Posted 11/03/08 at 11:15:47 AM by Paul Lilly

Mozilla's open-source Firefox browser continues to gain ground in the browser wars in what can be considered a major uphill battle. Firefox has flirted with a steady 20 percent market share in the past, and according to Net Applications, October has been kind to the configurable browser, which settled in at 19.97 percent. That number represents a 0.51-point jump over September and is a record high for Mozilla.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's Internet Explorer slipped again last month, continuing its trend as having the fastest declining market share out of the six most popular browsers. But far from being a free fall of sorts, IE's combined share nestled in at a still very dominant 71.52 percent, down from 71.27 percent one month prior. That puts IE at a 4.2-point drop for the year, compared to Firefox's 2.99-point gain.

It will be interesting to see what kind of effect Google's Chrome browser may have on the top two contenders. Currently, Chrome only accounts for a 0.74 percent slice of the browser pie (down from 0.78 percent), but that could change if Google follows through with adding extension support.

Hit the jump and tell us how you see the browser wars shaking out in 2009 and beyond.

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microsoft, Software, Google, firefox, open-source, Internet Explorer, browser, Mozilla, IE, Market Share, chrome

Posted 10/15/08 at 04:15:04 PM by Alex Castle

The first Firefox 3.1 beta has been made available for download, bringing with it a number of cool new features. However, possibly the coolest of those features, the lightning-fast TraceMonkey JavaScript engine, is disabled by default. Fortunately, it’s a quick fix to turn it on, and Seth Rosenblatt at CNET explains how:

“To activate it, type "about:config" into the Smart Bar, then type "javascript.options.jit.content" into the filter. Double-click on the preference listed to change the boolean setting from "false" to "true." Close the window and you should notice an immediate improvement to the JavaScript rendering speed.”

He used the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark test to demonstrate the improvements in the new engine, which completed the test in 2788 milliseconds, compared to 5447 ms for Firefox 3.0.3. Always the skeptics, we tried the benchmark ourselves, and witnessed an even more dramatic improvement.  For us, speed more than doubled, from 4725 ms to 2227 ms.

So if you’re trying out the 3.1 beta, enable the TraceMonkey engine and see what it can do for you. Share your experiences after the jump.

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Software, firefox, Mozilla, JavaScript, firefox 3.1 beta 1

Posted 10/06/08 at 05:05:02 PM by Paul Lilly

Those expecting Mozilla to release its open-source email client Thunderbird 3.0 in Beta 1 form will have to wait a little longer than initially thought. Rather than attach the Beta moniker to the updated version, Mozilla instead is dubbing it Alpha 3.

"Calling something a beta is likely to trigger a bunch of extra press attention that we're not yet in a position to deal with," said Dan Mosedale, who works at Mozilla Messaging. "Some number [of] reviews will be inappropriately pre-judging based on its current state. In the best case, this would be a distraction."

Mosedale also cited a lack of landing several milestones (AutoConfig, GloDa with full-text search, STEEL) as another reason why he's more comfortable calling the lastest Thunderbird 3.0 release an Alpha build instead of a Beta.

No matter what you call it, the latest beta/alpha/unfinished release is available now for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

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Software, email, beta, Mozilla, alpha, thunderbird

Posted 10/03/08 at 10:44:55 AM by Paul Lilly

According to a new report from Net Applications, both Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox browsers saw a drop in market share last month. That shouldn't come as a big surprise considering that Google's Chrome browser made its debut in the same time period, but what's interesting to note is that the combined drop exceeds the gains posted by Chrome.

At some point, Microsoft has to be getting concerned. IE still dominates the browser landscape by a wide margin, but that won't always be the case if it keeps giving up market share. IE slid .63 points to 71.52 percent in September, which adds up to a 3.95-point drop on the year, or down 5.2 percent. Firefox's slide was a little less slippery at .22 points settling in at 19.46 percent, and has gained ground on the year with a 2.48-point climb, or up 14.6 percent.

It also wouldn't take a leap of faith to assume most Chrome users were previously surfing with IE and Firefox, and if true, that would mean more IE users made the jump than those using Firefox. You can draw your own conclusion on that one.

