Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : MSFT Internet Explorer vs. NSCP Navigator -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bearded One who wrote (19063)	5/14/1998 3:27:00 PM
From: Dermot Burke	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

Bearded- great post.That is why I like the open source move at this juncture. Have you noticed the communicator voice mail ? This was just released .

To: Bearded One who wrote (19063)	5/14/1998 3:30:00 PM
From: Daniel Schuh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24154

Bearded One, you're getting into one of these "context" problems. There was an NYT article from a few months back, about "integration" and "modularity", and how Microsoft will claim whichever is advantageous to the business plan in any particular situation. I occasionally allude back to with the ironic "it's so modular, it's integrated!", or vice versa. My between the lines reading during the tortured consent decree proceedings was that IE wasn't badly designed ( in terms of arbitrary entanglement with the system), as I had once thought. There's probably some lumping stuff together in dll's that shouldn't be, but that problem could be easily fixed. Of course, no matter how "modular" IE is, invoking the code in different contexts will lead to interactions you wouldn't see if it were "just a browser", and that could lead to odd consequences. There were also stories about how IE5 was going to be more concise, less bloated. Who knows, I don't know if anybody outside of Microsoft can really say what goes on. Somebody point me to some (current) references on how Windows really works, internally, I'd go off and read up on it. There was ntinternals.com, but first they got censored, then they got their domain name lawyerized out of existence. Leave the lawyers out of it! the Microsofties cry. Hahaha. Looking back at your message, though, there is a basic problem with "integration", that is, the intentional blurring of application and system code. Apps should be apps, they can mess themselves up but they shouldn't be capable of messing up anything else. Depending on what "integrated with the OS" means, that may not be the case with IE. If nothing else, it's bizarre that if you install IE4, installing IE3 on top of it will hose your system. Cheers, Dan.

To: Bearded One who wrote (19063)	5/14/1998 11:41:00 PM
From: Pink Minion	Respond to of 24154

Integration is the opposite of object-oriented design. Two items are integrated if when one changes, the other is affected. Tracking and compensating for changes is a primary problem in software development and debugging. This is why software gets bloated. MS doesn't have a monopoly on bloated software. In the Dilbert world you clone the software instead of trying to get your code to work with it, especially if it means "teaming" with another department. When will the lawyers figure out they can sue for this crappy software that doesn't work as advertised? Maybe the Y2K will give them a clue. Mr. B

To: Bearded One who wrote (19063)	5/15/1998 9:15:00 AM
From: Thure Meyer	Respond to of 24154

Bearded One, I think that's the correct argument. Also, NT 5 and beyond must be turning into a nightmare for Microsoft for the same reasons. At some point the ability to co-ordinate all this (including 3rd party applications) will grind them down. The only think keeping them afloat (IMO) is Excel, Word and PowerPoint which have become the unholy trio of corporate PC computing. What is needed probably is applet based tools with well defined document formats. Hopefully web based interaction will overcome the built in MS inertia in applications as well. Thure