Only three years and five months after the final version of Internet Explorer 6.0 was released by Microsoft, NMCI has bravely stepped up to the risky precipice and decided to issue the world's most popular browser to its customers.
Users at several sites across the country received update notices this week stating that the software will be pushed to their computers. Other sites have already received the "new" browser either through a pilot program or via official push.
It is unknown if all users will get the bleeding edge "SP1" version (circa September 2002) or whether EDS will play it safe and go with the older 6.0 Final (circa October 2001). We can only assume the pushed version will contain the dozens of security patches released by Microsoft over the past three years.
Speculation amongst IT experts suggests that perhaps EDS required the past three years to figure out how to adulterate the title bar of IE 6.0 to read, "Microsoft Internet Explorer provided by Navy Marine Corps Intranet."
Users are breathlessly awaiting upgrades to the alternate browser installed on their desktops: Netscape Version 4.7, released September 1999. Although the currently installed Netscape makes for an interesting browsing experience, users who are used to new-fangled additions like cascading style sheets and XHTML would welcome a Netscape suite that was released in the current century. Firefox would be a welcome addition or replacement for Netscape.
