Articles about Browser

Dog years is too slow a measurement when it comes to the Internet, which pace maturing makes Moore's Law look like a skeleton sitting at a feast (it's too feeble a metric). Case in point: Google Chrome 50 officially releases this fine Wednesday, which is a long way from its late-2007 alpha. Whew, where did the years go?

Now before you quibble about who's how old when, let's clarify. By my math, and an official blog post, Chrome turned 50 one week ago. Maybe none of us noticed. I write this the afternoon before Big G rolls out the birthday cake, and Chrome was v49 when I checked but updated to 50. Perhaps this is a push comes to shove thing: Pushing the official day a week later when automatic update shoves the new version out to most users.

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The European Union has charged Google with anticompetitive behaviour, saying that the company abused the dominance of Android in the mobile marketplace. Regulators have taken exception to Google's requirement on phone manufacturers to install Chrome and Google search, saying that this stifles innovation and limits user choice.

Unsurprisingly, Google disagrees and has hit back at the charges saying that "our business model keeps manufacturers' costs low and their flexibility high, while giving consumers unprecedented control of their mobile devices". More than this, Google says it prides itself on having built a sustainable ecosystem built on open source software. It also says that Android has been designed in such a way that is "good for competition and for consumers".

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As Apple releases its transparency report, Google today releases its second Android Security Annual report. The report covers all things Android, from the security of the operating system itself, to the security of Google Play and the apps it provides access to. Of course, Google is keen to highlight everything it does to improve security for its users.

As such, the report shows how the company performs more than 400 million automatic security scans per day on devices with Google Mobile Services. Aided by machine learning, these scans help to home in on what are referred to as Potentially Harmful Applications (PHAs). Google points out that just 0.5 percent of scanned devices feature PHAs, and this dropped to 0.15 percent for devices that only installed apps from Google Play.

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Google is looking to take steps that will enable Chrome users to make more informed decisions about the extensions they install. Specifically, developers will have to provide more information about data collections in the interests of transparency.

In addition, developers will have to produce a privacy policy for their extensions, and must ask for permission before collecting data about users. Google's new User Data Policy introduces these extra requirements in the wake of increased demands from users for more information about what is going on in the background.

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As a Linux user, I have stopped using Skype recently. What was once a great experience on Ubuntu, Fedora, and other such operating systems, has been seemingly abandoned by Microsoft. Skype on Linux is barely usable nowadays, as the client has not seen an update in quite a while. This is rather tragic, as it is otherwise a great service on other platforms, such as Android, iOS, and of course, Windows.

Users of Windows 10 that use the Edge web browser are getting a cool update this month, as Microsoft is rolling out plugin-free Skype support. While that is cool, the really intriguing aspect is the potential for Linux users, as it should lead to similar functionality on browsers like Google Chrome and Firefox.

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Researchers at security company ESET have released details of a new piece of malware that spreads disguised as video posts on Facebook.

Malicious links appear as a video post you were tagged in on a timeline, or as a message sent to you via Facebook Messenger by a friend. They use the titles, 'My first video', 'My video', 'Private video' or a string of randomly generated characters.

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Flash is not as integral to the web as it once was, but it’s still required for some content, despite being a huge security nightmare.

Microsoft, like Google and Mozilla, wants to hasten the transition away from Flash to a more modern, standards based web, and so plans to make a big change to Edge in the forthcoming Anniversary Update to Windows 10.

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Vivaldi Technologies has unveiled Vivaldi 1.0 FINAL, the first stable release of a web browser aimed squarely at those who want full control over their web browsing experience.

Vivaldi has been developed by a team led by Jon S von Tetzchner, co-founder of rival Opera, and is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Vivaldi’s moniker -- "Not for everybody, just for you" -- highlights its different approach to other major web browsers.

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One of the first browser add-ons many people install to improve their online experience is Adblock Plus or something similar. Until recently, Microsoft Edge's lack of support for add-ons put off a lot of would-be users, but reports from Build 2016 suggest that native ad blocking is on its way to the Internet Explorer successor.

Adblock Plus is coming to Edge, but built-in ad blocking would negate the need for such an add-on. A slide shown off and snapped at a Build presentation shows that the next version of Edge, in response to user feedback, will feature ad blocking capabilities. There's no word on delivery timescale, but the upcoming Windows 10 Anniversary Update would seem a likely candidate. [Update: we now have a clarifying statement from Microsoft that puts rather a different spin on things].

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Last week Microsoft finally revealed extensions for its Edge web browser for Windows 10. It began with just a handful of add-ons, but more are on the way. We previously told you how to install them, including the translator, but now Microsoft is adding a bit more information.

The new Edge extensions are currently considered previews and are only available to Windows 10 Insiders, and you'll need Build 14291 to use them.

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Piriform Software has released CCleaner 5.16 and CCleaner 5.16 Portable for Windows PCs. Once again, the latest release focuses on fine-tuning the program’s browser-cleaning tools, with tweaks for Opera, Chrome and Edge the major highlights.

CCleaner 5.16’s main feature is added support for cleaning Opera’s GPU and Application caches, while it also updates the management of Chrome Browser Plug-ins.

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During the Windows 8 era, I was very worried about that operating system -- the UI and design choices were troubling. Luckily, as a longtime Linux user, I was not tied to any Microsoft OS. Unfortunately for some consumers, Linux-based operating systems can be difficult to install and use, while Mac computers are very expensive. Chrome OS and the inexpensive Chromebooks swooped in to save the day.

For those that stuck it out with Windows, or used other desktop operating systems, Google introduced a Chrome OS-like launcher -- the unimaginatively named Chrome app launcher. It allows Windows, Mac, and Linux users to launch Chrome apps from within their OS' native UI -- it sort of felt like Chrome OS running inside of them. Today, Google kills this project.

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After something of a delay, Microsoft finally released a version of its newest browser -- Microsoft Edge -- that supports extensions. We've already seen the first extensions appear in the Windows Store, but there are some big names that people are waiting for.

Included on this list is Adblock Plus, and its fans are clamoring for a version they can use in Edge. The good news is that one is in the works -- the only thing standing in the way now is Microsoft.

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Microsoft has been keen to consigne Internet Explorer to the history books, but for a long time there has been a glaring issue with its successor, Microsoft Edge: a lack of extensions. With the release of Windows 10 Redstone build 14291 this finally changed.

While Microsoft Edge may now have extensions, it's still very early days and it's likely you'll find that most of your favorites are yet to make an appearance. But Microsoft has a plan. To make developers' lives as easy as possible, the company is working on a tool that will make it possible to port Chrome extensions to Edge.

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Many people look at hackers as bad guys, and yeah, some are. However, some of these people are actually good -- their work is beneficial for security. When they discover exploits, and report them, it can result in more secure software -- if companies listen, that is.

Google is a huge proponent of for-good hacking, and it even has its own Chrome Reward Program aimed at motivating these people. Basically, Google will pay hackers to find and report security issues in its Chrome software. Today, the company is upping the ante by increasing how much it will pay out.

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