Browser Wars: Chrome Steps Up

In yet another bout of good news for Mozilla, Chrome has displaced Firefox as the second most popular browser according to research boffins at StatCounter.  Microsoft's Internet Explorer still holds the top spot by quite a large amount, but what is most surprising is the time that it has taken Chrome to establish itself in the number two slot.

Chrome has been around now for quite some time, but not nearly as long as Firefox.  The Chrome market share now stands at 25.7%, while Firefox has dipped to 25.2%.  Not a massive amount I agree, but this could be a sign of things to come.  StatCounter point out that just two years ago, the Chrome share stood at just 4.5% and so this is a massive achievement for Google.

Firefox seem to be trailing in strategy as well, as they now seem to be following Google with their own rapid release cycle methodology (albeit rather annoying at the same time).  I'm not entirely sure that Mozilla have been doing anything massively wrong as such as of late, but they don't seem to have the innovative touch that they once had.  Bugs crop up from time to time as they do with all browsers and I'm adamant that Firefox is the best browser for debugging as it has the widest range of addons available right now.  I think that it's time for Mozilla to regain that creative spark that it once had, rather than becoming the market follower.

Firefox 7 Released (three weeks ago!)

In a rather delayed post, Firefox 7 has now been released, wooo!  The release comes just six weeks  (yes you read that correctly) after Firefox 6 arrived.  The two major selling points of this release are speed (as ever!) and the memory demand has been reduced by half, which is quite impressive.

Over the past few releases, I have noticed that Firefox has become a bit of a pig for the amount of memory it uses.  Why that is I'm not sure, but anything like this is always a welcome boost.

For web developers, the news gets better.  Navigation timing spec will benchmark your pages which I'm all in favour of as this is something that I've always tried to run to get the best out of the user experience.  More good news comes from the people that make Firefox who claim that this release will be less likely to break your addons.  There is better support for compatibility with your older addons that were download from their own site, however bits from elsewhere may not work as well.

Firefox Silent Updates

Future versions of Mozilla Firefox will shortly be delivering updates to your computer without you even knowing about it, saving users the bother of downloading and installing updates.  Good idea?  Maybe.

Right now, both Firefox and Chrome are seeing frequent updates and if reports are to be believed, Microsoft will be joining that party soon with the development releases of Internet Explorer 10.  The danger is that users are no longer aware of these updates and what benefits they will bring.  Personally, I'm a little bored of minor releases being marked as new version releases which I feel Firefox has been doing as of late.

Notifications are irritating, full stop.  Every time I load Firefox at the moment it tells me that an update is available.  The problem is, I don't want to update.  The last time I did this, it broke all of my addons which is one of the reasons that I use the browser in the first place.  Ironic.  This will also cause problems in large companies where users do not have permission to install updates and then deployment also becomes a problem.  This is why most companies use Internet Explorer which ties in nicely with other Microsoft products so that updates are easily deployed along with security fixes.  Right now, Mozilla say that they are testing a Windows service that will install an optional component that will automate the update install without UAC prompts.  Sorry, but if something changes on my machine, I want to know what is going on.

This is both good and bad, but perhaps they need to start to change the approach that they are taking right now.  The benefits may outweigh the problems.  By taking the rapid release cycle approach, we are constantly moving forward so that we are no longer stuck with older browsers like we had with the IE6 fiasco.  I really am in favour of this as the envelope of web technology is constantly being taken forward.  As long as the way in which pages are rendered doesn't change, this is good with me.  I remember when IE7 was released and many developers complained back then that had to write hacks to get their code to work with IE6.  This can't be allowed to happen again.

So yeah, as you can imagine I'm a little divided!

YSlow now Available for Opera, Chrome in Beta

For those of you who have read some of my previous posts, you will know that I'm a big fan of the YSlow extension that until now has only been available for Firefox.

For those of you who don't know what YSlow is, it's basically a small tool that analyses every part of page performance.  Each aspect of your site is graded and improvements are suggested.  If you get a chance, have a read through my post on 'How to Speed up Your Website' where I use YSlow in combination with a number of other tools that really work.

Chrome users can have their cake as well, albeit a slightly smaller piece until it leaves the beta stage.  Version 3.0.6 is available from the Chrome Web Store right now.

YSlow really is one of the best tools out there for squeezing every drop of performance out of your pages.  Be aware for those people who want to use this who are using Firefox, you will need to have the Firebug extension installed.

If you want to get started, here is what you need to do.

1. Using Opera for desktop, install the extension from the Opera extensions sites.
2. Visit the website you'd like to measure the performance of.
3. Click the YSlow icon in your toolbar, then click the "Run Test" button.

For more details about YSlow, take a look at the main YSlow site.

Beef up your Security with HTTPS Everywhere

EFF have released HTTPS Everywhere version 1.0 for Firefox as the project has recently come out of the beta testing stage.

The question is, why should you use it and what does it give you?

