How to enable the hidden, experimental, center-aligned version of YouTube
YouTube, like many other websites, undergoes changes, and it has taken on a number of guises over the years. Some looks have lasted for a long time, while others have been shorter lived. There are also experimental looks, not all of which end up being released, but even when a redesign is rolled out, it can take a while to make its way around the world. Currently in the experimental stage is a center-aligned layout which includes a cleaned up interface a new menu and a few other tweaks.
In the new design, a top navigation bar is now locked to the top of the screen, remaining in place while the rest of the page scrolls. There is a customizable carousel and a new Upload button encourages visitors into sharing. It's not yet clear quite when this new interface will be officially released to a waiting world, but it's something you can enable now; all it takes is a quick cookie tweak.
Firefox 26 arrives, makes plugins more secure
Mozilla has begun the rollout of Firefox 26 FINAL, the latest stable build of its open-source, cross-platform web browser. There are no surprises with this final release, the raft of new and changed features mirroring that previewed when version 26 entered beta at the end of October.
The most visible change sees all browser plug-ins -- with the notable exception of recent Flash plug-ins -- being set to "click to play".
Biscuit deletes unwanted Firefox cookies, keeps everything else
If you’d like to preserve your online privacy then it can be a good idea to clear your Firefox cookies, but there’s usually a price to pay. Even if you’re careful, the chances are you’ll delete genuinely useful cookies, and be forced to manually log in when you revisit some of your favorite sites.
Install the Firefox add-on Biscuit, though, and cookie management becomes much easier. It allows you to mark particular items for preservation, which means you’re then able to delete just the unwanted cookies while keeping everything else.
Happy birthday Firefox -- nine years old today!
November 9, 2004. The date may not mean much to you, but it was rather big in the land of Mozilla. It wasn't the 'start' of the Firefox web browser, but it was the official ship date of version 1.0. That makes today a birthday celebration for the browser that dared to take on the Internet Explorer-giant.
"In the nine years since we first launched Firefox, we have moved and shaped the Web into the most valuable public resource of our time", the organization announces.
Mega graduates out of beta, gets new look
Cloud storage service Mega arrived with a bang early this year, after its controversial founder Kim Dotcom revealed that users will get a whopping 50 GB of storage at no cost. The man's involvement with the defunct Megaupload certainly piqued people's interest, with more than three million users trying or relying on the service within the first month.
More than nine months after its launch, Mega has announced, via its official blog, the end of the beta stage. The cloud storage service now touts "significant improvements and optimizations" as well as a refreshed look for the site. Let's take a look at what's new.
Mozilla releases Firefox 26 Beta 1 and Firefox Aurora 27.0a2, concentrates on behind-the-scenes tweaks
Mozilla has followed on from the recent release of Firefox 25.0 FINAL with the update of its two pre-release channels to Firefox 26.0 Beta 1 and Firefox Aurora 27.0a2 respectively.
Like version 25, version 26 has little in the way of visible new features other than that all plug-ins now default to "click to play" mode. Version 27 has no brand new features either, although some features -- notably optimized Windows 8 support -- remain exclusive to this build.
Firefox adds Web Audio API support, minor tweaks
Mozilla has released Firefox 25.0 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux. The big splash in version 25 is official support for the Web Audio API, which allows developers to manipulate and play audio assets within a web page or app using HTML5 rather than a plug-in.
Mozilla has also confirmed that it plans to continue supporting Windows XP. This means XP users will continue to be supported by two major web browsers -- Chrome is the other --– after Microsoft pulls the plug on support next year.
Kaspersky 2014 gets 'Patch B' release, essential for forthcoming Windows 8.1
Kaspersky has released updated installer versions of Kaspersky Internet Security 2014 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2014. Both updates include the recently rolled out "Patch B", which adds support for Windows 8.1 and Firefox 23/24.
The update also fixes a number of bugs, but previously had to be installed separately after installing KIS 2014 or KAV 2014.
Google Chrome to ban the Netscape Plug-in API -- in 2014
Back in the 90s, while everyone was watching Melrose Place and listening to Pearl Jam, internet usage was exploding. At the time, the Netscape Navigator browser was all the rage -- it was the most popular way to access the web. One of the most innovative features of Netscape was the introduction of plugins. You see, this ushered in the era of web-based multimedia. For example, while it is almost extinct now, the Realplayer plugin was mind blowing -- you could stream video in a web browser; amazing at the time. This was all thanks to the Netscape Plug-in API (NPAPI).
Of course, all things must end, and Netscape Navigator is just a memory; a no longer developed piece of software. However, despite that particular web browser's demise, the NPAPI lives on. Unfortunately for NPAPI, Google Chrome and the Chromium project have just put it on death row -- lethal injection in 2014.
Firefox Aurora adds support for Windows 8's Modern UI
Mozilla has rolled out Firefox Aurora 26.0a2 and Firefox Beta 25.0b1. While the Beta has few noteworthy features to talk about, the Aurora alpha release has a number of major new talking points.
Chief among these is support for running Firefox in the Modern UI. This marks the first appearance of Mozilla’s Windows 8 touch-optimized app in an alpha build, it having previously only been available as a standalone pre-alpha release.
Apple's iCloud now syncs bookmarks from Chrome and Firefox
Yesterday, Apple refreshed the iCloud web interface with a new look and feel, bringing it close to the new iOS 7 in terms of overall design. The company however hasn't stopped there as it also released an update for the iCloud Control Panel for Windows, that introduces support for Chrome and Firefox bookmarks sync.
Chrome and Firefox join Internet Explorer as the supported browsers in iCloud Control Panel for Windows. The new feature allows users of the cloud-based service to sync bookmarks from the Windows versions of the two aforementioned browsers with Safari, on iOS and OS X.
Firefox 24 ships with Close Tab to Right and tear-off social chat window features
Mozilla has launched Firefox 24.0 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux. There are no major surprises in the final build, with all new and changed features highlighted in the Beta migrating across to the new version.
Two changes that are exclusive to the final version are removed support for the Revocation Lists feature, and the promise of performance improvements when loading new tab pages, attained simply by enabling new tab page preloading as the default behavior.
Pale Moon update promises significant performance improvements
Moonchild Productions has released a major new version of its Firefox browser variant for Windows. As the version number implies, Pale Moon 24.0 and Pale Moon x64 24.0 are based on the same Mozilla code base as the latest stable build of Firefox, and come with the promise of significant performance improvements on top of a host of other changes and tweaks.
The performance improvements come from major changes and updates to Pale Moon’s rendering, scripting and parsing back-end, and should be visible in day-to-day use as well as via benchmarks.
Ubuntu Linux grants Firefox a stay of execution -- for now
Ubuntu is one of the most popular Linux distributions. According to DistroWatch, it is the number two most popular, second only to Linux Mint (which is based on Ubuntu). So when Ubuntu makes a change to its default software, the Linux community takes notice.
There has been much speculation that Firefox would be replaced by Chromium as the default web browser on the next version of the operating system. However, Firefox fans can breathe a sigh of relief as Canonical announces the browser will remain as the default in the 13.10 version of the operating system.
Firefox 24 Beta 1 reveals tear-off social windows, 'Close tabs to right' feature
Hot on the heels of its Firefox 23 FINAL release, Mozilla has launched updates to its beta and alpha channels with the launch of Firefox 24.0 Beta 1 and Firefox Aurora 25.0a2 respectively.
The biggest changes in play can be found in Firefox 24.0 Beta 1, with a number of noteworthy new features and improvements, including another update to its burgeoning social API with support for tearing off chat windows to view them in a separate, floating window.
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