Browsers: 5 Most Important Events Of 2012
For a while now browsers used to be the titans of the Web, with developers creating online engines instead of designing new applications. However, those days seem to be over since the times of smartphones and tablets began. What happened during past 12 months in the WWW world?
1. Zuckerberg's Facebook steps back from using HTML5
Due to its versatility, HTML can be employed on a variety of devices that use browsers – from Macs and PCs to tablets and smartphones. Facebook was no exception as a vast majority of its devices was coded in HTML5. What the HTML5 stands for? It's a rudimentary technology for coding Web pages that relies also on other standards such as Java, CSS and more. Nowadays, numerous applications are directed exclusively for iOS and Android.
2. Microsoft puts a spoke in third-party browsers' wheel
Windows 8 comprises old Win32 interfaces with the new WinRT. But while Internet Explorer 10 is advertised as different from what it used to be, other browsers such as Chrome and Firefox are unable to employ the old interfaces. Hence IE lets run e.g. JavaScript faster – and these days faster = better. Though Microsoft eventually made an exception for browsers working on Windows 8 it seems that the company simply wants to eliminate its rivals by simply denying access.
3. Targeted advertisements counterattack
Do Not Track (DNT) is a standard that was created to prevent people from being tracked by Web sites. However, while Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari decided to turn DNT on should the user expressly put the browser in such mode, Microsoft undermined programmers efforts by “demanding more privacy. In IE, DNT is turned on if the user accepts the Windows 8 default installation settings – and online advertisers say it's no “expressed setting”, so they will ignore it.
4. IE – from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan?
There used to be a joke among Windows users: “What do you use IE for? To download another Web browser!” However, it may turn into a thing of the past as new IE 10 supports an impressively long list of new Web standards: from supporting multitouch surfaces and scripts for faster content loading to well-thought security restrictions and tools for writing Web apps while offline.
Of course, there' still a winding road ahead of Microsoft, but as least it stopped IE's shares from sinking.
5. Chromebooks – falling prices, sky-rocketing interests
ChromeOS was nothing close to a hit when it made its debut in 2009 – but as Google is lowering the prices, more and more users are willing to hand their money. Though Chromebooks are far from perfection they may work just fine as a machine for checking e-mail and writing job reports. They may not be as appealing as tablets but they are cheaper and come with a keyboard, which for many people is still more convenient than a touchpad.
What is your opinion on changes that took place in 2012 ?