browsers

Add tabs to Windows Explorer with QTTabBar

A little Internet Explorer shell named Netcaptor introduced tabbed browsing, and major players like Opera and Mozilla Firefox (and then Google Chrome) made the feature a default tool for surfing the Web. Even though Microsoft eventually added tabbed browsing to its own browser with Internet Explorer 7, the idea of tabs never really translated to Windows Explorer ... until QTTabBar.

QTTabBar is an extension that brings tab functionality to the Windows Explorer file browser. Began as a project by a Japanese developer known as Quizo, QTTabBar (which also goes by QT TabBar) added tabs to Window Explorer during the many years … Read more

Protect yourself with SpywareBlaster

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that's especially true when it comes to spyware; wouldn't you rather protect your system than spend hours trying to rid it of malicious visitors? SpywareBlaster is a simple program that provides protection from ActiveX-based software and unwanted cookies for both Firefox and Internet Explorer users.

SpywareBlaster has a simple interface that will be easy for even novices to navigate. The main screen shows the protection status for Internet Explorer, restricted Web sites, and Firefox. By default, protection is disabled for each of these, but you can easily … Read more

Safari on iOS favored among 85 percent of users

Apple's iOS users seem more willing to try new things than those running Android.

Advertising network Chitika yesterday released the results of a report on browser usage across mobile platforms. The company found that Safari, the default browser in iOS, is used by 85 percent of the folks running that operating system. Chrome, which sat atop the App Store's listing of free applications for several weeks over the summer, took 3 percent of the iOS market. All other browsers, including Dolphin and Atomic, combined for 11.9 percent share.

Interestingly, Android users are less likely to branch out. … Read more

Google pays bug hunters for finding Windows flaw

You might think Microsoft would be the one handing out awards to those who report security vulnerabilities in Windows, but yesterday it was Google that paid $5,000 to a pair who found one such problem.

Along with the release of the final, stable version of Chrome 22, Google announced that it's paying the bug bounty to Eetu Luodemaa and Joni Vahamaki of Documill for finding a memory corruption issue in Windows.

The award is part of a revised Chrome bug bounty policy in which Google pays for more than just Chrome bugs. "Occasionally, we issue special rewards … Read more

Tips on opening links and searches in Safari

When you open a Web page in Safari, either by clicking a link, opening a bookmark, or performing a Web search, by default the results appear in the current browser window. Also, like most browsers, if you right-click on a link Safari provides a contextual menu where you can choose to open the link in a new tab or window. However, beyond these familiar options, Safari includes others that can be useful on occasion.

Like many programs in OS X, Safari has a number of hidden behaviors that can be invoked by using modifier keys, and a few of these … Read more

Life beyond JavaScript: Google's abuzz over RoboHornet test

Google last night unveiled an early version of RoboHornet, a general-purpose browser speed test that company engineers hope will shed light on something besides just JavaScript.

But Microsoft, maker of Internet Explorer, has derided the tests as not useful.

There are plenty of JavaScript speed tests, Google's new Octane among them, and for good reason: the programming language is used to turn static Web pages into interactive Web apps. But there's more to fast browsing, and Google hopes others will get involved to flesh out RoboHornet with a full suite of tests.

"It's a living, dynamic … Read more

Microsoft promises fix for IE security flaw in next few days

Microsoft said today it will issue a fix soon for a security flaw that affects users of Internet Explorer versions 6 through 9.

Uncovered this past weekend, the security hole could compromise the PCs of IE users who surf to a malicious Web site. The flaw is being actively exploited to deliver a back-door trojan known as "Poison Ivy."

The software giant said in a security advisory this afternoon that a solution to the flaw would be released in the next few days.

"While we have only seen a few attempts to exploit the issue, impacting an … Read more

EU proceeds with Microsoft probe on browser choice -- report

Bloomberg is reporting European Union antitrust regulators are moving ahead with their investigation of Microsoft's failure to fulfill its obligation to provide users with Web-browser choice.

Bloomberg cited in a September 18 report "two people familiar with the matter" claiming that the EU is preparing a formal complaint.

If true, the news isn't surprising given the European Commission acknowledged back in July 2012 that it had received complaints that Microsoft wasn't providing users with broswer choice. At that point, the EU opened a probe into Microsoft's behavior.

Microsoft admitted quickly it had failed to … Read more

Mozilla juices Firefox's JavaScript with IonMonkey

Mozilla has begun building a new technology called IonMonkey into Firefox to improve its JavaScript performance.

High JavaScript performance is essential in today's hotly competitive browser market, because JavaScript is the language behind complicated Web sites and Web apps such as Google Docs and Facebook. IonMonkey has now been packaged into the "nightly" version of Firefox 18 for hardcore developers; that version is scheduled to become the mainstream version of the browser early in 2013.

IonMonkey is what's called a just-in-time compiler, or JIT for short. In olden days, JavaScript would run line by line in … Read more