Re: Netscape 2.0 beta MS windows 95 virus

For all those who content-negotiate based on user-agent (ick! ptooey!) 
you'll love this.

	Brian



>From jtara@connectnet.com Sat Nov  4 18:30:03 PST 1995
Article: 1550 of comp.infosystems.www.advocacy
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From: jtara@connectnet.com (Jon Tara)
Newsgroups: comp.infosystems.www.advocacy,comp.windows.x.apps
Subject: Re: Netscape 2.0 beta MS windows 95 virus
Date: Sat, 04 Nov 1995 08:02:15 GMT
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Brian Modra <bmodra@lands.sa.gov.au> wrote:

>Well, MS Windows 95 is infecting Netscape 2.0 beta. Look at the
>way Netscape 2.0 for UNIX provides an extremely user-friendly Win95
>look-alike list widget for news and mail. I like it, and wonder how they
>did it.

Don't look now, but, in turn, Netscape is now infecting the latest
(2.0b2) version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer!

See for yourself - here is the HTTP_USER_AGENT string returned by
Internet Explorer 2.0b2:

HTTP_USER_AGENT = Mozilla/1.22 (compatible; MSIE 2.0B; Windows 95)

I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

The joke is on Microsoft, though, as they DON'T support all of the
features of Netscape 1.22. Notibly absent is server push support. A
user going to my home page (http://live.net/sandiego) will encounter
my Netscape Commerce Server NSAPI function that will direct the
request to a special Netscape 1.1+ page - but instead of a server push
of San Diego Bay, the user will see... an empty box!  I suppose this
is OK for pages where server push is incidental, but there are some
where it is the main feature.

I DO provide an alternative for people who don't have Netscape (and a
third alternative for those with Netscape 2.0) and it's all automatic.
At least it was, until Microsoft started clowning-around with their
browser ID.

Until now, I'd been considering adding a fourth home page for users of
Microsoft Internet explorer. But as of this weekend, I will be using
the *entire* HTTP_USER_AGENT string. Users of NSIE 2.0B will be out of
luck, as all they will get is a page asking them to contact Microsoft
about correcting their browser identification.


________________________________________________________________________
jtara@live.net  A new video clip (Netscape 1.1+) of San Diego Bay every half hour:
 <URL:http://live.net/sandiego/> Rated top 5% & "best 1000" by Point Communications
jtara@mediashare.com Tools and services for CD-ROM and online catalogs:
 <URL:http://www.mediashare.com/> Also rated top 5% by Point Communications

 





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Received on Saturday, 4 November 1995 21:58:46 UTC