March 29th, 2008

Again, I congratulate the browser teams who have passed the Acid3 and have only one more thing to say:

Don't ever do that again.

I'm right in the middle of going through the proofs for Painting the Web, and I'm having to make proof modifications to code and writing because both Safari and Opera are feverishly changing their source in order to "meet" the Acid3 test. However, I don't know, for sure, if all the changes will end up in the next released version of the browsers, or if they'll be shunted off as a branch for inclusion in a later browser version after further refinement.

A better approach would be to list out all of the Acid3 tests and create a roadmap of planned implementation, ie the functionality in test 1 will be included in Opera 9.5, the functionality in test 2 in Safari 4.0, and so on. It may lack the glamour of displaying a passed test results, but it plays less havoc on those writing documentation, testers, book writers, and other people who have ended up being tossed about, like so much flotsam, by the Acid3 hurricane, and are now feeling particularly bruised and battered.

Please don't do an Acid4. I don't know if I can survive it.

January 31st, 2008

The ACID3 race has begun. Coming around the first lap…

Firefox 3 is in first place, with a comendable lead. Way to burn up the track, foxy!

Firefox 3 ACID3 test results
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Coming up from behind, we find the ACID crowd favorite, *Opera!

Opera ACID3 test results
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Winded, but still giving it all she's got…Safari! (Is that a picture of a cat?)

Safari ACID3 test results
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

And in the tail position, dragging, but not dead yet…IE!

IE7 ACID3 test results
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

The next lap is in six months. Get your bets in now.

Update

*Testing with Opera's 9.5 beta, we have a new winner, going into the first lap…

The Acid3 Test
Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

And the ACID crowd goes wild…