It’s easy to forget that Chrome is relatively new to the browser market. Unveiled in September 2008, it now has a 5.2 per cent share of the market – larger than both Apple’s Safari and Opera – placing it third in popularity after Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Nationwide advertising in newspapers and on billboards has alerted everyone to Chrome’s presence but, given that it is only around 18 months old, it’s surprising that we’re already onto version four – Firefox, launched in 2004, is only at 3.6. If you’ve used previous versions of Chrome, you won’t immediately notice much difference, but there are a couple of new functions that have been added that should make your life easier.

Firstly, there is a bookmark sync feature that lets you synchronise bookmarks across several PCs so that your home computer, laptop and work computer all have the same quick links to the sites you visit regularly. Handy, though the same can be achieved in Firefox or Opera with the relevant add-ons.

Secondly, Chrome now has a huge selection of extensions that offer everything from quick access to web applications from sites such as eBay to the ability to compare prices when you shop online using InvisibleHand (www.getinvisiblehand.com). There are already some 1,500 extensions in the Chrome gallery and there’ll be more to come. If you’ve been using the latest version of Firefox or Opera, you won’t find Chrome 4.0 that much quicker though we found it to be noticeably faster than Internet Explorer 8.

One thing we have always liked about Chrome is that once a new version is released, it is automatically updated on your system without you having to do anything. None of the other major browsers do this.

Unlike Opera and Firefox, though, new versions of Chrome don’t come for all platforms at the same time – there is no version 4 for those on Mac or Linux-based systems at the moment. But, if you are running Windows and haven’t given Chrome a go yet, this latest version is definitely worth a try.

Source of Information : WebUser February 11 2010

Firefox 3.6 is the latest browser to be created by the Mozilla Foundation and, like previous versions, it remains true to its principles of usability and customisation. If you’ve never used Firefox before, it’s worth trying it out, particularly at a time when there are doubts about the security of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (see page opposite). At the time of writing, the final version hadn’t been publicly released but, barring a major bug, you should be able to download the full release of Firefox 3.6 by the time you read this. As the name Firefox 3.6 suggests, it’s not a massive change from Firefox 3.5 – the interface is largely the same and visually there is little to distinguish between versions. It’s under the surface that Firefox 3.6 differs from its predecessor.

Firstly, it’s faster - or so Mozilla says. We’ve not been able to test this rigorously enough to confirm the claim. It’s also worth pointing out that the speed of your browsing experience will depend a lot on your web connection and the hardware you are using. But we didn’t notice any difficulty in loading web pages during our tests.

Secondly, there is now a feature that ensures all your plug-ins – Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight, for example – are up to date, and which prompts you to do something about it if they are not. Other browsers leave you to check whether you have the latest version of a plug-in, but Firefox 3.6 has taken over this responsibility, which is all the more commendable when you consider that out-of-date plug-ins give cybercriminals an easy way into your PC.

If customising your browser is a priority, you’ll love the Personas feature. This tool that lets you choose a theme for your browser interface and, with 35,000 templates to choose from, you’re bound to find something you like. In the unlikely event that you don’t, there’s an option to create your own skin.

Available as a free download for Windows, Mac and Linux systems, there is no excuse for not having Firefox 3.6 installed on your computer. It’s slick, customisable and reduces security headaches – we can’t find a bad word to say about it.


Source of Information : WebUser January 28 2010

Browser add-ons can make your web surfing easier, faster and more fun – we list the very best for Internet Explorer and Firefox

Your internet browser probably works beautifully: both Firefox and Internet Explorer, the two most popular browsers, are fast, stable and simple ways of accessing the internet. You could, if you wanted, install them and add only the update files that are made available periodically to ensure you always had the most up-to-date version of your browser of choice. If you did, though, you’d be missing out. Both Internet Explorer and Firefox allow you to download and install tools, called add-ons that can make surfing the web easier, quicker and more enjoyable. In this issue we’ll list the must-have browser add-ons for both Firefox and Internet Explorer, and explain how to install them.


Useful functions
The concept of a browser add-on is simple. It’s a tiny program that doesn’t run on its own but instead adds a new function to an existing web browser – normally a function that would otherwise require you to install yet another program on your computer and run that when required. As they connect to a web browser, add-ons are sometimes known as ‘plug-ins’. Although some add-ons are created by companies, most are created by other users to add a feature that they themselves want. The Firefox web browser has a particularly strong community of add-on authors, thanks partly to the fact that the program is open source, so anyone can examine the code that makes it tick.

