Originally posted on August 7, 2009 @ 10:00 am
You guys do know that I’m pretty much excited over Google’s Chrome OS for a lot of reasons. And guess what, these screenshots, purportedly of the new OS, are floating around the web.
I’m pretty skeptical, because, well, Chrome might just be command line at this point. For one, the font isn’t really Google-ish. But who knows, right? [Read more…]
Originally posted on August 11, 2009 @ 5:09 am
Subcribers to Google’s beta channel can now play with a new beta of Google’s hot Chrome browser. Non subscribers will usually get the stable builds of these beta versions at a latter date.
So what should we expect from this beta? Well, first, it is going to be a faster browsing experience. Benchmarks show that a 30 percent increase in performance can be expected from the new build. The benchmarks used are the V8 and SunSpider benchmarks, this means you can expect significant speed boosts in running JavaScript.
The improvements do not end with faster performance though. Google has programmed Chrome to be smarter in prioritizing the loading of pages when a user opens a new web page while other pages are still loading.
Chrome’s New Tabs page has also been improved along with the unique Omnibox. The New Tabs page is now customizable. Users can now pin frequently visited sites in certain locations. The Omnibox now also includes icons next to the suggestions as a way of differentiating between a web site address or a bookmark. An additional aesthetic improvement is the addition of customizable themes.
If you want to try it for yourself now, subscribe to Google’s beta channel. But if you’re not a fan of unstable betas, then just wait for when Google officially releases it.
Originally posted on June 29, 2009 @ 1:08 am
Mozilla announced that it will be releasing two new version of the Fennec mobile browser, a few days before the imminent release of Firefox 3.5.
Fennec 1.0 Beta 2 for the Maemo Nokia software and development platform, and Fenn 1.0 Alpha 2 for Windows Mobile can now be downloaded at Mozilla’s site. There are also desktop builds that users can install on Windows, Mac and Linux.
The Fennec browsers have been designed to make the user experience easier. A new theme that is more eye-pleasing is now used and a number of usability issues have also been addressed. Installing add-ons on the browser has also been improved, along with the download manager.
Mozilla also revamped the installation of add-ons, improved its download manager, and upgraded the look of the application, Parmenter wrote.
I’m definitely going to try this browser on my Nokia. I’m always on the lookout for a better browser experience on a mobile and right now Nokia’s default browser and Opera Mini is just not cutting it. Hopefully, Fennec will end my quest for a great mobile browser.
Originally posted on August 1, 2009 @ 12:30 pm
If you guys haven’t heard, Google is developing its own operating system, dubbed Chrome OS. And you know what? I’m pretty excited for this.
Chrome OS will be running Linux, and maybe, just maybe, this is what the Linux community needs to break out in the mainstream. Heck, Linux has been around since forever, and guess what: they’ve only hit 1% usage recently.
Chrome OS, in Google’s own words:
Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we’re already talking to partners about the project, and we’ll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.
Wired has written about Chrome OS, and has stated 5 things to be excited about it: it’ll be free, it will be fast, since it’s being made for netbooks there should be no compatibility issues, it should be portable, and the new applications Google must be cooking up are exciting. And remember, if Google markets Chrome OS aggressively, we could see a surge of Linux users.
Heck, if Chrome OS will be cloud-centric, this is the perfect OS for travelling.
Are you thinking the same way?
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Ade knows a lot about netbooks; he bought an Asus Eee weeks after it went out and is now cursing the fact that he did not wait for the better netbooks to come out. He is still ranting about his Eee on My Asus Eee. When he’s feeling pretty offensive, he writes weird stuff on his personal blog.
Originally posted on June 27, 2009 @ 10:12 pm
With the Opera browser’s version 10 already released as a public beta, users are now experiencing for themselves the additions and new features of what is considered “the greatest browser no one uses.”
The new browser has a new darker interface and and the tabs can be dragged down to show thumbnails of the site in the said tabs. One of Opera’s nifty features, the Speed Dial, is now customizable to take advantage of bigger screens (Google actually copied this feature for their Chrome browser).
Opera CEO Jon Tetzchner said that Opera 10 also has faster performance. Coupled with the new features, he said that both long time users of the browser and new users will be impressed with it.
For torrent users, it should be noted that Opera remains the only browser that has a built in torrent client. Other browsers do not incorporate it mainly because of fears of getting the attention of the copyright hounds. At just a lean 6.5 MB, you guys should really try Opera 10.