5 Years of Firefox Cake at the Firefox Developer day in Tokyo, Japan
Firefox is five years old. We thought that we would celebrate that by talking about how the web has changed over the last five years and Firefox’s role in those changes.
Where We’re At
2009 has been an interesting year. We’re at a crossroads for the Internet. In the next 12 months or so we’re likely to see regulation of the Internet in the United States – possibly for good, possibly for bad. We’ve seen increased interest in the browser space with the entrace of Google with their minimalist Chrome browser. Mozilla put a vastly improved rendering engine into the hands of hundreds of millions of users with the release of Firefox 3.5. The EU is working with Microsoft to implement a ballot to make users aware of browser choice. No one could possibly say that things are boring right now. And this has only been over the last year.
But what has changed over the last five years? What are the main themes? We’ve picked a few to talk about and we hope that it helps put things into perspective for the next five.
The Rise of the Modern Browser
One thing that’s become obvious over the last five years is the wide gap that’s emerging between the field of modern browsers – Firefox, Safari, Opera and Chrome – with the world’s most popular browser – IE. The modern browser is built for the future of web applications – super fast JavaScript, modern CSS, HTML5, support for the various web-apps standards, downloadable font support, offline application support, raw graphics through canvas and WebGL, native video, advanced XHR capabilities mixed with new security tools and network capabilities.
Over the last five years we’ve been setting ourselves up for the next five. The web is moving faster, not slower, and modern browsers are set to handle it.
In this sense we’ve done our jobs at Mozilla. We were first on the scene with fast JavaScript, CORS, mixing HTML and SVG, WebGL is based on Canvas3D work we pioneered, we’re scripting hardware with geolocation and orientation. We’re helping to standardize and implement some new CSS capabilities that are being developed in other browsers, we’re leading the web towards a modern font system and giving web authors and users more security tools. Our job is to help keep the web rich and moving forward – this is a huge part of our public benefit mission. This is the opportunity that Firefox’s five years have offered us.
The browsers that are on the horizon aren’t just incremental changes – they represent the pieces to build the next generation web – rich with standards-based graphics, new JavaScript libraries and full blown applications.
Standards Won
Firefox’s growth on the web has had another important effect – bringing standards to the forefront of development. Very early in the Mozilla project almost half of the web’s HTML pages started using DOCTYPE in order to opt-in to standards mode for many web browsers. Developers signaled that they wanted to use a standards-based method for development.
That’s important. It set up the current frame for development on the web that we have today. It allowed Apple to take KHTML and turn it into Safari which then allowed Chrome to pick up that work and enter the market and render a standards-based web. Now we don’t have just one or two browsers, but many, and a lot of that has to do with the way that early web developers approached development.
Standards matter, and they should continue to matter. When they do those individual human beings we like to call users benefit with greater choice and fast innovation.
Customizing Your Experience
Led by Firefox’s add-ons system there’s been an explosion in the number of people who are customizing their experiences – both in browsers and on the web. Anywhere from one third to one half of Firefox users have some kind of add-on installed.
The web is unique, and was built to be hacked. No other widely-deployed system in the world delivers itself as source code like the web does. And this transparency has made it possible for the distributed innovation that we’re seeing in Firefox and on the web. People patching new UI into their favorite web sites, mashing up data from multiple sources or radically changing the feel of the browser itself – this is a source for inspiration for browser vendors and web site operators alike. For the first time individual people have the ability to take an active part in the future of their computing experience.
It’s also worth noting that Gecko and Firefox are unique in this space. The highly modular nature of Gecko mixed with the fact that Firefox itself is written in HTML and XUL (another UI-focused markup language) means that it’s the only browser that’s hackable like the web is. Every other browser is built as a monolithic desktop application from the last millennium. This natural advantage not only means that Firefox has the widest array of add-ons and developers, but is also a source of inspiration for most of the rest of the market.
RSS and Data
In the last five years one of the big changes we’ve seen is web sites offering up data and feeds. Feeds in particular have reached the point where even non-technical people know what they are and how to use them. The ubiquitous RSS icon, which was originally created for the Firefox browser and given away by Mozilla, now exists on millions of web sites offering users the ability to get updates on their terms.
But we’ve gone far beyond just simple feeds. Advanced APIs are now appearing for web sites so you can integrate native applications, build a Firefox extension or be able to pull your data out of a web site.
And we’ve also moved from the promise of XML to the reality of JSON as the data format of choice.
Video
It’s important to remember that Youtube didn’t exist when Firefox was launched. At that time your only options were native QuickTime, Windows Media or Real Player. (Anyone remember Real Player?)
