When Browsers Grow Up

Grok Headline matches for When Browsers Grow Up

New Browsers

New Browsers 02/10/2004 02:49 AM
The Omni Group released OmniWeb 5.0b1. Apple released Safari 1.2.

Browsers That Aren't Browsers

Browsers That Aren't Browsers 09/08/2004 04:52 AM
Thanks to the WebKit technology built into Mac OS X Panther, it's become much easier for software developers to create applications that are web-savvy. In this article, we thought we'd take a look at a few of them. By Giles Turnbull, O'Reilly Network (via MyAppleMenu)

Browsers? Yes, browsers

Browsers? Yes, browsers 06/16/2004 08:28 AM
Don't just bitch and moan about the Microsoft monoculture -- do something about it! Ditch your no-improvements-since-before-the-dotcom-boom Internet Explorer Web browser. You'll be affected by fewer viruses and you'll discover that software didn't have to stop dead in its tracks in 1997. I've always been partial to Opera, a great little browser out of Scandinavia, available in free (ad-supported) or paid versions. But if you're allergic to ads and don't feel like paying a paltry sum for the piece of software you probably use the most, there is also an entirely free browser that is much, much better than IE: the open-source Mozilla Firefox has just released its "0.9" version. The numbering suggests it's not "done" yet, but the Mozilla people are just hugely conservative with their labeling. Firefox is ready for prime time, from what I can tell, and it's super: fast, compact and full of features you just can't get from Microsoft. It's also available on all the major platforms (Windows, Linux, OSX).

Three LDAP Browsers for the Asking

Three LDAP Browsers for the Asking 06/01/2004 09:47 PM
Internet.com Jun 2 2004 2:29AM GMT

Browsers fight it out

Browsers fight it out 07/13/2004 12:24 AM
News.bbc.co.uk - Mon Jul 12, 06:29 pm GMT

MS to Change XP to Allow Other Browsers

MS to Change XP to Allow Other Browsers 01/23/2004 02:26 PM
"Microsoft agreed to a government demand that it eliminate a feature of its Windows XP operating system that overrides competitors' Web browsers, the Justice Department said."

Research Browsers

Research Browsers 04/09/2004 03:59 PM
Research Browsers
http://zillman.blogspot.com/2003_09_01_zillman_archive .html#106241931557183353

I have updated my September 1, 2003 posting on Research Browsers with a number of new visualization browsers both in the search as well as in the business areas.

Pressure SAP to support other browsers

Pressure SAP to support other browsers 07/07/2004 09:00 PM
If you're an SAP customer, partner or supplier, it's time to put the pressure on SAP to support browsers other than Internet Explorer. Details here....

Load XML in Gecko browsers

Load XML in Gecko browsers 07/15/2004 05:32 AM
CNET Jul 15 2004 10:13AM GMT

Yet another back/forward key for some
browsers

Yet another back/forward key for some
browsers 05/03/2004 10:44 AM
When you have an internet browser open and you hit a backspace key on keyboard, it will go back one page (hit twice - two pages etc.). It seems to work at least with Safari, IE and Opera under 10.3.3. [robg adds: I thought w...

Flash Plugin for Browsers 7.0.25

Flash Plugin for Browsers 7.0.25 05/29/2004 06:16 AM
Macromedia Flash plugin for Mozilla, Firefox, Opera, and Konqueror.

75% of Network Connections Not From
Browsers

75% of Network Connections Not From
Browsers 01/02/2004 01:13 AM

My Computer: Alternative Browsers

My Computer: Alternative Browsers 08/01/2004 12:25 AM
G4 Tech TV Aug 1 2004 5:09AM GMT

Start-up looks to add pluck to browsers

Start-up looks to add pluck to browsers 05/24/2004 10:51 AM

IE accounts for 95% of browsers - survey

IE accounts for 95% of browsers - survey 12/17/2002 12:43 PM
Nineteen out of 20 surfers use IE as a browser, with Netscape a very distant second, and alternative browsers restricted to use among a small tech savvy niche, according to Web analytics outfit OneStat.com.

