Filed under: Browsers

There's only four weeks to go until the next IE9 developer preview, and it looks like Chinese leak site Cnbeta might have got its hands on the new build already.

I'm not quite sure what to make of the screenshots, nor the Google translation. The Developer Previews (Internet Explorer Test Drive) are not meant to have a user interface -- they're just there to show off the Trident rendering engine. That means we're probably looking at the beta version of IE9 in these screenshots. Does that mean the private beta has begun -- or are these simply fakes?

As you can see above, IE9 seems to gained a proper download manager. After the break there's a couple more images -- one of the very Chromeish 'new tab page', and one that hints at restartless add-on management.

Looking at the SunSpider performance graph, I'm not sure if these images are real -- or whether this beta build sports the latest version of the Trident rendering engine. When I tested IE's JavaScript performance last month, it was about the same speed as Firefox 3.6 -- not some 10 times slower than Chrome.

[via Neowin]

While the built-in default is functional, you might be looking for a way to add some sizzle to your Google Chrome new tab page. Look no further than Start!, a recent addition in the Chrome Extensions Gallery.

Your frequently used bookmarks will appear on the right-hand side of the page, while the central portion is reserved for your recent additions and those in the "other" folder. Start! also supports adding an RSS feed to your display (yes, that's ours in my screenshot!).

The background image is customizable as well, and you can either provide the URL to your favorite image or cycle through the stock options -- or clear it if you prefer a blank canvas.

Start! is a very nice extension, but there is one bug I encountered. You're able to click and drag favicons to reorganize the right-hand panel, though I frequently received an alert that the move failed (even though it didn't). Sitting on the 'esc' key eventually clears all the pop-ups, however, so after your intial setup it's not likely to cause many issues. I also suspect that developer Ilkka Huotari will fix this in short order...

If you're using Safari 5 and have been waiting patiently for an official source for browser extensions, your prayers have been answered! Yes, the Google Chrome Safari Extensions Gallery is now online!

Right now, there are about one hundred extensions listed and they're grouped by category. Most of the big-name extensions you'd be looking for are there -- like AdBlock, LastPass, Instapaper, and WOT. The Exposer extension is definitely worth a look -- it provides slick, Expose-style thumbnail previews of your Safari tabs.

But come on, Apple... Really? You had to name your web-based "shop" for Safari Extensions the Gallery? Maybe they're hoping for some SEO win.

Firefox 4 Beta 2 was just released, and you can grab it from the Beta page.

Every tab now has a "Make into App Tab" command in the context menu, which shrinks the tab down to just the favicon and puts it on the leftmost position (similar to Chrome's pin tab feature). Also, tabs on top have arrived in the Mac version. I couldn't test it myself – share your thoughts in the comments, Mac users!

Mozilla made a snazzy video showing App Tabs, which you can watch after the jump.

One feature I like being able to toggle in Firefox is tab thumbnails -- not the ones on the Windows 7 taskbar, mind you. I'm talking about in-browser thumbnails which get displayed when switching tabs. Chrome OS has that snazzy, Cover Flow-style switching interface, but that's not part of the Chrome browser on other OSes.

There are, of course, options available in the Google Chrome Extensions Gallery for those of you who enjoy a visual reminder when looking for that tab you misplaced -- or if you just want a little eye candy!

Aza Raskin of Firefox fame has just announced one of the most amazing concepts I have seen for Web browsing in a long time: Tab Candy. Lee covered a slightly out-of date version on Monday, but now it's out for everyone to play with.

It's a completely new concept of tab management: today, it's very easy to have too many tabs. I mean, 12-13 tabs is already "too many". Just try doing three or four things at once with your browser (checking out a link someone sent you, doing some research for work, checking out travel options, reading DownloadSquad and following some links) and see how confusing it all gets. It's a mess!

Tab Candy is a radical re-imagining of the whole notion of tabs. You browse using Firefox, as per usual. When you start feeling you have too many tabs, just hit Ctrl-Space. The screen instantly zooms out, and each tab becomes a tile. Now the fun begins.

Grab a tile and drag it out of the group; it detaches and floats freely. Throw another tile onto it – now it's a group. Now you can click the top of the group and label it, say "apartment hunting". When you click this group, it expands back into "regular" Firefox mode, but now only with the four or five tabs you're using for apartment hunting. Of course, any new tabs you add get added onto this group. I know this sounds like "saved sessions meets visual tabs", but it's so much more.

This is not an extension; rather, it's a very early Alpha build of Firefox 4. Also, the potential is far from realized; if you think I sound excited now, check out Aza's video after the jump – he goes into hyperdrive somewhere around the 3-minute mark.

