Bing vs. Google
July 31, 2010
I found an interesting site tonight. http://www.bing-vs-google.com/ lets you enter a search and view a side by side comparison of the Google and Bing results.
For the first time in a very long time, I saw Google react to a competitor. Since Bing’s release a little over a year ago, Google has redesigned their results page, added the option to put background images on their home page, revamped their image search and more. Why? Easy, they have real competition now and competition leads to innovation and improvements. When Microsoft decided it was time to take the search engine battle seriously and threw a very large amount of money into the overhaul of Live Search, the best thing in web searching happened for the us, the consumer and end user.
This cool site lets you compare search results from both search engines to discover which gives better results. Is Google the best search engine? Some would say absolutely, look at how many people use it. It is obviously the best. Well, by that logic, Internet Explorer is the best browser hands down. More people use it than any other browser so its obviously the best. I am pretty sure most of the people who use Google (and everyone that uses Firefox, Safari, Chrome, etc.) would disagree with that statement.
Just because Google is the most used search engine does not mean it is the best. As with IE being the most used browser due to the fact it comes bundled with Windows and is the only browser many users know about, Google is the most used search engine because it is what most users are familiar with.
Is Bing better than Google? I don’t know. That is entirely subjective and completely open to debate. Is Google the best? I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. One thing I do know, Microsoft is serious about competing with Google and taking a huge chunk of it’s market share so Bing is worth taking a look at. A good place to start is at http://www.bing-vs-google.com/.
Also, when you install my themes you have the option to install Bing in your browser search window and start using it. You can always switch back easily by clicking on the icon and selecting your favorite search engine.
You may find that the answer to “What is better, Google or Bing?” is…yes.
Back in Action
July 28, 2010
After a long break, several delays, and countless hurdles I am back with a revamped website and fresh new ideas for where to take my themes.
I started doing this with a remake of Abstract Classic when Firefox 2 was released back in 2007. Now, three years later I have been trying to decide where to go from here. Unfortunately for some users, that decision means leaving some of the old themes behind. I will no longer be updating Abstract Classic, Aquatint, Abstract Zune, or Firefox Zune. The realization hit me that Windows XP is nearly 10 years old so the Zune themes are becoming obsolete. Abstract Classic and Aquatint are styled after Mac OS 9 and early versions of OS X which is also approaching 10 years old.
As styles and trends change with operating systems and browsers, the style of themes needs to stay fresh. Lightweight themes such as Personas are popular because they are easy to use and easy to change but I have always felt they are limited and lack polish. As Firefox 4 approaches, there have already been a number of major releases with Firefox 3, 3.5, and 3.6 which all required extensive changes within the theme to keep it working after each new version.
It is also a challenge to keep up with all of the awesome extensions that make Firefox so popular. As more and more extensions are released, I feel it is time to simplify my themes to maximize compatibility and minimize display issues. What does this mean? Well, mainly it means I will not add as much detail to secondary elements like drop down/pop-up windows, options windows, etc. Because so many people still use XP, Vista and now 7 as well as various Linux distros it leads to many problems with invisible text, missing backgrounds and so on.
Another direction I am exploring is target specific themes. I love the idea of Personas. They give users a way to put their favorite brand on their browser but this is nothing more than an image behind the default toolbar icon set. It is not that exciting and does not always look that great. By putting an entire theme together, there is greater control and customization. I have started with the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. They currently use photos and images released in the public domain but eventually I would like to use official logos and emblems. I have many more ideas on what to do next but most of them will require official licensing to use official logos which will take money.
That is why I have partnered with Bing and New Tab King. You can support further development by installing the bundled Bing search plug-in into your toolbar search window and use it as your default search engine. If you haven’t tried out Bing, you can install it from the top of this page and test it out. If you don’t like it you can always switch back to your preferred search engine by clicking on the little arrow.
I am working on updates for Eclipse, Revelation, Onyx, Chromium, and Bible Fox. I hope to have those out shortly. The website redesign took more work than I thought it would so things have been pushed back a little.