Internet Explorer: A Browser Breaks

"Enterprises aren't loving Internet Explorer 7, so how can its successor do any better?...

For businesses looking for a standards-compliant Web browser, Internet Explorer won't be the choice in 2008, with IE 6 entrenched and IE 8's release as much as a year away—or more, if closely aligned with Windows 7. For Web developers, the standards headaches will continue as long as IE 6 enterprise adoption remains high...

There is huge competitive opportunity for Mozilla, and even Apple, to exploit Microsoft's browser problems. Both organizations have highly standards-compliant browsers that can be deployed at lower risk."

Alexa Launches Official "Sparky" Firefox Toolbar

Alexa - Alexa Toolbar: "Sparky is a free FireFox browser plugin that accompanies you as you surf, providing useful information about the sites you visit without interrupting your Web browsing."



There have been a number of unofficial toolbars, but here's the real deal for those who like to reference Alexa data when reviewing websites.

A Web Analytics Breakthrough (That May Never Be Used)

A Web Analytics Breakthrough (That May Never Be Used): "If you're one of the burgeoning number of Firefox users, you probably also use a number of the many extensions available to stretch, modify, personalize, and customize the browser's capabilities. If Google Browser Sync is one of those extensions, have you considered the implications it might have for Web analytics and ad tracking?"

This is an interesting article. It is a good reminder that the move toward centralizing ones online identity can be tied to the browser as well - not just the pages it's rendering.

Firefox 3 To Support Offline Apps

"Firefox 3 will deliver support for offline applications. This is significant because you'll be able to use your web apps - like Gmail, Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, etc - in the browser even when offline... Although Mozilla is an open source organization, some of its top workers are employed by Google."

This is very interesting. There are a number of companies out there building add-on utilities and system extensions for synchronizing traditional desktop apps with online counterparts. For example, Spanning Sync for Google Calendar. If the browser can do this for you, and support a wide variety of online apps, then one of the largest barriers for web app adoption will be knocked down.

The Best (FireFox) Browser Extensions for Web Development

This article summarizes things well IMHO. Glad, and not surprised, to see the Web Developer extension as number one on the list. Thanks to mondaybynoon.com for compiling this list! (via Vitamin)

Why Browser War 2.0 Will Heat Up in 2007

readwriteweb.com: "Our theory is that in 2006 a lot of the ground work for a major battle was laid out. Microsoft launched a significant upgrade to Internet Explorer for the first time in about 5 years (IE7), while the Firefox team spent time polishing up their open source browser. But it is the latest developments which make it clear that Firefox thinks it's showtime."

This is an interesting article, and I really got a kick out of the illustration. Between the business interests and the (still) inconsistent support for web standards in IE7, it should be another interesting year in the browser-sphere.