// -- which browser?
function makeObject() { var x; var browser = navigator.appName; 
 if(browser == "Microsoft Internet Explorer") { x = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); // IE
 }else{ x = new XMLHttpRequest(); } // FireFox, Opera, Safari, etc
 return x;
}
var request = makeObject();

function info() {
 request.open('get', 'pics.php?id=' + document.showpics.from.selectedIndex);
 request.onreadystatechange = parseInfo; 
 request.send('');
}

function parseInfo() {
 // -- loading...
 if(request.readyState == 1) { document.getElementById('pics').innerHTML= "<font color='#999999'>*Loading*</font>"; }
 // -- loaded
 if(request.readyState == 4) { document.getElementById('pics').innerHTML= request.responseText; }
}