∞ Don't just optimize your site for WebKit

…and I guess I’ll have to check my code as well

Call from Daniel Glazman :

Not so long ago, IE6 was the over-dominant browser on the Web. Technically, the Web was full of works-only-in-IE6 web sites and the other browsers, the users were crying. IE6 is dead, this time is gone, and all browsers vendors including Microsoft itself rejoice. Gone? Not entirely… IE6 is gone, the problem is back.

WebKit, the rendering engine at the heart of Safari and Chrome, living in iPhones, iPads and Android devices, is now the over-dominant browser on the mobile Web and technically, the mobile Web is full of works-only-in-WebKit web sites while other browsers and their users are crying. Many sites are sniffing the browser’s User-Agent string and filtering out non-WebKit browsers. As in the past with IE6, it’s not a question of innovation but a question of hardware market dominance and software bundled with hardware. But there is an aspect of the problem we did not have during the IE6 era: these web sites are also WebKit-specific because they use only “experimental” CSS properties prefixed with -webkit-* and not their Mozilla, Microsoft or Opera counterparts. So even if the browser sniffing goes away, web sites will remain broken for non-WebKit browsers…

∞ Opera goes 64-bit mode

Woot, let’s get dirty, again!

As the snow settles on the ground, and the elves draw close to finishing construction of all their toy orders, it may not surprise you to learn that Opera’s little helpers have also been very busy, adding exciting new innovations to our desktop browser!

As a last release before Christmas, we are bringing you a new labs release featuring two exquisitely wrapped presents: 64-bit builds Out-of-process plug-ins

Caught! As Google Chrome keep evolving really fast, the Firefox is resting shamelessly

Caught! As Google Chrome keep evolving really fast, the Firefox is resting shamelessly

And you thought I’d be using RockMelt…? I mean… seriously ? WTF?

And you thought I’d be using RockMelt…? I mean… seriously ? WTF?

★ Tariq Krim: “Firefox, as an application, will die out”

I recently interviewed Tariq Krim, the creator of Jolicloud and Netvibes. When asked about the switch over to the Chromium rendering engine for Jolicloud he replied:

I’m a big supporter of Mozilla ever since it was created. However after speaking for a long time with John Lilly, Mozilla’s ex-CEO, the browser, as an application, will die out and the only important thing that will remain will be their rendering engine. We’ll be able to install it everywhere as a component.

You may view the whole interview in French here or a Google translation here