In doing so, Microsoft picked up nearly half of Web surfers. As of late 1998, Internet Explorer actually held a slight lead over Netscape Navigator, with about 44 percent of surfers using the former and 41 percent using the latter. And as browsers are being updated about every six months, there is no guarantee that a page will look the same from one version to the next of the same browser, or that special features will work on all versions. T o complicate matters, millions of Web surfers use America Online's unique browser. Other use lesser-known browsers such as the Opera browser from Europe.
T hat leaves Web producers in a bind.
On one hand, they want to offer the latest and greatest features on their pages. On the other, they want to make sure that most, if not all, of their visitors will actually see those features. Chances are you'll be disgusted and disappointed at seeing how ugly your well-crafted pages appear in some settings. But you should be able to draw lessons from the experience for the design of your site. For example, the 4.0 versions of Navigator and Internet offered support for Cascading Style Sheets, which allow for cleaner page design as well as easier access for viewers with visual disabilities.