Internet Explorer (IE 8) 8 (Codename IE.next) Stuff

By | June 24, 2007 | 6 Comments

While all the companies are developing their “future” web browsers like Firefox 3, Safari 3, Opera 10, Netscape (not sure if they are developing version 10 or 9.5) Microsoft is currently working on their new project, as you know it’s Internet Explorer 8, codename IE.next.

Microsoft is still not talking very much about Internet Explorer (IE8) 8 features, but as far as I know new version will feature JavaScript improvements and something called “Web Assistant” (not confirmed) (??? Office Assistant Clone ???) which would help users to find all the needed stuff much faster and more accurate. It was also said, that they will spend more time with layout and adhering to the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 2.1 specifications (hey, where’s CSS 3?).

According to Microsoft, we should see new IE.next Beta after Windows Vista Service Pack 1 release.

What can we expect from this new release? I am not really sure, IE7 started to show some web pages differently than IE6 did (web developers pain), but Microsoft said that new Internet Explorer 8 should render them as IE7 did (or they are trying to do that).

I still don’t think that it will be “a big bang” in web browsers world, it’s bit too late to catch that train now, there are so many great and much better browsers, but who knows… We are waiting.

Safari 3.0.2 Beta Released

By | June 22, 2007 | 0 Comments

Apple just released a new Safari version (3.0.2) which is availaible to download.

Safari Beta 3.0.2 for Microsoft Windows addresses the following issues:

Security
Includes the latest security updates for Safari.

Non-English versions of Microsoft Windows
Safari unexpectedly quitting if interacting with bookmarks on non-English configurations of Windows.
Safari unexpectedly quitting when typing in text fields on non-English configurations of Windows.
An issue in which bold and italic text could be missing in Web pages on non-English configurations of Windows.

Text
Safari unexpectedly quitting if the Windows user account name contains non-ASCII character.
An issue in which all text is missing if the Windows system has a large number of fonts installed.
All text may be missing when Safari is installed in a location other than the default location.
Slow startup time when installed fonts have an improper creation time (a future date).
An issue in which a font other than Arial could be used instead of Arial on certain Web pages.

Authentication
Safari unexpectedly quitting after prompting for a username and password for HTTP authentication.
Safari unexpectedly quitting when handling the unsupported NTLM authentication method.

RSS
Safari unexpectedly quitting with certain invalid RSS feed URLs.
Safari unexpectedly not responding (“stalling”) due to contention with the thread that updates RSS feeds.

Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) and Yahoo Widgets
Inability to install Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) Web applications and Yahoo Widgets.

Google Reader
Safari unexpectedly quitting when sending a news headline as an email from Google Reader.

Other
Safari unexpectedly quitting on systems with earlier microprocessors that don’t support the SSE instruction set.
Safari unexpectedly quitting with certain video cards.
Safari unexpectedly quitting when a web server produces an empty Content-type header.


Safari Beta 3.0.2 for Mac OS X addresses the following Safari issues:
Includes the latest security updates for Safari.
Safari might unexpectedly quit when parental control features are enabled for an account.
Safari might unexpectedly quit when sending a news headline as an email from Google Reader.Safari Beta 3.0.2 for Mac OS X also updates WebKit to address the following issues:
There may be missing quoted text when replying to an email message containing HTML.
Spaces might not appear when when typed at the beginning of a line, when replying to an email message containing HTML.
Improves stability of Mail.
An issue in which incoming iChat messages could be delayed.Improves compatibility with Dashboard widgets that make use of plug-ins.
Improves compatibility with Dashboard widgets that have a search field.
Addresses an issue in which BBEdit might unexpectedly quit while dragging text outside of an HTML preview window.It also includes security fixes.

My day with Opera Mini Dimension Beta

By | June 22, 2007 | 2 Comments

As you know or not, Opera is running a competition called “A day with Opera Mini”.

Opera Mini Logo

OK, so I’ve charged my mobile phone a bit and launched Opera Mini Dimension Beta.

Firstly I thought about writing everything in my FavBrowser.com blog via Opera Mini, but looks like it’s not yet compatible with WordPress. I was unable to publish or save drafts, got time out error all the time and also, some problems with lower and upper case letters, I was actually writing “some text”, but Opera Mini 4 always changed it to “Some Text”.
So here’s it is. I’ve decided not to use PC while I am surfing web pages. Will be using Opera Mini all time. I will try to prove that it can be fun to use. So far found 3 bugs only plus sometimes I keep getting “Error java.io.IOExeption:null” when loading url.
OK, So it’s midnight now and I am still surfing using Opera Mini, since all my day work already done, I am “Googling” for Opera Mini news  Some are really funny and made my day. Not much to do I guess… I am pretty happy with Opera Mini, just would like some bugs to be fixed.
Here’s a list of the bugs I found:

1. Can’t do stuff in WordPress admin area.
2. Somehow I see no images.
3. Problems with text typing (noticed in WordPress only).
4. When posting a comment, it just “reloads” page (but typed text and name stays) so I have to do click it second time.
5. Wasn’t been able to zoom out in my.opera.com and couldn’t see any cursor.
6. Sometimes when I re-loaded page, wasn’t been able to zoom it out.
7. http://www.gpf-design.com/download/ when tried to navigate via quick navigation, after selected a category, page re-loaded.
8. Error java.io.IOExeption:null
9. Some problems with Quick Login (IPB Forums system).
10. Cookies problems, even I marked “remember me”, it never did that (old version did).
11. “Check Box” component seems not works, I check it, and Opera Mini starts to load something…

I don’t know basically what I had to write there, but I think such contests are being made for bugs hunt. I really can do almost all the things I want (will be able to do anything after final release) with new Opera Mini, really love it. So give me my phone now ;-)
I also wish to have an ability to see URL once “mouse over” on URL and so on… Ok so it’s 3:40 AM, my phone just died and I am going to sleep now. Bit tired I guess…

In the next morning many people told me that I am crazy, not only because I went sleep so late/early, but because I did that for Opera Mini. That’s cool. If helping everyone to enjoy better web browsing makes me crazy, let it be!

