Opera, Safari and KHTML

[Vadim Plessky]

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-982314.html?part=dht&tag=ntop
Was Mac Opera gored on Safari?

...
The reason? Apple's launch of its own Safari browser at Macworld in San
Francisco earlier this month. Safari, now out in a test or "beta" version, is
based on the open-source browser project KHTML. KHTML is part of the K
Desktop Environment, an open-source graphical interface for Unix
workstations.

"I'm not a quitter, and our company isn't a quitter, but it really is up to
Apple," said Jon von Tetzchner, chief executive of privately held Opera. "The
Mac platform may not be viable for us any longer."

 Specifically, Tetzchner said that he had asked Apple whether it would be
willing to license Opera either to replace KHTML, or to supplement the
current Safari version, which Apple said is a stripped-down affair with a
minimalist interface and limited feature set.

"We have contacted Apple and asked them if they want a third-party browser,
and we'll see what the answer is," Tetzchner said. "They could say we want to
use Opera as the core engine. If they want KHTML as a simple little browser,
and also something more advanced, we would be happy to provide it. Obviously,
if we don't get any positive signs from Apple, then we have to think about
it."

"We think Safari is one of the best and most innovative browsers in the
 world, and it seems our customers do too," the Mac maker said in a
 statement. "No one is making Mac users choose Safari over Opera--they're
 doing it of their own free will--and Opera's trashing of Safari sounds like
 sour grapes to us."

...
Opera's consternation over Safari is the second shock wave Apple's launch has 
sent through the browser market. The advent of Safari also rattled Mozilla, 
exposing concerns over that browser's size, and catapulted KHTML from 
obscurity to potential widespread adoption.

***

This story makes me really happy.
I just surprised though that Opera developers are of such high opinion about
their Opera browser.

While Opera is indeed fast, its capabilities are quite limited.
In particular, DOM support in Opera is almost rudimentary, while
Konqueror/KHTML manages to have 2 different DOM models - W3C DOM and
MS-specific 'document.all'

What do people think about this?

-- 

Vadim Plessky
SVG Icons * BlueSphere Icons 0.3.0 released
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