Firefox "steals" ideas from Opera, Opera "steals" ideas from Firefox
Firefox founder Blake Ross (Blake Ross) last week answered questions from the Opera community. He urged everyone to recognize that the developers of the most popular "alternative browsers" "steal" ideas from each other, advised Opera to become open-source and talked about how he learns that IE on Vista is indeed the best browser.
The idea that Firefox and Opera users dislike each other is considered ridiculous by Ross. In reality, these are just two different high-quality browsers, so there is no point in measuring speed or something else. Ross invites everyone to make a tacit agreement, recognizing that:
- Firefox "steals" ideas from Opera;
- Opera "steals" ideas from Firefox;
- Opera - a better "built-in" browser (for example, Nintendo Wii);
- both browsers are great.
Work to improve the speed of Firefox (as when browsing the pages, and when you start the browser) was conducted initially and will continue, says Ross. He admits that the launch speed so far leaves much to be desired, especially compared to the main competitors, noting that such is the fee for the ability to launch this browser in different operating systems.
')
Opera still copes better with the transition to the previous or next page viewed; Firefox caches parts of the pages using RAM, which reduces the efficiency of the system. The task of the Firefox team is to find the right ratio.
Customizable keyboard shortcuts are not the most important function that Firefox developers take. It is already available through plugins and may be built into FF3. Ross approaches the embedding of new features with caution, because Firefox initially had to look like a browser, improved with plug-ins. New features are built in only if they are claimed by the maximum number of users; so it’s with the spell checker, so it’s with Places: this system is the next step in the evolution of the bookmarks.
Opera will be much better if it joins the "open-source movement," Ross said. The fact that this browser has become free is a positive change, but such advantages as many new developers, more localizations, better user feedback are not yet available to Opera, even though the community has developed over many years.
Widgets at Opera Blake Ross are not impressive: he says that now any company wants to have widgets that blur the boundaries between the Internet and the local computer. It is not clear who needs extra hours or the current meteorological report on the “desktop”, when there is a clock in the office and there is a window.
The fact that many companies still ignore generally accepted web standards limit the use of “alternative browsers”, etc. - it's a shame for them. Ross reminds that more than 90 million Internet users do not use Internet Explorer - and some of these users can also purchase products offered by such companies on their websites. Ross hopes that everything will start to follow the standards: it will bring more income than the orientation towards the popularity of this or that browser.
Inertia is the biggest enemy of developers, says Ross. Microsoft, for example, is still unable to make a normal browser for Word files: developers simply do not notice this problem, for them it is not as important as for ordinary users. Firefox has such an interesting example as the JavaScript console (in the Russian version - “Error console”), which exists since the time when the number of developers and testers exceeded the number of regular users. Outside - 2007: how important is the presence of this console now and can you entrust the “professionals” to install the third-party tools they need? There was a lot of controversy on this topic - and the result is visible in the “Tools” menu.
Trying to answer the question of which browser is still better, Ross notes that Opera is intended for advanced users. Firefox is initially aimed at not the most experienced users, while “pros” can improve the browser with the help of plug-ins. The trend is that now both browsers in their "basic" functionality are approaching a certain middle, trying to come to a consensus between the interests of "novice users" and "pro".
Miscoroft's claims that Internet Explorer in combination with Windows Vista is the best browser aren’t much disturbed by Ross. He says that he hasn’t managed to test IE on Vista yet, and he will judge by how truthful these claims are by his mother: if IE is better, his mom (a true Firefox user) will stop calling him.
The idea that Firefox and Opera users dislike each other is considered ridiculous by Ross. In reality, these are just two different high-quality browsers, so there is no point in measuring speed or something else. Ross invites everyone to make a tacit agreement, recognizing that:
- Firefox "steals" ideas from Opera;
- Opera "steals" ideas from Firefox;
- Opera - a better "built-in" browser (for example, Nintendo Wii);
- both browsers are great.
Work to improve the speed of Firefox (as when browsing the pages, and when you start the browser) was conducted initially and will continue, says Ross. He admits that the launch speed so far leaves much to be desired, especially compared to the main competitors, noting that such is the fee for the ability to launch this browser in different operating systems.
')
Opera still copes better with the transition to the previous or next page viewed; Firefox caches parts of the pages using RAM, which reduces the efficiency of the system. The task of the Firefox team is to find the right ratio.
Customizable keyboard shortcuts are not the most important function that Firefox developers take. It is already available through plugins and may be built into FF3. Ross approaches the embedding of new features with caution, because Firefox initially had to look like a browser, improved with plug-ins. New features are built in only if they are claimed by the maximum number of users; so it’s with the spell checker, so it’s with Places: this system is the next step in the evolution of the bookmarks.
Opera will be much better if it joins the "open-source movement," Ross said. The fact that this browser has become free is a positive change, but such advantages as many new developers, more localizations, better user feedback are not yet available to Opera, even though the community has developed over many years.
Widgets at Opera Blake Ross are not impressive: he says that now any company wants to have widgets that blur the boundaries between the Internet and the local computer. It is not clear who needs extra hours or the current meteorological report on the “desktop”, when there is a clock in the office and there is a window.
The fact that many companies still ignore generally accepted web standards limit the use of “alternative browsers”, etc. - it's a shame for them. Ross reminds that more than 90 million Internet users do not use Internet Explorer - and some of these users can also purchase products offered by such companies on their websites. Ross hopes that everything will start to follow the standards: it will bring more income than the orientation towards the popularity of this or that browser.
Inertia is the biggest enemy of developers, says Ross. Microsoft, for example, is still unable to make a normal browser for Word files: developers simply do not notice this problem, for them it is not as important as for ordinary users. Firefox has such an interesting example as the JavaScript console (in the Russian version - “Error console”), which exists since the time when the number of developers and testers exceeded the number of regular users. Outside - 2007: how important is the presence of this console now and can you entrust the “professionals” to install the third-party tools they need? There was a lot of controversy on this topic - and the result is visible in the “Tools” menu.
Trying to answer the question of which browser is still better, Ross notes that Opera is intended for advanced users. Firefox is initially aimed at not the most experienced users, while “pros” can improve the browser with the help of plug-ins. The trend is that now both browsers in their "basic" functionality are approaching a certain middle, trying to come to a consensus between the interests of "novice users" and "pro".
Miscoroft's claims that Internet Explorer in combination with Windows Vista is the best browser aren’t much disturbed by Ross. He says that he hasn’t managed to test IE on Vista yet, and he will judge by how truthful these claims are by his mother: if IE is better, his mom (a true Firefox user) will stop calling him.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/4978/
All Articles