Well, in a nutshell it enables you to browse the web securely, even when you don't realise that you aren't browsing an HTTPS enabled website.  The problem with a lot of what you do is that a lot of your requests are sent over a vanilla HTTP connection, which is, err, insecure.  For example, your normal request to http://www.facebook.com/ will be redirected to https://www.facebook.com/.  Simples!

HTTPS Everywhere addresses this issue by rewriting all of your requests to HTTPS.  Full details of the product are available here, and the download is available from here.  It also boasts that it now supports over 1000 websites including all of the big names such as Google, Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook and PayPal to name a few.

If you use Firefox, then this is a must as 'it just works' to quote Apple without you even noticing.

Firefox 6 Now Available

An update to the already brand new Firefox 5 is now available to download.  The update comes just two months after Firefox 5 was released.

Recently since Firefox 4, Mozilla appear to be on a quick release cycle which other browsers such as Google Chrome seem to be following.  The download is now available on the Mozilla site, and has now been pushed to the automatic update feature within Firefox as of this morning.

After updating yesterday, it seems that there is little or no difference in functionality.  Digging a little deeper, it appears that 5 brings performance increases of about 20%, which isn't too bad at all.  Visually, is it almost identical.  The only minor note is that the domain name is now bold in the URL bar at the top.

What has frustrated me about this release so far is that quite a few of my add-ons were incompatible with this new version which I use on a daily basis.  I think that Mozilla should have made more of an effort to support these better so that they work from day one, but that hasn't happened.  For that reason, I've gone back (even though I hate doing that) to version 5.0.1, which is available here on all platforms for those people who have the same problem.

Google Chrome Jumps to Second in the UK

Oh dear, it really hasn't been a good month or so for Mozilla.  Not only do they not have any niche anymore as I discussed recently, but now they have slipped into third place behind Chrome in the UK.

According to Statcounter, Google Chrome has now jumped to second place in the so called 'browser wars' in the UK (still second worldwide).  Google Chrome has only been with us now for a short while, 3 years in fact but already it has made good inroads into the market.  The statistics that Statcounter has shows the following in the UK:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer (45%)
• Google Chrome (22%)
• Mozilla Firefox (just under 22%)
• Apple Safari (9%)

Both the market share for IE and Firefox has been on the decline as of late, whilst Chrome and Safari have taken advantage of the enlightened user awareness of alternative browsers.  Google certainly have made the most of this with their recent dip into television advertising which highlights the benefits of Google and Chrome together.  A couple of things that Google has been shouting about is speed and security.  The other browsers historically have had problems with both of these areas, so it's all about taking advantage.  And to be fair to Google, Chrome is very, very fast.  When Apple ported Safari across to Windows, they made big statements about the browsing experience, with speed being one of these areas although they have been very quiet as of late, almost standing still watching the others slug it out.

Google really won't be giving up on this one.  Logically, Google has more to gain from any of the other three companies listed as Chrome is essentially a base product for all of their other products.  Firstly there is the new Chromebook which in my opinion really is a mile away from being a full consumer product.  I'll do a Google here and call the Chromebook a beta product, because essentially that is what it is.  It's not a spot on either a Windows 7 or an OSX laptop but that's another story for another day.  Next, it links in with Android, which again has made massive inroads in the smartphone market.  Then there is the biggest product, search.  This is where Google makes its money and it comes from advertising, sponsored links and affiliate links.

So really, it's all about the money, and Google are good at making money.

I'm still thinking though that Internet Explorer will be king for a while to come yet.  Not only have they released a good browser as of late, there are plans for Internet Explorer 10 which take on more of the HTML5 and CSS3 specifications. With this, I expect that they will stay static with their market share, or even gain some back.

So back to Firefox.  They really are taking a kicking at the moment.  Yes they are still second globally, but for how long?  They won't be losing third place to Apple, and they won't be getting first place either.  They need to do some work I think!

Mobile Firefox on the Way

Following on nicely from my post a few moments ago, Mozilla have just announced that they are starting working on a mobile version of its popular desktop browser.

You have to feel for Mozilla at the moment as things aren't exactly going brilliantly.  When I say this, I mean it with a pinch of salt.  You will always have those people out there who love Firefox and those who swear that it is the best thing since sliced bread but, and this is a big but, they really must be feeling that they are out in the ocean on their own at the moment.

Microsoft have Internet Explorer, Apple have Safari and Google have Chrome.  So that's desktop and mobile covered for three major platforms at the moment, with only the various Linux flavours not covered.  So...my question is, is there any point to this?  I'm thinking probably not.  In the early days of iOS, rumours were rife about a mobile version of Firefox, but the rumours were denied and they never turned into anything more than gentle whispers in the wind.  I think that they've missed the train and are now playing catch up.  They should stick with what they are good at, or innovate with a new niche product that nobody else has.

I still need you Firefox for development, so don't go anywhere anytime soon!