Yes, this news is obviously a little bit of chest-pounding from the boys in Redmond, but there's no denying the stat is impressive. Internet Explorer 8's SmartScreen filter has blocked more than 1 billion malicious downloads.

SmartScreen is one of the many way IE8 is a big upgrade from previous versions of Microsoft's browser, and clearly a feature which is helping combat the rising tide of malware on the Web. While this is great news, it's a little bittersweet for me as a technician.

Judging by what I see on my service bench, IE8 users have clearly managed to persevere in the face of adversity. Their systems are typically more malware-laden than users who know about and use an alternative web browser.

Sigh.

[via The Windows Blog]

As Sebastian jaunts around Montenegro snapping photos, the task has fallen to me to cover this week's spate of Firefox news... So grab your stuffed Foxkeh and pull up a chair -- it's time for the Friday Five!

Firefox 4 Beta 2 is coming soon (as in today, maybe)!
... Which is great news! I've been using Firefox 4 for my primary browser since the first beta builds showed up on the Mozilla nightly servers. It's fast and as customizable as it ever was, and Sebastian even discovered that its hardware acceleration performance was right up there with Internet Explorer 9's.

Beta 2 was actually slated for release today, but the download page is still serving up b1. When it's ready, you'll find Firefox 4 beta 2 at getfirefox.com/beta/.

As with many good changes, however, all the improvements in Firefox 4 can't come with some kind of trade off... Right?

Ever find yourself wishing you could run two versions of Google Chrome -- like the stable version and the dev version -- side-by-side? It's been a tad tricky to do that in the past, but Google has just made things about as easy as they can possibly get -- by introducing another Chrome build.

Yes, Google is offering a Vista-esque four flavors of Chrome now -- with the release of Canary, a pseudo-dev channel build which installs to a different directory (%localappdata%\Google\Chrome SxS\ on Windows). Canary isn't linked to your Google Chrome installs at all, meaning you can also run different sync profiles, themes, and browser preferences.

Apart from the folder change, Googler Huan Ren states that Canary may also receive updates which the dev channel does not. Canary will be the most bleeding-edge official version of Chrome and somewhat of a mix between Chrome dev and the Chromium snapshot builds.

Canary's arrival has a lot to do with the new Chrome release cycle. With stable builds due out every six weeks, beta branching will occur more frequently and "risky" changes from the trunk can now be pushed to Canary prior to landing them on the Dev channel.

This also says a lot about Chrome's early adopters -- there's obviously a crapload of them if Google feels it can support two official, pre-beta builds. Download Google Chrome Canary here and run it in tandem with your current stable, beta, or dev build.

Wait a sec... "Why Canary?", you ask? I'm guessing this is a reference to the old practice of taking a canary down into a mine... If the canary died, it was unsafe and the miners knew to bail out. If a change kills Chrome Canary, they'll block it from the dev build.

[via Softpedia]

Over at the Chromium blog, there's some good news for Chrome fans... Which is simultaneously bad news for those of you who already think they're getting a little silly with the version numbers. Starting now, Google plans to push a new stable version of Chrome every six weeks.

Yes, you read that correctly. Six weeks.

That's not set in stone, of course -- build issues and bugs could delay a release. Still, this means that the exciting new features you read about popping up in the developer channel will now likely have a shorter path to travel to the stable version. "We have new features coming out all the time and do not want users to have to wait months before they can use them," says the official blog post. It continues, "We basically wanted to operate more like trains leaving Grand Central Station (regularly scheduled and always on time), and less like taxis leaving the Bronx (ad hoc and unpredictable)."

Google also hopes the change will take some heat off the Chrome development team. Instead of having to rush to commit changes in the weeks and days leading up to a release, they'll be sliding in changes more frequently. If a feature isn't ready, they'll simply bump it to the next cycle.

It'll be interesting to see if this puts any heat on Mozilla, Opera, Microsoft, and Apple. Will they counter? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Oh yeah...Google also asks that you not pay too much attention to the numbers anymore as they stream past in the rear view mirror -- so no jokes, mmmkay?

Apple's Safari browser has a major security hole that malicious sites can use to steal your personal data, including your address and phone number. If you have any of the "AutoFill web forms" boxes checked, a site can snag information from your Address Book entry without your knowledge. To turn that feature off, open up preferences and click AutoFill.

Most people don't put things like credit cards numbers or Social Security numbers in their Address Book entries -- why would you? -- but your name, address and phone number are probably still there from the first time you registered your computer with Apple. Windows Safari users aren't entirely exempt from this exploit, either. Even though there's no Address Book on Windows, any personal info you put directly into Safari's AutoFill is still at risk.

Yikes, Apple! I expect to see a security update for Safari in the coming days. Until then, I'll use a more secure browser, like ... well, anything except Firefox, according to one firm.

[via TUAW]