I like this idea, too.

WebKit is quite possibly the best choice for rendering HTML and I believe it does HTML5 also.

No. Firefox uses its own rendering engine, Gecko, which is more compatible with many websites and implements many HTML5 innovations faster than the competition.

This isn't even a support question, so, if you have specific problem (speed, security, whatever it is), please say so and I'll try to help you.

Proof is in the pudding... Gecko is not faster and more compatible than Webkit or companies wouldn't be dropping the Gecko engine in droves and replacing it with Webkit all the time... almost EVERYONE on the planet that has anything to do with displaying of web content is moving over to Webkit:

1) Apple with Safari on Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad 2) Google with Chrome and the Android Browser 3) Palm with the WebOS 4) Symbian with the S60 5) Adobe with Air 6) OmniWeb 7) Valve 8) iCab 9) Epiphany, who, I might add, dropped Gecko and is solely using WebKit 10) And less we forget where it all started, almost everyone on *nix based machines are using KDE, the source of WebKit.

Here is a list of browsers using Webkit:

Arora Web Browser for Android (mobile device platform) BOLT browser Google Chrome Epiphany (web browser) iCab (version 4 uses WebKit; earlier versions used its own rendering engine) Iris Browser Konqueror (version 4 can use WebKit as an alternative to its native KHTML[19]) Midori OmniWeb OWB Safari Shiira Sputnik for MorphOS (based on S60 WebCore) SRWare Iron Stainless TeaShark Uzbl Web Browser for S60, used in all Nokia Symbian smartphones. WebOS, used in the Palm Pre mobile WebPositive, browser in Haiku

And here are the browsers running Gecko:

Gnuzilla GNU's fork SeaMonkey (Made by Mozilla, same browser as Firefox) Yahoo! Browser K-Meleon for Windows Mozilla Firefox Flock XeroBank Browser Camino for Mac OS X Conkeror Fennec (for mobile) Skyfire (for mobile) MicroB (for Maemo)

I deleted over 75% of the browsers listed for Gecko because they were either discontinued, were a version of Firefox rebranded or they moved over to the Webkit. As you see, outside of Firefox (which includes Seamonkey), the remaining browsers are a Bank, Yahoo browser, which nobody uses or a couple of mobile browsers. Firefox was the browser to use when it was just IE as competition, but with Safari and Chrome, forget it.

You have to switch to Webkit, otherwise you are just like Microsoft when you started competing with them... A big behemoth refusing to change at the expense of the end users because you are stuck in your ways and prideful.

Dude, read this and see this before you say any more balderdash.

I'm not an evangelist (that's a position, by the way, not an adjective), but... "Apple with Safari on Mac", WebKit is developed by Apple. "Google with Chrome and the Android Browser" those two were never Gecko to begin with. "Google with the Android Browser, Palm with the WebOS, Symbian with the S60", all mobile, where Gecko is still on its second release with Firefox Mobile. The biggest mobile web browser, Opera, uses Presto, not WebKit. "Adobe with Air", nobody really cares, do they? "OmniWeb", Mac only, based on Safari... "Valve", which used IE's Trident before. "iCab", Apple's. "Epiphany", never used XUL at all, they were always kind of a bastard son.

All in all, the Mozilla platform is way more used and way more common than webkit: https://developer.mozilla.org/En/List_of_Mozilla-Based_Applications

Gecko is much more compatible with web pages, as both WebKit and Presto tend to exibit problems with pages designed for IE, from time to time. Those problems have been long gone in Firefox. That's all there is to say about that, really.

Firefox doesn't switch to WebKit because Firefox is Firefox. That's like saying Ford should switch to Mercedes engines, or McDonalds should switch to BurgerKing meat, or like CocaCola should switch to Pepsi or something like that. The different is the platform my mate! If you can't see that, the looser you are.

Does anyone know of a script/hack that will make Firefox read & reader Webkit?

Cheers Phil

Phil,

Did you ever get a response on your question about a hack for Firefox webkit hack? Do you or anyone else know of a plugin for webkit? Gecko sucks and should be dropped.