Although there are many add-ons for Internet Explorer, and we’ll list some in this article, we’d recommend using Firefox if you want the best choice. Sowhat can you do with these small extras for your browser? The sky is nearly the limit. You can download videos from Youtube, keep tabs on your email account without needing to login, or block distracting, time-wasting adverts from view. Alternatively, you can download add-ons that enable you to keep up to date with social-networking sites while browsing elsewhere. Installing add-ons is generally simple. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer have special websites that gather all the add-ons together, allowing you to search by keyword or category, and then sort your results by the number of downloads they’ve had or recommendations they’ve received from other users. For Firefox, go to https://addons.mozilla.org, or visitwww.ieaddons.com for Internet Explorer.


Easy does it
Once you’ve found the add-on youwant, installing it is generally easy. In Firefox, select your chosen add-on and click the green Add to Firefox button. You’ll be given a moment to reflect on your choice, and, once the add-on is installed, you may be asked to restart the browser. This can be postponed until later if you’re in the middle of doing something important. Internet Explorer is slightly more complex, as it divides its add-ons into groups such as toolbars, Accelerators (we’ll explain what this means shortly) and search providers, with a fourth, unmentioned category for everything that works like a Firefox add-on. Installation is a bit more intimidating as well –when you click on most links you’ll be prompted to download an installer that runs as if you were installing a separate application. It’s also not unusual for Windows to display some stark warnings about your PC’s security, even though you’re downloading from an official Microsoft site. But there is a strong range of add-ons available for the world’s most popular browser, particularly when you consider the role of Internet Explorer’s Accelerators. An Accelerator is an add-on for Internet Explorer 8 that allows you to highlight text and perform a task based on its content. For instance, if you download the Bing Maps accelerator you can highlight a postcode then click the small blue icon that appears and find the postcode on a map without needing to enter it manually.


Make surfing faster
Adobe’s Flash technology is one of the most important aspects of the internet today. Without it we wouldn’t be able to watch videos on sites such as Youtube or our very own Computeractive TV. Sadly, though, Flash can also be used to create particularly annoying adverts on websites. These often take time to load, get in the way and generally frustrate you, while some even include sound effects to make the experience even more infuriating.
Luckily though, both Firefox and Internet Explorer offer add-ons that prevent Flash adverts from running. Firefox’s is the simplest – visitwww.snipca.com/x522 and click the green button to install Adblock Plus. Firefox needs to restart once the add-on is installed, but from there you should find visiting heavily advertised websites a much more restful experience.

Each time you see a distracting advert, click on the small ‘Block’ button above it, in the future it – or others coming from the same company’s server –won’t appear. For those using Internet Explorer, the best tool for blocking adverts is IE7 Pro (www.ie7pro.com). Despite the name, which suggests compatibility only with an older version of Internet Explorer, IE7 Pro also works well with Internet Explorer 8. It blocks all manner of adverts, including pop-ups and Flash adverts, and also adds a number of extra features to Internet Explorer. These include mouse gestures, which allow you to instruct Internet Explorer to perform certain tasks, such as going back a pagewhen you drawa shape with the mouse, and the ability to download videos from websites such as Youtube.


Browsing engines
The name might sound daunting, but these add-ons can be very handy. There are many different web browsers available, and sadly not every website works properly with every browser. So if you use Firefox, for example, you may occasionally come across sites that simply refuse to work as you are not using Internet Explorer. An add-on called IE Tab by PCMan, however, can fix this. It adds an option to the menu that appears when you right click on aweb page. If you find a page that doesn’t display, simply right-click the page and choose ‘ViewPage in IE Tab’. A new tab will open in Firefox, but this will use the technology from inside Internet Explorer to display the page properly. It’s faster and simpler than opening another browser just for that one page. IE Tab can be found atwww.snipca.com/x525. Internet Explorer doesn’t have the same problem when it comes to compatibility; as long as Internet Explorer remains the most popular web browser, just about every website will be designed towork with it. It can, however, feel slow to load pages in comparison with other browsers. In particular, Google’s slimmed down Chrome often reveals pages far more quickly. Google Chrome Frame does much the same thing for Internet Explorer as IE Tab does for Firefox, except it brings Chrome’s speed advantages to Microsoft’s browser. Microsoft is unsurprisingly rather sniffy about the prospect of people using someone else’s technology in its browser, so you have to go to Google’swebsite at www.snipca.com/x529 to get it. It’s easy to download and install, however, and runs verywell.


