Firefox 3: The Next-Generation Web Browser

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REVIEW: At first glance, it doesn't look that different from previous versions of the browser. And while there are nice improvements from a usability standpoint, there's nothing radically different for Web users.

But appearances can be deceiving. And with its release today, Firefox 3 is poised to usher in a new phase of Web browsing that will change how Web applications are built and delivered, and even how most of us use and think of the Web.

That's because most of the innovations of Firefox 3 are under the covers. Among the major new features in Firefox 3 are its offline capabilities and its ability to seamlessly interact with Web-based applications and services. With these enhancements, Firefox 3 makes it possible for sites to deliver applications and content that people can use—even when they aren't connected to the Internet—and that work with a browser in much the same way that traditional applications work with an operating system.

In this way, Firefox 3 may make it possible to finally deliver on the old promise of the Web as operating system. Because of these features, along with many welcome usability, security and performance enhancements, I am awarding Firefox 3 an eWEEK Analysts' Choice Award; as of this moment, it is clearly the top choice in Web browsers.

OLPC Provides First Look at the XO 2.0

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At a special One Laptop Per Child event held today, May 20, at MIT, OLPC Chairman Nicholas Negroponte provided a first glimpse at the next generation of the XO laptop.

The XO 2.0 takes a radically different approach from the current version of the XO laptop. This version is designed more as a e-book reader than as a traditional laptop.

No working model was displayed by Negroponte, but in photos the XO 2.0 was seen as a smaller sized (about half the size of the current XO) right and left pane e-book that could be used in multiple modes, including as a tablet and as a laptop. (Click here to see images of the XO 2.0, some of which were photographed from a presentation so I apologize for the quality.)

Open Source as a Survival Strategy

Recently, I had a meeting with a technology worker and we were discussing the state of the enterprise testing tools market. We remarked on how many of the major players, such as Mercury Interactive, had been acquired by large companies such as Hewlett-Packard.

We also discussed the tough road that the few small independent testing tool vendors faced going forward, as they were now competing against giant technology vendors that could combine their acquired testing tools with broader software suites and solutions. To a large degree it seems as if these companies' only hope for survival is to also get acquired.

But there is another option that could be much more attractive: They could take their products and rerelease them as open-source solutions. In a software market like the one for testing tools, where prices are often very high and where open-source options are pretty limited, if open-sourced these vendors' tools would quickly become very popular. And companies like Red Hat and MySQL have shown that an open-source company can be successful and profitable by providing support and services for its applications.

WordPress 2.5 Is Top Choice for Blogging

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With the recent release of WordPress 2.5, the popular open-source blogging application has greatly improved its already good administration and blogging management interface and has made it much easier for bloggers to add widgets and do extensive customizations of their blogs. That's right, the best blogging platform just got better.

WordPress 2.5 represents the first major overhaul of the administration interface in a long time and while I never hated the old interface, I have to admit that this new one is a major improvement. Based on the improvements in this release, on top of the already very strong capabilities of WordPress, it's become even clearer that for anyone planning to start a new blog or looking to change platforms, WordPress should be the first choice.

To test WordPress 2.5 I launched brand new blogs and also upgraded existing WordPress installations to the new version. For clean installations everything went very smoothly and the blogging platform continued to live up to the promise of its 5-minute installation process.

Safari 3.1 is Top Choice for Fast and Lean Browsing

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For most people the current browser wars consist of two combatants, Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox. Looking in from the outside are alternative browsers that might be interesting but aren't seen as much of a threat to take up lots of market share, such as Opera, which is innovative but unknown to many users, and Safari, which is generally seen as a browser for Mac users (even though there has been a Windows version for almost a year now).

But with the release this week of Safari 3.1, Apple just may have laid claim to being top dog for a key segment of web surfers. That's because if you're looking for a clean, simplified, and fast web browser, right now Safari 3.1 is the best choice, whether one is a Windows or Mac user.

And clean is the key attribute of Safari now. As other browsers have continued to become more feature rich but also a bit bloated, Safari has kept to a basic and fairly simple interface and feature set.

Most of the new interface features in version 3.1 are pretty basic and have been found in competing browsers for a while now. Safari 3.1 now has better tab management, such as making it easier to move tabbed windows by dragging them.

Could Microsoft Close Up Zimbra?

While the Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo is still up in the air, that hasn't stopped many from speculating on what will happen to the many Yahoo assets and applications if the company gets taken over by Microsoft.

But to me the most interesting area of potential conflict is Yahoo's Zimbra Collaboration Suite, which I recently reviewed. Zimbra is a full-on, next-generation e-mail and collaboration platform next to which Exchange looks like an old legacy system.

So given that Zimbra is very much a competitor to a core Microsoft product line, one would have to assume that if Microsoft's acquisition of Yahoo goes through, Zimbra's days would be numbered. But Microsoft may find that Zimbra won't be that easy to get rid of.

