If you have Navigator 4.0 and look at the example, you'll see that it's quite choppy. For each step in the zoom, a new server connection has to be established and the same image loaded again. That's why I've used setTimeout(); to force the browser to wait 10 milliseconds after each step. Otherwise, you never see the image until the final step.
The result is so disappointing and performance so poor, in fact, that after trying various progressively less elegant solutions (such as rotating through three separate layers), we "solved" the problem by discarding the zoom behavior for Netscape browsers entirely on our new front door.
Before you spam me with irate accusations that I must be sleeping with Bill Gates, let me assure you that I don't find Bill Gates at all attractive. Also, Navigator 4.0 has its pluses. For example, its error handling is much more useful than IE's. Quite simply, however, IE's DOM makes Netscape's <layer> tag seem little better than a Magic Slate.
Actually, Thau thinks both 4.0 browsers are like gilded birds with broken wings: They're plenty shiny, but neither one flies too well. He sees no reason the Web should become more television-like, especially to the detriment of plain old text-and-image Web surfing. I agree that the 4.0 browsers are way too big and clunky, cluttered with unnecessary features, but I think he's missing the point that, unlike television, anyone can author a Web page. Any tools that give Web authors more power (and dynamic HTML is a significant advance) are welcome.
