…on a person's PC or phone — for example, letting Gmail work without a network connection. The technology is derived from Google's Gears project, which embedded SQLite database software, but others have questioned whether SQL's syntax is the best interface for web developers. Even relying on SQLite as a standard does not guarantee compatibility, because browsers can use different versions, Beltzner observed.
Refresh rate
It doesn't just take time for standards to be hashed out — users must update to new browsers and web developers must decide if there's critical mass to support them.
The most notable example is Microsoft's IE6, which initially shipped in 2001 and remains in widespread use. Overall, IE has 66 percent market share, according to Net Applications' May 2009 statistics; its share breaks down to 41 percent for IE7, 17 percent for IE6 and seven percent for IE8.
Web programmers have long bemoaned IE6 — there's even a Stop IE6 campaign. More recently, John Martz attracted attention with his cartoon message created for use when IE6 users visit the Momentile's website; it depicts various browsers in the treehouse spurning IE6.
One of the benefits of Adobe's Flash is that it sidesteps some of these issues. Of course, it's a proprietary plug-in, not an open standard, which raises some developer hackles. However, Flash works the same on different browsers and operating systems, and Adobe has a reliable mechanism to upgrade users relatively swiftly to the latest version.
"Flash's success paints a target on its back," said Adobe blogger John Dowdell in a post about Mozilla's publicity pitch. "Upgrading the web is what happens with each new Flash generation."
But browsers are getting more fluid with auto-update technology. Although Microsoft, in particular, is held back by business user requirements, all the main browsers come with technology to download and install the latest versions relatively easily. Chrome updates itself automatically without giving users any say in the matter, making its upgrade cycle perhaps the fastest of all.
Clearing the path
But until the large number of IE6 and IE7 users, and conservative businesses, can be persuaded to get on the fast upgrade train, programmers will have to reckon with older browsers, too.
The new browser generation has one thing going for it, though — standards. HTML, CSS, SVG, JavaScript and other technologies remain fluid, but they're in the driver's seat in a way that they weren't in the days of Microsoft's unquestioned dominance.
More browser variety, along with IE8's standards mode default, means web developers can rely more on standards than on whatever Microsoft chose to do in 2001. It's a long way to a faster, richer, more powerful web, but the path is clear.