Glad I didn’t forget to save this text. I did all what I could to explore as many bugs as I could. The fact is fact:

Yes, you can and you will enjoy a full web browsing with Opera Mini Dimension.

Opera Team should promote this contest harder.

How to Quickly Digg a Web Page With Firefox

By | June 22, 2007 | 0 Comments

If you are enjoying submitting stories to digg or just digging them you might want to try this great extension for Firefox, which will allow you to quickly do that.

“Smart Digg Button” extension ads a button in the bottom where the status bar is so you can quickly digg what you like.

Firefox Digg

Interested? Then check it.

Opera 9.5 – First Public Build Within a Few Weeks

By | June 22, 2007 | 4 Comments

Yes, yes, it will be released very soon, calm down now.

So you want to know more about new features now, right? Enjoy.

CSS3 support, superior SVG support, brand new javascript engine with support for ECMAScript 4 ‘getters’ and ‘setters’ and that’s now everything. New Opera version will be able to display even more bad coded web pages correctly!

Opera 9.5
Click to enlarge.

Opera 9.5 also got some interface improvements where you will be able to access popular features much faster.

Zoom? New version will also support a screen reader.

Mac users will be able to enjoy a nice and new look. No, they didn’t forgot Linux, that’s why they are adding a QT4 build + 64 bit packages.

Performance

Opera 9.5 will be much faster. That’s all I can say.

That’s not all, keep an eye, I will keep you updated.

Firefox Del.Icio.Us Add-On

By | June 21, 2007 | 0 Comments

So you love some great add-ons and tools for Firefox, don’t you? If you are not using this one, you may conseid to try it.

DelIcioUs Firefox Add On

Have you ever tried del.icio.us plugin for Firefox? With this plugin you can quickly view and search your favorite pages and bookmark new ones (don’t forget FavBrowser.com :-)).

Opera 9.5 First Look with EV Certificates Enabled

By | June 21, 2007 | 0 Comments

Opera team is showing us a very first screenshot of Opera 9.5 (codename “Kestrel”) with extended validation 1.0 (EV) enabled.

Opera 9.5 Kestrel EV
Click to Enlarge.

You can read more about it here.

“Mozilla is excited to see the new Extended Validation Guidelines that have resulted from collaboration between Certificate Authorities,” said Window Snyder, Chief Security Officer for the makers of the Firefox web browser. “EV SSL will make it easier for Firefox to tell users who is behind the website they’re seeing, which is an important factor in making trust decisions.”

Extended Validation Guidelines

The issuance process of EV Certificates is strictly defined in the EV Guidelines, that specify all the steps required for a Certification Authority (CA) before issuing a certificate, and includes:

  • Verifying the legal, physical and operational existence of the entity
  • Verifying that the identity of the entity matches official records
  • Verifying that the entity has exclusive right to use the domain specified in the EV Certificate
  • Verifying that the entity has properly authorized the issuance of the EV Certificate

Happy birthday Opera 9

By | June 21, 2007 | 2 Comments

I know that you are waiting for some Firefox, Safari, Netscape or any other browser news, but so far I can’t see any news there. If you know something interesting, feel free to let me know that.

Today Opera 9 is celebrating it’s 1 year birthday. Right after launch it reached a record number of downloads. They should be releasing Opera 9.5 (maybe beta) at the end of this month.

Happy Birthday Opera!

Opera.com – New Design. Do You Like It?

By | June 20, 2007 | 0 Comments

Opera Software updated their web page with a new design.

Opera New Design

What do you think about it?

I prefer old version, even it needs some improvements and navigation.

Opera.com Old Design

They are giving too much attention to Opera Mini (which already got it), while their Desktop version is somewhere “outside”. If they would cancel Opera Desktop Browser development, this design would be good, but now… I don’t know… Silver navigation doesn’t (which looks very old) fit with that (too big) Opera Mini promotional image. While 1028*768 and lower resolution users don’t see anything about their Desktop versio at all (without scrolling). I think that’s a bad move and design should be changed.

YouTube Live on Apple TV; Coming to iPhone on June 29

By | June 20, 2007 | 0 Comments

While we are waiting for “Opera Software” Flash replacement, Apple today announced, that their new product (iPhone) users will be able to play YouTube videos.

“A new Apple-designed application on iPhone will wirelessly stream YouTube’s content to iPhone over Wi-Fi or EDGE networks and play it on iPhone’s stunning 3.5 inch display.”

“iPhone delivers the best YouTube mobile experience by far,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Now users can enjoy YouTube wherever they are—on their iPhone, on their Mac or on a widescreen TV in their living room with Apple TV.”

Want to buy an iPhone already?