Multimedia opportunities
The number ofways to share your digital photos on the internet is mind-boggling. Sites such aswww.flickr.com cater for keen amateurs,while social-networking sites such as Facebook are perfect for sharing family snaps with friends and family. But while getting your photos on the internet is easy, actually viewing them can be harder, and laboriously clicking through an online album of dozens of pictures is dull. Again, however, free add-ons can help. Available for both Firefox and Internet Explorer, Cooliris is both a standard program you can run from the Start menu and a browser add-on. It can be downloaded fromwww.snipca.com/x530 for Firefox and www.snipca.com/x532 for Internet Explorer. Once you’ve installed it and restarted your browser, load a web page with lots of images on it, and then hover the mouse over one of them. A small icon appears which, when clicked on, loads a spectacular 3Dwall of images from the page. You can drag the wall around and zoom in on image you want to see more closely, or start an automatic slide show, regardless of whether the site the pictures come from offers one itself.


Social networking
The great thing about sites such as Facebook (www.facebook.com) and Twitter (www.twitter.com) is that they let you see what your friends are doing, but constantly going back to the sites to check them, if you’r ewaiting for a message, for instance, is tedious. There are various standalone programs that allow you to keep tabs on things, but a simpler solution is to install an add-on that allows you to check your favourite sites from within your browser. A highly automated solution is Yoono, which claims to “socialise your browser”. It’s available for both Internet Explorer (www.snipca.com/x534) and Firefox (www.snipca.com/x533), and if you have accounts at more than one social networking site it can be a timesaver. It connects to Twitter and Facebook, plus Myspace, Flickr and Friendfeed, aswell as instant-messaging services such as LiveMessenger, AOL Instant Messenger and Google Talk. As long as your browser is running it keeps you up to date with what your contacts are doing, which is entertaining, if highly distracting. You can also share things you’ve found online on social networking sites without needing to open the site in question.


Bookmark synchronisation
Bookmarks, known as Favorites in Internet Explorer, are a handy way of keeping track of websites that you use regularly or may want to visit again. Although both Firefox and Internet Explorer keep track of recently visited sites in a History tool, it’s far easier to bookmark a page of handy information than to fish around for it a few weeks later when you can only remember half the title. On the other hand, bookmarks can be rather limited if you use more than one computer, as neither browser gives you a simple way of synchronising a list of bookmarks between two or more computers. Fortunately, there’s a great add-on that can help. Xmarks is a simple way to keep bookmarks synchronised between several computers. First you install the add-on, then create a free account and Xmarks sends details of your bookmarks to its own storage space on the internet.You can then install the add-on on another computer, log into your account and the bookmarks will be downloaded. The service can even keep bookmarks synchronized if you’re using Internet Explorer on one computer and Firefox on the other. It’s free to download from www.xmarks.com.


Breath of life
Add-ons for your browser can transform your experience of using the internet. They can make it faster, or less stressful and distracting by getting rid of adverts. Some add-ons are so useful you’ll wonder how you ever got by without them. Firefox has a definite edge – its add-ons website is better organised than Internet Explorer’s, and the huge number of users means the popularity and ratings of each add-on are genuinely useful. Installing them is also slightly easier than it is with Internet Explorer. However, IE8 has some deniably neat touches, such as accelerators: our advice is to try both and see which works best for you.

www.opera.com/browser

0pera has long been the most innovative of the big web browsers. The latest release introduces yet more new features and the software's rendering engine has been optimized to make it much faster at loading JavaScript-heavy sites such as Google Mail and Facebook. It's also had a stylish makeover from British designer Jon Hicks (creator of the Firefox logo). There are two versions of Opera available: the standard one and a Labs release which contains Unite, an add-on designed to transform Opera into a web server. This experimental edition is available to download from http://unite.opera com but for now we'll concentrate on the main browser.



BROWSE THE WEB WITH OPERA
Often overlooked, Opera is actually one of the top browsers for speed and features. Here are some highlights

It's now a standard feature in most browsers but Speed Dial made its debut in Opera. It displays your most frequently accessed sites as thumbnails on any new tab. Click a blank square to add a site. 1 The Configure Speed Dial 2 link lets you add a background and change the number of sites on display.

One of the most noticeable changes in Opera 10 is the addition of a resizable tab bar. Click and drag the handle 1 downwards and thumbnails of the open sites will appear above their respective tabs. Hovering your mouse over a tab will display a larger thumbnail of the site.

