technology

Firefox - internet browsers’ messiah

Firefox 3.0 was about changing our browsing experience and provide us with the most astonishing features that any browser can offer us. Major developments and improvements have been made on browsing modern and rich internet services:

• We got enhanced address bar - “awesome bar” - which intellectually offers you website you kind of want to visit
• We got advanced bookmarks handling engine - based on tags and “smart bookmarks”
• Incresed performance (I mean, noticable increased performance) and advanced interface design

With the new addition to 3.0 of major update - 3.1 we see accent on developers. We neither get fancy theme updates nor improved browsing experience (except for extended Tab Switching shortcut)

From previous post:

Looks like Firefox developing policy is to eliminate amount of Add-Ons and include the most of features by default. So happened with Ctrl+tab add-on that adds fancy way of switching the tabs. Although it’s current state pre-beta Ctrl+tab feature seems to be completely functional.

Ah, sorry, forgot to mention - Firefox 3.1 beta 1 has been released. And, as usual, developers team surprises as with their vision in browsing experience.

Developers based features

• <video>, <audio> tags support - now we can play audio and video files (in .ogg format so far) without any single plugin installed! Amazing, just as W3C has prescripted (HTML 5 new features or new specs by W3C)
• <canvas> - is now officially supported by Mozilla’s product, we can draw in browser without any Java implementation
• Firefox is making first steps to implement Google-gears like feature that allows browse through web pages while being offline

So, how the video and audio tags look like?

You can embed your video as simple as inserting <video> tag in your source file and defining which file to play.

I’ve got a few crashes using both <video> and <audio> tags, but it’s still early beta and crashes are part of developing and browsing process.

So it’s great to see Firefox team thinking about future trends and new specifications, as for now it seems that it’s the first development team that officially supports new HTML 5 features.

Interface improvements

As has been mentioned before, we got a renewed Ctrl+tab switched, which is almost Vista native look alike.

One more announced feature is that we can move tab from one Firefox window to another!

This feature was implemented soon after Google announced it’s browser Chrome, which allowed to move tabs freely - move aside from main browser’s window (as a completely separate window) and move from one window to another. But in Firefox you cannot create a separate window from a tab.

And again, crucial condition - you still cannot use your favourite add-ons and themes with your beta, you have to wait until add-on’s developers release updated version - the only reason that stops me from using new beta, which is as usual very good development product from Mozilla team.

Implementing new standarts is always about pain in the ass - the vision of companies are too subjective and everyone does what he/she likes to. As news are shouting Microsoft is already implementing new HTML standarts in it’s child called Internet Explorer 8 (beta still).

As in case with world crisis and taxes, “end-users” or consumers - who is represented by us - are the first ones who suffer. Remember CSS and Javascript cross-browser wars and optimizations? Well, HTML 5 is to come - prepare your armor and all your browser compatibility equipment. Get ready for painful and trying-to-behave-the-same-everywhere code-writing as the new browser war is approaching. But sparing the sentimental talks I’d like to cover some of ass-burning HTML 5 features:

1. Immediate mode 2d drawing.
   This feature will allow you to draw 2d graphics with<canvas> element using the HTML code.
   Cool, ha? If you wanted to draw stuff like this now you’d really should implement a Java applet, where drawing 2d images is a very simple task - HTML 5 is most likely to provide us with the same simplicity.
2. API supporting audio/video files playback
   So you’ll no longer need any flash-based or advanced memory greedy Java player. Your browser will most likely to do the job for them.
3. SQL support.
   For me it’s the the most anticipated feature. Simultaneously, W3C is working on SPARQL standart which will replace standart SQL syntax - and, of course, they should somehow interact with each other. HTML is to support the SPARQL standart, which stands for new SQL syntax and semantic web technologies.
4. Drag-and-drop API.
   Elements which are identified as draggable are movable! So you’ll be able to drag and drop any element which has respective tag
5. Offline data storage.
   Similar to Google Gears service that allows to create a kind of database on your local hard drive to store the information of web-sites and allow you to browse a web page in offline mode. Kind of funny feature to implement while the whole civilization is trying to cover every spot on earth with connection.

It’s too early to talk about more features in upcoming HTML 5 standart just because “standartisizing” something is a very time-consuming process, it may take many years for us to see real implementation of those features and for sure what a positive side is that we are moving towards Web 3.0 which stands for Application in a single browser window - complete and independent network platform that can be fully discovered using browser only.

For example, remember those drag-and-drop elements which were only available using CSS and advanced Javascript techniques? Only a few years ago it required true skills to make this kind of feature on your web page - now you’ll be able to do exactly the same thing using only one descriptor. W3C started the specs in January 2008 (almost the same time their SPARQL specifications was outlined).

