PC users have been able to use the Google Chrome browser for some time now, however for everyone using Macs they have been waiting patiently for their own non-developer version. Chrome day for the Mac is coming very soon.
CNET is reporting that recent discussion in a Chrome mailing list points to an early December launch. We could be just weeks away from a beta version of Chrome for Mac.
The Google group update in question is light on details, but by requesting that developers update to support Browser Actions, it also suggests that a December launch date for a Mac version is fast approaching.
Google Chrome’s product manager, Nick Baum, writes:
“The extensions team has been working hard to get BrowserActions ready, and
they’re already working great on Windows and Linux. We’ve noticed that many
of you have updated your extensions to take advantage of the new UI. We’d
like to encourage the rest of you to do so as well!
You can find the latest docs here:
http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/browserAction.html
Why make the switch now? The earlier you switch, the more time you will have
to polish your experience for our Beta launch in early December. We realize
this means dropping Mac support for a couple of weeks, but we already have
people working on that. If you prioritize the Windows and Linux versions,
we’ll bring you cross-platform parity as soon as we can!”
The post provides an interesting clue to the future of Google Chrome for Mac. We can only hope the early December beta launch date is accurate.
It has been amazing that Google have been able to pump out 4 releases of a browser that has only been in the market for a little over a year. Compare that to Firefox, which took over six years to reach 3.6.
We’ve improved performance scores on Google Chrome by 30% since our current stable release, as measured by Mozilla’s Dromeao DOM Core Tests, and by 400% since our first stable release.” – Idan Avraham and Anton Muhin
Expectedly, Google Chome 4 is currently only available for the Windows platform. Reports have come in that it works just fine with the latest release of Windows, despite the fact that it only specifies XP/Vista as being currently supported.
Ubuntu has quickly become one of the best Operating Systems around and with this it has become easier and easier to add applications.
Appnr is a new web based tool where you can search and install applications directly on your Firefox within Ubuntu.
Appnr makes use of the apturl protocol to initiate the installation process. Since apturl was included as a dependency for Firefox since Ubuntu 7.10, if you are using a later version than Gutsy, you can simply click and install applications directly from Appnr.com. For other debian based distro, you will have to install apturl:
sudo apt-get install apturl
The navigation in Appnr is easy. On the left are the categories and the respective applications on the right. There is an “Install” button on every application entry and you just click on it to install the particular application.
Just a few days after being spotted in Chrome’s new tab page, the official Google Theme Gallery is now open for business. Currently there are 29 new themes in which you can add to Chrome.
Remember, you’ll need to be running the Chrome 3 beta or developer channel or be using a recent build of Chromium to get in on the fun. If that includes you, check ‘em out then tell us which one you’re switching to in the comments. Unless you’re not impressed with the selection, in which case – sound off!
Have you ever downloaded a less than scrupulous piece of software only to discover the next day that you default browser has been changed and your homepage is some rubbish search engine based in North Korea? I have. So have thousands of others who were attracted by freeware never stopping to think of the scheming companies that lurked behind them. Such as Microsoft.
At the present, when users download IE8, the newest edition of Internet Explorer they will quite obviously have to install it. Now when you’re installing any piece of software you’re given a choice.
a) Quick Install
b) Custom install
In most cases the ‘Quick Install’ is already selected for you and most of us will go right on ahead and press ’Next’. Microsoft copped onto that so that when you install IE by choosing the quick install method your default browser and homepage are changed to please Bill Gates.
Microsoft recently came under fire about these practices you would expect from a smaller more desperate company. They responded by saying on their blog that they were making an update and that by August IE8 will ask your permission to become the default browser first.
“IE will never install, or become the default browser without your explicit consent. However, we heard a lot of feedback from a lot of different people and groups and decided to make the user choice of the default browser even more explicit,” Microsoft said.
IE8 has already been in the spotlight when they released the OMGIGP advertisement which Crenk covered here.
Opera 10 Beta 2 was released earlier today by the Opera development team.The changelog lists many changes for this release especially for the Opera user interface, mail, chat and news, display and scripting, security and network. The Windows changelog alone lists more than 100 items that have been added, changed or fixed in Opera 10 Beta 2.
Many users in the Opera forum are reporting problems with the new beta release. The developers are actually warning users stating that it “may have severe known issues, including crashes and data loss situations”. That’s not very encouraging and it is therefor suggested to try the web browser in a test environment and not in a productive environment to ensure that it is working without problems.
Opera 10 Beta 2 can be downloaded directly from the Opera homepage for all supported operating systems. The changelogs are available for Windows, Linux and Mac.
I have been looking to find the offical release of Google Chrome for Mac and Linux, but was having some trouble. I thought some other people out there might also have some trouble finding this release so thought I would let everyone know about it.
The Google Browser port, known as Crossover Chromium, is also available for download on Mac OS X as a native Mac .dmg file or on Ubuntu, RedHat, Suse, etc. as standard Linux packages.
