web browser

Once the biggest killer app of them
all -- who could forget the Microsoft-
vs.-Netscape battle royale? -- the
browser is now nearly a commodity.
Major innovations like tabbed
browsing and smart bookmarks
happened almost a decade ago. Most
improvements in recent years have
focused on security and speed, but
load times are now so fast that the
enhancements aren't that exciting.
But in the past few months, updates
to the most-used browsers --
including Microsoft ( MSFT, Fortune
500) Internet Explorer, Mozilla
Firefox, Google (GOOG, Fortune 500)
Chrome and Apple (AAPL, Fortune
500) Safari -- have their developers
once again fighting to out-innovate
each other.
That's because a breakthrough Web
standard called HTML5 is emerging,
and browser makers are practically
falling over one another to produce
the software that incorporates the
most HTML5 support features.
About 90% of Web content is written
in HTML code today, according to
research firm IDC, and the latest
enhancements promise richer,
easer-to-use and better looking Web
applications.
Though still a work in progress,
HTML5 will let developers create in
the browser experiences that
currently require stand-alone apps
or plug-in extensions like Adobe
Flash or Microsoft's Silverlight. It
supports lightning-fast video,
geolocation services and the ability
to drag-and-drop items to and from
the desktop. It can also be used to
build in-browser applications that
work offline.
To show what's possible with HTML5,
Google recently released " The
Wilderness Downtown," a music
video using pop-up windows,
interactive animations and a Google
Maps integration. It works best with
Google Chrome, but most users with
up-to-date browsers can run at least
parts of the site.
Starting Wednesday, that will
include early adopters using the
Web's most dominant browser.
Microsoft is scheduled to publicly
release a beta version of Internet
Explorer 9 -- its first complete
embrace of HTML5, and the
company's biggest leap forward in
browser technology in years.
IE's market share has slipped about
15 percentage points over the past
two years, falling to 60%, according
to Net Applications. In that same
time, the number-two browser,
Firefox, has expanded its turf, while
Safari's share has nearly doubled
and Chrome's market penetration
has shot up nearly seven-fold.
But analysts say the newest Internet
Explorer browser has a shot at
reversing that trend.
"Internet Explorer has been caught
in a time warp, but IE9 brings it up
to date," said Al Hilwa, analyst at IDC.
"The tide in the browser world could
quickly shift back to Microsoft."
The current version of Internet
Explorer is noticeably slower than
most modern browsers. Despite its
deficiencies, Microsoft has
maintained its dominance in the
browser market mainly because
Internet Explorer is packaged with
Windows computers -- and more
than 90% of PCs are running
Windows.
But with its market share falling fast,
Microsoft made the decision to
embrace change. In addition to
adding HTML5 support, IE9
introduces hardware acceleration to
improve graphics performance and
a handful of other advances that will
help it keep pace with its fast-
improving rivals.
The biggest advantage of the the
near-universal adoption of HTML5 is
that it could finally be the Web
standard -- meaning developers can
write code once that will work across
multiple browsers. That means
innovators should be able to spend
more time developing new products
and less time tweaking their
creations to account for each
browser's persnickety differences.
Of course, that opens the door to a
fresh round of feature fights. With
IE9, Microsoft -- like other browser
makers -- is gathering up partners to
build unique offerings like taskbar
integrations that will differentiate
their browsers. Too much unique
"innovation" undoes the advantages
of having an industry-wide standard.
"Yes, Microsoft is moving forward
with it and that's a good thing," said
Ray Valdes, analyst at Gartner. "But
differentiation has the risk of adding
incompatibilities for users such as
we saw 10 years ago during first
round of browser wars."
But for now, the bottom line is that
fast-paced innovation in the browser
space is paying off for users. Even
those running Internet Explorer will
finally be able to enjoy the faster
speeds and richer application
capabilities that are sparking a Web
development renaissance.