Posted on 01/04/2005 4:26:26 PM PST by Coleus
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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.
Yes and no: Blake Edwards, born William Blake McEdwards.
bump
and there is the genius of Gates.
He had the vision to see what was to come, got there first,made,bought,stoled,depending on ones point of view,a great product,and now he owns the market.
Free products like Firefox keeps Interent Explorer free.
It's good to have a big American software corporation to compete against the rest of the world. If Microsoft were owned by anyone else and had as huge a monopoly, then I would want and demand more competition. If other countries could hold a monopoly over anyone else, with like let's say oil, then they would make others pay through the nose. I guess that's how OPEC treats Europe. Thus, it's good to have an American Microsoft. Knowing that it's good and important to have a big American Corporation that exerts so much influence, I can understand more and more why anti-Americans (like American ultra-leftists) absolutely hate Microsoft even though Bill Gates is a solidly left-of-center guy in politics.
I switched to Firefox a few weeks ago on the advice of several Freepers. Smartest Web move I've ever done. I LOVE Firefox.
I just did a Spyware Sweep and it showed only 6 spywares for a period of over a week. Before Firefox I would have had at least 2 dozen spywares in that same timeframe.
If they drop below 50%, then they lose a lot of that. And thats worth a lot.
Nonsense. Content is all that matters - not the container for the content.
Netscape controlled the browsers "market" and at one time Netscape had a better product. Microsoft started from the position of 0% and cleaned Netscape's clock but good.
Microsoft makes its money on operating systems, development environments, and services to provide web content (as well as office software). If everybody was using FireFox, Microsoft will make the same amount of money.
Content is king, not the thing that displays the content.
Let's review:
Amount Microsoft made off of IE last year: $0,000.00
Amount FireFox dude will make if every human downloads a copy of FireFox: $0,000.00
Do you elect to open it or to save it to your computer?
It was 17 years ago.
But I digress...
Just last Friday I spent the evening cleaning spyware and other junk out of a friend's computer. (Internet Exploder was lifting its skirt for anyone and anything on the Internet.) Once I was done, I installed Firefox and threatened bodily harm if they use the 'net slut again.
Browsers are pretty "lite" applications - good for it, FireFox will not make your computer overweight (it is will inherit all your links from IE - now that is cool). Truth is for general Internet browsing or if you venture into the outer limits of the net you are far better off using FireFox because it is not currently targeted by the cretins that write spyware, hijackers, and viruses
And that reason is CONTENT. CONTENT - CONTENT - CONTENT.
Microsoft did not clean Netscape's clock just for the fun of it. Microsoft saw the big picture. The browser needed to be expanded so it could provide more CONTENT! Microsoft makes it money off the tools to create and provide content. For FireFox to make a real dent in the browsers "market" - it will have to support all the Content. Microsoft makes its money off of the tools to create and provide content. Microsoft will make the same amount of money if everybody used FireFox.
You are not employed by Microsoft are you?
Nope. I have just been in the soft engineering industry for over 25 years. I have learned to tell the difference between reality and foo foo dust.
If it makes no sense for a student to go to all that trouble for zero profit, why would a publicly held company do it?
CONTENT - CONTENT - CONTENT!!!!!!!
Microsoft makes its money off of tools to create and deliver content. They make no money off of the device that displays the content.
He sounded like he was willing to pay for it. You probably could have sold him that link for $25.00 or more.
I wonder if he is interested in an office productivity suite? Maybe I can sell him a link to download OpenOffice.
Not at all. IE comes with Windows and runs under Windows.
Is door handle synonymous with house?
Probably the convinience of tabbed browsing that bothers you. Microsoft has even admitted that some of their employees use Mozilla.
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