Called Peacekeeper, the new app makes a lot of sense for Futuremark. As one of the key brands in computer benchmarking, it’s only logical that they would want in on comparative browser testing. In Internet Explorer, you’ll be asked to install an ActiveX control – other browsers will run the test without any add-ins. Tests were patterned after real-world browsing using sites like YouTube, Facebook, GMail, and Meebo.
To see how your default browser scores, just point it to http://service.futuremark.com/peacekeeper/. Once the test completes, your score will be displayed. To test another browser, just click the button and you’ll be given a link to copy and paste.
Microsoft has released the latest version of their web browser for Windows, and you can download Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) now. Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 claims to block upto four times more malware attacks than other browsers and reduces time to complete common tasks on the Web such as searching, mapping and sharing.
Some new features worth looking out for are
Accelerators - make it faster to perform common tasks online by making Web-based services such as ESPN.com, Live Search and Sina available for use directly from the page people are viewing. Simply right-click a word or phrase and instantly map, e-mail, or share it.
Web Slices – makes favorite information from sites such as Digg, Yahoo! Mail, OneRiot, and eBay instantly available when you go online.
Instant search – The Instant Search Box enables real-time search from sites such as The New York Times, Amazon.com and Wikipedia, as well as sites from people’s own Favorites and History, complete with visuals and detailed information.
Google has just release Chrome (its internet browser) to the world in beta stage. If you are interested in testing out this new browser then head here to download.
So, what does a Google Chrome beta bring? Speed, and lots of it. According to Google, it’s 25 percent faster than the stable build of Chrome, which is nothing short of amazing given that Chrome is already blazing fast.
Other new features are form autofill, full page zooming and autoscroll, as well as a way to get a side-by-side view by dragging out tabs to the side of the browser window, which you can see in the amazingly short video below.
Rather than filling your laptop with chunks of programs and your bookmarks with an overload of web based tools only to end up wasting time, why not have all your favorite tools and plug-ins directly in your web browser? Create your own pimped out browser! Colorful tabs, ad-blockers, pagerank, integrated music players, and other goodies. Here are the 10 best Firefox extensions to get pimped out.
Oh yes, and these extensions are of course, for Firefox. So don’t be lame and use IE6,7,8 or whatever.
Listen to your music directly from the web browser. Skip the hassle of running iTunes, Winamp or any other media player, that will not only take precious RAM but also force you to jump between programs only to skip a track. FoxyTunes extension is your web browser integrated media player, where you can choose audio source and even change skins to pimp out your browser.
Who said fashion don’t belong online. In the true words of pimping out your web browser – Colorful Tabs extension is a must. Adding color to a normally gray interface will inspire your daily web exploring.
For a less ad-attacking web experience. Ad Block Plus lets you disable and hide all advertisements on the site your visiting. Without annoying banners and pop-ups trying to steal your attention, you are with ABP assured a more personal day on the WWW.
See directly in your browser how a website is displayed in Explorer, Netscape and other web browsers. A useful tool when creating web sites since all web browser run on different CSS standards.
Keep a tab on how websites are ranking in PageRank, Alexa and overall ranking. Get additional information concerning back links, indexed pages and much more SEO goodies.
A great extension that sets up a FTP function in your browser with which you can access your server accounts and website root directories without having to download, start or buy any FTP programs to your computer. Perfect for anybody owning a website. Good FTP clients are hard and expensive to find. FireFTP is 100 % free and optimal in usability.
Perhaps not the most pimped out feature but none the less a must-have extension for your web browser. A toolbar with all necessary functions summoned into one thin bar. The best is that you don’t have to return to Google.com every time you need to make a search. Which is like three hundred times every day.
All useful and necessary SEO tools summoned into one extension. Get PageRank, Backlinks, Yahoo links and many other features displayed above the page or underneath search result in Google. Like an extended SearchStatus.
Get a preview of the web design on the website you are about to enter. Only one click away, yet we all know how humans fear the unknown. If anything, Google Preview extension will at least add some graphics to a otherwise quite dull SERP.
Activate CoolIris from a button in your web browser navigation bar and get thrown into a world where you can search Google in an image and video interface. The web becomes one big slide show.
I just thought of this as I use it a lot. Trying to figure out why something on the page has a funny font size? Especially when editing CSS for my WordPress blog and then going back and forth in my cpanel hosting manager, I can never figure out why some color or font went AWOL. Firebug is there to load at the base of the browser. Jolly goodness!
And there you have it, 10 great extensions for your web browser that will not only optimize your user experience but also allow you to create your own personalized interface. Remember, installations of multiple extension may cause your web browser to slow down. Just A bit.
PC users have been able to use the Google Chrome browser for some time now, however for everyone using Macs they have been waiting patiently for their own non-developer version. Chrome day for the Mac is coming very soon.
