When will web browsers be complete?
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When will web browsers be complete?
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Re: When will web browsers be complete?
#2W3C does not publish all web standards, notably it doesn't publish the three biggest technologies used in web browsers:
- HTML is worked on by WHATWG
- CSS is worked on by CSSWG
- JavaScript is worked on by TC39
And IE wasn't killed by features moving too fast, Microsoft made Edge browser and still does. Mozilla hasn't been killed by Google or competition, it's been kept alive in large part by Google (I think in some years as much as 90% or more of its total income coming from Google) so they get hundreds of millions—the problem at Mozilla is bad management for the last decade.
I'm not sure how well this vision represents reality as it already is today.
Re: When will web browsers be complete?
#3W3C does not publish all web standards, notably it doesn't publish the three biggest technologies used in web browsers: - HTML is worked on by WHATWG - CSS is worked on by CSSWG - JavaScript is worked on by TC39 And IE wasn't killed by features moving too fast, Microsoft made Edge browser and still does. Mozilla hasn't been killed by Google or competition, it's been kept alive in large part by Google (I think in some…
Microsoft makes a browser but the point people are typically making here is that Edge is just a reskin of Chromium.
Re: When will web browsers be complete?
#4W3C does not publish all web standards, notably it doesn't publish the three biggest technologies used in web browsers: - HTML is worked on by WHATWG - CSS is worked on by CSSWG - JavaScript is worked on by TC39 And IE wasn't killed by features moving too fast, Microsoft made Edge browser and still does. Mozilla hasn't been killed by Google or competition, it's been kept alive in large part by Google (I think in some…
> - CSS is worked on by CSSWG
The CSS WG is a W3C WG, and they're very much published as W3C specifications.
Re: When will web browsers be complete?
#5"There is not much left for a Web browser to cover" - this reminded me of the famous "physics is mostly complete at this point."
Web (browser) is the only cross-platform operating system, even if some standards say otherwise. I'm sure we'll see docker-style virtual web environments, cross-machine abstractions to simulate datacenters for distributed computing (GPU and such), PWA-style webapps bootable from USB sticks and functioning as operating systems, various crazy extensions for the upcoming neuralink-style tech, virtual reality frameworks, holographic displays and so on and so forth.
Physics is never complete at any point.
Re: When will web browsers be complete?
#6Wish they were stable first. There is undefined and buggy behavior, e.g. sub pixel scrolling, scroll container padding etc.
Re: When will web browsers be complete?
#7W3C does not publish all web standards, notably it doesn't publish the three biggest technologies used in web browsers: - HTML is worked on by WHATWG - CSS is worked on by CSSWG - JavaScript is worked on by TC39 And IE wasn't killed by features moving too fast, Microsoft made Edge browser and still does. Mozilla hasn't been killed by Google or competition, it's been kept alive in large part by Google (I think in some…
Microsoft makes a browser but the point people are typically making here is that Edge is just a reskin of Chromium.
Between IE and the current Chromium-based Edge browser, was born, lived, and died another browser engine named EdgeHTML.
IE was 2 browser families ago from Microsoft.
Re: When will web browsers be complete?
#8W3C does not publish all web standards, notably it doesn't publish the three biggest technologies used in web browsers: - HTML is worked on by WHATWG - CSS is worked on by CSSWG - JavaScript is worked on by TC39 And IE wasn't killed by features moving too fast, Microsoft made Edge browser and still does. Mozilla hasn't been killed by Google or competition, it's been kept alive in large part by Google (I think in some…
> - CSS is worked on by CSSWG The CSS WG is a W3C WG, and they're very much published as W3C specifications.
I just don't get the impression OP is even aware there are groups in existence working on web standards apart from W3C.
Re: When will web browsers be complete?
#9> there is not much more
distance to cover [relative to native toolkits]
As I see it, the web as originally conceived was "ready" around 2003, and then again around 2009 when CSS media queries became mainstream to adapt to mobile usage. For me, the excessive push for browser APIs as a desktop replacement since then, and the proliferation of frameworks is a generational thing, driven not by technology but by big data, SaaS (prospect of extracting recurring revenue from customers, rather than one-time license fees), and a new generation of developers getting into the game by leaving the status quo behind, solely for their own economical benefit. Google has masterfully played this game, and let the idea of open web standards bend the minds of developers who thought they were clever. Moz partnering with them under WHATWG seemed like a good idea at the time, but just made the concept of a web standard arbitrary and "whatever Chrome does" over time, leading to Moz's demise and that of every other "browser vendor".
It'll take some stance and political will to reclaim the web.
Re: When will web browsers be complete?
#10"There is not much left for a Web browser to cover" - this reminded me of the famous "physics is mostly complete at this point." Web (browser) is the only cross-platform operating system, even if some standards say otherwise. I'm sure we'll see docker-style virtual web environments, cross-machine abstractions to simulate datacenters for distributed computing (GPU and such), PWA-style webapps bootable from USB sticks…
The fact that we're comparing a type of software to a school of science speaks volumes