Featuring some performance and UI tweaks, Firefox 7 is ready for you to download.
Some users avoid browser updates usually by neglect or just stubborn refusal. A few though have good reason because of plug-in or script compatibility issues.
The more adventurous crowd flock to the beta release, and those who live on the bleeding edge subscribe to the nightly updates.
I'm all of the above. I keep an old version, current version, get the beta and the nightly updates.
Which one are you?
Tabs, speed, many other features. Could it be the browser for you?
Google released a new beta of its browser Chrome for Mac. Chrome should automatically update within a day. The release adds official support for the 2,200 plus extensions and bookmark sync support.
Web metrics firm NetApplications.com released its monthly data for January. Browser market share continues to shift in favor of Google's browser.
On the heels of the fresh Firefox 3.6, testers pit the feisty open source browser against itself (3.5) and three other browsers.
A video previewing what is new has been added to this post.
In its fifth year of development, Firefox has released a polished official version of 3.6. I've been using the beta a couple of weeks and have been pleased. Not as fast as Chrome, but it does have some compelling features.
The "dev" release of Google's Chrome browser features extension support which has been absent in the beta. Also added was bookmark synching on multiple computers.
NetApplications is reporting numbers from December that show Chrome has passed Safari for the number three spot for browser market share. You can see the graph on the jump.
If you are using an older web browser, by now you have seen the little popup window (well, it's not REALLY a popup window, but why split hairs) encouraging you to upgrade to the latest version of it.
Please, oh please, do. Especially if you are using IE6.
Why? Well, you would not believe the manpower we in Interactive Media expend trying to make our sites look the same no matter what web browser you use to visit them. Manpower we would RATHER spend making the site easier to use, fixing real bugs, and helping the writers tell the stories they want to tell on the web.
And it's not YOUR fault. It's the fault of the companies that build and upgrade these browsers, who periodically change the way that the browser processes a web page before displaying it on your screen.
So support your local tech-geeks - upgrade your browser today. And enjoy the good karma that flows into you when you do.
