When browsers overstay their welcome they not only become a security concern, but they also make cross-browser compatibility a tall order for web developers. In recent times, silent updates have emerged as an effective means of tackling this problem. Recently, Microsoft too jumped on the silent update bandwagon. While the move seems to be yielding the desired result where IE8 is concerned—IE9 is gaining market share at the expense of IE8—it has had little or no effect on IE6 and IE7. An Australian online retailer is so frustrated with all this that it has decided to take things in its own hands.
Well, here's something we didn't think we'd be saying yet: by one group's numbers, Google Chrome just passed Internet Explorer as the most popular web browser in the world. The difference is only a fraction of a single percentage point, but nevertheless, the king has fallen in ridiculously short order -- Chrome passed Firefox for the second-place spot less than six months ago.
Yahoo! may no longer be the force it once was, but it continues to be a key player in the webmail market. Here too it’s not much of a trend-setter, though. Yahoo! Mail finally adopted a "two-factor authentication" system last week, more than a year after Widows Live Hotmail and many months after Gmail began utilizing it to improve account security. Hit the jump for more.
Mozilla on Tuesday announced that Google had agreed to a new search referral deal with it, ending weeks of suspense over the search giant’s willingness to renew the deal ever since it expired last month and allowing the latter to remain the default search provider inside Firefox. This also brings to an end the recent speculation regarding the fate of Firefox, which was seen as being closely linked to the proceeds from the deal.
Mozilla is in the middle of a difficult phase. Chrome is said to have overtaken Mozilla Firefox in terms of market share and there is ongoing suspense over the open-source outfit’s lucrative search referral deal with Google. The latter in particular is being seen as a major concern, with almost 80 percent of Mozilla’s annual revenue at stake. All said, It’s just about the best time for a non-profit to remind everyone about its selfless goals and make a pitch for donations.
Occupy movements are clearly the trend du jour in the world of protests right now. So much so that a bunch of web and mobile developers have settled on the name “Occupy Flash” for their movement to rid the world of the ubiquitous plugin. They are calling on both ordinary users and developers to boycott Flash. They feel this is the only way of expediting the web’s impending transition to modern open standards.
Ever since Adobe announced its decision to abandon the development of Flash for mobile devices, there has been a lot of speculation about the ubiquitous plugin’s future. While it’s difficult to tell exactly how much more time Flash has left to go, that it will be usurped by HTML5 is almost certain. In the meantime, browser vendors can hone their browsers’ HTML5 skills. This is what Mozilla has been doing for some time now. Now it’s readying yet another feature that will benefit Firefox’s overall HTML5 capabilities.
Soon after Mozilla was done with the release of Firefox 4, it launched an effort to develop an in-browser PDF viewer built entirely in HTML5 and JavaScript. While the ultimate aim of the project was, and still is, to make PDF.js an integral part of Firefox, the team working on the project has released the reader as a restart-free extension.
As it does every six weeks, Google on Tuesday moved a new version of Chrome from the beta channel to the stable channel. Chrome 15.0.874.102 packs very little in terms of new features, though it does include a number of bug fixes. Hit the jump for more.
Even as all other Android tablets seem hopelessly incapable of holding a candle to the Apple iPad, Amazon’s upcoming Kindle Fire can already be seen glaring rather invitingly (or ominously if you’re Apple) in the distance. Its initial dazzle is perhaps largely due to its highly affordable price and cloud-accelerated Silk browser. While its hard to look beyond its unbelievably low price, certain folks are much more interested in the latter.
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