It is 2011 and the browser war is hotter than ever.  IE is continuously falling more and more behind(in terms of UI and usability) while it seems that everyone else is becoming better.

Being a long time Firefox fan (pre 1.0 days)  I have seen the browser grow and almost plateau thanks to Google’s Chrome and a host of other competitors.  Internet browsers have always been your window to the web, and like a real-world window you need it to be functional and have the ability to see clearly through the panes.  Although IE is functional, it barely functions.  Initial start-up times are ghastly while competitors such as Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera blow it away.

While IE might be the most used browser (having over 50% of the marketshare) it certainly seems to be the most hated and lacking in features.  It definitely is not the most friendly; yet, the UI has gotten considerably better over the best few versions.  However, a big “bump” in the road is that the newest version cannot be used on Windows XP, which happens to STILL have considerable market share.

However, when it comes to page rendering and displaying the code the way the designers meant for it to be viewed, hands down the overall winner is Mozilla Firefox.  Although, Chrome is Firefox’s biggest competitor, there is no doubt that certain things consistently appear incorrectly within the browser.  In a comparison against Opera, the last version that I test drove just seemed to be too bulky although page rendering was quite fast.  Last, that leaves Safari and for me the UI renders it horrible to navigate while other browsers make it simple, IE is even better.

Bottom line:  Keep your eyes on Firefox and Chrome.

Android.  Some see it as a rival, some see it as just another mobile OS; yet, I see it as finally getting it’s act together.

I have been an Android user for a little over a year now; coming from a Windows Mobile device.  My experience has been nothing less than fantastic.  From the first instant that I picked up my Droid X, until now I have enjoyed every moment of it.  Except one thing.  Android has been plagued by fragmentation issues.

For example, my Droid X came with Android 2.2 (Froyo); however, there were phones released around the same time that might not have had the same version of Google’s mobile OS on it.  Why?  That is a question that we all can raise.  There are certain limitations on the updates that are instituted per carrier however, it is no reason for a phone to ship with an older version if a new one is out.  This creates fragmentation.

However, with the advent of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) that should eliminate a lot of differences that are experienced across different handset makers and carriers, which will make developing for Android easier and will make it even tougher to defend against.

Let’s just hope that handset makers don’t ruin the UI this time.