That's because Zimbra is also an open-source product and would be easily the biggest and most popular open-source product that Microsoft had ever acquired. And one of the core principles of an open-source product is that it can't be just tossed away, since the license lets anyone pick up the code and start using or distributing it.

So what are the most likely options that Microsoft will take in dealing with their Zimbra problem if the Yahoo acquisition goes through?

Beta 2 Brings Firefox 3 Closer to Completion

With the release this week of beta 2 of Firefox 3, one thing is certain. We definitely won't see an official release of the latest version of the open source browser from Mozilla in 2007.

But from my tests of this second beta, it does look like we are getting very close to a final version of Firefox 3. In my tests the beta has been very stable so far and has been fast and not as much of a memory hog as past versions of Firefox.

As far as new features go, most of the improvements in this beta release are under the covers and those who have already tested out the previous beta won't see many differences except for in a few areas. (click here to see my previous review of Firefox 3 beta 1)

Firefox 3 Beta Boosts Usability, Security

Click here to see screenshots of Firefox 3
When you first install and launch the beta of Firefox 3, the initial impression (especially for those who remember some of the earlier promises of a revamped user interface and increased Web 2.0 integration) can be a little disappointing, since it doesn't look much different from the current version of Firefox.

But then as you begin to use it you realize that what Firefox 3 lacks in bells and whistles has been made up for in increased functionality and usability. To a certain degree, it almost seems as if Mozilla listened to all the most common complaints and gripes about its free open-source browser and decided to address them with this new version.

With less than a day of initial testing, it's a bit hard to make a definitive call on this first beta of Firefox 3 (which became available Nov. 19). But so far it looks as if Firefox 3 should be welcome both for its many small usability improvements and for its under-the-covers Web rendering engine and security enhancements.

When the main screen for Firefox 3 launches, almost nothing looks different from Firefox 2. The only new UI feature appears to be a favorites star added to the main address bar.

But using the browser reveals many welcome improvements. Opening a group of tabs now appends them to existing tabs, rather than removing and replacing those that are already open. When lots of tabs are open, it is now easier to scroll through them, and when shutting down Firefox 3 now asks if the user wants to save the open tabs.

Can Flock, the Web 2.0 Browser, Finally Fly?

When the Flock web browser was first announced, calling itself the Web 2.0 browser, it got lots of attention and hype, which was no surprise as this was the high point of the Web 2.0 hype craze. But when most of us looked at the then available Developer Preview, we were mainly underwhelmed by a product that was basically Firefox with a few social networking and tagging add-ons that were at the time very limited in functionality (the headline for my review at the time was "Flock Can't Fly Yet").

And two years later Flock has still yet to release a definitive 1.0 version of their browser. But they are finally close, recently releasing a private beta of the 1.0 version. And while Flock still is basically just an enhanced version of Firefox, it is definitely much more polished and functional. And rebranded as the Social Web browser, rather than the Web 2.0 browser, it makes a bit more sense, as those who are heavy users of social networks such as Facebook will find the most value in Flock.

Like Firefox, Flock runs on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, and much of the functionality is essentially identical to Firefox. Basically Flock is a version of Firefox with specialized extensions and a customized social networking theme.

Much of the core functionality in Flock runs in a lefthand sidebar and in a media bar that runs above the main browser screen. In the sidebar I could log into Facebook and see information on all my friends, including current status and shared media. If I clicked on their media link Flock automatically loaded their shared images into the top media bar in Flock. I could drag and drop links and content directly onto a friend and access common Facebook features such as a poke directly from Flock.

In the media bar I could access content from Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, PhotoBucket, and Truveo. Flock also includes a clipboard feature that lets users drag and drop links and content to save or to use in blog posts. It also includes integrations with tagging sites such as Ma.gnolia and del.icio.us.

Podcast: Voting on Open Documents

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Most people don't think too much about the format that they are saving documents in, that is, until they receive a document that they can't open or they send one that the recipient can't open.

For many years now this has been the way it is in business, whether one is sending documents created in different office suites or in different versions of the same office suite.

This problem has led to the push for open document formats, and by far the most mature solution in this area is ODF or the Open Document Format. ODF is ISO approved and is used in suites such as StarOffice and OpenOffice and also in Google's web applications. However, the ODF alliance, a group formed to help promote and spread the use of ODF, has found itself in a battle to get states and governments to use its format.

The main competition has come not surprisingly from Microsoft, the king of office suites. Recognizing the push in goverments and many businesses to support open formats, Microsoft has been pushing its OOXML or Office Open XML format. Microsoft has maintained the openness of its format and has gotten some states to recognize it as an open format but recently OOXML ran into a big roadblock when it lost a key vote towards becoming an ISO standard.

Today I am speaking with Marino Marcich, Managing Director of the ODF alliance, about this recent ISO vote, what effect it will have on OOXML, and its effect on the spread of the ODF format.