Google Abandons Google Toolbar for Firefox

In what can only be said is a predictable event, Google this week has announced that it is halting development of its Firefox Toolbar.  With Mozilla releasing Firefox 5, there is no in-place upgrade for those who want to continue to use the toolbar.  Has Google shot itself in the foot though with this one?  After reading many Twitter comments over the past few days, this is a sincere possibility.

Let me get one thing clear, I hate the Google Toolbar.  In fact, I hate all search toolbars.  They clutter your screen, they spy on what you are viewing, they slow your browser down and also they take up valuable screen space.  Ok, so you've lost the translate features.  Oh wait, no you haven't.  Google still have that little 'translate' link on each of their search results so really it is still there, but you will have to go the long way around to get to where you want to be.

The problem how I see it though, is that we are in this stupid IE6 situation again, where people will be reluctant to upgrade to Firefox 5 and they will want to stay with their 'working' Firefox 4.  Oh dear.  Step back though, as the real reasons are more transparent than you might believe.  Chrome is making leaps and bounds at the moment.  Google are even pushing it though billboard and TV advertising at the moment which means that they are playing hardball.  Why would they want to support other browsers when they have their own product?  Development costs are another factor.  Google Labs has also this week been shut down, so some innovation and development has been lost there, but all that really is is cost cutting and putting all of their chips into more profitable products.

Clearly Google sees its future at the moment with products such as the lovely new Google +, which I think is a refreshing change to Facebook.  And why wouldn't they?  Take a look at Facebook right now and you can see why Google wants to get to the party.  I don't really blame Google to be honest, but you have to admit that it is definitely more of a discrete way of dictating browsing habits and testing loyalties.  Time will tell to see if this was actually a masterstroke or actually, they will reverse this decision and carry on with the toolbar or not.  Given enough pressure and demand, I don't see why they wouldn't carry on with it.

Speed up Your Website - Top Tips

Speeding up your site can often be the key to an enjoyable web browsing experience.  There is nothing more frustrating than waiting for your page elements to load.  This is really one of my pet hates.

What can you do about it?  The elements that basically slow your pages down are as follows:

• Http requests within your page, i.e. loading an image;
• Poor or invalid HTML markup;
• Large images sizes;
• Too many images;
• Lots of DNS lookups;
• Uncompressed JavaScript and CSS;

Having lots of http requests on your page is a real performance killer.  Having lots of external JavaScript files, images and CSS files will kill the performance of your site dead.  But what can you do about it?  Well actually the answers are more simple than you might think.

Your JavaScript and CSS can be easily compressed by removing much of the unnecessary whitespace within your code.  What I personally do, is keep a copy of the uncompressed original and when I want to make a change, I do so to that document and then compress it, making another new smaller file.  A great site that will compress your JavaScript for you is jcompress.com.  Simply paste your code into a text box and it will spit your compressed code back out.

Images can also be combined into CSS sprites, which is essentially one image that can be used to style multiple elements from with your stylesheet.  For example, on my site I have one image that serves as a background for all of my h3 headings, main div headings and for the footer of my site.  This then only counts as just one http request, therefore massively decreasing the loading time for my site.  Have a quick Google around for this as there are many good sites that will give you some great examples.

Ok, so now you are left with a few things to do.  You are wondering how to make those big images smaller without having to sacrifice either the quality or the actual size of the image.  You've got several options.  One of them is to fiddle with the image format.  Personally, I prefer PNGs or JPGs for my images as they keep most of the quality.  Removing colours from the image is one way to also reduce your size.  Ok, now that you've done that, I bet that you are still wondering why your image size is large.  Next, have a go at using Smush.it which is a little tool available from the Yahoo Developer Network.  The tool will compress your images for you, removing extra details such as the Meta information which really isn't important for your site.  Smush.it claims that it is a "lossless" tool, which means that it optimises the images without changing their visual quality.  Once the process has finished, the tool reports how many bytes that it has saved you, along with a zipped your shiny new smaller file.

Lastly, poor or invalid HTML markup is also a performance killer.  If you validate your code according to the HTML spec that you outline in your header, your site will load much more smoothly and quickly as your browser won't be trying to make assumptions as to what your code really should be doing.

Don't panic now.  There are a few tools out there that can help you.  I personally develop for Internet Explorer as that is where the market is.  I then test in other browsers such as Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Safari, and more importantly no longer for IE6.  But, when I'm in the process of quality testing and validation, I use Firefox along with the Firebug, Web Developer, HTML Validator and the YSlow plugins.  For me, these are the best tools available for you to test your site.  I advise anybody who is even vaguely interested in performance to check these out.  YSlow and Web Developer are both brilliant tools as you can fully inspect your markup, and YSlow will even grade your site based on your components.

As you can see from the image above, there are several options available to you in YSlow (also a Yahoo Developer Network tool).  Using the components tab, you can see every element in your site.  One minor point to note, Firebug needs to be installed to use YSlow.

Good luck!