World Browser War II

Like the invasion of Poland in 1939, it should be apparent to the world now that the second great browser war is upon us. Just look at this last week’s worth of news:

June 10th: Apple releases developer preview of Safari 4
June 11th: Google Gears 0.3 released with support for desktop shortcuts
June 11th: Firefox Mobile Concept Released
June 12th: Opera 9.5 released
June 12th: Firefox 3.0 Final Release Candidate Released – 3.0 set for Tuesday June 17th (guide to new features here)

It’s exciting times for a web developer. Though there have been rumblings, one participant in notably absent from the conflict. Is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer the United States in this analogy or the Switzerland?