Browser

A Browser is a software application for viewing documents, applications, images, video, audio and all types of information formatted in compatible formats, over the World Wide Web.

Specifications

WebExtension

WebExtension is an often requested (by the OSS & Browser plugin communities alike) specification to standardize the extension of browser functionality via plugins/extensions/add-ons/widgets.

• WebExtension spec: https://browserext.github.io/browserext/

W3C Widgets

W3C Widgets was a prior standard which initially aimed at standardizing re-usable widgets (embedded services & reusable UI components) that could be cross-platform via the browser and mobile-compatible. The spec eventually started being adopted as a de facto standard for Browser plugins/add-ons where no other standards existed, however since then it has informed the WebExtension working group and been largely superceded by that spec as far as browser support (only Opera had fully supported W3C Widgets, with several others supporting it on Mobile platforms such as Nokia, Vodafone, Palm, etc).

See: Widget#W3C_-_Widgets

Browser Engines

Gecko

• MozDev -- Gecko: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Gecko
• wikipedia: Gecko (software)

KHTML

Originally the browser engine for Linux-based Browesrs.

• wikipedia: KHTML

WebKit

Initially based off of KHTML, but heavily modified by Apple to build Safari.

• wikipedia: WebKit

Blink

• wikipedia: Blink (browser engine)

Trident

• wikipedia: Trident (software)

EdgeHTML

• wikipedia: EdgeHTML

Presto

• wikipedia: Presto (browser engine)

Modern Browsers

Desktop Browsers

IE

• Microsoft Internet Explorer: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/

Edge (1-44)

• Microsoft Edge: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/microsoft-edge

Safari

http://wiki.bcmoney-mobiletv.com/index.php?title=Browser&action=edit

• Apple Safari: http://www.apple.com/safari/

FireFox

• Mozilla Firefox: http://www.getfirefox.com

Chrome

• Google Chrome: http://www.google.com/chrome

Opera 14+

• Opera: http://opera.com

Amazon Silk

• Amazon Silk: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/silk/index.html | DOWNLOAD (used on Amazon Kindle tablet & Fire TV, and other Amazon Alexa-powered devices such as Smart Speakers, headlessly whenever data needs to be retrieved over the web)

Edge (45+)

• Microsoft Edge (chromium): https://www.microsoftedgeinsider.com/en-us/

Brave

Co-founded by former Mozilla head, Brendan Eich.

• Brave: https://brave.com/

Konqueror

• Konqueror: http://www.konqueror.org/

Others

• Flock: http://www.flock.com/
• Lynx - the text-only web browser: http://lynx.browser.org/

Mobile Browsers

WebKit

• WebKit: http://www.webkit.org/ (powers Safari Mobile for iOS, others)

Android

• Chrome for Android
• Samsung Internet Browser for Android
• Default: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_%28operating_system%29#Features
• Skyfire: http://www.skyfire.com/ (mobile video optimized)
• Dolphin HD: http://www.dolphin-browser.com/

Mozilla Fennec

• Firefox Mobile - Fennec: http://www.mozilla.org/mobile/

Opera Mini

• Opera Mini (mobile browser): http://www.opera.com/mobile/

IE Mobile

• Microsoft - Internet Explorer Mobile: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/features/default.aspx#internet-explorer

Silk

• Amazon Silk: http://amazonsilk.wordpress.com/ (mobile browser, optimized via split-browser rendering model using Amazon Cloud Computing infrastructure to render, for next gen Kindles)

Nokia

• Nokia Symbian Browser: http://www.developer.nokia.com/Community/Wiki/Browser

BlackBerry

• BlackBerry browser: http://ca.blackberry.com/smartphones/features/internet.jsp

Others

• JIG - Japan's fastest mobile browser: http://www.jig.jp/

Tools

• WhatsMyBrowser: https://www.whatsmybrowser.org/
• BrowserShots: http://browsershots.org/ (cross-platform, cross-browser testing tool that takes snapshots from real devices)
• BrowserCam - simulate device browsers: http://www.browsercam.com/
• BrowserSize - check your site design against popular browsers: http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/
• PrecentOfTheInternet: http://percentoftheinternet.com/ (real-time browser usage stats)
• Mobile/Tablet Browser Market Share: http://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=0&qpcustomd=1

Resources

• WhatBrowser?: http://www.whatbrowser.org
• Browser detect script: http://www.quirksmode.org/js/detect.html
• Most popular internet browsers in Canada in 3rd quarter 2019, by market share: https://www.statista.com/statistics/186150/most-popular-browsers-in-canada-by-market-share/ (includes Mobile in the figures so obviously skews heavily to Android/Chrome & iOS/Safari)
• Browser market share -- Canada - Desktop: https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/desktop/canada
• mdn-browser-compat-data: https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data (raw compatibility data for Web technologies)
• MDN -- Browser support for JavaScript APIs: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/Browser_support_for_JavaScript_APIs

Tutorials

• Evergreen Browsers: https://tomdale.net/2013/05/evergreen-browsers/
• Creating Applications with Mozilla - Roll Your Own Browser: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/mozilla/2002/09/24/mozilla_custom.html?page=1
• Tech tip - How to do hard refresh in Chrome, Firefox and IE?: https://www.getfilecloud.com/blog/2015/03/tech-tip-how-to-do-hard-refresh-in-browsers/#.Wkabd9-nFPY
• Why You Open Too Many Browser Tabs And How To Stop It: https://blog.trello.com/too-many-browser-tabs
• Populating the page -- how browsers work: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Performance/Populating_the_page:_how_browsers_work
• Too Many Tabs Open? Follow These 6 Tab Management Tips: https://switchextension.com/blog/tab-management-tips/

External Links

• wikipedia: Usage share of web browsers
• Browser Statistics: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
• Browser Display Statistics: http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_display.asp
• Graded Browser Support -- What is A-grade?: http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/articles/gbs/
• IE6 Countdown: http://www.ie6countdown.com/ (watch IE 6 market share slowly dwindle below 1% worldwide)
• IE9 vs Chrome 10 vs Firefox 4 vs Opera 11.01 vs Safari 5 - The BIG browser benchmark!: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/ie9-vs-chrome-10-vs-firefox-4-vs-opera-1101-vs-safari-5-the-big-browser-benchmark/12023
• Google Chrome Market Share Drops For First Time In Two Years: http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/03/google-chrome-market-share-drops-for-first-time-in-two-years/
• The browser wars seem to have settled into an uneasy truce: http://www.zdnet.com/the-browser-wars-seem-to-have-settled-into-an-uneasy-truce-7000008178/
• IE9 passes 20% market share, Firefox falls below 20%, Chrome loses users second month in a row: http://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/11/01/ie9-passes-20-market-share-firefox-falls-below-20-chrome-loses-users-second-month-in-a-row/
• Anatomy of a Web Browser - Understanding Browser Terms: http://www.newmediabytes.com/2008/12/28/understanding-web-browser-anatomy-terms/
• Goodbye, EdgeHTML: https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2018/12/06/goodbye-edge/ (Microsoft is officially giving up on an independent shared platform for the internet. By adopting Chromium, Microsoft hands over control of even more of online life to Google.)
• Browsers (and how their diversity ensures freedom on the web): https://adactio.com/journal/14608
• Browser diversity starts with us: https://www.zeldman.com/2018/12/07/browser-diversity-starts-with-us/
• Web Browsers -- a brief history: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/microsoft/11577364/Web-browsers-a-brief-history.html

See Also

Mozilla Firefox | Microsoft IE/Edge | Apple Safari | Google Chrome | Opera | Amazon | Web | Mobile Web