Articles about Browser

From full commercial applications to simple freeware tools, it’s surprising just how many setup programs will now try to install unwanted browser addons on your PC. And too many of these can slow your system down, make it less stable, maybe even compromise your privacy.

The deceptive techniques used by some software means these “extras” can be difficult to avoid, too. But fortunately help is at hand in the shape of the free Toolbar Cleaner, which can assist you in reviewing and taking control of your IE, Firefox and Chrome addons.

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Google has announced the release of Chrome 23 to the stable channel, and it’s an interesting update, with some welcome developments.

New support for GPU-accelerated video decoding will reduce the load on your system’s CPU, for instance. And as GPU’s use less power than your primary processor, this can notably extend your battery life (Google’s own testing suggests you could see up to a 25-percent improvement).

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Windows 8 ships with two versions of Internet Explorer 10. First, the regular version that runs on the desktop and packs all the features one would expect from a browser, and then the Start screen version of IE10, which is a plug-in free version that is limited in what you can do with it on the Internet and locally.

Microsoft has integrated Adobe's Flash Player natively into Internet Explorer 10, but there are again differences in the implementation between the desktop and start screen version of the browser.

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Norwegian cross-platform browser Opera 12.10 has been released, promising support for more powerful extensions, the SPDY networking protocol and a number of platform-specific enhancements.

Mac users gain Retina Display support and Notification Center integration in Mountain Lion, for example, while the Windows build, also available in 64-bit, adds support for two additional touch gestures in Windows.

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The Firefox Developer Toolbar is a new tool that landed last month in the stable version of the web browser. It is a console that enables you to issue commands right from the page you are on, and while it has been designed with developers in mind, it makes available features that regular Firefox users can utilize as well.

The basic idea here is to use the Developer Toolbar for things that you normally handle using the menus the browser makes available or third-party tools. To display the toolbar in Firefox press Shift-F2. This opens a small toolbar at the bottom of the browser window. If you want to close it again, either use the same keyboard shortcut to do so or the close icon on the right side of the toolbar.

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Almost four months ago the European Commission opened an investigation after Microsoft failed to distribute the browser ballot to Windows users. The problem, according to the Redmond, Wash.-based corporation, only affected 10 percent of PCs, but Mozilla says there's more to it than meets the eye. Microsoft claims a glitch, lasting 18 months, caused the ballot to disappear.

Harvey Anderson, who works at Mozilla on business and legal affairs, revealed some numbers that portray the impact on Mozilla Firefox downloads. Prior to Microsoft fixing the problem daily downloads of the popular open-source browser decreased by 63 percent to 20,000 per day. After Microsoft decided to fix the issue the number of Mozilla Firefox downloads increased by 150 percent to 50,000 per day. The European Commission isn't overly excited by what happened, and sent Redmond a "statement of objections". That usually implies that a fine is underway...

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You’ve got to hand it to Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom. Despite living under house arrest, his assets frozen, and facing the prospect of extradition to the United States and up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of copyright theft, money laundering and racketeering fraud, he’s pressing ahead with plans for a new file-sharing site.

Mega, his Megaupload replacement, was revealed yesterday, and despite just consisting of a holding page at the moment, was quickly overwhelmed. "Millions of users hitting at once. I'm delighted by the interest. But servers can't handle it. The new Mega will. WOW!!!" Dotcom tweeted an hour after the news broke.

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One year after launching Chrome Remote Desktop in beta form, Google today announced that the Chrome browser app is now available as a stable release. What features can users expect?

Using the "Remote Assistance" feature from Chrome Remote Desktop, users can connect to other computers to offer or receive assistance. The set up is fairly straightforward and it involves typing in a Chrome generated code to gain or provide access to one's computer. For those that want to access their own computer via remote control, "My Computers" let them do just that using solely a PIN number after activating the feature.

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The 64-bit Firefox variant Waterfox 16.0.1 is available, providing Windows users with a stable version of Firefox that’s optimized for 64-bit systems.

The latest build finally appears 19 days after Firefox 16 itself released, and includes all the changes and improvements found in the 16.0.1 build of Firefox. However, it has already been effectively made out-of-date by the appearance of Firefox 16.0.2, which contains a critical security fix.

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If you’re the proud possessor of a copy of Windows 8, or you rushed out today to buy a brand new touchscreen device with it pre-installed, the first thing you’re going to need to do is configure it to suit your needs, and install all of your favorite software.

You’ll probably want to make installing a better browser a priority (no offense Microsoft) and Google has designed a version of Chrome especially for the new OS, with some customizations for touch screens, including larger buttons and the ability to keep the browser open next to other apps.

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When your PC is infected by malware then of course you’ll want to remove it immediately, but that won’t necessarily be the end of your problems. Malware will often change key browser or Windows settings to suit its needs, and restoring these can take a very long time.

Or you could just use Anvisoft’s free Browser Repair Tool, which claims it can fix everything you need with just a single click.

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Whoa, and I thought BetaNews commenters were a rowdy lot. Today, Microsoft announced that Internet Explorer 10 would come to Windows 7 next month as a "preview". I would think that would be welcome news, but not to cranky complainers at Microsoft's IE blog.

"We will release a preview of IE10 on Windows 7 in mid-November, with final availability to follow as we collect developer and customer feedback", Rob Mauceri, IE group program manager, posts. "We look forward to getting your feedback on IE10 on Windows 7, and will provide another update when the preview is available".

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Hot on the heels of Mozilla pulling the latest stable release from its download servers after discovering a security vulnerability, Firefox 16.0.1 FINAL has now been released. Those who had already upgraded to version 16 should upgrade automatically now the updated version is available. Full details about the vulnerability can be found here.

In the meantime, Mozilla has updated all pre-release versions of the popular cross-platform, open-source browser to versions 17 (Beta), 18 (Aurora) and 19 (Nightly/Elm/UX) respectively. Once again, confirmed changes are thin on the ground, although the recent release of the “Elm” branch of Firefox Nightly, previewing the new Modern UI-based version of Firefox for Windows 8, is a noteworthy addition.

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Only two days after announcing Firefox 16, Mozilla removed the browser in response to a security vulnerability affecting all early installations.

Mozilla warns that the flaw allows a malicious website to "potentially" determine where Firefox 16 users have been and to gain access to the URL or URL parameters. The open-source group says it had no knowledge of the exploit and as a safety measure recommends that anyone who installed Firefox 16 should "downgrade" to Firefox 15.0.1 and wait for the browser to be upgraded to the new, fixed, version.

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"Bad Piggies", a mobile game that was quietly launched by software company Rovio Mobile, is one of the most popular games to be launched in the late period. Unfortunately, it's also a security risk if installed via third-party, free, extensions from the Chrome Web Store that claim to be the original app.

Security experts from Barracuda Networks have analyzed the number of free apps that turn up after searching for the popular game title in the Chrome Web Store. The company has found that these extensions, while obviously being a far cry from the actual Bad Piggies game, require elevated permissions. To profit from misleading the user, they also install a plug-in that delivers advertisements on popular websites. The severity of this security risk might be overlooked by users seeking to play the popular title.

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