The Browser (or rather, The Browsers)

If you’re like me who’s wired to the internet or the corporate LAN all the time, it might come as a shock that you’re computer is no longer the hardware you’re supposed to have.  It’s just a conduit, or worse, you can think of it as just the viewing end.

The computer is now the browser.

A lot of effort is now on software as a service (SAAS) for the corporate world.  What regular internet users have not noticed is that it already exists.  And the interface of choice for the user is the browser.  

A few years back, every network or groupware had to have each own client on the desktop.  There are email clients, sales clients, accounting packages, which all reside on the desktop connecting to the server.  But with faster internet access, the server could now be located anywhere.  In fact, the server might not even owned by the company.  

The same services being used by small companies and small office/ home office setups are now being used by larger companies as well.  Nowadays, even home users, consumers and regular people are using the same services as companies large and small.

And all of these client software all run through the browser.  The advantage of using the browser as the platform is fairly obvious if you’re thinking of remote installation for an indeterminate number of clients:  no more install software, or installation program to propagate to the user.  The program only needs to run on the browser and the user is off and running, connected with his application being served data from a server located somewhere on the globe.

In much the same manner that Java is not just a programming language but a platform, same with all of these internet-based groupware and productivity tools.  They run on a platform and the platform is the browser.  For the most part, the user is not dependent on any other software on the PC.  Or, rather, not dependent on any pre-existing software on the PC.  If it isn’t loaded yet, he will be prompted to load it.  And it also doesn’t matter what OS is being used, as long as the minimum requirements for the browser are met.

I have two computers running side-by-side.  And I sidle from one to the other.  One is on Windows XP and the other is on Ubuntu Linux.  And if needed, these two PCs access the same sites with different users and sharing the same data with others all across the net.  But seriously, it doesn’t matter what the PC hardware or OS is installed, as long as the browser is there.  And for the most part, it doesn’t matter either what browser is installed.

For testing purposes, I use the more popular browsers, except for Internet Explorer.  I have Safari, Opera, Firefox, Chrome and Netscape on the XP.  On the Linux, I have Opera and Firefox.  If for some reason one feature is not available on a particular browser, I try to remember not to use it for that purpose.

Another reason I have a wide array of browsers is because of the plug-ins and toolbars.  I need one browser with a particular toolbar.  And I don’t want that toolbar on any other browsers. But besides that, the browsers are all practically the same in my use and opinion.