In the last few years we’ve seen Youtube become one of the largest sites of the Internet, the launch of Hulu, and sites like Netflix offering premium on-demand video right over the Internet to web browsers and devices alike. We’ve also seen millions of people create their own videos and publish them to the web.
We’ve also seen the launch of open video and native video support in browsers to bring the creativity and hackability of the web to currently closed video platforms.
Users as Creators
The rise of the web is a story of anyone being able to create a web site. But that’s still a largely technical exercise, even with tools. What we have seen, thanks to tools like WordPress and blogger, is the growth of weblogs, feeds and data which make it possible for anyone with a web browser to become a publisher or journalist.
And it has moved well beyond just text. People with low-cost tools are making movies and posting them. Remix culture is alive and well, creating comentary and new and exciting creations – all in the hands of pretty normal people.
Mobile
The iPhone taught us that you could build a decent browser for mobile phones and that data was important. Phones, really just in the last five years or so, have shown us that access to data plans that look like what you can get to your house can unleash developer and user creativity.
In the last five years at Mozilla we’ve also made the commitment to build a browser for mobile devices. We’re still in an early pre-1.0 beta stage, but that browser is already getting excellent reviews.
So what about the next five years?
Mozilla has been at the heart of many of the issues of the Internet over the last five years. We’ve vastly improved the browsing experience for hundreds of millions of people around the world. We’ve managed to keep Microsoft honest and forced them to release newer versions of their browsers. Firefox’s presence was a large factor in Apple being able to ship a browser to its user base as the Mac came back to the market. We’ve made it possible for third party browser vendors like Google to enter the market. We’ve proven that people care about improving their experiences on the web. We’ve given over 330 million people the taste of what it’s like to use an open source product. And we’ve overseen the technical growth of the web through direct action and standardization.
It’s hard to beat that, but we’re going to try. We’ll continue to make competitive browser releases and improve people’s experiences on the web. We’ll continue to innovate on behalf of developers and bring those improvements to the standards space. And we’ll continue to grow our amazing global community of users, developers and activists.
Over the next five years everyone can expect that the browser should take part in a few new areas – to act as the user agent it should be. Issues around data, privacy and identity loom large. You will see the values of Mozilla’s public benefit mission reflected in our product choices in these areas to make users safer and help them understand what it means to share data with web sites.
Expect to see big changes in the video space. HTML5-based video and open video codecs are starting to appear on the web as web developers make individual choices to support a standards-based, royalty-free approach. Expect to see changes in the expectations around the licensing of codecs.
And over the next five years mobile will play an increasingly important role in our lives, and in the future of the web. The decisions of users, carriers, governments and the people who build phones will have far-reaching effects on this new extension to the Internet and how people will access information for decades to come.
Mozilla has a unique place on the Internet. Driven to help improve it as part of our mission expect us to express opinions on decisions that affect its future. We act both through direct action but also through indirect action – sometimes our effects are as important as our actions. We will continue to protect users and we’ll continue to do everything they can to make it possible for the next set of people to come along and build the next great web site.
It’s been a great five years. Let’s make it another five and keep the web moving forward for the benefit of everyone.
Good Run Firefox.. Keep going and do miracles..
Happy Birthday Firefox! I’ve been using it since Version 1.5 and its awesome.
As Pandian said, keep going and do miracles. Keep up the great work!
Well said and well written… just cannot imagine the web without Firefox
Tons of luck to Mozilla team!
–
Maku
The web owes a lot to this browser. You have used your powers for good and not evil – and the web has won.
Happy birthday FireFox and keep up the great work. See you at 10 years old
Oops sorry for double comment, but I’ve actually been using Firefox since Version 1.0.
Thats a great looking cake. I want some.
This is an amazing post…thanks for summing it all up and putting it in such great perspective!
WOWWW
…. really wonderful to see the amazing growth of Firefox. Still remember the great Firefox party we had 3 years back:
http://www.i5bala.com/2006/10/mozilla-firefox-party-live-action-from.html#planetearth
Happy Birthday! With love, from Belarus =)
You the best!
Gratzzz! Good Luck!
Well done to everyone who has been part of making Firefox what it is.
Great post, Chris, really! Happy to read stuff pretty similar to what I’m putting in my deck for tonight
Happy B-DAY Firefox, hope to see more and more
Thank you Firefox for making our web a better place.
Happy birthday FF. I hope that “The Mighty Beast” will be in out lives for many many years.
Happy Birthday Foxy…!
Yes, as your article states FF has shaped the web, and it has done it more than anything out there. In my view, FF was the next thing to hit after Navigator in the history of web.
