An Architect's View

4 responses so far ↓

• 1 Dan Switzer // Sep 8, 2004 at 5:04 PM

  One thing to keep in mind, iRider is just Internet Explorer with a different UI shell. The actual browsing component is Microsoft's Internet Explorer. I don't really consider programs like this an actual browser (since they have no rendering engine of their own,) instead I consider this a fancy skin. <br /><br />That said, this program does have some interesting features...

• 2 seancorfield // Sep 8, 2004 at 5:04 PM

  I'm sure there's a lot of IE users who - in the face of Microsoft's decision to cease development of IE - might pay for the features that IE doesn't have (and, frankly, that are present to some degree in almost every non-IE browser!).

• 3 Dan Switzer // Sep 8, 2004 at 5:04 PM

  True, I just wanted to point this out for clarity sake. Since it's based on the version of IE you have installed, the render engine is going to function just like IE. <br /><br />I'm assuming their not doing anything to modify the actual "rendering" since they claim the product will work w/IE 4 and up.<br /><br />I just think it's important that people realize this isn't a new rendering engine--so while they may be able to add features to help organize your favorites and help you surf the net, it's not going to do anything to fix portions of IE that aren't compliant to the W3C spec.<br /><br />With that said, if the company makes enough money off the product, they may decide to invest in creating their own rendering engine.<br /><br />(PS - I'm actually a fan of IE, although I'm disappointed in the direction MS seems to be going with. Hopefully AOL's recent decision doesn't kill the future of browser altogether--Mozilla's making good strides.)

• 4 Kurt Meyer // Sep 8, 2004 at 5:04 PM

  Thanks for confirming a hunch that I had, Dan. I was wondering whether iRider was really a true browser since it shares the same internet options as MSIE. I'll stick with Mozilla.

Leave a Comment