"zeldman.doc"

XSLT, Browsers, and JavaScript

XSLT, Browsers, and JavaScript 02/05/2003 07:24 PM
Bob DuCharme, in this month's Transforming XML column, shows us how to include JavaScript in the HTML result tree of XSLT transformations.

Mozilla Browsers Gains on IE

Mozilla Browsers Gains on IE 07/10/2004 09:25 PM

XML Error Handling in Web Browsers

XML Error Handling in Web Browsers 01/19/2004 12:39 AM

I've been following the topic of XML error handling on Mark Pilgrim's blog with great interest. Go read this blog entry. Done? Good. Now go read this blog entry.

Safari has draconian XML error handling. If the file isn't well-formed, Safari won't display it. Mozilla does the same, which should come as no surprise, since the two browsers use the same open-source XML parser (expat).

I fall squarely into the draconian camp and agree with Tim Bray. Fully half of the bugs I receive in WebCore are not bugs at all, but are essentially differences in error handling and error recovery between Safari and the dominant Web browser, WinIE. None of these issues occur with XML.

If we lived in a world where browsers could refuse to display malformed content (with useful error notification of course so that authors could easily repair their content), then all of these "bugs" would simply disappear. I could focus my efforts on real DOM and CSS bugs, and not have to waste my time emulating the behavior of WinIE.

Relaxing restrictions on well-formedness is a slippery slope, and where does it end? Consider all the "helpful" rules that exist in HTML today thanks to early versions of Netscape and WinIE. Did you know that any h1-h6 tag can close any other h1-h6 tag? Try it. Open an h1, type some text and then put in a close h2. It will close up the h1 in WinIE and Mozilla. (I haven't yet fixed this "bug" in Safari.) Try specifying a close tag for a paragraph by itself. You'll get an empty paragraph in Safari, Mozilla, and WinIE.

Of course the most complicated error recovery problem is residual style, which I have blogged about at length. This "helpful feature" (note the sarcasm) allows you to accidentally mis-nest style tags like the italic and bold tags and basically treat HTML more like a stream of "on/off" states than an actual tree structure. This feature is more a by-product of primitive browsers from the 90s that didn't have true DOMs than an actual intended error recovery system.

There's also the missing quotes problem, e.g., leaving a close quote off a link href. Browsers employ complicated heuristics to try to match up unclosed quotes that depend on the number of quotes in the document, their positions, and other factors. Safari doesn't really handle this problem that well yet, and it shouldn't have to.

The whole reason nearly all Web pages on the Internet are malformed is because browsers let Web page authors get away with it. As long as browsers are permissive in their error handling and recovery, Web authors will continue to produce invalid Web pages, because they won't even have any idea the pages they are authoring are invalid!

People in the error recovery camp then suggest ideas like icons in the status bar, or error messages dumped to some obscure console, but the average Web designer isn't going to know or care about validation as long as WinIE displays the Web site adequately. The only way you can make the average Web designer care is to get in his face with the obvious errors. The browser has to make a face and refuse to eat the swill that is being force-fed to it, or the average designer is simply going to shrug and say, "Well, close enough."

The crux of the problem with implementing true error recovery is that it must be unambiguous. Every Web browser has to recover from malformed content in precisely the same way. This means that in order for browsers to be tolerant of malformed content, there would have to be a specification regarding how to handle all possible malformations. This is virtually impossible to specify, so why waste time and energy on it when creating well-formed XML files is so ridiculously simple?

I think people who don't work on Web browsers for a living have no concept of just how malformed the Web really is, so let me state this as clearly as I can:

The #1 reason that HTML pages render incorrectly in alternate browsers is because of differences in error handling and recovery.

Tab to select menus in Mac browsers

Tab to select menus in Mac browsers 06/05/2005 11:57 PM
I have repeatedly finding myself turning to the otherwise unused Windows box on my desktop for filling in online forms. The primary reason has been the Tab behaviour in Web forms: on Windows, you can tab between text fields, menus, radio buttons, et al; on Safari/Firefox on Mac, you skip the menus entirely and have to reach for the mouse and click. And this contextual switch is costly.