Have you guys ever wondered when coding, that you actually write history? I mean, think about it. You wrote the best browser out there and it goes to the books. Congratulations about that.!
One last thing, Keep this article with you. Display it five years from today! We will see what we could achieve and what we could not! Five years is not a long time. Keep Rocking Foxy, we love you!
Great job, Firefox. You do make our life as web developers easier.
Thank you developers!, you are trying to make this world a better place!
Protect the users!
Happy Birthday Firefox… Warm greetings from Jakarta, Indonesia…
you good people are doing excellent work! many thanks!
Belated *10-year* anniversary best wishes for the Mozilla M4 release on 1999-04-15. (Kickin’ it old school Y2K-style
).
feliz Cumpleaños Firefox!!!!!
desde México
Many Happy Returns… It’s been fantastic run. I have used firefox for pretty much whole of last 5 yrs and I am sure many more to come.
nice bit of looking back to see what’s ahead. fun – made me dig up this timeline http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Timeline_of_web_browsers.svg – keep that orange line going strong!
i no iba a ser para menos!… un gran navegador que como kernel tiene a una gran comunidad colaboradora y eso es lo que lo hace ser el mejor navegador…
Saludos, abrazos y felicidades a todos los que hacen sin ninguna retribucion Firefox!
Congrats on 5 years. I still fondly remember installing Firefox (Firebird) 0.7 on my Blue & White PowerMac G3 in college. I loved that I could get the same browser experience in multiple platforms and I am glad that holds true still today. Great job everyone, but no slacking! IE is still the big dog (less big, but still big) so keep the innovation coming and go get ‘em!
Congrats, firefox! Keep the awesome flowing! Thanks for saving us from the dark trecherous thing that was the web (and ie). I’ll join the crusade as soon as i have my coding skills up and running. Cheers!
Joyeux Anniversaire !!!
Merci pour tout et bonne continuation !
Hey Great Job Done Firefox people….CONGRATS!!!
Happy Birthday to FireFox, I love you!11
It wasn’t long after I got my first DSL line installed at my home, the same year that I discovered Linux (command line Slackware) which started my love for Open Source software, and I had just got my first LCD screen(lets just say it was a good year XD). I remember my neighbor bringing over a CD-ROM Disc and telling me I had to see what was on it. Before even thinking, I popped it in my, at the time, 5-year-old gutted Gateway tower and began installing something I had never heard of. I remember asking him what it was and his response was simply: “You are going to love this, trust me!”. He wasn’t kidding, I didn’t know it at the time, but this simple disc held the software that I would soon fall in love with. Contained on that ordinary and simple disc was the not-so-ordinary FireFox beta. At first, honestly, I wasn’t impressed, I laughed and told him, “Ok…looks a lot like Netscape to me, what’s the big deal?”. He told me to play with it for a while and give a chance, so I did. To this day I still don’t know where he got it, nor do I really care, but it opened my eyes. By the end of the week I had said goodbye forever to IE and Netscape (Anyone else remember the old Netscape?). FireFox quickly spread across the net. More and more people were tweaking it and releasing addons, and I downloaded every single one in the beginning. I couldn’t get enough and my poor little FireFox was soon overburdened with so many addons it would barely launch. It was then that I realized that I didn’t need everything and I started to pick-and-choose what I used. I still don’t think I have it perfect, but as more addons come out and I add and subtract as I go along it get’s closer every day.
I have stuck by my little FireFox and with every new release I gain a little more respect and love for the little browser. FireFox hasn’t always been perfect, but I suffered through the bad times with it so I could reach the better times ahead. I remember the greatness of the 1.0 and 2.0 releases and the small fan groups I was with when they were officially release. There were 6 of us for the 1.0 all waiting for it to go live on the Mozilla site. I still have the disc I won from the Mozilla store that has the original 1.5.04 version of Firefox and Thunderbird(Looking back those were my favorite days of using the browser, when everything was still new and fresh). By the time 2.0 was released there were about 40 or so people gathered at a friends house for the official release, it wasn’t the smartest thing to do actually, took us forever to download it sharing one connection, but we waited “patiently” together for the bar to finish its slow movement across the screen. Big cheers went up when one finally finished.
I had moved by the time 3.0 was released so this update I spent alone, it kind of fit 3.0’s release. FireFox 3.0 brought a lot of problems to the browser for me. On both my Mac and my Windows box it would crash often, especially when dealing with JavaScript. I couldn’t figure it out. After a few months I was tempted to try another browser, but I decided that I would stick with it and simply reverted back to an older version of FireFox and patiently waited.
