subject: Is A Second Wave Of World Browser Wars Heading Our Way? [print this page] ... Maybe. Although this time it will be more complex.
IE and FireFox are the dominant incumbents and Googles Chrome is the rising super-power. However, dig a little deeper and youll see there are more potential players in the battle for world domination.
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"The issue that lies ahead is whether browsers will remain a relatively simple window on to the internet or become intelligent agents that shape online experiences. If they go down the latter route this would have potentially disruptive effects for others who do business on the internet", said Elliott King of MintTwist web design in London.
For the internets booming social networking industry in particular, the prospect that some of the capabilities associated with social networking will be embedded into browsers, making them more aware of users interests and social relationships, could force difficult strategic decisions.
Googles main contribution to the browser skirmishes weve seen thus far has been an obsession with speed. With a new, faster engine for executing Javascript the code that makes it possible for a browser to imitate applications that run on a PC Google galvanised the rest of the industry and forced rivals to focus harder on their own core technology.
Googles goal, as it takes on Microsoft, is clear to accelerate the advances in the internet platform in ways that eventually make it unnecessary to run native software applications that rely on a PCs underlying operating system. That, ultimately, should benefit the web-based services on which its success depends.
Others, however, see deeper potential in the browser and are out to push its capabilities further. As a piece of software that all users have to use it clearly has a strong strategic position.
For instance, Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox browser, says it is looking into arming its browser with a number of extra munitions such as knowing who you are and handling authentication on the websites you visit, keeping a record of your social network so that you can interact with friends; and, making it easier for you to share content with your network.
Given that these are all territories that social networks like Facebook currently view as their own, that could create new fronts opening up between browser makers and the internet services that rely on them.
If it makes life easier for internet users, bringing more capabilities into the browser will be hard to resist and populations of internet users may start to migrate away from using artificial silos [like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn].
This has attracted a flurry of interest and investment in browsers from the social networking big guns. The potential for social browsers is a currently a hot topic in Silicon Valley.
The internet industry has long nurtuerd a feeling of mutual growth and co-operation; but theres a growing evidence that the time may be coming for players to choose sides, ready themselves and prepare for war!
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