You may have seen my website, the Alternative Browser Alliance. I put it together in 2005, when flame wars between Opera users and Firefox users were at their height, to show that we shared a common goal: opening the web. The most popular page on the site is a list of web browsers, which is linked as a resource from a number of sites and also gets a steady stream of traffic from people searching for alternative browsers.
Of course, things have changed a lot since 2005, so I’m planning an overhaul of the whole site.
Definite plans include:
- Reflect the current state of web browser marketshare & technologies.
- List new tools, such as Dragonfly and Firebug.
- Update the list of browsers. (Add Chrome, figure out whether anyone uses Galeon anymore, etc.)
- More button/banner sizes.
- Release the whole thing under a Creative Commons license so that it’s easier for people to do translations.
I’m considering adding a blog for browser-related commentary. This would have to be low-frequency, comparable to something like css3.info, or I would have to bring other people in, because I just won’t have time to keep it updated regularly. On the downside, it adds a layer of software complexity. Also, I’m not sure it would add anything to all the blogs out there that currently focus on browser news.
I’d appreciate any suggestions from the general web user, developer, and browser fan communities.
Thanks in advance!
a) integration with http://www.anybrowser.org
b) a comparison table like the one in http://www.wikimatrix.org
c) forum/ comments/ etc to be made on the GetSatisfaction.com platform
Please add K-Meleon (Firefox without the bloat) to your browser list. It’s a lightweight gecko based browser made specifically for old slow PC’s that can’t run anything better than an old outdated version of Windows (can run on an old 486 with 32mb ram & Win95 or NT4!)
The developers have made a commitment not to abandon the owners of these old computers, unlike how most other browser developers already have.
I wrote a review about the browser last year and published it on my Snailware blog, if you are interested in a user opinion and perspective.
Thanks for the suggestion. K-Meleon is actually already on the list, and has been since the site launched three years ago.
Hello Kelson,
I strongly believe that the “why” section should address the bugs situation in IE 6 and IE 7 and their respective web standards compliance. IE 8 will be more compliant but – and this is important to note – will not reach the level of compliance of Firefox 3.0.3 and Opera 9.61. Some of the IE bugs I filed have been recently closed as postponed. And we also know that IE 8 will not support DOM 2 Events.
“There was almost no innovation from 2001 through 2004”
To be precise: there was no innovation or development at all between October 2001 to June 2004.
On the “detect capabilities” subject, you should provide at least 1 link.
Possible choices:
Developing Cross Browser/Cross Platform Pages
Using Object/Feature support detection approach: best and overall most reliable
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/Using_Web_Standards_in_your_Web_Pages/Developing_Cross_Browser%2f%2fCross_Platform_Pages#Using_Object.2fFeature_support_detection_approach.3a_best_and_overall_most_reliable
A Strategy That Works: Object/Feature Detecting by comp.lang.javascript newsgroup FAQ notes
http://jibbering.com/faq/faq_notes/not_browser_detect.html#bdFD
Browser detection – No; Object detection – Yes by Peter-Paul Koch
http://www.quirksmode.org/js/support.html
Any Linux-capable browser is good, so I am not sure what would be the point of listing Linux browsers.
By the way, Konqueror 4.x is available for windows:
http://windows.kde.org/
Regards, Gérard
Hi,
As a user it is great that there are are choice of bowsers on the market. However, as a web designer/developer the differing standards are a pain, as many of you out there know. The point to remember as a developer the IE is still the largest browse in use and will probably remain so as long as mcrosoft dominate the PC software market. Do not believe all the stats ot there, just think of the average Joe who buys a pre-installed PC. The majority don’t even know what their IE is a browser, just that it takes them in to the Internet. More has to be done by W3C to push for a standard browse implimination.
regards
George
I've been using the Alternative Browser Alliance site for over a year as a redirect from my own site, for all visiting Microsoft users. I've only just noticed that it no longer seems to have DNS entries. Are you aware of this, and when do you think it might be resolved?
Thanks.
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Lee Haywood.
Oh, it's back again today – it just seemed that a lot of people were reloading because the site had disappeared. Never mind.
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Lee Haywood.
@ljhaywood: sorry about that. There was a server snafu last Friday (July 3) morning, and it looks like you got caught in the middle of it.
Right, that's nice to know – thanks.
It seems that people just reload my page over and over anyway… they seem to think that their use of MS IE is just a temporary problem, easily fixed by reloading a dozen times!
http://discussionator.com/sorry.html
Perhaps my message should say 'please switch to a standards-compliant browser and then come back…'
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Lee Haywood.