ZDNet UK and All Points Blog are reporting that Autodesk intends to add support for the popular open source web browser Firefox to the next release of Autodesk MapGuide. If confirmed by Autodesk, it would be the company's first product to offer full support for any web browser beyond Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE).
Writing in an online support forum in July, Autodesk employee Scott Sheppard said the official Autodesk policy was still IE-only. "The data we collect suggests that Internet Explorer is still widely prevalent. Based on Autodesk's partnership with Microsoft, the Autodesk DWF Viewer and Autodesk DWF Composer leverage the latest and greatest technologies from Internet Explorer. Although it is possible for Autodesk to support other browsers, it does involve a fair amount of work. For example, Autodesk and Apple are undertaking that work for the Macintosh. There are a fair number of Macintosh users who wish to view DWF files. The Firefox/Mozilla customer base has not yet reached a similar critical mass."
Autodesk is generally reluctant to discuss details about new products outside its annual release cycle, starting with press day at Autodesk University in December and ending with product launches in March. Web-specific functionality in Autodesk products (and in the competition's products) is generally highly dependent on ActiveX technology, supported only in IE. These products were web-enabled in an era when Microsoft's proprietary tendencies extended to the web. Microsoft's newer web initiatives seems to be embracing open standards more, but it takes years for such changes to fully ripple through the Windows-based software infrastructure.
--RSN