Is Your Browser Ready for HTML5? A Follow-Up to Google's Galactic Inbox Game Promotion of Chrome on the 15th Anniversary of Internet Explorer

Googlers are encouraged to spend 20% of their work time to pursue an idea or concept and that's what Paul Truong, Creative Technologist, did when he created his Galactic Inbox game. See his Official Google Blog post. Gmail account holders spotted the game when it appeared on their Gmail login page (image, right).

As noted in Mark Giangrande's recent LLB post, to play the game you need a browser with HTML5 canvas support (whatever that is). So if you click on the game link and your browser doesn't support HTML5, you will get an oops message that ends with "have you tried Google Chrome?"

Well, yes I have and it didn't take very long before I uninstalled it. Safari, Mozilla and Opera support some HTML5's features. Perhaps these browser users can play the game but I've also given up on Mozilla and Opera and don't own or use Apple computers.

Let's face it, IE remains the dominant browser. I always end up uninstalling all others after giving them a test drive. I just can't wrap my head around making the switch and running more than one browser regularly is too much for my small brain to handle. Well, I do run both 32- and 64-bit versions of IE8 but that's different because all my Favorites and RSS feed subscriptions are tied together and updated with additions and deletions regardless of which version I am using. 

What about Internet Explorer in the still under-construction world of HTML5 development? My IE8 bombed when I tried Truong's Galactic Inbox game. IE9, however, is expected to provide improved HTML5 support, plus a faster JavaScript engine, and the ability to tap a PC's graphics chip to accelerate text and graphics. When? Sometime next year although a beta version of IE9 is expected to be released on September 15 according to At 15, Microsoft's Internet Explorer at a crossroads by Cnet's Ina Fried. In her August 16th post Fried writes:

Thanks to corporate use and ties to Windows, Internet Explorer has remained dominant in the browser space ever since it won the first browser wars with Netscape a decade ago.

However, by allowing the browser to stagnate after the release of Windows XP in 2001, Microsoft created an opening that paved the way for the rise of Firefox and, more recently, Google's Chrome.

As a result Internet Explorer celebrates its 15th birthday Monday as market leader and like an upstart trying to compete against powerful rivals.  

See also Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 Test Drive. [JH]