Web Browser Roundup

It's been a fascinating year on the web (as always.) True HTML5 functionality is on the horizon, Groupon reportedly turned down a multi-billion dollar offer from the folks at Google, Zeynga increased their worth by billions through online agriculture, and WikiLeaks had their crack at changing diplomacy forever. None of this would have been possible without the under appreciated web browser. Let's talk a look at how our windows to the world changed this year:

Opera:
The Norweigan browser, is something of the underdog in the race. It is kind of hard to tell why though. Opera 11 was released to very strong reviews and opened up the platform to extensions. Opera 11 has the best tab and window management of all the browsers in my opinion. Opera is the preferred browser on the Nintendo Wii, which gives it major cool points.
Typical user: Cool teenagers and efficient Sweedish efficiency type of people.
Motto: "Look at what I am using and you are not!"

Microsoft Internet Explorer:
Microsoft did not release a significant update in 2010, only pushing minor security and stability releases. Most of the talk was regarding IE 9, which is still in Beta. The 9th go round of the browser everyone loves to hate will have a new interface and expand it's capabilities by the use of HTML5. Interestingly enough, it is rumored that it will only be available to Windows 7 and Vista. Planned obsolescence much?
Typical user: At work browsers and non tech savvy users.
Motto: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, don't fix it either."

Mozilla Firefox:
Firefox really expanded this year. Personas and a wealth of extensions make this browser the most "fun" of all of them. The 3.6 update saw HTML5 compatibility and much faster Javascript processing. Firefox 4, which was released in beta, is slated for an early 2011 release. I think when released Firefox will see their market share climb even further.  
Typical user: Ordinary, web savvy person.
Motto: "Hello World"

Google Chrome:
It was a very busy year for Google's baby. Using an agile rapid release plan Google aimed for a new stable build release every 3 months, which they achieved. We went from Chrome 3 to Chrome 8 in a year. Updates included themes, better tabs, bug fixes, and integrated Adobe PDF and Flash Player.
Typical user: Cool techy who knows a few Linux commands.
Motto: "sudo"

Apple Safari:
Safari had a slow year. Safari 5 debuted in June, featuring usability and performance improvements as well as HTML5 compatibility. Apple did introduce the Safari Developer Program this year, (finally) releasing an extension builder tool.
Typical user: Apple fan boys.
Motto: "I <3 Steve Jobs"

Of course, the best browser doesn't matter if no one uses it, so let's take a look at market share for November 2011.

From Wikipedia

Blog stats

From our main site, www.sdsol.com

Congrats SDSol.com visitors, we break the trend and prefer Firefox to IE.

Happy holidays!