14 DAY TRIAL // A faster web is on everyone's mind. Google's SPDY, an updated HTTP protocol, is picking up steam and Microsoft wants in on the action as well so it's come up with its own improved HTTP which it dubs "HTTP Speed+Mobility."
The timing of the announcement is not coincidental, the Internet Engineering Task Force IETF is convening this week and on the agenda is a discussion about HTTP 2.0, the next-generation protocol that will become standard in a few years, provided everything goes smoothly.
Already, Google's SPDY additions are pretty much guaranteed to be part of HTTP 2.0. Essentially, Microsoft's proposal builds on SPDY but focuses on more areas. Websockets is a major focus and the other is the mobile web and apps.
"SPDY has done a great job raising awareness of web performance and taking a 'clean slate' approach to improving HTTP to make the Web faster. The main departures from SPDY are to address the needs of mobile devices and applications," Microsoft writes.
Websockets got off to a bad start last year as some vulnerabilities in the protocol prompted a chunk of it to be rewritten. Browsers that had already adopted it had to disable the technology until the secured version was ready.
Websockets is on its way of becoming an IETF standard, the protocol part, and a W3C standard, the API. Microsoft would very much like Websockets to be a part of HTTP 2.0.
But the Redmond giant has other suggestions as well, it wants HTTP 2.0 to cater to mobile apps just as well as it does to the regular web. It also wants to take in consideration the mobile and the special requirements, for example designing the protocol to minimize battery life impact.
This Thursday the IETF is discussing on how to continue to HTTP 2.0 and what to include. The goal is to have a draft standard to be proposed for consideration in July next year.