I've installed the W3C web browser/editor, Amaya, onto my PC. I've only just begun to test it. But with all this talk about Microsoft abandoning its IE browser, it may pay to actively look at alternative browsers. This article at freshmeat.net has a good write-up on lightweight browsers, including Amaya.

Full Internet browsers will be on all smartphones and a "growing number of enhanced (or feature) phones," says Senior Analyst Mark Beccue in the release. The other type of browser - the proxy-based browser - requires very little memory and processing power and "can be used on even the lowest-cost phones." The most well-known example of a proxy-based browser is Opera Mini, which downloads highly-compressed versions of Web pages from a proxy server to increase speed and performance.

While the release states that "the installed base of full Internet browsers will exceed that of proxy-based browsers sometime in 2012," the continued explosion of the mobile Web is good news for companies like Opera. The browser company reported last week that the mobile Web ub Africa was continuing to see triple-digit growth and much of it was based on low cost phones.

I know, I know, it uses the same rendering engine as Safari... but even still, Murphy's Law of Browsers dictates that weird little quirks and idiosyncrasies will somehow find their way in. And in a world where we have to test web pages against Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Konqueror, old versions of Netscape, various mobile browsers and that web-enabled toaster oven in your client's office kitchen, well... oy.

Update: as some our commenters pointed out below, we forgot to mention two things: 1) there is still some discussion over what the canonical codec for HTML5 video will be, and 2) some of the browsers that Chitika considers to be HTML5-compatible only support some aspects of the HTML5 specs. We should have made this clearer in the original report and regret this omission.

Given that the HTML5 vs. Flash debate has gotten a lot of attention lately - thanks, in no small part to Steve Jobs' declaration of war against Flash - it is good to see that so many users are already using HTML5-compatible browsers. While the market share for Internet Explorer continues to drop, Microsoft's browser still accounts for about half of all Internet traffic. The next version of Internet Explorer will support HTML5, but given that Internet Explorer users are rather slow at updating their browsers, it will likely be a while before all of Microsoft's users will run compatible browsers.

In this context, it is worth pointing out that - according to Adobe's own data - Flash still holds a strong lead over HTML5, as it is installed on 99% of all Internet-enabled desktops. Flash Player 10, the latest version of Adobe's Flash plugin, is now installed on 97% of all Internet-enabled computers in the U.S. and Canada. It is also worth noting that Google is one of the strongest backers of HTML5, but at the same time, the company also plans to ship Flash with every version of Chrome soon. According to Google, this is meant to ensure the best possible browsing experience for Chrome users.

• Chrome has taken 1-2% share of the global browser market since its launch (NetApp)
• IE has lost 4-5% share so far in 2008 (NetApp)
• Analysts are skeptical of Chrome's adoption by enterprises, given its unproven "beta" status
• IE had 72% share and Firefox had 20% share in August 2008
• Microsoft and Mozilla recently launched browsers (IE 8 & Firefox 3) with similar features as Chrome

Click through to RWW Predictions to login and cast your prediction.

Note: On Monday afternoon the RWW Live crew will be discussing Chrome's impact on the browser market with 2-3 special guests. Be sure to tune in at 3:30 pm PDT Monday.

So what is it that Safari is missing? For one, unlike the other browsers, Safari has no built-in phishing filter which warns web surfers when they visit suspicious web sites.

The other issue is that Safari doesn't support EV (Extended Validation) certificates. This secure web browsing technology turns the address bar green when visiting a legitimate web site.
Currently only IE supports EV certificates, but upcoming versions of Opera and Firefox will be supporting them as well.

"Safari has got nothing in terms of security support, only SSL (Secure Sockets Layer encryption), that's it," Barrett said.

But are these technologies really having an effect? Barrett thinks so. For example, with EV's, he is basing this decision on data compiled on PayPal's web site that show that IE 7 users are more likely to sign on to PayPal. He makes the leap to presume that this is because they are more confident that the site is legit.

But to the contrary, a study (PDF) on the effectiveness of EV shows that EV certificates aren't that useful unless someone is specifically trained to notice the green address bar and what it means.

