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Is the browser war over?

Posted on 16 Jul 2010 at 12:25

Will HTML5 bring an end to the age old browser wars?

Now that Apple, Mozilla, Google and even Microsoft have pledged allegiance to HTML5, are the web browser wars over? What’s more, does it mean that soon all website content will look the same regardless of which browser client and which platform you’re using?

“Browsers are still competing with each other, of course, but now they can compete on the things that matter: which browser has the nicest interface elements, which browser has the fastest JavaScript, and so on,” said Jeremy Keith, author of HTML5 for Web Designers. “I think that the dirty wars are over.”

As for the standardisation of display, web browsers still have some way to go. Using the Web Standards Project Acid3 test, Internet Explorer 8 currently scores only 55/100, while Firefox is already at 96/100. This just shows “how far Microsoft in particular has to come if we’re going to have truly standards-compliant browsers,” said Michael Duxbury from design firm dotAgency.

Other experts predict HTML5 could free web users from proprietary lock-in. “When more browsers and developers support HTML5’s audio, video, and interaction standards, the idea of the web as the universal app store for smartphones, desktops and laptops, Windows, Mac, and Linux gets closer to reality,” said Mark Watson from mobile developer Volantis.

Mickaël Rémond, CEO of developer ProcessOne, is the one dissenting voice, warning that we’re “just at the beginning of a new browser war”, with the battle moving to encompass new areas, including plugins, speed and security. “The browser still controls the view of the world for the user,” Remond said. “In turn, the users will be shaping how browsers are used in the future.”

Author: Davey Winder