It's IE8 vs. Firefox 4 for 2008 (and animal noises)

Just browsing IT Blogwatch, in which the browser wars rumble on, with early plans afoot for IE8 and Firefox 3/4. Not to mention Zefrank's eight favorite animal noises...

The Mozilla Project's Percy Cabello popped in to say hi:

In today’s Firefox 3 (code name Gran Paradiso) meeting, developers released a preliminary list of requirements for Firefox 3. The new target release date is sometime in the third quarter this year. Among the list of mandatory requirements ... we have:

• Improved interaction with Add-ons ...
• Support for remote bookmarks, bookmarks and history annotation.
• Files could be handled by web services. If I am reading this correctly, this could mean you would be able to click on an attached document and open it with something like Writely or Google Documents. And perhaps, as I asked Santa, the ability to redirect mailto: links to web email services.
• A much needed print support to prevent cut paragraphs and true WYSIWYG.
• The much requested MSI installer which will be a much welcomed improvement for IT administrators as it will ease deployment and updating of Firefox across a company.
• In the security front: support for Microsoft CardSpace and OpenID (check tomorrow’s article for more coverage on this). Smarter credentials handling.
• Airbag, the Google backed open source crash reporting tool will replace currently licensed TalkBack.

Among the highly desirable requirements:

• A private web browsing mode ...
• Save web pages as PDF files, integrated with history ...
• Support pause/resume downloads across sessions.
• Make Firefox help accessible only while online ...
• Microformats support.

Richard MacManus read that, and wrote this:

While Firefox is still aiming for a broad mainstream audience, Mozilla recognizes that its strengths for normal users are its extensions and customization. It notes on the wiki that "Microsoft will continue to establish deeper ties from IE7/Vista to live.com & MSN" and even that other "web service providers" may introduce their own browsers (Yahoo? Amazon?). So Firefox is aiming to be the best general Web browser.
...
The mandatory requirements listed ... show that Firefox wants to be an independent information broker rather than a simple HTML renderer in its next version. Microformats will be a key part of this too - and this is currently listed as a "highly desirable" feature ... good to see extensible identity management listed there. All of this encourages best-of-breed apps to flourish, which is an excellent direction for Mozilla to take with Firefox. It probably also plays into Google's hands, as they have a number of best of breed web apps.
...
Also in the works is Microsoft's IE8. According to ActiveWin.com, a Microsoft official at CES told them that work has already begun for IE 8 and it may be released as a final product "within 18-24 months" ... if anything, I'd hazard a guess and say that IE8 will head back into ProprietaryLand - leaving Firefox to become more of a vehicle for independent web services, particularly those from Google.

Brady Forrest runs with it: [geddit?]

This is a great list of features (congrats to the team!). I'm glad to see more support for identity systems. If OpenID gets in, it will definitely aid in its adoption by both users and sites. The increased interactions with webservices would be great. I want to be able to open Word Docs into Writely or Zimbra in any browser from any site and enabling remote synchronization of bookmarks would be very handy. I really like the idea of not having to reboot FireFox when I want to try out an add-on.

Ryan Wagner digs deeper:

While Internet Explorer 7 might be a good browser, I think that one also has to look into the future before making a switch. Mozilla should have another milestone release of Firefox by the middle of 2007, but Internet Explorer 8 isn’t expected for 18 to 24 months. The slow development cycle of Internet Explorer is something that has always turned me away from the browser, and one of the big reasons I have always looked at alternatives like Opera and Firefox. I do believe that Internet Explorer 7 does some things better than Firefox, like handle feeds, but there are also things that Firefox does better like support a large range of user-created extensions.

Mary Jo stares:

Microsoft and the Mozilla Foundation are pushing ahead ... many of their priorities are — at least in theory — quite similar.
...
Supposedly, there's already an alpha build of IE 8 circulating inside Redmond's hallowed halls, as well. Anyone out there seen it? ... The Mozilla folks are planning to release a new version of Firefox on a yearly basis, according to information shared on the wiki, "since it helps drive upgrades and adoption." That means Firefox 4 in 2008 ... Bill Gates said last year that he hoped the team would be able to release a browser on an annual basis, [but] the IE developers have been reluctant to commit to that timetable.

The IE team has said it will up IE's compliance with Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) standards with future releases [and]:

• "Locking" a page to prevent users from accidentally navigating away from it
• Adding a "Find on Page" capability
• Improving username/password management
• Restoring the "Image Toolbar" provided in earlier IE 7 test builds
• Changing the download mechanism, perhaps eliminating the initial download to the "temporary Internet files" folder
• Adding easily editable config files (similar to Firefox's userChrome.css and UserContent.css)
• Enabling draggable tabs from one IE window to another
• Configuring tabs so that each has its own private cookie cache
• Introducing new status bar info, possibly with fields such as "last accessed by user" and "window last updated"
• Enabling add-ons, such as stocks, movies, etc., a la Firefox

chrono13:

What the hell? A Firefox 3.0 feature list without mentioning the new Gecko engine? Gecko is the heart, the soul, and what makes Firefox tick. Pass Acid2? Hell yes it will. More fixed bugs? Of course. Speed improvements? Absolutely. [link to Gecko roadmap]

Hale:

I wish they would quit trying to add features and just work on the current problems.. like how about fixing the bloated memory bug? There is a workaround, but no fix.

Brahma:

Firefox 3 is code named ... "Gran Paradiso". For the interested "Gran Paradiso" is the highest mountain group in the Graian Alps, located in the Aosta Valley region of north-west Italy.
More at [Wikipedia]

Buffer overflow:

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Previously in IT Blogwatch

• You can buy OLPC's $100 XO laptop for $260? (and server stall)
• Stevenote launches Apple iPhone (and complaining Brits)
• I'll be your Windows Home Server (and I pity tha' foo')
• Gates keynotes CES in Vegas (and duckling flying lesson)
• Cisco gobbles IronPort (and Adam hates spam)
• Older posts

And finally... Animal noises!

Richi Jennings is an independent technology and marketing consultant, specializing in email, blogging, Linux, and computer security. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. Contact Richi at blogwatch@richi.co.uk.