So, is Barrett being overly cautious? Or is Safari really insecure?

That's saying a lot for the browser implicated in the Great Google Caper of 2010 and we have multiple security experts who said a lot on why it just isn't true.

Internet Explorer: The Reigning Champ of Security?

"In my opinion the browsers aren't the real problem for most users," Kristensen told us. "The main concern for normal users is by far all the third party programs, such as programs from Adobe, Sun, Apple, and many other vendors, which are being exploited."

Browsers, whether Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, update themselves requiring little if any user involvement, he said, so most vulnerabilities are taken care of. With other programs, however, updates often sit waiting for "months and even years before they update."

Kristensen did concede, however, that the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox and Opera currently have no un-patched vulnerabilities and are therefor a more secure choice compared with IE, while offering the same caveat.

"The normal user faces the almost same risk whether they run IE, Firefox, or Chrome if they haven't updated all their software," said Kristensen.

Vincent Steckler, CEO of anti-virus software provider Avast, agreed that Evans' statement didn't really add up.

"Other browsers may also have vulnerabilities but to suggest that changing browsers can increase vulnerability is not correct," he told us this morning. "It is changing from the known to the unknown - while it may not increase your protection, it will not decrease it."

IE 6: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

On this point we can find some agreement. Michael Sutton, VP of security research at security provider Zscaler, notes that a switch may be a wasted effort, except for in one case.

"Switching browsers in response to a single vulnerability is a wasted effort. All browsers have vulnerabilities," said Sutton. "So what happens when you switch to Firefox and they announce a critical vulnerability? The larger story here is that the attack succeeded by targeting users running IE6 - an 8-year-old browser."

Whether you switch browsers or not, there is one thing for sure - you need to stop using Internet Explorer 6 already. In the end, though, it doesn't come down to running an ancient browser, as the vulnerability may go well beyond that.

"Currently it is evident that running IE6 on XP or Windows 2000 is a very bad idea, and any other browser would be a better choice for XP and Windows 2000 users," Kristensen told us. "It is also evident that there is an unpatched vulnerability in IE7 and IE8 which may or may not be exploitable on Vista and Windows 7."

We have to admit, the French may be right on more than red wine and food. Go get yourself a copy of Chrome, Firefox or Opera if you haven't already.

Google says that such as desktop Gmail notifications and drag-and-drop file upload in Google Docs "require advanced browsers that support HTML5." The move fits within Google's plan to bring all computer-based functionality to the Web, with its Chrome browser and operating system the tip of the spear.

In theory, supporting just the last two releases of the four major browsers should make it easier to earn Google Apps Certification, a program Google announced in February. Google gave administrators the ability to opt out of automatically receiving the newest updates in March, a move that is beneficial for enterprises that often are not able to move fast enough to maintain security and cross-business functionality.

Also in March, Google launched a "What's New" page for Google Apps to let users stay up to date on the latest releases. New releases are added to the schedule one week before they go live.

Among other Google Apps updates this year is the ability to delegate administrative tasks to users. That helps company IT departments share the responsibility of performing certain tasks across the enterprise. Google also made changes to its service level agreements in January to eliminate planned downtime for apps.

Google-owned YouTube will end support for Internet Explorer 6 on March 13, just two weeks after ending support on Google Docs.

Ars Technica explains that Microsoft refuses to force its users to upgrade, even though it "has stated time and time again that it wants to see IE6 disappear as much as anyone else." Currently, IE6 accounts for about 20% of surfers worldwide, with IE8 currently the most popular version.

According to Google, users running IE6 and other old browsers will still be able to watch videos, but will be shown an interstitial every two weeks, as seen above, to remind them to upgrade. Some features will not be available to these users until they upgrade. Google considers "old" browsers to be anything older than IE7, Firefox 3.0, Chrome 4.0 and Safari 3.0.

In other news, we can only hope that this is a signal that we will be seeing some cool new features rolling out in the near future for YouTube. And perhaps more companies will come out against the now-ancient browser and help to put it out of its, and Web designers' everywhere, misery.

