Browser Checkup alpha announcement

Kevin Altis (altis@city.net)
Mon, 9 Jan 1995 18:35:36 +0100

I've created a new CGI tool called Browser Checkup to help identify the old
versions of the various browsers in use and lead users to the correct spot
on the Net (if any) to get the latest version. So, with each user having a
regular "checkup" we can hopefully make the web a more up-to-date place.
This is still alpha, but check out <http://www.city.net/checkup.cgi>. The
URL, name and metaphor will probably change, but the basic program seems to
work. As I get more information from you the browser developers, I'll
support more browsers. I'm going to add an automatic check to the City.Net
home page as part of the testing stage, so when I detect somebody using an
old browser, I'll add a little note at the top of the HTML. Hopefully, this
will help over time to weed out all the users of old buggy browsers and
keep them in step with each new version of your software. Comments are most
welcome, but please send them directly to me, altis@city.net rather than
replying to the whole list.

I won't publically announce "Browser Checkup", except to this list, for at
least two weeks. Feedback prior to that time is much appreciated. You'll
want to access the URL with both old and new versions of your browser to
see the various results.

---
If you're a browser developer you can help me out by sending the following
information:


Browser name:
Platform:
Latest version #:
Latest release date:
URL to the home page for the browser and/or sites to get the latest version:
Example User-agent fields from both old and new versions of your browser:


I would also like to maintain a *short* paragraph of information on bug
fixes, new features (FORMs, TABLEs, etc.) in the latest release of your
browser as an incentive to get people to upgrade. If you have that kind of
information, pass it along.

---


Thanks,


ka


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kevin Altis                     3531 SE 11th Ave.
City Net Express                Portland, Oregon 97202
Internet: altis@city.net        503-232-9193
     http://www.city.net/cnx/kevin_altis/home.html