Now apparently this is "fixed" by enabling System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Full keyboard access: "In windows and dialogs, press Tab to move the keyboard focus between: "Text boxes and lists only." Mea culpa.

I thought I'd clicked that long ago to no effect and a double-check finds that I was right. Despite the label "...and lists," it's only when you select "All controls" that tabbing to menus actually works in web forms. Mea culpa. Label culpa.

Mozilla updates browsers after bug hunt

Mozilla updates browsers after bug hunt 09/15/2004 05:09 PM
Patch cycle

Google Prefetching for Mozilla Browsers

Google Prefetching for Mozilla Browsers 03/31/2005 12:28 PM

IE flaw may boost rival browsers

IE flaw may boost rival browsers 06/28/2004 05:58 PM
Security researchers suggest that using Microsoft alternatives is one way to surf the Web worry-free.

Mozilla-Based Browsers Are Gaining

Mozilla-Based Browsers Are Gaining 07/01/2004 10:49 AM

Are the Browser Wars Back? - How Mozilla's Firefox trumps Internet Explorer: This is a good article from Slate that rings true — Mozilla and Firefox are surging in the market right now. More and more, people are switching.

You've probably been told to dump Internet Explorer for a Mozilla browser before, by the same propeller-head geek who wants you to delete Windows from your hard drive and install Linux. You've ignored him, and good for you. [...]

But six years later, the surviving members of the Mozilla insurgency are staging a comeback. [...] all-conquering Internet Explorer has been stuck in the mud for the past year, as Microsoft stopped delivering new versions.

Joe and I were leaving my building two nights ago, and we overheard a conversation between two lawyers out front. I know both of them, and I can tell you that neither is a shining example of technical aptitude, yet we heard one of them tell the other "...your problem is that you're still using Internet Explorer...you should be using that Mozilla..."

This week I have to head over to my in-laws for the sixth or seventh time this year to cleanse their machine of all the unbelievable crud that IE allows to get in there. This time, they switch to Mozilla or I'm not coming back.

I don't mean to sound elitist and geeky, but if you're still using IE...why? (I am SO going to regret writing that...)

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OS X Security Flaw Plagues Web Browsers

OS X Security Flaw Plagues Web Browsers 05/20/2004 09:55 AM
In an exclusive interview, "lixlpixel," the person who discovered the flaw said that after waiting on Apple's reply, he finally posted the advisory to a Swiss Macintosh Web site. "This is how Secunia picked up on the vulnerability," lixlpixel said. By Blane Warrene, MacNewsWorld (via MyAppleMenu)

Fatal attraction--browsers and the
beguiled

Fatal attraction--browsers and the
beguiled 04/13/2004 11:30 AM
ZDNet Apr 13 2004 3:20PM GMT

Designing Web content for mobile
browsers

Designing Web content for mobile
browsers 03/31/2005 10:56 PM

Pray for the web porn browsers (Reuters)

Pray for the web porn browsers (Reuters) 01/22/2004 02:10 AM
Reuters - An Israeli rabbi has composed a prayer to help devout Jews overcome guilt after visiting porn web sites while browsing the Internet.

Computer experts tout alt-browsers

Computer experts tout alt-browsers 07/08/2004 06:51 PM
Washington Times Jul 8 2004 11:13PM GMT

Browsers Get Ready for Graphics Boost

Browsers Get Ready for Graphics Boost 04/12/2005 01:47 PM
Since first becoming a Web standard nearly four years ago, SVG has lagged in adoption as developers waited for broader support for next-generation Web graphics. But upcoming plans from two Web browser makers to natively support the XML-based graphics language could give Scalable Vector Graphics the boost it needs to begin remaking the look and feel of the Web.

