Final Chrome Version Boosts Speed, Compatibility

By Michael Muchmore, PC Magazine, 12.12.08 

PC Magazine has performed follow-up tests of Google Chrome to see how much progress the browser has made since coming out of beta. The results show that its already fast JavaScript performance on the respected Sunspider benchmark has gotten even faster and compatibility with popular sites such as Facebook has improved.

The retest shows a 24 percent speed improvement, bringing this released browser to the same level of performance as Firefox's second beta 3.1 version. The new numbers far outstrip what Microsoft's Internet Explorer was capable of, by a factor of nearly 100, and even bested the released version of Firefox 3.0's results more than threefold. 

However, there are still sites that kick back an "unsupported browser" message when a user attempts to view them using Chrome, such as Microsoft's Office Live site. Chrome has added a separate bookmarks window, though it still lacks many capabilities found in the competition, such as bookmarking multiple sites at once (also known as tabbed groups) and tagging. 

In memory usage, Chrome still holds up the rear, using somewhat more RAM than Internet Explorer, and more than double what Firefox consumed in testing with the same set of ten content rich sites. In standards support, Opera is still the leader, garnering 85 out of 100 possible points on the Acid3 Browser Compatibility test from the Web Standards Project. 

To read the full review, with more details of how the browser differs from the better-known web browsers, read PCMag.com's full review of Chrome 1.0.

Related Article:

Microsoft Market Share Slips: Pressure's On for Windows 7 and IE8

Rapid take-up on Windows' Safari

BBC News

Apple's new web browser for Windows was downloaded more than a million times in the first 48 hours of its release, the computer group has said.

The Windows version of Apple's Safari will compete head-on with Microsoft's Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox and expand the 4.9% market share it enjoys.

Steve Jobs launched "the fastest browser on Windows", saying it was twice as fast as Internet Explorer.

It was previously only available for Macintosh computers.

A test version of Safari 3 for Windows XP, Vista and Apple Macs running OSX, is available for download from the Apple website.

Apple is hoping to replicate the success of iTunes, which has proved enormously popular on both Macs and Windows machines.

Security researchers say they have already found numerous loopholes in the browser which might possibly allow attackers access to users' computers.

On Tuesday, Apple issued an update to the program, to fix some of the potential security flaws.

New Mozilla mobile browser out, amid more competition

Works with Windows Mobile 5.0

Nancy Gohring, Computerworld

March 30, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- The newest version of Minimo, the Mozilla mobile browser, became available this week in the midst of changes within the Minimo project that make its future uncertain.

Minimo 0.2, available for free download, is compatible with Windows Mobile 5.0 and is smaller and faster than previous versions, according to early users who posted comments to the blog about the browser. Minimo is designed to be an alternative to the browser that comes with Windows Mobile and its creators promote its speed in accessing sites and other features such as tabs, better security and support for widgets.

The Minimo project, which isn't a Mozilla Corp. endeavor but is hosted by Mozilla.org, was one of the earliest third-party mobile browser initiatives but seems to have been eclipsed by other developers, including Opera Software ASA.

Read More ….

Customers to Dell: Give Us Linux!

The troubled computer maker sought input from users, but complying with the most popular online suggestions could worsen its woes

by Aaron Ricadela, Business.com

When computer maker Dell asked customers how to spice up its products and improve service, the flood of responses may have provided more feedback than the company bargained for.

Thousands of computer buyers have weighed in on a site Dell set up Feb. 16 to solicit opinions on everything from product design to marketing to technical support. The resounding response: Give us more software and other features based on open-source code, including the Linux operating system.

Heeding the requests won't be easy for the PC maker, which ousted Chief Executive Kevin Rollins on Jan. 31 and again named founder Michael Dell CEO in an attempt to regain market share, improve product quality, resolve customer support problems, and recover some of the financial mojo Dell exuded until recent years (see BusinessWeek.com, 2/1/07, "Is Dell Too Big for Michael Dell?").

Read More ....

Vista, for Better and Worse

By Rob Pegoraro , The Washington Post

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Windows Vista lands in stores Tuesday, more than five years after its predecessor Windows XP debuted. With that much time for Microsoft to rewrite its operating system, you might expect it to be a sharp break from the Windows we've known.

It isn't. For all the ways that Vista looks and works differently from XP, it remains recognizably Windows underneath.

And that's not always good. In a week that I've been using Vista full-time on two laptops and one desktop, I've seen many things that I hated in XP: error messages that don't offer any advice on how to correct them, programs that inexplicably fail, annoying stalls and one "blue screen of death" crash.