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microsoft, Software, firefox, Internet Explorer, browser, Mozilla, IE, Market Share

Posted 09/23/08 at 10:36:29 AM by Paul Lilly

One of the commonly accepted keys to success is to write down your goals, and Mozilla has done just that. The open-source software company has identified four areas it would like to improve by 2010:

• Deepen Mozilla's role as a centerpiece of the internet
• Data leadership
• Mobile
• Continue Firefox mindshare and marketshare momentum

Of most interest is Mozilla's focus on mobility and by 2010, the company plans to "have an effective product in the mobile market." That plan appears to include getting its TraceMonkey engine fine tuned to run on ARM processors. Preliminary results look very promising, though it's anyone's guess as to when Firefox Mobile will show up on handheld devices, with Mozilla saying only that it "will ship well before" 2010.

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Software, firefox, browser, Mozilla

Posted 09/16/08 at 12:06:14 PM by Paul Lilly

According to daily browsing statistics provided by Net Applications, Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 beta 2 has garnered a fair bit of interest from users, with the latest beta increasing market share from 0.23 percent at the beginning of the month to now sitting at 0.41 percent. Still, Google's new Chrome browser (also in beta form) has been more popular, breaching the 1 percent mark early in September and now claiming 0.79 percent of the market.

Looking at the overall picture, Microsoft can't be too concerned. Net Applications notes an average market share for IE 7 and IE 6 of 46.38 and 24.08 percent respectively, which when combined with IE 8's 0.31 percent average, has Internet Explorer still dominating the browser wars with 70.82 percent of the market in the first half of September. In August, IE claimed a slightly larger slice at 72.15 percent.

Meanwhile, open-source stalwart Firefox also noted a slight drop since August, with combined market share taking a small dip from 19.73 percent to 19.38 percent. What's interesting to note here is that Microsoft's IE 6 still grabs a larger share than all three Firefox browsers combined.

Hit the jump and let us know what browser you're using.

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windows, Software, Google, firefox, Internet Explorer, browser, Mozilla, Safari, Market Share, chrome, ie 8

Posted 09/11/08 at 08:07:07 PM by Mark Edward Soper

Yahoo's Douglas Crockford, the man who created JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), says it's high time for a new browser war, eWeek reports. In his keynote address to the Rich Web Experience conference earlier this month, Crockford claimed that the last time core building blocks of the Internet such as HTML and and ECMAScript were revised (1999) was the result of the Internet Explorer versus Netscape Navigator browser war.

While Crockford says we need a new war, I'd argue that we've already got a dandy one going on right now: IE is being challenged by Mozilla Firefox, while Google Chrome has just entered the ring to go head-to-head with Opera and Apple Safari to fight for third place.

To find out why I think Browser War II is already on, and why it might turn out a lot better than the first war of the browsers, join us after the jump.

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microsoft, operating system, apple, Google, firefox, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Safari, Opera, web browser, chrome

Posted 09/09/08 at 09:45:27 AM by Paul Lilly

Business executives will soon be able to view porn without fear of mucking up their system with malware, and they'll have HP, Mozilla, and Symantec to thank for it. The three-pronged team has set out to create what HP calls the Firefox Virtual Browser, which will appear on the upcoming HP Compaq dc7900 business desktop.

If the concept of a virtual browser sounds familiar, it's because these solutions already exist outside of the OEM realm, some of which have been covered in your favorite computer magazine (assuming Maximum PC is your favorite rag). Like Trustware's BufferZone, the Firefox Virtual Browser consists of a virtual layer independent from the operating system. This sandbox approach means that any downloaded cruft that manages to spread its contaminates stays contained and can easily be undone by simply emptying the virtual environment..

"What we have created is a virtual layer where your browser runs and all the downloads, all the clicks, all the cookies and everything is placed within...a virtualized run-time environment," explains Kirk Godkin, HP senior product manager for business PCs. "With the browser, the user only has to click the mouse and it will reset the browser to its original state and all their favorites will remain the same."

Godkin went on to say that the virtual browser will eventually spread to all of HP's corporate desktops by the end of November, but didn't say whether not HP is also working with Microsoft on a similar option for Internet Explorer.

Is this the beginning of a new trend among OEMs?

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Software, Security, hp, firefox, browser, Mozilla, compaq, symantec, cd7900