoft’s dominance in the e-mail arena.
The software provides a number of features which other packages are struggling to offer. Key features include e-mail junk filters that analyse and sort incoming mail and greater security elements.
Blake? That's a first name for someone?
That's the 'in' thing to do--give your kid a surname as a first name, or, as another freeper calls it--a "soap opera name".
Thanks to recommendations of freepers, I switched to Firefox a couple months ago and LOVE IT! Not only is it troublefree so far, my spyware shows it has decreased spyware being picked up by more than 90%.
I skimmed through the article. Where did you get Firefox? How much did it cost? I'm about sick of Windows.
This is impossible! Microsoft has a monopoly! The Clinton Administration said so!
Boy this free software war is getting intense! Sombody's going to lose...well...nothing!
I also agree. Thanks to the others on FreeRepublic, I gained confidence and downloaded FireFox. It is an incredibly sweet browser and within the first five minutes, it became our DEFAULT browser.
Here ya' go:
http://www.mozilla.org/
Well, just do a google search for FireFox and download it from their website. The program imports all your bookmarks from IE. Sorry I did not give you a URL.
A new O.S. to rival windows may cause some concern,but I don't see that happening.
I use Netscape for the email package mainly. I'll wait for Firefox's email program to come out to try it. I HATE OUTLOOK!
Browser war ended years ago - nobody cares and there is nothing to gain
They give FireFox away for free - if every American got a copy of FireFox this guy would make zero dollars. Some clown actually thinks Bill Gates is losing sleep over this?
If this guy wants to "knock Microsoft off its pedestal" he might consider creating something he does not give away for free. Reinventing the wheel is not that exciting - no matter how cool the new wheel is.
BTW: I use FireFox. I like it. From what I understand it currently has CSS problems so it is not a business contender.
Microsoft's success is not build on the browser they give away for free.
In the late-90's Linux was going to knock Microsoft off its pedestal (funny how the free software model never really works out as planned)
I used Firefox and I got a bigger, firmer, better quality web surfing experience.
I'm a waste.
I installed Firefox two weeks ago and have never used IE since. I no longer worry about the security problems and most especially the hated pop-ups that frequently occured with IE. Also the abominable hijacking and re-routing of websites have now stopped.
The nice thing about Firefox is you can use it just like IE, no programing knowledge required. But much safer and with some nice features like the tabbed pages.
Go to http://www.spreadfirefox.com/ and click on the "Get Firefox" button.
Ed:-)
Edgewood, MD?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
