However, as a web designer/developer, I can say for a fact that it is absolutely necessary, and it is Microsoft’s own damned fault that it has come to this. Practically every other browser is up to date, or at least trying to be, with recent web standards. Those that follow my work may have noticed that Listy.us makes use of a bit of CSS3 and is set up in HTML5 for future expansion. I would love to use all the latest bells and whistles of HTML5/CSS3. Full HTML5 support allows awesome web apps like Google Wave. CSS3, among other things, lets you do cool stuff like drop shadows and curved corners without messy hacks and semantics nightmares. I want to use these things, and I’d imagine most other developers and designers do as well. The web would be a better place.

The catch? 34% of my visitors use Internet Explorer. That’s 34% of users that see the site with hard square edges, slow javascript, funky css behaviors, etc. Of those 34%,  43% are still using IE6. IE6 doesn’t even support PNG transparency without a hack. As a lone developer trying to get a web app up to commercial viability, I find myself focusing on development and letting the site degrade nicely (or as well as possible) to IE users – it still works (as long as you have javascript enabled – risky in IE), it’s just not as pretty.

So, why is Google Chrome Frame a necessity? Because it fixes the problem. Because it lets all the IE users out there experience sites like Google Wave the way they’re meant to be experienced. It exists because of those 34% of users still using IE, those 34%*43% still using old-and-broken IE6. It’s Google’s way of saying “Well, crap, we’re ready to go. If you can’t get your browser up to speed, we’ll do it for you.”

I fully support it, and if MS doesn’t get their act together, I’ll be encouraging the use of Chrome Frame on my own projects.

Now, what can Microsoft do about it? Obviously Microsoft has no interest in prolonging the life of IE6, but supporting it until 2014 doesn’t do anyone a service. They’re even offering charitable donations for each upgrade from IE6 (personally, I would’ve skipped the background music, guys). The problem with continuing to support old-and-broken technology like IE6 is that folks like Google and Mozilla will begin to create products like Google Chrome Frame because the web is being held back by Internet Explorer.

I’ll bottom line it for Microsoft: It is next to impossible to find a web designer/developer that does not loathe Internet Explorer with every fiber of their being. This is a problem. It needs to be dealt with. The rapid growth of technology means you should not support an 8-year-old browser that has no business being used on modern websites. If you don’t deal with it, someone else will.

Some people are overly enthusiastic about Metaplace’s potential: MPMillionaire, for example, thinks it’s the next Google. It’s not the next Google, that comparison doesn’t really make sense. Google is about data, and MP is about experience and immersion.

What is it? It’s the content, it’s the browser, it’s the server. It’s another way of viewing the web. It’s what VRML tried to be, it’s what big metacontent apps like Second Life wish they were. It’s a supplement to how you experience an enormous wealth of information.

What Metaplace is, I think, is quite possibly the most accessible rich multiplayer experience available. My understanding is that shortly after open beta it’ll be embeddable in any site. This means you can have your own personal MMO. You can have virtual locations that people can walk through. You can do pretty much anything with a virtual world, then embed a window into that world on any website.

Picture, for example, a recruitment page for a university. As long as you have Flash and a login (MP accepts several ID providers), you can jump into a virtual world right on that page. Enter the world and you see buildings to represent different programs. Say you’re curious about a certain program. You walk to the building you want and you’re wisked off to the area for that building. There’s a representative inside—a real live person in a lecture hall setting, taking questions from anyone who shows up. They ask if you’d like to see a video for the program, and with approval they launch a video. It’s streaming from YouTube, into the projection screen on the hall’s stage. You can set up web links as piles of paper on the stage: One links to a PDF of your brochure, the other pops open an information request form.

Sounds cool, right? That’s not even an imaginitive use of the technology. Imagination is your limit, here: if you can think of it, and can put the effort in to develop it (or hire someone who can), it can probably be done. You can set up a world like the one mentioned above in maybe an hour, starting almost the second you sign up.

The really cool things, the things that’re going to make it really explode?

There’s almost zero barrier to entry, technologically or otherwise. The client they’ve developed is awesome, but you can develop your own – MP has done a great job of demonstrating that a Flash client can handle rich content provided by the worlds and reduce the entry barrier at the same time: If Flash is installed, you can jump into a Metaplace world with almost no effort.

There’s also almost no entry barrier to building new worlds. This is where most web based virtual world experiences fall down; it’s too difficult to create content. In Metaplace, a few tutorials bring you up to speed to the point of being able to build decent worlds in maybe 10 minutes. It’s insanely easy. Everything in your world is a link to a web resource, either on the Metaplace servers or hosted on your own.

The Metaplace team genuinely care about the application. When I asked about how their cashflow works, the overall responses seemed to imply that it’s a secondary concern. They seem to want to make sure it’s the most awesome experience out there, above all. All of the developers and artists can often be seen chatting with beta testers new and old. These folks love what they’ve created, and love what the beta players are creating.

So, the question is, will Metaplace really expode onto the web scene?

If I were a betting man, and it would seem by my recent life decisions that I am, I’d bet on it.