Opera supports widgets. To add some, go to Widgets, 1 Add Widgets and browse the selection. When you find one you like, click Launch. You'll be asked if you want to keep it or not. Widgets float above all windows, not just your browser, and can be toggled on and off (individually) from the Taskbar.

Opera Mail is a combined email client/newsreader. To use it, go to Tools, 1 'Mail and Chat Accounts'. Choose the type of account you want 2 and follow the set-up instructions. When you've finished, a Mail menu 3 and Mail panel 4 will appear. Opera 10 also offers separate integrated support for webmail.

You can download BitTorrent files directly in the browser using the program of your choice - Opera is the default. 1 Click the preferences button 2 to adjust the upload/download speeds and change the listen port. 4 Use the search box to search for BitTorrent files. Click the link to download a file.

Opera lets you subscribe to feeds using any feed reader. Click the RSS button in the address bar and the feed will be laid out across a page. Select a feed reader from the drop down menu. The default is Opera Mail but other options include Bloglines and Google Reader. Click the button to subscribe.

Opera is very standards-compliant but, if a website won't display properly, you can pretend you're using IE or Firefox. Go to Tools, Quick Preferences, Edit Site Preferences. Click the Network tab. 1 In the identification box, choose a browser to identify 2 or masquerade as. Click OK and then reload the page.

The Opera Turbo feature uses compression technology to speed up page loading on a slow connection. To activate it, click the Turbo button 1 at the bottom of the screen. However, it's not designed to run on a speedy broadband connection and may reduce the quality of web pages noticeably.

Source of Information : Ultimate PC and Web Workshops Winter 2009

Yesterday was what is known as “Cyber Monday,” which is the first Monday after Black Friday every year and is one of the top online shopping days here in the United States. Cyber Monday is when people move to the Web to make purchases they missed in stores during Black Friday. And many online retailers offer hot deals similar to the in store deals seen on Black Friday. This year’s Cyber Monday was impressive - as of 1pm yesterday, sales for Cyber Monday were up 19.6% over last year according to Coremetrics. A lot of online shopping was done yesterday (I did some too)!

When shopping online, it is important to do so safely and privately. It would not be fun having to deal with stolen credit card details or identity theft instead of celebrating the holidays with your family. Many people don’t even think about their browser while shopping online. But in fact the browser plays a very important role in keeping you safe and secure while making online purchases and browsing the Web.

There are 3 major threats people shopping online should be aware of: Malware, Cross-site Scripting (XSS), and ClickJacking. Internet Explorer 8 protects against each of these threats (via SmartScreen), making it rated #1 for malicious software and phishing protection. To date, Internet Explorer 8 has delivered over 275 Million malware blocks. And as of September, Internet Explorer 8 is blocking 1 in every 200 downloads that appear as malicious. Internet Explorer 8 also helps protect your privacy with InPrivate Browsing.

To help spread awareness about the importance of a browser that puts people in control, especially when it comes to keeping safe while shopping online, we’ve created this fun video:

For a bunch of really great Tips and Tricks for using Internet Explorer 8 – click here.

Safe online shopping!

In the beginning (around AD 1994) there was Mosaic, a small, primitive HTML browser that first popularized the Web. Mosaic was created at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by a bunch of hotshot programmers, many of whom moved to Silicon Valley and created the next big breakthrough, a much faster browser forever remembered as simply Netscape. Netscape Navigator was the browser of choice until the late ’90s when Microsoft released Internet Explorer (IE was first licensed from much of the lingering Mosaic code) and the first browser war ensued.

With a good initial product and its fabled marketing might, Microsoft captured more and more users and pulled ahead as the mainstream Internet browser. Netscape slowly faded into history. While IE began to dominate, however, it added everything and the kitchen sink. The browser bogged down and broke down more than many users could tolerate.

As time went on, the Web was supercharged with 2.0 apps. More and more ’Net apps, such as messaging, voice apps, streaming video, chat, social networking, and online word processing became popular. With Web 2.0, having a fast, reliable Web browser has become more important than ever. In a response to changing needs, a number of alternative browsers have come out to challenge IE. A second browser war is now in full force. This time, Internet Explorer faces stiff competition from Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Google Chrome. The focus of these browsers is a return to an efficient, secure, and fast browser that can get the most out of Web 2.0 apps. Regardless of who wins the next browser skirmish, users are the ultimate winners with a better way to view and use the Web.

Source of Information : Google Sites and Chrome FOR DUMMIES