IE9 Details Begin to Emerge

Since there is beginning to be a fair amount of buzz surrounding some of the upcoming browser releases, I thought I would take a moment to share some of the recent news that has begun spilling out on the Internet Explorer front since PDC.
IE general manager Dean Hachamovitch reports Microsoft is “…focusing on three very [...]

Google releases Chrome, a web browser

Google announced yesterday on the their blog that today they would release a web browser called Google Chrome.
Today, Google Chrome is available for download.
It’s too early to tell what the implications of this will be on web designers and developers but it might be worth installing and taking for a spin.

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2

For any of those who may have missed it from the more traditional channels, IE 8 Beta2 was released for public consumption this week. With many new features, it looks to be a sizable release. More info is available through the following resources:
IE 8 Public Beta Page: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/
IE 8 Features Overview: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/features/
IE Blog (more information [...]

Opera 9.5 Released

Over the weekend, Opera Software released the newest milestone of its browser, Opera 9.5. This is a completely new branch of the browser (Kestrel) and runs much more quickly than 9.2x (Merlin).
New features include:

Opera Link: synchronizes your bookmarks, Speed Dial, and Notes between Opera installations on different computers, including Opera Mini on your phone. (View [...]

WebKit achieves 100/100 on Acid3

WebKit, the rendering engine behind Apple’s Safari web browser, has achieved a 100/100 on the rigorous Acid3 web standards test.
This makes WebKit the first open-source rendering engine to pass the test, with Opera the first browser to pass the test in a private development version. WebKit has more work to do on the test, [...]

IE on Acid

Several bits of news today on the web-standards front. Firstly, the IE team has released some commentary regarding the status of their IE8 compatibility with Acid2:
 
Although we said that IE8 Beta 1 passes the ACID2 test, some of you may be seeing results like the image above; we thought we should explain what’s going on. IE8 [...]

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 available for download

Microsoft has released the first beta of Internet Explorer 8.
It can be downloaded here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/ie8/readiness/Install.htm
Also, here is the IE8 start page: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie8/welcome/en/default.html
Be warned: The IE8 Beta overwrites your IE7 (or 6) installation.

Microsoft changes IE8’s default behavior

Today, Microsoft has officially stated that they are changing IE8’s default behavior for rendering standards mode. Instead of making web developers opt in to use IE8’s standards mode, IE8 will now automatically render in this standards mode.
I’m glad that the IE Team listened to the community and decided to do the right thing. [...]

Microsoft to launch beta of Internet Explorer 8

CNet reports today that Microsoft will soon be making a beta of IE8 available. From CNet:
Microsoft will shortly make available the test version of Internet Explorer 8, which is set for final release in the first half of this year.
The Web site ActiveWin on Monday published the contents of a beta invitation, which said Microsoft [...]

IE8 Round Table

The Web Standards Project has posted an IE8 round table discussion with Chris Wilson, the IE8 platform architect, Aaron Gustafson, and a couple of others on the proposed meta tag.  This is really the first explanation we have heard from anyone on the IE Team about the opt-in behavior since it was announced.
The funny thing [...]