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WebKit & Acid3: 100/100

First ever to pass.


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The WebKit framework is the first 'browser' to ever pass the Acid3 test.

Until last week one minor detail remained - 'smooth animation'. Speedups in JS, DOM, and rendering finally got the framework to the goal line.

Relevance

Unsurprisingly other browser vendors are quick to classify Acid3 as 'irrelevant'. In particular Microsoft - and their Internet Explorer platform architect Chris Wilson - have stated that whilst Acid3 is 'a collection of interesting tests' they have no plans to 'comply'.

Not exactly news for anyone who's struggled with web pages and IE over the years or anyone who still remembers the late 1990s with their 'embrace and extend'.

But even the miffed crew at Moz have dismissed this feather. 'None of the issues on the Acid3 list are important enough.'

Be that as it may, WebKit passes the test - and no other browser in the world has yet to do so. Firefox 3.1 - yet to be released - comes closer than before with 84/100 but that's still a far cry from WebKit's perfect score. Opera have a test build which gets 99/100 but that's still a point short.

Available Today

The above scores are for browsers under development - for browsers currently available today the scores stack up as follows.

Rendering EngineTested WithAcid3 Score
GeckoFirefox 3.0.371/100
KHTMLKonqueror 4.1.176/100
PrestoOpera 9.5284/100
TridentInternet Explorer 7.014/100
WebKitSafari 3.1.275/100

Open Source

Probably the most important thing about WebKit is it's open source. It's the kind of project Apple should have kept alive throughout their development cycles - with things such as Darwin (or better still FreeBSD).

WebKit is not used by only Apple and not only for Safari and it's not being developed by only Apple either. Today both Nokia and Google have joined in to write the code. Nokia have an excellent reputation in the programming community; and Google - they're Google.

WebKit is used by Safari and other browsers running on OS X - but it's also used by Adobe's AIR, Google's Chrome, Nokia's S60, and Google's Android.

WebKit's the perfect example of how open source is supposed to work: competing companies contributing together to code they all - and their customers - can benefit from.

Test Acid3 Yourself

The Acid3 test is 3480 lines of brutal code; click here to test your own browser now.

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