It didn’t take too long before FireFox was back on my desktop, and back in my Dock. Now my little browser is back where it belongs and it is stronger than ever. I was there near the begining and I will be there till the end, as long as it is around I will use and love FireFox! I will always be a fan and supporter!
Forever a FireFox user!
Happy birthday Firefox!
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Auf weitere 5 erfolgreiche Jahre!
Viele Grüße aus Deutschland
It’s good know that I’ve beening with the firefox all this time seen all these changes!
I’m so proud and happy to use Firefox!
Birthday Firefox!
You’d got the web back, now will drive it to the future!
Happy B’day Firefox!
Five Years of excellence,success and Glory.
I am thankful to Mozilla for making such brilliant software such as Firefox and Thunderbird
You guys rock!Carry on the Good Work!
thanks for all firefox,
You are the face of the Internet,
the world is a better place with firefox
are together.
Using firefox since Version 0.x
Pretty cool, didnt think during so long with it, but it made my day, every day.
Amazing post.Keep up the awesome work Mozilla!
Without you the web would not be the same.
Greetings from Greece
Great work Firefox… Congrats and all the best for all your future contributions to the web.
Awesome post. As a long time user and developer I can’t thank you enough for all the work you’ve done, both directly and indirectly, to improve the “web”.
Happy Birthday Firefox
Thanks Firefox. Without Firefox, IE would not be the great browser it is today.
Happy Birthday Firefox, you’re the best!! and for a Smiths/Morrissey such as I, a name like MOZilla can’t beat anyone else!! thanx 4 all!!
I remember way back in high school (okay, only 5 years ago, but still), my parents wouldn’t let me install Firefox on their computer because they thought it was insecure and a virus. So I ended up installing it on my massive 128MB flash drive and running it off of there.
5 years later, the only thing I’ve used IE for was updating Windows. (But since Vista, I haven’t even had to do that!)
Way to go, Firefox!
I remember installing fire fox when it came as an application tool on a CD in a computer tech mag when it first evolved. The best part afterwords was having not to depend on IE any more and the fox kept me on the internet. Way to go Fire Fox I was dreading to see the day you would disappear and very thankful your success with creativity has brought you this far. Happy B-day and hopefully you will around for generations to come and be able to keep the pages rolling.
Happy BirthDay Firefox!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FIREFOX I WISH U WILL SPREAD AND LIVE MORE AS UR THINKING
KEEP GOING AND MIRACLES .
KEEP UP THE GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!
Joyeux anniversaire de bonnes continuation a vous !! Continuez a nous faire rêver avec vos nouvelle mise a jours et continuez a bosser dur !
Happy Birthday Firefox
I’ve used Firefox since 1.0, but it wasn’t until it was into its 2.0 series that I had begun to use it regularly and replaced IE as my default browser on my own PC. Since then, I’ve never gone back to IE (unless I had to reinstall Firefox). Firefox has revolutionized web browsing, and personally it changed the way I do my web browsing and my perception of the internet–for the better of course.
To the founder, developers, and other staff at Mozilla, thank for for bringing the great gift to the world wide web that is Firefox. Your innovations are nothing short of spectacular and I’m looking forward to future projects from you.
Here’s to 5 years and 15 more.
Happy birthday Firefox…………..i m addicted to firefox, i love it……many times i had shifted to other browser or downloaded other just to 4 test drive ……..but none of then could clallenge to firefoxe before me………i m using windows xp with out IE….even IE has grown well but it lack some feachers like backup of bookmarks also to import when required…….which is available in firefox……anyways great work Mozilla team,4 providing a very good browers …..Thanku
Happy Birthday FIREFOX! Will always be my Browser! Vielen Dank!
Good job, keep it up!
Happy Birthday FireFox!!
***Happy Birthday Firfox ****, good post about next five years for web.
I live in a part of the world where the world of the internet is virtually foreign to many. I have my own pc now, but I used to read a South African computer publication called SACM and enjoyed reading problems that people had about the computers even though I did not have one. I believed that I was preparing myself for the future by reading about computers whilst I could not even afford one at the time. At the time I thought that the monitor was the computer. And I remember reading a great review on SACM or South African Computer Magazine about this browser by Mozilla called Firefox. Whilst almost everyone uses the default browser IE at work, I used Firefox. I have been promoting its use here at BCL Limited even though there are some who can or only want to see the world through IE. I was the only person who could access the web yesterday here at BCL Limited. BCL Limited is a mining and smelting company here in Selibe-Phikwe in Botswana. I did that because I used Firefox whilst others failed using IE.
Mo2c Sedumedi
A cake that i made for firefox:) http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Happy-5th-Birthday-Firefox/344013
As a devotee since 0.93 – and before that the Mozilla Suite – I just wanted to say thanks for releasing me from IE6 into a new and better web life!