In a quiet mid-December move, FluidApp developer Todd Ditchendorf put "most of the code behind Fluid" up on Github under an open source license. That's very good news - new developments are already coming fast and furious. If you haven't checked out Fluid before, now is a great time.

Windows users looking for a similar experience should check out Bubbles or Mozilla's Prism.

Now that Fluid for the Mac is open source though, it will be very exciting to see what features are added next. Creator Ditchendorf says he has some more exciting plans under his hat but nothing to show off yet. Watch this space.

What's your favorite Fluid App? One of my favorites is LazyFeed.

Next: 15 Fluid Apps You Can Build For Your Business.

Whether they explicitly ask you to do it or not, chances are your parents' Web browser could use an upgrade. The Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal put out a humorous call to action asking that you do just that, with or without the consent of your parents. Lifehacker goes so far as to show how to trick them into thinking nothing's changed.

So, this Friday is Update Your Parents' Browser Day. As Madrigal points out, the more up-to-date everyone's Web browsers are, the easier life will be for people who design and code websites for a living. Sure, a few hundred people upgrading their parents' browser on Friday isn't going to put a noticeable dent in the current browser marketshare break-down. Yet if enough people got into the habit of performing this task, we could perhaps see older browsers phased out a little more quickly over time.

It goes without saying that the browser in most dire need of being phased out is Internet Explorer 6, the decade-old, hard-to-kill browser that now even Microsoft wishes wants to get rid of. If somebody in your family is still running IE6, do the world a favor and upgrade them to a newer version of IE or, if you can get away with it, install Chrome or Firefox.

It'll Be Faster, Mom

If your folks (or other relatives guilty of having outdated browsers) are hesitant, one way you can sell them is with a promise of increased browsing speed. Everybody seems to think their computer runs slower than it should. Chrome has an especially solid reputation for speed among the major browsers, so it's a good candidate to install. It has a different UI from IE and Firefox, but it's pretty intuitive and shouldn't be hard for newcomers to get used to.

Improve Security (and Reduce Those Year-Round IT Phone Calls)

One of the most compelling reasons for keeping any software up-to-date is of course security. This is especially true of browsers. If family members are running anything other than the latest stable release of a browser, update it. Again, if they'll let you, switch them to a browser with a better track record for security, such as Chrome. Just remember to carry over their bookmarks and browser settings.

The more you can keep malware and security threats at bay, the lighter your load will likely be the next time you come around and are asked to play Family IT Director.

Released under a Creative Commons 3.0 license, the document provides a comprehensive comparison of security features of the commonly used browsers; IE (version 6 and 7), Firefox (version 2 and 3), Safari, Opera, Chrome and the lesser known Android embedded browser.

Browser security has been an ongoing problem over the years and was the first subject discussed during the browser wars panel at the Add-on conference last week. Earlier this year, Robert Hansen and Jeremiah Grossman uncovered an attack known as clickjacking, which gives an attacker the ability to trick a user into clicking where the attacker wants on a site. A good overview can be found on the Computerworld site, which has a clickjacking FAQ:

"In plain English, clickjacking lets hackers and scammers hide malicious stuff under the cover of the content on a legitimate site. You know what happens when a carjacker takes a car? Well, clickjacking is like that, except that the click is the car."

Clickjacking is one of the issues covered in the security handbook which is divided into three sections:

1. Basic concepts behind Web browsers with reviews of core standards and technologies behind current browsers and their security properties
2. Standard browser security features details explicit security mechanisms and restrictions
3. Experimental and legacy security mechanisms discusses security mechanisms that have either fallen into disuse or never caught on, as well as those yet to prove their worth.

The document appears to be an ongoing project; you can find more details here.

Image Credit: Thanks Darwin Bell

Google also found that this independence of processes resulted in less "jank", which is Google's term for unresponsiveness in the browser. Google wanted Chrome to be the "fastest and least janky browser around." 200 miliseconds is their baseline for performance in startup speed, page load time, javascript execution. Responsiveness matters, said Goodger. He said that the user must always be in control of their browsing experience. As a sidenote, Goodger mentioned that the latest version of Internet Explorer 8 also now has the separate processing for different tabs feature.