Opera Software ASA is the furthest along in building SVG support into its namesake browser. Opera last month became the first major browser with built-in SVG support when it released its latest beta of the next Opera browser version, which is due for a full launch within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, the open-source Mozilla Firefox browser is incorporating SVG support in Version 1.1, which is expected to be released in June.

News source: eWeek

Read full story...

PHP Search Bars available for major
browsers

PHP Search Bars available for major
browsers 12/02/2002 11:15 AM
We added a new option to access our site's content quickly. In addition to URL shortcuts, keyboard shortcuts and browser specific magic you can now use our Search Bar from the major browsers. Please help us to test this new service, and provide feedback via the bug system (categorize your bug as a PHP.net website bug please).

New Macromedia site shuts out browsers

New Macromedia site shuts out browsers 03/11/2003 12:55 PM
ZDNet Mar 11 2003 10:17AM ET

Alternative Web Browsers: Divide and
Konquer

Alternative Web Browsers: Divide and
Konquer 03/20/2003 01:05 PM
In the world of alternative Web browsers, Mozilla and its commercial twin Netscape are not the only challengers to Internet Explorer's throne. One offering, Opera, is often called "the fastest browser on Earth." Another, Konqueror, is part of KDE, a GUI that runs on Linux and Unix systems. Can these upstarts shake Microsoft's browser market share?

Alternative Web Browsers: Revenge of the
Lizard

Alternative Web Browsers: Revenge of the
Lizard 03/20/2003 01:05 PM
In the mid-1990s, Microsoft worked hard to erase Netscape Navigator's early lead over the Internet Explorer Web browser. But even though Microsoft successfully conquered Netscape, Navigator's open source offshoot, Mozilla, is overtaking IE in terms of features, if not yet market share.

Renewed calls for alternative browsers

Renewed calls for alternative browsers 07/04/2004 09:54 PM

Browsers Preferred by Webl0g Readers

Browsers Preferred by Webl0g Readers 12/22/2004 12:59 AM
Now that the famous Firefox advertisement has run in the New York Times, I've seen several folks publishing figures for the browser mix hitting their weblogs. Tim Bray Tim Bray (of Sun Microsystems) updates his chart roughly every weekend. On his site, Safari struggles to hit 10%, while the Mozilla family of browsers (including Firefox) and Microsoft Internet Explorer are battling for first place. BoingBoing The folks at BoingBoing have posted about this recently and even make their full stats...

OmniWeb, Opera update Web browsers

OmniWeb, Opera update Web browsers 05/12/2004 11:12 AM
The Omni Group and Opera Software have both provided updates to their respective Web browsers on Wednesday. OmniWeb 5.0 beta 6.1 simply updates the beta expiration date, although OmniWeb 5.0 includes many new features over its predecessor. Opera 7.5 adds Opera Mail, news and newsfeed features; Opera IRC chat; and Mac OS X integration with keychain, Safari bookmark importing, stored passwords and more.

Pop-up vulnerability found in major
browsers

Pop-up vulnerability found in major
browsers 06/24/2005 08:30 PM

Micosoft builds new IM app for multiple
browsers

Micosoft builds new IM app for multiple
browsers 08/06/2004 11:10 AM
When's the last time Microsoft built a new application than ran on multiple Web browsers? Probably more recently than I think, but probably none so critical as the Web-based MSN Messenger client now being beta-tested. It works with Netscape 7.0,...

Mac Skeptic looks at web browsers - "An
Embarrassment of Riches"

Mac Skeptic looks at web browsers - "An
Embarrassment of Riches" 08/21/2004 03:05 PM
I'm not usually the type to look at Mac articles on PC sites, but this article by Rebecca Freed of PC World caught my eye. She reviews Safari 1.2, Internet Explorer 5.2, and Mozilla Navigator 1.7.2 evaluating each for speed, security, and navigation features. Next month, she will look at "cult" browsers Firefox and Camino, and OmniWeb.
Grok Description matches for When Browsers Grow Up
GrokA matches for When Browsers Grow Up

When Browsers Grow Up

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