More on this:

• HTML 5 differences from HTML 4
• HTML 5 on Wikipedia
• SPARQL specification
• SPARQL on Wikipedia

Something wrong happened between Google and Mozilla and suddenly friends became competitors - the true reasons why Google is developing it’s own browser are still unclear and very fuzzy. Sergei Brin says we need to re-think our browser experience and move it to the next level - make everything you do on a computer through the browser. Maybe it’s the new Google’s vision on modern internet technology development, who knows.

But in case of browsers war which has already began I stand for Firefox. And here are 8 simple reasons Why.

1. Customization.
   Google Chrome’s comes with a default “skin” without the ability to customize it - what the hell, guys, let me change the default color! Firefox allows to change theme and even modify it with CSS files and I am not talking about the tons of freeware Firefox skins on the net.
2. Add-ons.
   Extending your browser with different add-ons became essential for me as I started blogging. For example, with Digg extension I can easily submit my article. Delicious add-on synchronizes all my bookmarks with my delicious account and PicLens gives me a great opportunity to browse through Youtube videos and Flickr pictures in animated 3-D mode. According to Google, Add-ons are non-efficient because they should be re-written after any major browser’s update.
3. Ads.
   One of the simplest reasons why there would never be AdBlock addon or ability to block ads in Chrome just because 99% of Google’s revenue comes from such services as Adwords and Adsense. That’s why you’ll never be able to bypass tones of internet ad areas with Chrome.
4. Development progress.
   I love to follow the developing progress by using alpha and beta versions of a product. I also enjoy reading the developer’s conversations about how this or that feature should be made and what icon set to use. This is developing transparency. I know what to expect - none of features are hidden from the eye. That’s why I always test Firefox’ nightly builds and enjoy new features the developers have implemented recently. None of this is in Chrome.
5. Bookmarks organizer.
   Google’s Bookmarking mechanism looks exactly like Firefox’ one, but organizing the bookmarks place could have been better and maybe tagging ability will come in next versions, but now I feel like the absence of it is critical for me.
6. Independence.
   What is Mozilla’s major development? A browser. I know the developers can freely join the team and spend their forces on building a better browser. Google has tons of applications and some of them were really forgotten many times ago and deprecated.
7. Default search engine.
   Have you seen searching in Chrome? You type in address bar search engine’s name and then press tab so you can FINALLY type in search term. You can’t manage search engines, only typing.
8. Awesome bar.
   Awesome bar functionality completely lives up it’s name. It’s intelligent, it really does open the website I want as soon as I type 2 letters in and shows me the most relevant results. In Google Chrome we have the most visited websites and no arrow at address bar, that shows the most visited sites or different options for searching and accessing website I want.

May be it’s all the part of Google’s new vision but we can’t see radical changes and improvements so far, maybe they should have waited with their very first beta release. And if we are talking about new features of Google’s Chrome - we can easily Enable Chrome’s Best Features in Firefox.

Which do you think browser is better and why?

Usually people that spend very much time on the internet are divided into two categories: one is always looking for new tools, instruments and features to “tweak” their computer experience and the other is for stability.

I am in the first category and here is why. I love new applications and new stuff even if it’s not ready to be released, that’s why when something is released I’m already introduced into it and know what is hype about.

For example, when Firefox 3 was in the beta I was already a happy user and completely enjoyed my time and there were absolutely no crashes or glitches - everything worked just well, the developing team was playing with icons and so on - just some eye-candy customizations. Nonetheless sometimes I was disappointed even with a final release - we all remember KDE 4 in it’s early so-called “release”.

Today I would like to introduce you 5 beta versions of software you really would be surprised if tried out and maybe if you are a stability lover nothing stops you from testing.

1. The list is opened by OpenOffice 3 mainly because it has native Microsoft Office 2007 file support. The Mac version is about to come simultaneously with Windows and Linux as well as constant updates. A lot of new features and improvements in upcoming version of free office platform. Also OpenOffice includes start-up page where you can easily choose what type of file you want to create.
   

   OpenOffice 3 beta Dashboard

2. Looks like Firefox developing policy is to eliminate amount of Add-Ons and include the most of features by default. So happened with Ctrl+tab add-on that adds fancy way of switching the tabs. Although it’s current state pre-beta Ctrl+tab feature seems to be completely functional.
   

   Ctrl+Tab feature in Firefox 3.1 pre-beta

3. Skype is a widely used application for businesses (why pay when it’s free?) and common users. Developers are currently working on version 4 and it’s in Beta stage now. What differs it from previous version is complete redesign of the application. Peter Parkes on new features:
   

   • Totally new interface, designed to give plenty of space for video calls.

   • Chatting and calling integrated into the same window, so no more playing hunt-the-chat window.
   • Better hardware detection - you can switch headset halfway through a call and Skype deal with it.
   • A single directory screen - find people and businesses all in one place.

   

   Skype sign-in window

   

   Skype beta main window

4. As has been talked recently A LOT about Google’s new child - Chrome. “New era in browsing the Web - meet Google Chrome’s introduction”, “Google Chrome first impressions”. And this one is definitely worth trying.
   