If 86,3% of desktop users use Windows that doesn't mean that Windows sucks. http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp

I don't need to prove that WebKit is far more compatible rendering any web[including HTML5 http://www.findmebyip.com/litmus] pages because in 5 minutes if you search and try you will see.

You really have to visit http://www.findmebyip.com/litmus.

By the way I am a 100% Ubuntu+Chrome user. I was for a long time a Windows+Firefox user. Adaptability that's the problem. I am a web developer and i see that adaptability is the most important in web[i have to adapt my sites to all browsers[that's not normal but i have to do it]].

Competition make things better. Each developer try their very best to achieve their dreams and that results in many useful products. In Firefox gold age, someone also asked 'why IE is still exist ?'.

To have something done, you need talent, knowledge, determination and inspiration. I think the one that saying 'why not drop the project for another one is better ?' is way too much. Not doing anything and subvert the others. One day in the far future Gecko may be more popular than Webkit. And the same guy would say 'Webkit should abandon their useless project'. You shouldn't get these men's words seriously. These guys are weak so they are always side with the winner at the moment and suppress others just to make them look better. They deserve the word 'Useless'.

Hard to accept but it's the fact that today Chrome is faster, nicer and more reliable as in 2010 Chrome always follow the schedule while Firefox always postpone. We have to admit that instead of making an excuse.

I believe that Firefox has once changed the history of browsers and drive the lazy and dirty commercial organization (MS) to do what they should have done for a long time. How nice having Firefox and Gecko born in this world. Even though I am Chrome user, I'm still looking forward to you guys improvement because I like the GPL that sincerely give without profit. Everyone should have the rights to read a good book so let a poor kid got into the library and learn. That's GPL.

It's a question of philosophy and the correlation of them into web standards, really. Compliance, then speed. Why not? I have a tendency to develop pages for webkit comparability, namely chromium, then roll into Firefox. IE follows.

I get much slower benchmarks out of firefox on Mac, nix, and windows.  It is slower, especially on moderate user machines.  

This is all nearly moot, in my mind, as I feel firefox got most of its acceptance thanks to the ease it provided to development, especially when using addons like firebug.  Which ever platform has the best development experience, regardless of speed benchmarks, compatibility, and elitist acceptance. 

Sidenote: "That's like saying Ford should switch to Mercedes engines, or McDonalds should switch to BurgerKing meat, or like CocaCola should switch to Pepsi or something like that. The different is the platform my mate! If you can't see that, the looser you are."

eye ron ick. Everything you correlated Chrome with is better than that which you were comparing Firefox with. ;P

poor grammar and spelling aside, ("looser" lol), supporting webKit would actually only make Firefox more popular. WebKit is dominating not just through the iPhone, but Android's browser also run's webkit. Unless Mozilla can get their act together, they're about to screw up their market share like they did with their earlier incarnation of Netscape Navigator 12 years ago. Unfortunately, as history has demonstrated in IT, it's all about critical mass, and has nothing to do with "better", although, Apple's implementation of Webkit is much better than Android.

Mobile supported webKits will define browser usage over the next 12-18 months.... i can show you the writing on the wall, it's upto you to read it.

PS. I am not an Apple fanboi

I Agree, I don't understand why Firefox just doesn't move on to Webkit, and the reason I say this is simply because most popular browsers are moving on to Webkit, Gecko based browsers are being discontinued..

And yeah I love Firefox, but being a web designer, life becomes a lot harder when your trying to code for more then one platform.. We are at 2011, wouldn't it just be awesome if websites looked the same across all browsers? no more using hacks to get things to look the same..

And since there are a very large amount of Webkit browsers out there, it would be very hard to ask all of them to move onto Gecko.. It would be easier for all of us if Firefox finally made the move to webkit, since there are very little Gecko browsers in comparison.. and most have been discontinued..

Also since there are a massive chunk of Firefox users it would make the biggest difference..

Anyway just my thoughts... Personally as far as speed is concerned Webkit based browsers always seem to be ahead..