Archive for March, 2009

Yahoo and Live Search Might Save Mozilla

By | March 16, 2009 | 2 Comments

Since the launch of Chrome, relations between Mozilla and Google were affected. And although contract between them expires on 2011, Michael Baker, the CEO of Mozilla considered the possibility of search contract end. As they are not completely sure about Google’s plans to renew it. As the result, they are started to look for alternatives.

Many analysts consider it as a good movement because during Chrome growth, Mozilla will depend on Google Inc. more than Google does on Firefox. Selling default search engine spot in Firefox would be both, beneficial and not. Search giants such as Yahoo or Live would pay much more than Google do. However, how many of Firefox users would actually use a new search provider?

Via alt1040.com (in Spanish)

[digg-reddit-me]

Accessibility: Safari 4, Opera 10, IE 8, Firefox 3 and Chrome 1

By | March 16, 2009 | 1 Comment

Paciello Group Blog writes:

“The study ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles exposed via MSAA (Microsoft Active Accessibility) by browsers on Windows (see results here) provides test of the major browsers available for windows.

Summary

WAI-ARIA has 59 possible role values (excluding abstract roles):

IE 8RC1 exposes 42 role values via MSAA
Firefox (Minefield) 3.2a1pre exposes 49 role values via MSAA
Opera 10 Alpha exposes 21 role values via MSAA
Safari 4 Beta exposes 8 role values via MSAA
Chrome exposes 0 role values via MSAA”

Found via Asa Dotzler blog.

6 Reasons why Opera Failed

By | March 16, 2009 | 59 Comments

First of all: yes, according to Opera’s financial results, Opera Desktop is growing. However, its first initial release was 12-13 years ago. Yet, they are still struggling to gain a solid part of the market share (according to HitsLink (yes, they are not accurate)) and are being ignored.

So why did that happened?

1. Opera Software is against software patents. With dozens of innovations (see this post for more details), their current situations would be much better than it is now. Continue Reading

Weekly Browsers Recap, March 15th

By | March 15, 2009 | 0 Comments

Not much this week.

Safari 4 vs. Google Chrome vs. Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 vs. Firefox 3 vs. Opera 10 Alpha vs. Opera 9.6 vs. Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 vs. Internet Explorer 7

By | March 15, 2009 | 14 Comments

If you are getting annoyed by old and popular SunSpider benchmark results, here is a new gem for you: PeaceKeeper – The Browser Benchmark.

The following browsers were tested:

Apple Safari 4.0 beta
Firefox 3.0.7
Firefox 3.1 beta 2
Firefox 3.1 beta 3
Google Chrome 1.0.154.48 Continue Reading

Opera Turbo Is Here

By | March 13, 2009 | 14 Comments

The first public preview version of Opera Turbo has been just released (more about it here).

So far, you can test it on Windows or Mac operating systems.

There is also a demo video which shows you a loading speed of Slashdot page with/without Opera Turbo technology enabled. Continue Reading

Browser Which Changed Your Life #2

By | March 13, 2009 | 4 Comments

Quite a few months ago we have published an article with a similar name (check it here). Well, how about one more? Let’s talk about Opera.

Actually, most of the features you are using for your daily work were Opera’s innovations which later evolved (thanks to Opera and other web browsers).

1994

Tabs Continue Reading

Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 Released

By | March 12, 2009 | 0 Comments

This is it, the long awaited and delayed, third beta of Firefox 3.1 (which is going to be named 3.5 later) has been released.

Mozilla Developer Center lists the following changes which require feedback:

Improved the new Private Browsing Mode, including the ability to “Forget This Site” from the History sidebar.
Improved performance and stability with the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine. Continue Reading

Internet Explorer 8 Beats Chrome and Firefox, Claims Microsoft

By | March 12, 2009 | 6 Comments

No, it’s not a SunSpider benchmark this time. Actually, this one is more “real word” one, which is based on top 25 internet sites load time.

Microsoft Corp. has also published a document called “Measuring Browser Performance: Understanding issues in benchmarking and performance analysis” which you can download here.

Now, let’s see results: Continue Reading

EU Extends MS Response Deadline

By | March 11, 2009 | 0 Comments

As per Microsoft Corp. request, European Commission has extended the deadline till which they have to respond to the charges.

The new deadline is April 21, 2009.