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Adobe contributing to new Microsoft web browser
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For the next generation of their web browser, Microsoft has enlisted the help of Adobe Systems. In Windows 10, the next version of their operating system, Microsoft is retiring the Internet Explorer browser and replacing it with a new browser that is currently code-named Project Spartan. Microsoft indicates that this new browser is being developed from the ground-up, and it will be the only browser shipping with the release of the next version of Windows.
It’s unusual for Microsoft to seek outside contributions to their web browser. While Adobe is known for their Flash technology on the web, and often maligned for the security problems it causes, their work with Project Spartan is in a different direction, and you won’t find this in any Adobe training classes. Their work is focused primarily on CSS and the way it is rendered and interpreted within the browser. On Microsoft’s official IE blog, which describes their development work on the new Project Spartan browser, they’ve provided some details of Adobe’s work. One contribution from Adobe is focused on gradients and controlling their specific location using the linear-gradient controls from the CSS image specification. As HTML5 and CSS3 have enabled web published content to have more control over formatting, style, and appearance. Adobe will also be helping them to support filter effects within the browser that can be applied to images.
Traditionally the Internet Explorer web browsers are developed internally at Microsoft. The developers creating the browser, the way it renders HTML and handles CSS is produced by Microsoft’s developers. This is a different approach than is taken by those supporting the underpinnings of browsers such as Firefox or even Safari. These other browsers are built with submissions from the community of web professionals, while Internet Explorer was created fully by Microsoft, with features and capabilities decided by their own developers. Adobe has contributed to these other browsers, and this type of involvement enables Adobe to remain relevant to the web as Flash has disappeared from the scene.
About the author
Christopher Smith is president of American Graphics Institute. He is the co-author of Adobe Creative Cloud for Dummies and more than 10 other books on design and digital publishing. He served as publisher and editor of the Digital Classroom book series, which has sold more than one million books on topics relating to InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro and other Creative Cloud apps. At American Graphics Institute, he provides strategic technology consulting to marketing professionals, publishers designers, and large technology companies including Google, Apple, Microsoft, and HP. An expert on web analytics and digital marketing, he also delivers Google Analytics classes along with workshops on digital marketing topics. Christopher did his undergraduate studies the at the University of Minnesota, and then worked for Quark, Inc. prior to joining American Graphics Institute where he has worked for more than 20 years.