5. What application would you add to the list?

Although I found out about Google Chrome only on 2nd of September many events have occured. In about an hour after the discovery the screenshots got leaked and I posted an article introducing the Google Chrome - a revolutionery web browser. In twelve hours the first beta was released.

First of all - it’s beta, it has to be glitchy. What disturbs me is that I have seen a very few Google’s technologies turning from beta into final release. Most of them are still beta, although developed very well.

The main view of the browser:

Browser's main view

It automatically fills the Quick Access window with the most visited sites, just as Opera does.

Also, you can move tab anywhere you want - even outside the window and make it separate.

Moving the history tab

As I’ve already mentioned in the previous post about Google Chrome, the processes table contains process for each tab of Google Chrome, which means you can kill it without crashing the application. Google Chrome has it’s own processes viewer from which you can kill any tab that bothers you.

Process view

Although nothing stopped me from killing a random process. What I got was…

A view produced by Chrome after killing a random process

Which is really brilliant and clever. Something is wrong, that’s for sure. I hope they will provide a tab name for each process in future releases.

What I liked a lot was a View source function. The highlighting is brilliant and very efficient.

View source function

What I like about the Google applications is that everything is shown into separate window / tab.

Separate tab for downloads and history is a very good decision. So, opening the downloads window shows up with the next screen.

Download window caption

Also some minor features, like highlighting the domain name to prevent phishing and search the site right in the address bar.

Highlighting the domain name

Search this site

The most annoying glitch is that my scroll-up function doesn’t work in the browser. Plus there are some rendering issues while switching between the tabs, crashes after opening e-mails in Gmail.

Chrome is completely open-source project and uses WebKit engine for rendering web pages. And what I have noticed is that rendering is much more faster than in any browser I have tried.

Although it has some bugs and glitches - but overall it’s great for the very first beta version. I think that giants as Mozilla and Opera should be awared - because design is very simple, clever and simply beautiful and outstanding. Chrome has “Incognito” tab option which doesn’t store ANY information on your computer while you’re browsing - not introduced feature before.

Of course the address bar with default search options does not replace the Awesome bar in firefox and Bookmarks organizing feature is far from perfectness - it doesn’t have tags.

Who might have thought that after the boom of Firefox 3 the next one will happen that fast.

Recently I’ve read an article about what is driving people to use Linux and is it really Windows Vista that constraints people to run Linux?

What I think is that it’s not the performance or anything in Vista that anti-PRs itself - it’s the media and rumors. Lack of performance? Well, Vista starting-up takes a little longer than XP, well, it consumes 200 megabytes more than XP, maybe there are a few network bugs and annoying User Account Control notifications unless it’s Service Pack 1. But what I think is that Vista is really bad-rumored.

And these days, you can ask for XP instead of Vista if you wish - as many businesses do.

Let’s throw an example. My boss was getting a brand-new Lenovo X61 - he had a choice between Vista which was 30% more expensive than Windows XP that was the second choice. What he chose was XP because:

1. “XP is faster”
2. It’s more stable (which is true, because it’s supported much longer)
3. It’s cheaper
4. It’s more comfortable

Why is he wrong? Because he never tried it - he hasn’t discovered Start search with which you can easily navigate through your file system, programmes, tags and so on with just one click and typing.

He never tried out the new Virtual Folders technology which dinamically generates folder content depending on search criteria.

And these are only a few advantages of Windows Vista over Windows XP. The fact is that who really cares about extra 200 megabytes of physical memory when it’s about needless gigabytes of memory in nowadays PC’s.

That’s about businesses switching default Vista to native XP.

Even if you did not want Windows on that PC, there is no way that the average retailer would have the skill or the patience to install GNU/Linux on it

Installing Fedora Core or Ubuntu from scratch takes about 30 minutes without updates, installing Vista takes approximately the same time. Anyway with current distributions installing Linux is much more easier than Vista - it really doesn’t require you to be an expert.

…we need some statistics showing that a sizeable number of people are asking their retailers to install the free operating systems on their new PCs in preference to Vista. In the absence of any numbers - and I doubt whether you’ll ever get them - such claims remain just anecdotal claims.

When I was buying my Hewlett-Packard 6910p with Windows Vista on-board I asked if I could buy it without software installed - one reason is that it’s much more expensive and the second one is that I, as a student, have a lot of priveleges from Microsoft (free software)

My request was denied since a lot of hardware shops have an agreement to sell the computers only with OS installed, so even if I ask to remove the OS on it - anyway I pay for it.

If we lived in a world where the better technology won out, then no doubt everybody and their aunt Fanny would be using GNU/Linux.

That’s what I really doubt - I tried tons of different distributions and nothing has fulfilled my expectations except for Vista. Even though consumes more memory and overhelms the CPU - overall it’s very effective and looking towards future OS which is being developed more than any Linux distro because of one simple reason - it gains more investments.