Network: Web Design - The events that shaped the Web in 1998

IF THE Web in 1997 was about the explosive growth of the online population, the Web in 1998 was about creating sites that all the visitors to the Web could actual use.

There have been several astounding and unpredictable changes in the field of Web design, but there have also been more than a few faits accomplis as the Web evolved to meet the growing demands of an increasingly diverse population. Let's look back at the events from 1998 that shaped the Web as we know it today.

The Browsers

Like the year before, the two big players in the browser business were Netscape's Navigator (www.netscape.com) and Microsoft's Internet Explorer (www.microsoft.com). Both browsers started 1998 with their 4.0 versions going head to head, with some modifications over the course of the year, but no monumental changes. Web designers still struggled to master all of the new powers at their disposal while keeping an eye on the older browsers commonly in use.

Yet in 1998 the tide turned on Netscape as it continued to lose market share to Microsoft. Netscape tried several tactics to plug the leak, including giving away not only its browser but also the code used to create it (www.independent. co.uk/net/980407ne/story5.html. However, in the end, Netscape would have to sell itself to AOL (let's not forget that that stands for America Online) to stay in the game (www.independent.co.uk/net/981130ne/story6.html). There is no question that this will have an impact on Web design as the "killer-app" which put the Web on the map is subsumed by another company with deeper pockets.

Microsoft was not without it's own problems with Internet Explorer, but these were of a legal nature when the US government accused the company that Bill Gates built of illegally using its operating system to force its browser into the homes of every PC owner. This case has yet to be settled, and may drag on well into 1999 before we even get a preliminary decision out of the US legal system.

But 1998 also saw the emergence of a significant alternative to the big two browsers. Although developed in 1994, the Opera browser (www.operasoftware.com) came to the attention of a wider audience this year as more and more users became disenchanted with the browser wars (www.independent.co.uk/net/980526ne/story4.html). Although far from perfect, Opera claims to adhere to the standards being set down by the World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3c.org), which is something all Web designers can appreciate.

Languages and Standards

This year saw an explosion in the number of standards being worked on by the W3C, some of which will impact Web design in the near future and some of which, well, we'll just have to wait and see. The most significant standard to be proposed - if not actually implemented in a browser yet - is the new HTML 4.0 standard (www.independent.co.uk/net/980120ne/story4.html). HTML 4.0 was supposed to revolutionise the way we create Web pages. However, over a year after its introduction, it is still just a good idea. Why? Well, there are two problems: none of the browsers have implemented this standard and, even if both browsers did use it, there would still be a significant population of older browsers which can not use this new technology. These problems are a reoccurring theme with new Web technologies.

Cascading Style Sheets (www.independent.co.uk/net/980407ne/story8.html) had been around as a standard proposed by the W3C for a while, but it was not until last year that it became a household (the Web house, that is) word. Ironically, it was not because of the power CSS has to layout text on the Web - which is what it was actually designed to do - but because of a much glitzier concept: Dynamic HTML (www.independent.co.uk/net/980706ne/story6.html). CSS is the cornerstone of DHTML, and, when combined with JavaScript can be used to do some really cool things. DHTML has been growing in popularity this year after a shaky start in 1997. But it does have some competition.

Macromedia introduced the Flash and the Flash plug-in (www.macromedia.com/software/flash/) to allow Web designers the freedom of using vector-based graphics and to create more "dynamic" Web pages (www.independent.co.uk /net/980727ne/story4.html). It has taken off in a big way. Despite its reliance on a browser plug- in, several big name sites, such as Dreamworks Records (www.dreamworksrecords. com/), have built their sites entirely around Flash technology. Flash might well be the future of design on the Web, especially after Macromedia proposed it as a standard.

Software

After years of waiting, software specially designed for the creation of Web graphics was released (www.independent.co.uk/net/980817ne/story5.html) in 1998.

In fact, not one, not two, but three packages tailored to the needs of Web designers came from the three major graphic software companies: Adobe's Image Ready (www.adobe. com/prodindex/ imageready/ main.html), Macromedia's FireWorks (www. macromedia.com/software/fireworks/) and MetaCreation's Painter 5.5 Web Edition (www.metacreations.com/products/painter55/Painter55.html).

These programs all offer special features geared towards the optimal creation of attractive, yet fast-downloading Web graphics. That said, Adobe's Photoshop still reigns supreme as the graphics program of choice for most professional Web designers and there is little sign that this will change.

Last year also saw the evolution of software used to create Web sites. GoLive's CyberStudio (www.golive.com) came out with its 3.0 version, which included DHTML capabilities, while Macromedia released the 2.0 version of DreamWeaver (www.macromedia.com/software/dreamweaver/). DreamWeaver, in fact, started out as a program specifically designed for the creation of DHTML and matured this year by integrating Allaire's Homesite HTML editor (www.allaire.com) for its Window's version and BBEdit (www.bbedit.com) for its Mac version.

Web Design in 1999?

Well, if we listened to everyone who thought they knew what the future was going to be like in 1999 we should be expecting Moon Base Alpha to be breaking out of orbit and start tearing across the galaxy any minute now.

But, alas, Space 1999 has not happened, and I can't promise that any predictions I could make here would be any more accurate. I can say with some certainty that we will be seeing new 5.0 browsers released before the middle of the year by both Netscape and Microsoft.

Unfortunately, however, I can also guarantee that Web designers will continue to create sites for a growing multitude of different browsers, each one with its own capabilities and quirks.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

E-mail comments or queries to Jason Cranford Teague at indy_webdesign@mindspring.com