October '97 Reader Survey Results

t seems the whole OS/2 world is buzzing about web browsers lately. One group is fervently demanding that IBM/Netscape release the 128 bit encryption version of Netscape Navigator for OS/2 (which IBM has available but refuses to release). Another group is equally loudly asking what the delay with Netscape Communicator is (the estimated release date keeps getting pushed back). And then there is the group that wants to wash their hands of Netscape altogether in favour of what they hope is a simpler, more compact web browsing solution: Opera. (Not to mention the group who is happy using Internet Adventurer or other web browsers!)

Among all these competing voices, one person wrote in last month to ask us to try to clear up some of this confusion. Thom Davis, maintainer of The Confederate BBs and The OS/2 BookStore, suggested we find out exactly what OS/2ers really want in a browser, so we did just that. Last month we asked, "What do you think about web browsers?"

Answers to our survey were accepted from October 16th until November 13th. We had a total of 1,968 replies to our questionnaire with 59 "spoiled" entries (replies were considered "spoiled" if they did not contain an e-mail address, if they were incomplete or if they were duplicates). This left 1,909 valid replies. The results were as follows:

Should web browsers have news & mail functions?

Thom's real curiosity on the subject of web browsers was whether or not users wanted Usenet news and e-mail clients built into the web browser they used. It seems that OS/2 users in general prefer the established strategy of Netscape and the other giants of the industry. More than one in three (34.2%) readers surveyed reported that they prefer their web browser with news and mail reading capabilities built in. Another 27.3% said that news and mail should be add-on applications to the browser, preferring a more modular approach.

However, the "no" forces should not be dismissed. A significant amount of our readers (17.9%) felt that news and mail abilities had no place whatsoever in a web browser. Clearly there are real numbers of OS/2 users who are tired of "bloatware" and prefer to choose individual tools for each task.

Do you want Communicator for OS/2?

As a slight variation on our first question, we also asked whether OS/2 users wanted the new Netscape Communicator suite at all. Not surprisingly, given many people's natural desire for the latest and greatest products -- and considering the less than stellar performance of the current Netscape Navigator for OS/2 -- nearly all our readers (93.1%) told us that they want all or part of the new Communicator suite. The largest segment of that group (at 42.4%) wants the entire suite but 30.9% went the other way, wanting only the new web browser.

Even more convincing than the number of people who wanted an upgrade though, were the number who didn't. Scarcely a soul could be found who didn't want at least some sort of an upgrade, with only 3.7% of our readers reporting they were happy with whatever browser they were currently using.

Does OS/2 need more than one web browser?

Our final question last month turned out to be a no brainer. While Netscape may bemoan the competition from Microsoft in the "browser wars" on other platforms, it seems that OS/2ers feel similar competition here would be a good thing. Only 5.5% of our readers didn't think competition would benefit them (or didn't care), while a whopping 94.5% either thought it would, or that it might.

This could be good news for the folks at Opera Software and their "Project Magic" campaign which is centered around trying to generate enough interest in alternate platform versions of their WWW browser.

That's it for this month. Don't forget to fill out this month's questionnaire and check back in December for complete results!

Complete October '97 Survey Results

Should web browsers have news & mail functions?

Category	Count	Percentage
News and Mail should be built in	652	34.2%
News and Mail should be plug-ins	296	15.5%
News and Mail should be add-on apps	522	27.3%
News and Mail should NOT be included	341	17.9%
I don't understand the question	1	0.1%
I'm undecided	97	5.1%
TOTAL	1,909	100.1%

Note: the extra 0.1% in the above table is due to rounding errors.

Do you want Communicator for OS/2?

Category	Count	Percentage
Yes, I want the whole suite	829	43.4%
I want parts of the Communicator suite	358	18.8%
I only want the new version of Navigator	590	30.9%
No, I'm happy with Navigator/2 v2.02	55	2.9%
No, I use a non-Netscape browser	16	0.8%
I'm confused, what's Communicator?	40	2.1%
I don't have any opinion	21	1.1%
TOTAL	1,909	100.0%

Does OS/2 need more than one web browser?

Category	Count	Percentage
Definitely, competition breeds efficiency	1,285	67.3%
Maybe, it couldn't hurt	519	27.2%
No, that won't help anyone	104	5.4%
I don't care about web browsers	1	0.1%
TOTAL	1,909	100.0%