Your next PC could very well come loaded with Google Chrome. Google is in talks with PC vendors about the possibility of including Chrome with both desktops and laptops.
Manufactures such as Dell, HP, Acer, and Toshiba are all showing interest in shipping Chrome as the default browser. Currently, the majority of PC’s ship with Internet Explorer as the default browser, as it is included with both Windows XP and Vista.
Google Chrome currently has about 1% of the browser market, while Internet Explorer has around 70%.
Chrome, Internet Explorer
Google, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer
Password management is a part of all major web browsers, and it just may be helping thieves steal your personal data, from banking logins to Facebook accounts.
Chapin Information Services conducted 21 security tests on Opera 9.62, Firefox 3.0.4, Internet Explorer 7, Safari 3.2, and Google Chrome 1.0. The results were not good.
Opera and Firefox fared the best, both passing 7 tests, with Internet Explorer 7 passing 5 tests. Both Safari and Google Chrome only passed 2 tests each.
It looks like browsers makers have a lot of work to do. Full results and details on each test can be found on the Chapin Information Services website.
Browser Watch, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari
Firefox 3.0.4, Google Chrome, IE7, Opera 9.62, Safari 3.2
Google has finally taken Chrome off its training wheels and removed its beta tag. The move comes after Google says the browser has met strict performance and reliability requirements.
Released just over 100 days ago, the beta version has been downloaded roughly 10 million times and taken around 1% of the browser market. Far shy of Microsoft’s 70% for Internet Explorer.
The latest release doesn’t include any new features, and is still only available for Windows, but does fix a few of the remaining bugs.
Users already using Chrome will have their browser automatically updated in the next few days, or alternatively you can download the new version from the Google Chrome website. Happy browsing!
Chrome, Internet Explorer
Chrome, Google Chrome, IE, Inernet Explorer
Google Chrome is to get the same level of customisation as Mozilla’s Firefox, with a new effort launched to make it possible for developers to create plugins for the popular browser.
Third party applications or addons are attributed to the huge success of Firefox, and is currently the number one most requested feature from Chrome users.
Aaron Boodman and a few others from the Chromium project last week released a design spec detailing their plan for developers.
The document also lists some extensions that the company would like to support, including both an ad and flash blocker - both of which are top addons for Firefox.
Google is yet to give a release date on the feature, but at least work is under way. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.
Chrome
Add-ons, Chrome, Chromium, Google Chrome, Plugins
It has been a good month for the ‘underdogs’ in the browser wars this month, with Firefox, Safari and Chrome all gaining ground.
Firefox has hit a fantastic milestone, now with over 20% of the web browser market, up 4% from last month. Apple’s Safari has climbed to just over 7%, up 8.5% from last month.
Even Google’s Chrome has crawled back some ground, after a steady drop off rate from the browsers first month. Chrome gained around 12% during the month, taking it’s total share to just under 1%.
The losers this month were both Opera and Internet Explorer. Opera lost 5% of it’s market, and is now 5th in the race, behind Google Chrome. November also saw Internet Explorer’s market share plummet below 70% for the first time since 1999.
You can view the full report at the Market Share website. Historical data can be sourced from Wikipedia. The browser wars are really firing up.
Browser Watch, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari
Browser Share, Browser War, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari
Computerworld has posted an article comparing Firefox’s 3.1 beta to the latest Chrome beta.
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols put both of these browser through the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark test. Not surprising the results were very stunning with Firefox 3.1 beta taking it out.
Of interesting note is that Firefox 3.1 beta is almost 25 times faster when rendering JavaScript compared to Internet Explorer 7.
You can read the article in full and get all the details.
Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer
Firefox 3.1 Beta 1, Google Chrome, JavaScript Benchmark, SunSpider
New Google Chrome builds are showing support for Greasemonkey, albeit very basic and still in early stages of development.
Until now, Greasemonkey has been a Mozilla Firefox extension that allows users to install scripts that make on-the-fly changes to most HTML-based web pages.
Martin from gHacks writes “Only scripts in c:\scripts are loaded and only if the user adds the parameter –enable-greasemonkey by appending it to the program’s shortcut.”
Support for Greasemonkey has been added as of build 3499, which can be downloaded from the Chromium build FTP.
Chrome, Firefox
Chrome, Chromium, Firefox, Google Chrome, Greasemonkey
Mashable has posted a great article with 25 resources on how to customise your favorite browser.
Included are resources for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera and Google Chrome.
You can read the full article on the Mashable website.
Happy customising!
Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari
Customising, Tweaks
With all the news that Google Chrome’s market share has droped since it’s release, I thought it was only fitting to add some more statistics to the fire.
On another technology site that I run, browser stats were as follows for the month of September:
Browser Market Share for September
Through the month of September, Chrome’s usage has dropped around 30% from its release. Usage seems to have stabalised since then.
Of interesting note, is that Google Chrome has still gained a larger market share than Opera. It should also be noted that Chrome is still only available on Windows. Perhaps it’s market share will again increase when offical Mac and Linux versions are released.
Perhaps Google Chrome hasn’t shaken up the market as much as everyone predicted. Did you try Google Chrome and are you still using it?
Browser Watch, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari
Browser Share, Chrome, Firefox, Google Chrome, IE, Linux, Mac, Opera, Safari
WebKit passing Acid3
The WebKit development team has just passed another huge milestone. The WebKit browser engine used in Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome now fully passes the Acid3 test.
The Acid3 test checks how well browsers comply with the latest standards, in particular JavaScript and the Document Object Model (DOM).
Maciej Stachowiak of the WebKit team attributes this feat to “recent speedups in JavaScript, DOM and rendering.”
Unfortunately, it will be a few months before we see this in Safari and Chrome, but while you wait you can download a nightly build of WebKit and test this for yourself.
Chrome, Safari
Acid3, Apple Safari, Chrome, Google Chrome, JavaScript, Safari, WebKit
