Tag Archives: mozilla

WebKit, Mozilla, CSS and SVG

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So now you have Apple’s WebKit pushing more for CSS extensions such as animations and transformations (at least because Apple would rather push for the <canvas> tag rather than endorse SVG) while you have Mozilla pushing SVG effects (at least because Mozilla would rather throw its support to SVG extensions rather than CSS, as seen with their relatively late tackling of the Acid2 test).

But where do the twain meet? How can SVG and CSS be reconciled as needing each other to create, say, better graphical web UIs?

Plus, what’s there to gain for Apple in the extension of CSS into the animation and variables department (which is already dominated by JavaScript and, to a lesser extent, vector graphics such as Flash/ActionScript and SVG/SMIL)?

Maybe CSS can be better used for HTML animation and effects while SMIL is better for SVG animation and effects?

Uninformed: Mozilla – the Intel of browsers?

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Is Mozilla the Intel of web browser makers?

As I’ve probably said before, I find the foundation/corporation to be rather set in its ways, convinced that the Mozilla platform, which has been ported for use on a number of operating systems, offers enough clout for them to continue development of their flagship web browser. Any issues that the users of the browser may face is the cause for further improvement of parts of the platform, rather than total replacement of these components.

For instance, Mozilla’s proponents and developers felt slighted when Apple passed over the Gecko layout engine in favor of KDE’s KHTML/KJS for their WebKit platform.

Furthermore, Mozilla tends to view itself as the vanguard of the web, and has promoted the Gecko engine as being more “compatible” with a variety of web sites and web standards than other layout engines, including the WebKit/KHTML engines.

But on another note, the comparison between Gecko and WebKit should take into account the folks who support, use or promote either engine. While Mozilla, a cross-platform browser maker, is the largest promoter and supporter of Gecko, WebKit tends to be supported and promoted by a variety of groups: the most monied of these supporters are the mobile device or software makers, such as Nokia/Trolltech, Apple, and Google (via Android).

Does this mean that Mozilla and Gecko is similar to Intel and its 30-year-old x86 chip architecture, while WebKit and its promoters are similar to the PowerPC architecture and its supporters (IBM, Freescale)?