[Erwin]

Originally Posted by AlexanderT

This is not making sense. First, why should nobody be using .htaccess?

Second, how does mod_rewrite be an alternative to .htaccess? mod_rewrite is a module that uses a rule-based rewriting engine to rewrite requested URLs on the fly. .htaccess USES mod_rewrite when it comes to parsing rewrite rules within .htaccess. But .htaccess is more; it allows you to set access rules in a per-directory context. How would you do that with mod_rewrite?

You can specify each directory in httpd.conf with respect to rules. Trust me, it will reduce your server load if you have heavy web access. In any case, feel free to research this yourself - don't take my word for it.