TheOpenSourcery looked at the HTML5Test.com benchmarks for the major browser in a posting 3 years ago – so lets see what progress has been made on HTML5 and how the various browsers have progressed 3 years later:
So what has happened in 3 years time? First all of the top 3 browser have gotten a lot better at delivering HTML5 as they deliver 90% or better HTML5 compliance versus an average of 70% compliance 3 years ago. Also there are new members in the top 3 – Maxathon is the new top browser, Chrome follows closely in second and Opera a close 3rd. Gone from the top 3 are Firefox and Safari.
In fact the rumors that Apple’s Tim Cook is stealing a PROPRIETARY PAGE from the Microsoft Playbook are true – Apple has not only forced a fork in the Webkit alliance [Google and Opera have created a Webkit fork called Blink] but Apple is also moving fast towards last in HTML5 compliance. But the honor of being last in HTML5 support is reserved for Microsoft IE. It seems that even under new CEO Nadella, Microsoft has retained its antipathy to web standards in browsing.
Most Frequent Gaps
With 90% of the standards being met by the top 3 Web browsers, one would expect to see different deficiencies among the browsers. And to an extent that is true as old divergences on standards support linger. For example MPEG4 is supported by Chrome, IE, Safari and recent Firefox adoption but not Opera. Web SQL Database is supported by Chrome, Opera, and Safari but not Firefox nor IE. Blob database support is true for Chrome, Firefox and IE but not Opera nor Safari. And so HTML5 Web database support remains inconsistent.
Other elements are consistently spurned by all the browser vendors like menu toolbar, menu popup and WebGL 3D. Or the time element rejected by all but Firefox.Ditto for. microdata. But perhaps the most notable inconsistency is the uneven support for Web Security measures. Now given the growing wave of hack attacks both politically and criminally motivated, the last thing Web standards need is major security omissions. But Content Security Policy 1.1 and Web Security API are on the back burner for most vendors. And in a bit of irony Sony is one of the last major vendors to holdout on support for sandbox control of iframes.
In sum, HTML5 compliance is a good measure of overall Web support and two major vendors, Apple and Microsoft, are engaged in major proprietary strategies.For Microsoft, this is the same old same old; but for Apple it is repudiating the Web Designers and Developers that have helped establish the Apple is cool reputation.