Browser compatability now

In 1994, when Netscape Navigator was the most popular web browser, Marc Andreessen declared the browser would replace the OS. Clearly aimed at Microsoft, who proved them wrong with Windows 95, it still was a sign of things to come.


Now, Chromebooks and web-based tools like Google Apps routinely put everything on the Web. Faster, smaller, much cheaper computers, twenty years of development plus routine access to broadband have made “everything on the web” (or in the cloud) routine for us.

Up to recently however browser compatibility was a big headache. Now Html5 has changed all that, browser + Html5 = new OS! 

Html5test.com measures Html5 compatibility and provides a point score. Today Firefox 39 scores 467 of 555 points; Chrome 44 scores 526; Safari 9.0, 400.) In general, the four main browsers have improved hugely in the last few years.

Better browsers were supposed to replace operating systems since 1994.

Instead, they’re slowly replacing local applications, especially for mobile. Today, companies write applications and apps for iOS and Android, which you download through the App Store. Over time, many apps will become HTML5 wrappers, using CSS3 or JavaScript for many functions, then most, then all.

When browsers become “all” HTML5 or 5.1 (due next year), then more complex programs like Insight can become an URL instead of an app? Maybe.