Goodger talked about the user interface that Chrome has, which he said is a bit different from other browsers. He said they "stripped down the UI" and focused on the mantra "content not chrome", which he acknowledged was ironic given the browser's name. He showed the following video, from Japan, to illustrate this approach:

There are obvious differences in the UI in Chrome, for example the lack of menu buttons. There are also other subtle differences, such as fewer "attention-grabbing" popups. Goodger also noted that Chrome has "fewer options, better defaults". His rule is that "options are never an excuse for bad design".

Goodger talked a little about Chrome's release cycle. Google uses channels to release versions of Chrome: stable, beta and dev (bleeding edge). Google aims to treat Chrome just like any web app, that releases early and often and in an automated method. So users get automated updates to the latest stable version, without having to manually update anything.

Finally Goodger reiterated that Google Chrome is open source, with community discussions happening at dev.chromium.org.

It just so happens that something like that may now be under development in the most official of venues. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced today the formation of a new Web Real-Time Communications Working Group to define client-side APIs to enable Real-Time Communications in Web browsers, without the need for server-side implementation. The Group is chaired by engineers from Google and Ericsson. It sounds like Opera Unite to me (see video below), but democratized across all browsers. It sounds like it could be a very big deal.

"These APIs should enable building applications that can be run inside a browser," the new Working Group's charter says, "requiring no extra downloads or plugins, that allow communication between parties using audio, video and supplementary real-time communication, without having to use intervening servers (unless needed for firewall traversal, or for providing intermediary services)."

The working group is focused on the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that devices will use to implement these connections, but is working with an IETF group developing a technical protocol for transmission of the data between browsers. The first indication of this work appeared two months ago with the discovery of a mysterious flag inside Google Chromium.

The W3C's new working group on all this is chaired by Harald Alvestrand of Google and Stefan Håkansson of Ericsson. It plans on meeting regularly through February 2013 and is placing a special emphasis on ensuring users have control over and are aware of what media they might be transmitting from their browsers to others.

Ray's answer was that Microsoft is creating a platform for developers to build componentized things like widgets and other web services, but he wasn't able to elaborate on IE's future role in this growing ecosystem - because IE's development plans in that respect are still under wraps. He acknowledged that Firefox is becoming an information broker, saying that this is part of a continued trend in browsers where they are becoming more interactive and writeable. He noted that initially browsers were read-only, but browsers nowadays are able to be written to as well. He also discussed the general trend of componentization, which is basically what is happening with widgets and web services. He said that IE4 was a componentized browser, so this has been a trend for a while in browsers.

Just before the lunch, Ray and Scott were on the main stage being interviewed by Michael Arrington. Dan Farber has a great write-up of that discussion, which discusses Web OS and office software amongst other things.

Scott, Ray, Mike; pic by pxn8

So how is Microsoft's Web Strategy panning out?

From Mike's Q&A and my own lunch with Ray and Scott, I have gotten a better sense of Ray Ozzie's style as Chief Software Architect - the role he took over from Bill Gates last June. Ray Ozzie obviously has a superb handle on technology trends and his 'services vision' has become nicely refined over the past year or so. So I'm impressed by that, although I wish he'd told me specific details about IE's future today at lunch ;-)

Also what we're seeing at MIX this year is that the end products are beginning to show evidence of Ozzie's strategic leadership - e.g. we saw today that Silverlight is a comprehensive web development platform covering the browser and desktop. I haven't mentioned Scott Guthrie much in this post (mainly because his job is to talk specifically to developers, in their language, so a lot of what he says goes over my head!). But the demos of Silverlight-produced apps this morning, which Guthrie compered, were impressive and show that the services strategy coming from Ozzie is starting to show through now in Microsoft's products.

There's a lot to wrap my head around at this conference, but I'll be back later with more coverage.

Update: Ryan Stewart was at the lunch too and his write-up is up now.