Happy birthday Firefox xxxxxx
Happy birthday Firefox!
happy birthday Firefox,you are fantastic
I use it every day,It’s great
Thank you Firefox =)
Happy Birthday Everyone. Firebox Designed by everyone, for everyone
Alles gute zum 5 jährigen!
Firefox ist das beste was es gibt!
Auf weitere schöne Jahre mit FIREFOX!
Und die besten Grüsse aus Deutschland von Mike
Love you Firefox thanks for filling the gap.
Steve
Thanks firefox! The best browser i have ever used (i have tried all browser BD)
I cant imagine what firefox will be in the next 5 years!
5 year ago… we are limited, but now unlimited with Firefox.
Thank you, Merci, Danke, 谢谢您, σε ευχαριστώ, धन्यवाद, Спасибо, متشکرم
firefox is a scorpio [just like me]… yay! merry-happy be-day, firefox!
Feliz aniversario raposinha, você chegou em boa hora
Espero que você continue assim, inovando e facilitando
A vida de nos navegadores da web, parabéns pelos 5 anos!
Greetings and happy birthday from an older Lady who still remembers when her Son told her to try Firefox. Scared as hell to move to
something I had never heard of and trying to keep up with technology,
I have never looked back. You keep going strong, and I’ll keep learning new things. 62 years exploring. Margaret Tennessee
Happy Birthday Firefox! Awesome software, idea and community. I’ve tried others, but always come back to FF
i remember when my mate dani first told me about this back in mid 05, i think the mighty firefox was into ver-1.5 at this time and i loved it, i soon developed a nice tasty dislike for microsofts idiot explorer.
alot has changed indeed since 1.5, was tabbed browsing out back then or did that come in with 2.0? but yeah, today we have a nice crisp interface with all the performance and stabillity that IE will never have
And Remember
FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS USE IE
Go Go Go… Firefox
happy birthday! and thank you for your software! i hope it’ll be available also on iphone
Ever since i started using Fire Fox IE seems so dull
Happy Birthday
Thank you firefox.. for liberate web from the hands o microsoft IE
THE MOST TRUSTED WEB BROWSER EVER!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Jestem z Polski i ciesze sie ze moge korzystac z Firefox, a korzystam juz 3 lata. Uwielbiam Was!!!
Happy B’day Firefox!
Greetings from Bulgaria!I’ve tried many browsers around the years, and i can tell, FIREFOX is the best one there is.Thanks for the great browser, and keep up the good work!
Vai firefox! Abracos do Brasil
Happy Birthday Firefox from Austria!
Internet would be sh*t without you!
woohoo!! happy 5th anniversary Firefox! The Mozilla team is really amazing!
Firefox, i love you!
Keep fighting against IE
internet exploder? did i dream that? spelling has always bean a problem on the net, security always a subconcious primal need. mammals need firefox.
That was one meaty article… Thank you!
Happ B’day Firefox !! You have blown the new fire up for this world, foxie
Congratulations Firefox, my main browser since 0.9 version came out. all the best.
Happy Birthday Firefox!
Cant imagine the web without Firefox:-)
Lots of love from all of us here in India
HaPpY 5th BiRtHdAy FiReFoX ! !
I’ve downloaded other internet systems, but Mozilla Firefox is the best..It is the fastest..
Happy Birthday Firefox
Awesome browser
Keep Us Rockin
Firefox is all I need and all I use
Vor 5 Jahren war ich mit dabei, Firefox nach Deutschland zu bringen. Auch für ihn trifft zu: “Er läuft und läuft und läuft …”
I love you Firefox..
Hats off to the developer community.. You have given us a great product..
It’s the fire in the belly of the fox that has kept it going…
Good job folks…
Congrats Firefox on ur success for the past 5 yrs.i hope to see ur success continue…
I started using firefox from jan 2006,after starting to use firefox i felt IE seems to be a crap.
I wish the founder of mozilla and all the developers all the best.
Happy Bday !!!
Fantastic work promoting open-source concepts and add-on’s. Mozilla and Firefox have made it possible for even the most techo-challenged Grandmothers like myself to enjoy the richness of the internet customized in ways that suit my needs.
I wish you the best going forward from here.
I couldn’t make a living without you! Thank you Firefox!
happy Birthday Firefox.
I’m the biggest fan of Firefox. it’s an amazing browser and you already made the web better so many thanks to you and continue doing it even better and better.
Firefox ist ein echt cooler Browser. Firefox ist das beste was einer Website passieren kann. Ich liebe Firefox ☺