(At least I didn't have to stare at the same old stupid hourglass icon while the computer chewed its cud -- Vista bores you with a spinning blue circle instead.)

Vista is not a cheap or easy update. The version most home users will want, Home Premium, sells for $159 if you upgrade from an older copy of Windows. But Vista needs far more power under the hood than XP: 15 gigabytes of free disk space and a gigabyte of memory.

Read More ….

Opera to Provide Browser for Samsung Handsets

By Jennifer LeClaire, TechNewsWorld, 12/22/06 7:56 AM PT

Opera Software has struck a deal that will make its mobile Web browser available on Samsung handsets. Though Opera's browser lags far behind Internet Explorer and Firefox in terms of PC use, the company is gaining a reputation for innovation in the mobile Internet market, which is picking up steam.

Opera Software on Thursday announced a deal with Samsung Electronics to deliver Opera Mobile on Samsung mobile handsets -- two days after it launched a browser for Nintendo's Wii gaming console.

Opera Mobile is Opera Software's standards-compliant Web browser for advanced mobile phones. The browser uses Opera's small screen rendering technology to reformat Web pages and allows users to navigate with intuitive vertical scrolling.

In addition to the obvious plus of aligning Opera with a major brand name electronics maker, the Samsung deal is strategic for the company on another front, noted Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with JupiterResearch.

"Part of Opera's strategy is to get its technology directly onto the handset so consumers don't have to jump through hoops to get it," Gartenberg told TechNewsWorld. "Now mobile phone users don't have to go to a Web page, download the application, install it, etcetera. This is a very good deal for Opera."

On a Mobile Roll

Opera is on a mobile roll, so to speak. In mid-December the open source browser maker announced its Opera Mini Web browser would be shipping in most markets with selected Nokia (NYSE: NOK) 6300s.

Opera Mini is a Java-based Web browser that offers users full Internet access on the majority of mobile phones in the market. By using a server to preprocess and compress Web sites before sending them to the handset, Opera Mini reduces the size of data transferred to speed up the browser's response.

Opera has gained a reputation for browser innovation, particularly with Opera Mini 3.0. The new version launched in November with enhanced mobile social networking abilities for photo sharing, RSS (really simple syndication) feed readers, and secure connections for online banking and shopping.

Not About PCs

Opera's browser technologies also target PDAs (personal digital assistants), home media such as TV and set-top boxes, automotive and transportation entertainment and infotainment technologies, and, of course, video game consoles. Opera is the browser of choice on Nintendo's DS and Wii.

"The Opera folks are showing that there are ways to compete in the browsing business that have nothing to do with the PC desktop," Gartenberg noted.

The Mobile Opportunity

Opera's largest opportunity may be with mobile devices. The mobile Web is getting more traffic. Fifteen percent of mobile services subscribers accessed the Internet from their mobile devices in 2005, according to Forrester Research. That compared to only 6 percent in 2004. Analysts expect 2006 numbers to be strong.

While Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox outpace Opera on personal computers, Opera is burning up the mobile handset market. Opera may have to wait for its ultimate payoff, but getting a head start in this growing market is likely to position the developer well for the future.

"Mobile browsing is still not a super-mainstream consumer activity, but it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg syndrome," Gartenberg remarked. "You need to have a good browsing experience on the phone for people to begin to start using it. Fortunately, that's what we are starting to see happen now. We are definitely beginning to get closer to the time when mobile browsing moves to a mainstream activity."

Mozilla to release Firefox 3.0 next year

Despite the fact that Firefox 2.0 was only released last month, Mozilla is to release the new version of its browser as early as next year.

E-consultancy.com

The rival to Microsoft's Internet Explorer has increased its share of the browser market since the release of Firefox 2.0 to nearly 11% in the US, 22% in the UK, and an average of 23.2% across Europe.

While Firefox 2.0 has been successful, with an average of 500,000 downloads every day since its release, it wasn't the radical overhaul of its predecessor which some were expecting, with its anti-phishing software the main improvement.

The next version of its browser has been in development for a year now, and is planned to be a more comprehensive update.

Firefox boss Tristan Nitot said that Firefox 3.0 will take advantage of the latest built-in computing power to allow it to 'render' web pages more quickly. Firefox 3.0 is now available for beta testing (Called: "Gran Paradiso").

Microsoft's IE7, despite early predictions of incompatibility with some websites, has performed well and was generally welcomed as a much-needed improvement to IE6.

However, if a new and improved version of Firefox is released next year, Microsoft may be forced to speed up development of the next version of Internet Explorer, to avoid losing more of its browser market share.