> Detecting if browser is able to do Gears is simple and reliable > thanks to Google guys. If Gears plugin is missed a message with > install instructions may be displayed.
I hear ya. Though if the plug-in isn't installed, it won't be able to be installed if you have Y! Toolbar. Or if Y! is added later, it will make Gears inoperable. A pretty shaky situation, IMO, bending at least my concept of progressive enhancement, as even "reference" browsers like Opera are unable to use the technology even if the user would be willing to add a plug-in (I wouldn't ever require a user to _remove_ anything). To my mind, unless you keep progressive enhancement totally secret from users -- impossible if you document or blog about advanced features, when people use a range of browsers, or when users talk to each other -- you're pushing people toward the "progressive" feature set. If that means implying that Opera 9 or IE 8 are outright deprecated just because they don't support a plug-in, that's pretty ActiveX-y. Just my thoughts of the moment. Again, I very much like what you're doing and will be following the project. -- Sandy
