What is a modern browser?
Seems like everyone is talking about the definition of "modern browsers", after Mozilla's Paul Roget published his bitchy IE9 is not post. Microsoft admirably responded. I like them to respond, to show they're human, but the discussion is a bit childish.
Here's my definition: A modern browser has been written recently.
Excellent. Cut, dried, simple. Next question: What makes a good browser?
Aha, much better. I would request the following:
- A good browser is still in active development.
- A good browser fixes rendering bugs as quickly as security fixes.
- A good browser publishes security fixes regularly.
- A good browser defaults to standards-mode rendering.
- A good browser is FREE. I shouldn't need to buy an operating system to test with your browser.
- A good browser has a Firebug-like tool.
- A good browser is fast.
I think that's it. Seems a much easier checklist than the wooly "modern" definitions. I think FF4, Safari and Chrome satisfy all of the above. FF3.6 fails the speed test for me, while IE9 fails the free test.
I'd love to see a commitment from the IE team to fix rendering bugs in IE9, without waiting on a new version. Regardless of how much testing you do, bugs always slip through. If IE had fixed floats and layouts in IE6, the world would be a better place - and we'd still have upgraded to IE7 for the new features. I'd love to think of IE versions in terms of features, rather than in terms of bugs.
Thanks for reading! I guess you could now share this post on TikTok or something. That'd be cool.
Or if you had any comments, you could find me on Threads.
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