10 of the good and bad points of this year on the Web:

- Rise in Broadband Internet as more UK households sign-up
- Shopping on the Web up by 50%

- Growth of blogging, podcasting and other forms of personal expression and social networking on the Web
- Commercial music download sites become a big success
- Firefox browser becomes the popular, safer alternative to Internet Explorer
- Google grows and offers video, mapping, blogging and messaging services, helping to drive innovation on the Web
- Collapse of several computer retailers including Tiny and Time
- E-mail scammers take advantage of Hurricane Katrina and Tsunami disasters
- New filesharing and copyright laws endanger consumer rights, and Sony CD protection causes security fears
- Hot Coffee mod controversy threatens the future of game modding

10 predictions for what might happen in 2006:

- Increased broadband speeds mean watching TV and movies on the Web will become more common
- Internet telephony, using the Internet to make phone calls, will increase
- More homes will switch to Wireless Networking for their Web access
- Open Source programs will become more popular as people seek free, adaptable alternatives to expensive programs
- Traditional software will start to be replaced by Web-based services and programs
- More companies and users will switch to safer browsers such as Firefox until Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 7 which it claims will be more secure
- Release of the Windows Vista operating system from Microsoft
- Using the Web for social networking, blogging and podcasting will become the focus for many users
- Sites will become more interactive with more consumer defined content
- More focus on accessibility and standards for web sites

Have a happy new year!