Updated Browsers...

[beezlebubsbum]

Here is some news in regards to browser releases in the last couple of weeks...


Mozilla 3.6
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Woot, Firefox just released Firefox 3.6. I recommend downloading and installing this update (for some reason my 3.5 installation did not tell me about the new 3.6 version).

Some Nice Additions This Version (according to me):
- Personas. Basically a rip-off of the themes for chrome. It allows you to customise the colour/background picture of the UI. Nice way to customise the browser without having to download a whole new theme.
- Improved speed (most sites show a 15% increase in speed).

To Get It: http://www.mozilla.com

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Opera 10.50 Pre-Alpha
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I have been using this browser for the last two weeks as my main browser. I have always had a soft spot for Opera, because I believe that Opera made alternative browsers popular, and this led to Firefox eventually. This is definately a Pre-Alpha version, but my tests so far have been remarkably smooth and stable.

Some Additions to this version:
- A new javascript engine that renders 7x faster than the previous opera javascript engine.
- dialogues are no longer "popup" windows, but are page overlays.
- Did I mention that it is faster than before?

If you like to test bleeding edge software (I sure do), then I recommend you try out the Opera Alpha. You should at least have it installed if you are a web developer and want to see what your sites look like on it.

http://labs.opera.com/news/2009/12/22/

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Chrome (Now available for Linux and Mac)
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No fuss, or frills, speedy browser, no finally on Linux and Mac. Javascript is super fast on this bad boy, but it's still in beta form for Linux and Mac.

http://www.google.com/chrome?platform=linux

[jro]

Been using Chrome beta for some time now on Linux, still have to use Firefox for most stuff though as the plugins have proven to be a bit buggy. I haven't downloaded Opera 10.5 alpha-beta-oh-la-la yet. I usually get ticked off at Firefox for something then end up switching to Opera for a few months, then I get ticked at Opera and switch back. Its vicious cycle.

FF 3.6 is my default now though, and will be into the foreseeable future. Really, if I have to think about my browser, its not doing its job. IMHO

[beezlebubsbum]

I agree, it's hard to part with the mighty Firefox. I am running Firefox right now on my hackintosh!

[jro]

Hackentosh? I thought you were running Winders on your main PC (for the gaming of course :-0 )

What dongle did you get to get by the bios lock?

[beezlebubsbum]

Yeah, it's on my laptop, not my main PC. I don't use a special bootloader or anything, just a customised kernel to allow it to boot on non apple hardware. I do actually own an iMac with the legitimate versions of the software, I just wanted my Laptop to run it too. It's running a distribution called iAtkos 7. Because they modify the kernel (it's source is released by apple for the gpl), they can change it to run on non apple hardware. Very stable and fast at the moment!

[jro]

Interesting.. we have a saying in the IT department here.. "Don't use fruit, it doesn't compute!' All the managers here run OSX, like its some sort of badge of honor or something. I like Apple for the most part (hey, it isn't Windows after all) but it has NO place in the Enterprise. Apple nailed it when they made OSX stupid easy for people to use, but when you try to do something that the Apple engineers didn't think of, its damn near impossible.

Sorry for the rant beez, just oine of my major frustrations at work, no offense meant to you.