Ad Libitum

In a world with two major systems, PC and Mac, and three major browsers, Internet Explorer and Firefox for Windows, Safari for Mac, it’s easy to forget that there is a lot of variety when it comes to browsers, and a lot of differences in regards to the parts of the world. Also, the Linux platform is growing by the minute, thanks to large retailers offering PC’s with a pre-installed version of different Linux distros.

What browsers should designers and developers then concern themselves with? I am going to present the nine biggest ones that needs to always be taken into account.

Lets start with the world of Windows.

Windows Web Browsers

Internet Explorer: As a designer, to always (for now) be haunted by Internet Explorer 6, which is currently still in use by large corporations, with no intent on upgrading, is daunting, since clients usually wants the latest and the greatest, but it just can’t be delivered and made sure it looks good on Fortune 500 companies intranets. The upgrade has been really slow, if the target audience is higher then Internet Explorer 6, then we are (almost) in business. Internet Explorer 7 but particulary 8 is a more up-to-date for the real world, more support for web standards (even though some are still left to be wished for) and handles AJAX without a bunch of write-arounds.

Avant: Avant is a hybrid that is gaining in strength. It’s a relative to Internet Explorer and can use plug-ins and toolbars that are made for Internet Explorer. It’s been downloaded more then 20 million copies world wide and is a solid stable browser. One nifty thing with this browser is the profile storage system. You set up your individual profile, and then when you go on a business trip you can log in from any computer and get your account settings. This one may become a stronger contender as it is available in 40+ languages and is labeling itself ‘the fastest web browser available’.

Sleipnir: If you are looking towards Asia, this browser is huge in popularity and is starting to show up from other parts of the world as well in statistics logs. Sleipnir has taken Japan with storm, and is an interesting alternative to the common browsers, it is portable, skin-able, has a lot of nifty plugins, and they tout the fact that they have built it upon the Trident engine, the same as Internet Explorer. Good or bad? You decide, but you need to look for this one in your logs.

Mac Web Browsers

Camino: Camino is a broswer that is Gecko based open source alternative for the Mac platform. Being based on Gecko and Open Source, there is a vast amount of user-scripted add-ons that are useful for enhancing the browsing experience.

OmniWeb: This browser went from shareware to freeware about a year ago now, and has picked up a loyal bunch of followers. With it’s extras like link-viewing and built-in ad-block it’s become a force to recon with on the Mac platform.

Skiira: is the open source alternative on Mac platform. Developed in Japan, this one is very popular with Mac users in Asia. The last release is now more then two years old, but is still a browser that attracts a lot of followers.

Linux Web Browsers

Galeon: A GNOME interface web browser that is Gecko based with a minimalistic approach but fully web standards compliant. GNOME users rave about this browser that is fast and also quite thin on the system resources.

Epiphany: is another browser for the GNOME that is having the care essentials as a browser, focusing on the content of the pages instead. It is available in over 60 languages.

HotJava: Even though developed to be highly modular for creating and deploying applications on Solaris for SPARC and Javastation, this browser is attracting the most savvy users of Linux. There is a downloadable, though not supported, version for Linux.

Now all you that have waited to see the most common browsers, why didn’t I mention Firefox, Opera and Konqueror and others? Because they are all built on one engine but is available cross platform, some are available on all three platforms. Hang on tight, here are the five best cross-platform browsers.

Multi-Platform Browsers

Firefox is the biggest of the cross-browser browsers, and gaining support by the minute. Based on the Gecko engine under the Mozilla umbrella this browser has the best overall performance of all browsers, as well as customization options and add-ons.

Opera: A fringe browser that is gaining support, new features as a work group interface, in-line spell checking and data sync, this Scandinavian browser is ramping the competition up.

Konqueror: is an integral part of the K Desktop environment but has been available for the Mac community for some time, and recently they released a Windows version of the browser. It can also be used as a File Manager, and is also containing viewing option for external file formats and open them natively within the browser

Safari: This browser comes installed with Macs and is the most commonly used. It is adhering to web standards and is having a slew of extras that makes some things less tedious to perform, however it’s minimalistic and doesn’t do all things well. Still the most popular one, and is now in a Windows version.
Google Chrome: and finally the rocket on the market. 2 million downloads within the first 24 hours of being made available, and it attracted a large amount of instant followers. Now in version 3 it’s been made more stable but is still a resource hog. It doesn’t have much extra as in add-ons and experience - yet, but lots of enhancements are in the works, and if you are lucky to get a beta of Mac OSX version or Linux version, let me know how it is.  This browser doesn’t fit in anywhere yet, but may become a force to be recognized with if there is integration with all other on-line tools from Google.

As a designer/developer, if you want true cross browser, cross platform compatibility you have to pay attention to all of these - at least in their newest available version. For some of us, that cater to bigger business we have to make sure we go back a few versions as well, this is particularly true for Internet Explorer. I will cherish the day when we can put Internet Explorer 6 to final rest, and lobby for that day to become a national holiday!