In yet another interesting turn of events, two of the biggest issues when it comes to web design and development make way for the newer, better versions of themselves.
Goodbye, IE6!
Asa Dotzler of Mozilla reports that IE6 usage has now been overtaken by IE8, based on the browser tracking data from Net Applications. This happened as recently as June 2009.
Of course, specific demographics on your respective websites will vary, but this trend is a sign of things to come. And we’re not talking about years anymore, but months.
I’d have to commend Internet Explorer team on their great marketing efforts to improve the IE8 adoption rate. Even if Microsoft’s latest browser is up to snuff compared to the likes of Firefox, WebKit (Safari/Chrome), and Opera—see these comparison charts for HTML5—it’s a big step.
This is it, guys. Freedom.
Goodbye, XHTML2!
Slashdot reports that the XHTML2 Working Group charter is expiring by the end of 2009, and it will not be renewed. The W3C has also decided to pour more resources into the HTML5 working group.
Those who weren’t paying attention to this seeming sibling rivalry between XHTML2 and HTML5 can now rest easy. Though I’m not sure if XHTML2 ever stood a chance given how all the web gurus were backing HTML5 as early as last year. Google is on board, too. And everybody else is starting cash in on its growing popularity.
The good thing about XTHML was that it enforced well-formed markup, with strict provisions for lowercase code, quoted attributes, and trailing slashes for empty elements. Thankfully HTML5 this coding convention too, and can be served as a serialized XML document dubbed XHTML5.
At least we wouldn’t be forced to choose between the two anymore. Competition is good, but not here. We need standards.
Unwanted competition eliminated
How convenient is it that we have two less things to worry about now? Very, but now that they’re gone, it’s time to make up for lost time:
- Microformats. (This is the easiest to jump into.)
- Fluid layouts.
@font-face and custom web fonts: this time it’s not just the browser makers that web designers and developers are up against, but the type foundries. TypeKit and Kernest are attempting to bridge that gap.- CSS nested declarations, variables, and operations: LESS
- CSS if statements: Modernizr
- Animated PNGs.
Exciting times, people!
All the new browser updates seem to be coming out at the same time, which definitely keeps the competition interesting. But while you continue to scoff at IE, gush over Firefox, and smile nervously at Opera, Chrome, and Safari, have you heard that ordinary computer users don’t actually know what a web browser is? Let’s get to that in a bit…
Internet Explorer is the “best”
IE8 Comparison (comic by Brad Colbow)
I think people around the world made a collective ROFLMAO when the infamous IE8 browser comparison chart came out. I reserved any biased judgment when I first saw it, but oh my, Microsoft sure knows how to put its best features forward.
That’s not all it’s doing to promote the latest version of Internet Exploder, though. There’s a treasure hunt for $10,000 buried “online” (you have to use IE8 to find it, of course), and a donation of meals to charity (per IE8 download, of course).
Firefox has a new icon
New Firefox logo
Firefox is definitely the darling of the browser lot, so even a branding update—the fire, the fox, and the glossy globe are still intact and recognizable—is under magnified scrutiny.
Of course that’s not all there is to the next major release of Firefox, but I’m just glad they also care about their image. Lots of open source products pay little attention to the designery stuff. Firefox knows how to stay fresh and accessible to its audience without trying too hard (cough, see previous browser, cough).
Opera unites
Opera continues to innovate with its upcoming release, including an interface refresh from the same person who brought the Firefox logo to life. But it doesn’t stop there. Opera Unite cuts off the middleman for sharing photos, music, and all other kinds of files by turning the browser into a web server.
It’s not for everybody, but it’s a fascinating idea. An interesting twist to the “web as platform” concept. First there was web-based equivalents of desktop apps, as well as full-blown desktop interfaces on the web, then it was cloud computing, then it was the real-time web, then we have this. The jury’s still out on whether this will actually take off—considering Opera’s level of influence compared to the fox and the blue “e”—but any venture into Web 3.0 is a welcome effort. Here’s hoping we jump into it very soon.
But what is a web browser?
But apparently we can’t jump just yet. According to this discovery by The Next Web, the average internet user can’t tell the difference between a search engine and a browser, about 92% of those interviewed. Ironically, it was Google conducting the survey, and the final question was whether people knew that it had its own web browser.
Although Internet Explorer and Firefox were mentioned, people still didn’t know where the Web ended and the software began. It’s all just a blur of computer terms, which, at the end of the day, help them “find stuff”.
Knowing this, shouldn’t web browsers be scrambling to teach its users how the Internet works, including typing URLs into the address bar, and not just relying solely on search engines? Or should they just give up on the nth incarnation of the Browser Wars?
Chrome Experiments is a cool new website rolled out by Google to promote its browser Chrome (which is out with version 2.0 beta, by the way) and to demonstrate the power and fun that can be had with the awesomeness of JavaScript and the browser chrome.
Emphasis on the small letter c. See how the site is named Chrome and not Google Chrome (although they effectively became synonymous because it’s Google)? This means most of the neat tricks can be accomplished on other modern browsers too. That is, after all, the idea of “moving to the cloud”—your web product must work in every browser and any other device possible. Of course, the idea is to promote Chrome and not really every other browser and device out there, but Google gets that that’s not the only goal. The experiments are best experienced while using Chrome and not the other browsers.
A short update on other browsers
Speaking of other browsers, let’s take a look at what they’ve been up to lately:
Now let’s go back to Chrome. Seems to me that this Chrome Experiments campaign is the most engaging one of its kind to come out in a long while. From real-time information visualization to graphics and sound rendering to games (both the classics and ones with a browser-based twist), these demos are just a delight to try out. See the compilation video below:
A short rant on other browser campaigns (yes, IE6)
Now, a note on “browser campaigns”. it’s like every other day I see a new site, piece of code, or banner that screams death to IE6! exclamation point! That’s it. Hardly any effort to get Microsoft and other companies to listen, it’s just screaming. I feel like IE6 is now an ace up one’s marketing sleeve, and no longer a real headache that web designers have to deal with everyday. Chrome Experiments makes more sense right now.
What Chrome’s made of
All the browsers claim they’ve got the fastest JavaScript engine of all, and maybe Chrome wants to put its money where its mouth is. It needs to; Google probably expected a better adoption rate for its browser because it’s Google, but it hasn’t happened (yet?). And while it’s nothing close to Spread Firefox or Mozilla Labs, it’s still a solid effort.
We do practically everything on a web browser these days. That’s how Google built itself from the ground. That’s why they rethought how browsers were made and came out with Chrome. Time to show what it’s really made of.
Microsoft has launched the Internet Explorer 8 Beta “for Developers and Designers”. I’m too busy to take it for a spin myself at the moment, so I’ll just settle for the online commentary for now.
A nice follow up to the rendering news earlier this week.
Have you tested it? How does your design work with it?
Good news! Microsoft have decided to make the standards compliant mode in Internet Explorer 8 the default setting! This means we won’t have to do IE specific tags to let the browser know that we want it to display in standards mode.
The what now? Default rendering modes? What? Ina Fried explains:
With IE8, Microsoft plans to have three rendering modes: the new standards-compliant mode, the IE7 rendering engine, as well as an option for displaying older Web sites. Because of the default shift, Web sites that want IE8 to use its IE7 engine will have to add a tag to their site’s code.
Word has it we’ll get an IE8 beta in a few months time. Maybe IE8 will be what finally kills IE6? Hardly.
