In addition to new features such as support for HTML 5, geo-location, and a noticeably faster engine, Firefox 3.5 added a new CSS rule that makes Web typography much more attractive.
@font-face is a CSS rule that allows Web designers to reference fonts not installed on end-user machines. Just as you would have a pointer to a server-based stylesheet or JavaScript file in your Web page code, you can now make reference to a hosted typeface.
You'll note that news sites such as CNET News and NYTimes.com are optimized to make Web type more readable and as stylish as possible, but there are many design possibilities via additional downloadable typefaces. (As with any linked asset, there is some level of security risk if a hacker gets their hands on the font file.)
Mozilla's John Daggett explains: Within a stylesheet, each @font-face rule defines a family name to be used, the font resource to be loaded, and the style characteristics of a given face such as whether it's bold or italic. Firefox 3.5 only downloads the fonts as needed, so a stylesheet can list a whole set of fonts of which only a select few will actually be used.
This function is something I would have expected to be commonplace by now (Safari began supporting it in Version 3.1 and Opera in Version 10) but neither have the market share to drive usage the way Firefox and Internet Explorer do. (Note: this function doesn't work in IE.)
Generally speaking, the Web browser has done a terrible job with type. We've been stuck with old standbys such as Helvetica or Times New Roman, and don't forget the oft-loathed Comic-Sans and other delightful Microsoft fonts that are often easy to read but lack any real style (Verdana, for example.)
... Read more
If there is one battle that continues to rage, it's the war for browser supremacy.
While exact market share figures change on a daily basis (and vary widely from site to site), Microsoft's Internet Explorer commands about 65 percent of the market, Mozilla's Firefox about 20 percent, Apple's Safari about 8 percent, and Google's Chrome about 2 percent.
There are three main rendering engines:
- Trident, from Internet Explorer, is used by many applications on the Microsoft Windows platform to render HTML, including the minibrowsers in Winamp and RealPlayer.
- Gecko, Mozilla's open-source rendering engine, is used by a variety of products derived from the Mozilla code base, including the Firefox Web browser.
- WebKit, originally from Konquerer, and currently best-known as powering Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome Web browsers.
Different engines mean that developers (and users) are still forced to contend with Web sites that are designed with one specific browser in mind. This often means a lack of functionality or a flat-out inability to use a site with the wrong browser.
Lunascape, (currently Windows-only) is a triple-engine browser that has a new take on the "browser wars." Launched in November 2008, Lunascape continues to push the envelope with its latest beta. In addition to improving the core triple-engine technology, new features include toolbar shrinking, appropriate for Netbook users who require low CPU usage. With this update, Lunascape claims to have the fastest JavaScript execution, according to the SunSpider JavaScript test.
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After Chrome exits beta in January, Google is planning to begin an aggressive push to boost the browser's market share.
Sundar Pichai, a Google vice president, told The Times Online that the company will explore ways to make Chrome more ubiquitous and "probably do distribution deals" with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to get the browser onto new PCs.
Currently, Internet Explorer commands more than 70 percent of browser market share. Open source Firefox captures roughly 20 percent, with the rest going to others such as Safari, Chrome, and Opera.
OEM relationships will certainly help Chrome adoption, but it's hard to see how IE gets completely displaced due to the fact that it's is embedded in Windows.
Looking back, it was clear that IE would displace Netscape simply because it came pre-installed with Windows.
It's not clear how Google can make Chrome ubiquitous (at least not yet). There are certainly use cases--Netbooks, etc., where you are using far less Microsoft software (and often Linux instead) where the interaction of the OS and the browser are more clearly delineated.
Pichai added that versions of Chrome should also be available to computers using Macintosh or Linux software in the first half of next year, allowing the browser to be used on almost 99 percent of computers worldwide.
Via Ars Technica.
It's pretty amazing how much better and more usable an application becomes when put into the right set of hands. It would be great to have a Firefox extension that let you create a simple start page like this screenshot and I'm sure someone will figure out how to take the new Tab Preview Panel feature and turn it into some kind of start page.
Via Lifehacker
Mozilla Firefox usage share has topped 20% during two separate weeks in October while Internet Explorer has dropped to 71% of browser usage according to data from Net Applications.
Net Applications started reporting on Firefox in June 2008 and the browser has been consistently 18% and above. The 20 percent metric is an important milestone provided Firefox can continue to grow. And considering that IE hasn't been very interesting for quite some time it would seem that Mozilla should be able to keep taking market share away from Microsoft.
Besides the fun of ruining Microsoft's day, the Mozilla team is going for a world record. You can learn more about it here.
I downloaded the new beta of Firefox 3 and I can't seem to get it to run for more than about a minute. It seems to crash everytime I submit a form (which I need to do for this blogging tool) and in it's last attempt I've reached a new ability to not be able to kill the process in any way.
Before you ask, yes I tried to force-quit. I also went to the command-line in an attempt to recall my Unix days and kill-9 the process. Sadly, nothing works and I actually have to reboot and uninstall FF3. I am guessing the fact that (firefox-bin) appears in parentheses is a bad thing.
This is my own fault for not paying attention on a conference call.
Basically the page never loads, it just gives me that blue bar but never reaches the finish line. I've reset the cache, rebooted, reset Firefox entirely and will now try and reinstall. Hard to see what else would make this go away. Back to Safari I will go.
I wonder how this factors into the 99.999% uptime guarantee? I presume since the IMAP is still working that the uptime is met...though I have to say this really puts the idea of a completely browser-based lifestyle in question.
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