What is your browser of choice? Or better yet how many do you have loaded on your computer? I use and design first for Firefox. For testing purposes these days I treat Internet Exporer as my canary in the coal mine. If whatever I’m working on web-design-wise runs in IE I figure I’m OK. Probably not the best testing strategy, but it works for me. Who really has time to include Opera, Safari, and Google Chrome, testing in all the various operating system permutations — plus don’t forget mobile. I’m a veteran of the Netscape vs IE browser wars and with only two it was painful enough.
The real test for any contender is whether it is so much better than its competitors that it passes the ’so what’ test. In the Internet Explorer 6 days Firefox was better enough to pass that test. With IE 8 I’m not so sure that I’d feel the same way, but now that I’ve switched why would I change? And having tried both Opera and Safari again neither is so much better than Firefox that it make the switch worth it. Google’s new deal with Sony Vaio may help them gain some share, but then again those Windows machines are also shipping with IE 8. Their better chance is to end-run the whole personal computer battlefield and focus on mobile and Android.
The new stable version will also feature Chrome’s new Safari-like New Tab page, an improved Omnibox and better HTML5 capabilities, as well as support for Chrome themes.
Google Move May Mark New Front in Browser War – Network World
Sony’s recent agreement to pre-install Google’s Chrome on its Vaio line of PCs could mark the start of a renewed push by the search leader to boost its browser business.
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Sue Waters added these pithy words on Sep 23 09 at 8:44 amChrome, IE 8 and FireFox are always loaded and used for different purposes. Occasionally I will also run Flock.
When necessary, if a blog user is having trouble on a Mac I will start up my Mac to do testing in Safari.
Same attitude. If it works fine with IE, as a general rule you know it will be fine.
I’m a bit emotionally attached now to the differing features of each browser (except Safari).
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Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
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