Year in review: Browsers get a second wind

/* /*]]>*/ Year in Review: BROWSERS Browsers get second wind The Web has a fresh lease on life, showing healthy competition among browsers and dramatic changes in usage. Mozilla Firefox, a browser with origins from onetime Microsoft rival Netscape, chipped away at Microsoft's dominant market share all year. After releasing Firefox 1.0 in November 2004, the Mozilla Foundation saw downloads shoot to and then top by October 2005. Handy features, such as tabs and protection against malicious software, helped fuel Firefox's ascent. Microsoft seemed to like Firefox's tabbed browsing so much, it decided to add that feature to , now in beta, along with . Firefox got a helping hand from IBM, which boosted its on Firefox and actively encouraged its in place of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Other competitive browsers moved ahead as well. Opera Software, marking its 10th year, released a which did away with banner ads, and introduced a . released its version 8, with antiphishing features. Meanwhile, market share for climbed incrementally in 2005, according to market research from Netapplications.com. Perhaps more significant than the Web browser products themselves was a shift in the way the Web is used. Some people used the term to describe applications that ease communication between people over the Web. Improvements in Web technology are paving the way for an explosion in new Web applications. , a term coined this year, is a technique that enables developers to create interactive front ends and eliminate the need to press the refresh button. Google Maps and Gmail were some of the most high-profile applications to use AJAX, but usage is spreading, fueling the growth in and . An important aspect to modern Web applications is "," where information from multiple Web sites can be combined programmatically. Mashups, often done by individual developers, sprouted up in all areas, allowing people to combine information, such as the location of London bombings or real-estate listings, with mapping services. Indeed, collaboration and sharing are being baked into the Web firmament. The adoption of syndicated blogs via the RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, protocol skyrocketed, leading Microsoft to announce plans to build into Internet Explorer and Windows in the future. A small group of developers in October introduced the first preview of an open-source browser called , which uses many emerging Web technologies, such as RSS content feeds, photo sharing and blogs. Many speculated in 2005 that search heavyweight . Instead, Google extended the Web-browsing experience with the launch of , which pipes information from the Web onto desktop PCs. --Martin LaMonica 2005 Highlights Big Blue looks to hire techies to adapt the open-source browser to work well with its server software. April 13, 2005 Open-source browser has shaken up the market but now faces its own challenges. April 29, 2005 Big Blue is encouraging its 330,000 employees to use Firefox as an alternative to IE, providing support and internal downloads. May 12, 2005 Microsoft confirms next version of IE will include tabbed browsing, a feature made popular by Opera and Firefox users. May 17, 2005 Company will build support for Really Simple Syndication into the next version of Internet Explorer, as well as into Longhorn. June 24, 2005 Like software makers, Web sites are encouraging coders to build upon their data, giving users more tailored services. August 16, 2005 Free software seems to move the search giant further into Microsoft and Yahoo territory. August 22, 2005 Looking to broaden usage, Opera Software eliminates banner advertising in its latest version. September 20, 2005 Messaging company Zimbra is one of several companies betting that AJAX-style Web development will shake up the PC software market. October 4, 2005 With 100 million downloads under its belt, Mozilla Foundation looks to upcoming release of the next version of its browser. October 19, 2005 Flock is based on Firefox and includes automatic RSS feeds, photo and bookmark sharing, and other next-generation Web technologies. October 21, 2005 Watch out, Office. New tools and techniques are fueling a surge in hosted versions of traditional PC software. December 1, 2005 Behind the headlines

Year in review: Browsers get a second wind

Discuss: Year in review: Browsers get a second wind