on Mar 21st, 2007Browser 2.0 – Can custom browsers help curb security and privacy concerns plaguing the 2.0 bubble
[digg=http://digg.com/tech_news/Browser_2_0_Can_custom_browsers_help_curb_security_and_privacy_concerns]Lately I have been seeing a lot of apps being developed as plugins for firefox. A lot of 2.0 applications also try and make browser based components to functionally help with features on the site. There was browzar which was apparently a safe browsing experience with no cookies, no auto completes and full privacy. Then there are those social networking apps that connect friends and tells them what sites you are currently viewing and vice versa. Then there is flock, my favorite browser which envelopes in itself some really cool functionality like blogging, photo previews from flickr and photobucket.
How important has the browser become in the current age? very very important. If the web permeates in the enterprise apps space and we still need to maintain the same levels of security as desktop apps do then I see a small market for individual browser vendors too. More of a packaged offering. For example, if you decide to use Google Apps for your office, Google will install those apps on probably their mini server and also package along a custom browser to be installed in your network alone that will allow secure integration with the apps. I see SOA applications like SAP and OraApps to start the trend and then other apps to follow suit. The app gets more features since the browser is custom built and it will gracefully degrade to other commercial browsers.
Its interesting , I know people in the web apps sphere would have already thought an ounce or two by now. So how do you build your own browser?
With Adobe Apollo promising to blur the line between desktop apps and web apps, this definitely is a contender in the race. Given the typographic excellence in flex based apps and all the other cool factors like animations, Apollo could give birth to the next Killer browser. Even otherwise, if you still decide to go ahead and make the good old thick client, this is what you have to do.
Pick from the list of any HTML, XHTML rendering engines , on a personal note i woudl recommend the Gecko or the KHTML rendering seeing how popular they are. Next add to it a javascript runtime, Mozilla’s SpiderMonkey is the perfect library for this. Also, with the recent addition of Flash/Flex elements in a site you would require an engine for th e same, Project Tamarin will do just fine.
