Firefox is becoming even more standards compliant with its latest nightly of the trunk since it passes the Acid 2 Web Standards Test. It isn’t the first browser to do so but it joins some of the best such as Konqueror, Opera, Safari, iCab, OmniWeb, Shiira, and Prince. Some of those you may not have heard of, because I didn’t either, but they are pretty interesting. I retrieved the list of Acid 2 compliant browsers from Wikipedia.
There are still some browsers, such as Internet Explorer 7, that do not pass the test but as you can see to the right it is pretty darn close. Okay, so maybe that is a little exaggeration but one day it might just pass the Acid 2 test…but by that time we’ll be onto the Acid 6 test. 
So why is the Acid 2 test so important? A lot of people are always wondering that and the Acid 2 Guide explains the significance:
It has been written to help browser vendors make sure their products correctly support features that web designers would like to use. These features are part of existing standards but haven’t been interoperably supported by major browsers. Acid2 tries to change this by challenging browsers to render Acid2 correctly before shipping.
Acid2 is a complex web page. It uses features that are not in common use yet, because of lack of support, and it crams many tests into one page. The aim has been to make it simple for developers and users to check if a browser passes the test. If it does, the smiley face on the left will appear. If something is wrong, the face will be distorted and/or shown partly in red.
In that guide it also walks you through all of the code that it uses for the individual parts that make up the smiley face once they are put together. It is definitely interesting to read.
If you want to test out the latest nightly version of Firefox 3 that passes the Acid 2 test you can download the portable version here. To use the portable version just extract the download and browse for the FirefoxPortable.exe file. Once you’re done testing it out you can just delete the folder.
Also, the recently released Firefox 3 Alpha 1 does not pass the test because the reflow build had not been merged with the trunk at that point. If you only like to play with the milestone releases you’ll have to wait until Alpha 2 in order to see an Acid 2 compliant Firefox build.
Thanks to natmaster for pointing this out in the comments last night!
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Tags: Firefox, Freeware, Software
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I saw this yesterday
It is the best news for all Firefox users!
1. The others which pass the test doesn’t mean they’re more standards-complaint than FF…because Acid 2 doesn’t test ALL of the standards.
2. Someone spank M$.
big respect to the guys responsible
Really nice that Firefox is being more compatible in this way. Btw, “Prince” is a web browser based in IE engine and does no pass the acid2 test.
(IE with Prince of Persia game skin)
Firefox is heading in the right direction, it’s not about the browser, it’s about the user, that’s what Standards stand for, and that’s what Firefox was born for.
P.S: Micro$oft whos your daddy now?!
The link to Prince is http://www.princexml.com/. Its primary use is to convert web content to pdf. The browser you linked would pass acid as poorly as IE (it’s IE with Prince of Persia icons).
Cool. I will test this, is image blurring fixed already?
Blah blah blah so FF passes acid big deal,this is what i call technologically BACKWARD.
Opera is the most standards complaiant browser on the internet and irony is its not used by many for the excuse that it doesnt display certain pages correctly (which is the fault of webdesigners not OPERA)
To the Opera fanboy, Opera is NOT the most standards compliant browser…
One could argue it is
1)Firefox
2)Safari
3)Opera
4)Konqueror
5)Internet Explorer 5 for Mac
So Opera is technologically BACKWARD also because is passes the Adid?
To the Anonymous Firefox fanboy Arguing doesn’t make a browser compliant,
Safari u say man ur retarted or something it doesnt even work in anything other than mac.
What is Adid?
and since acid 2 was passed by opera earlier than firefox make ur statement null and void.
Where is u’r logic man.
Firefox going MS way u’ll see dude just as they jump 50 %
You are definitely wrong. IE is developed by COMMERCIAL CORPORATION, and Firefox is developed by FREE COMMUNITY.
You can’t order MS to develop IE, but with Firefox it is different - you yourself can participate in development process at any time! There are thousands volunteers, who will continue developing Firefox forever.
BTW, Opera is closed-source browser. Just like IE. Understand the difference.
Just coz some software is closed ware doesnt make it worse look at utorrrent compared to azureus.
Its a bussiness my friend who ever wants to survive will have to be cut throat,So will FF in order to maintain its dominance and understanding the super senstive internet community towards change,it will definetly pay.
Look at google going the WE know Best way,Youtube selling out,digg on the verge of it,its a bussines and FF will folow suite.Its a fact u just dont want to admit it i guess.
What I was talking about, is that Firefox will be CONSTANTLY on development.
For example, Microsoft dropped its IE development for some years, and now their browser is the WORST on the market.
Firefox is different, it soon will become the BEST browser in the planet. I’m 100% sure.
Also, Firefox will ALWAYS remain free. Just because it is released under Mozilla License. If Mozilla will decide to do something terribly wrong with Firefox (I’m sure, they will NOT), for example, make it closed-source, or shareware, or adware, or spyware, then they will have to change the license. What will happen? Free developers will get the source code of previous version of Firefox (which is still under Mozilla License), and they will start developing NEW browser. In fact, browser’s name will be changed from “Firefox” to something another, but it will be the SAME free and good browser. We have some such examples now, take a look at “Flock” browser.
Also Mozilla is an organization of FREE developers, and THOSE PEOPLE will decide, which way Firefox will go tomorrow. Not Google. Not Yahoo. Mozilla depends on those people, thats why THEY will decide.
That’s why Firefox will ALWAYS remain the same (open-source, free, modern, constantly developed, perfect) browser. It is just the ONLY right way of its evolution.
Its a illusion that a product will remain perfect always,it in itself is a contradiction.Such was the thought pattern of MS towards IE (thats its the best and will always be)So better avoid such thinking man.
By google i meant that they were the darling of net community some time back now they going momopolist kind of way,which is totally understandable since they have to survive in this bussiness,Same will happen to FF coz other companies with go for their heads once they r on top and they will do things which majority like u will disagree(proof is this happens all the time).Infact wasn’t there some controversy over some rights issue of feeds button logo which mozila was prohibitting to others or something(sorry for being not specific),but eventually got resolved,just the nature of things to come.