HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
Apple Safari
Safari is the default browser for OS X. There is also a version that's available for
Windows, and a mobile version of this browser is installed on the Apple iPhone. It is
based on open source technology, and its support for web standards is at a similar level
to Firefox. Right now, Safari has about 5% of the browser market.
Google Chrome
Google Chrome is the new kid on the block. It uses the same HTML engine as Safari, an
open source engine called WebKit. Google Chrome is known for offering very high per-
formance, and has some features that prevent it from crashing as often as other browsers.
It's a free download and despite that it was released at the end of 2008, Chrome users
make up about 5% of the total.
Other Browsers
When it comes to browsers, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are the big
two. And in terms of market share, Internet Explorer has the majority, but plenty of other
browsers are floating around, too. You'd think that given that the browser market has
been dominated by Microsoft or Netscape almost since its inception, there wouldn't be a
lot of other browsers out there, but that's not the case.
For example, Opera (http://www.operasoftware.com/) has a niche market. It's small, fast,
free, and available for a number of platforms, including Windows, Mac OS X, and
Linux. It's also standards-compliant. For UNIX users who use KDE, there's Konqueror.
There are various Mozilla offshoots, such as Camino for Mac OS X. Likewise, com-
mand-line browsers such as Lynx and Links are available to provide an all-text view of
web pages. There are also a number of browsers that provide access to the Web for peo-
ple with various special needs; I discuss them in detail in Lesson 19, “Designing for the
Real World.” It makes sense to code to common standards to accommodate all these
types of browsers.
Using the Browser to Access Other Services
Internet veterans know that there are dozens of different ways to get information: FTP,
Usenet news, and email. Before the Web became as popular as it is now, you had to use a
different tool for each of these, all of which used different commands. Although all these
choices made for a great market for How to Use the Internet topics, they weren't easy to
use.
 
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