Microsoft has posted an interesting fact sheet about Dynamic HTML, a feature in
the upcoming Internet Explorer 4.0 product that is based onproposals to the W3C.
Unlike the proprietary tags in Netscape Communicator, such as LAYER, ILAYER, and
COLS, which have been rejected by the W3C, all of the features in Dynamic HTML
are being developed in collaboration with the W3C. This puts Microsoft in the
odd position of being a more "open" than Netscape in its implementation of Web
technology. Additionally, Netscape is offering a feature called "JavaScript
Accessible Style Sheets" (JASS) which the company erroneously calls "Dynamic
HTML," further muddying the waters: in reality, JASS allows content and styles
to be updated only at load time. Thus, they are not truly "dynamic."
The
interesting thing about Dynamic HTML is that it allows the content of a page to
change after the page has downloaded to the user's browser in response to
user actions. You can show, hide, or change elements at any time, specify the X,
and Y coordinates and Z-order of any elements at anytime, and change the content
and structure of the page at any time.
So what did I get out this? Am I sold
on the wonders of Dynamic HTML and full of pro-Microsoft feel-good? Not quite.
What I got out of this, especially as a Webmaster and Web developer, is that
there is something rotten in Mountain View:
Netscape should be strongly
admonished for taking the time to do anything that circumvents technology that's
already been accepted by the W3C when such proposals already offer solutions to
the problems they are now wasting time trying to fix. The day and age of the
proprietary tag is over: Webmasters want their pages to look right and perform
well in all browsers, and Netscape's dinosaur tactics just make them look
foolish and out of touch. Netscape has committed the ultimate sin, the same sin
Microsoft committed when it released Outlook 97: they are treating their
customers and users like idiots.
And we resent it. A lot.
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Dynamic HTML Fact
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Dynamic
HTML Fact Sheet (Word DOC version)
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