Windows software

The enterprise browser management tool called Catalyst reached public availability yesterday. The program gives corporate IT departments the ability to force specific Web sites to open in different browsers.

As CNET reported in November, it's a useful workaround for businesses that still use Web apps that only work in legacy browsers but want their employees to spend the rest of their browsing time on more modern, more secure browsers.

Browsium noted in its blog announcing the stable version of Catalyst that it can also be used to minimize security issues, such as the recent Java and Internet Explorer zero-day … Read more

Google has finished a version of its Native Client programming technology that extends beyond mainstream x86 PC processors into the world of ARM chips.

Native Client, or NaCl for short, is designed to let programmers easily adapt the C or C++ software they've written for native software so that it can run as a part of Web apps, too. It's designed for high performance, but it's also got security mechanisms built in to counter the risks of running malicious code directly on the processor. The first version of NaCl, though, only worked on personal computers using Intel … Read more

After a fractious false start last year, Web standards makers will reconvene in Orlando, Fla., this March to try to settle a debate about the best video technology for browser-based chatting.

The Web-based chat standard, which holds the potential to bring Skype-like audio and video communication services to the Web, is called WebRTC. The debate about it centers on how best to compress video: the widely used industry-standard H.264 codec, or Google's royalty-free, open-source VP8 codec?

The discussion took some surprising twists and turns late last year -- including Google's last-minute action to postpone discussion because of … Read more

BitTorrent Surf is a new Chrome add-on (download) that turns the browser into a torrent client. While that's not an innovation on its own, this is the first time the company has built a complete torrent-manager for the browser.

In development for the past six months, according to the BitTorrent blog announcing the add-on, Surf lets you find torrents on the Web and download them.

Still in rough alpha, Surf goes beyond that. It allows for automatic torrent detection when you navigate to a site, and you can save favorite sites to "create your own combined engine," … Read more

The latest version of the Dolphin mobile browser debuts a slick new feature for sharing, desktop sync, and Evernote Web Clipper integration.

The Dolphin browser for Android (download), Dolphin browser for iPhone (download), and Dolphin browser for iPad (download) all come with one-tap sharing, a multi-faceted option for getting the Web site you're looking at to your friends as efficiently as possible.

One-tap sharing currently works with Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail, but it also includes an option called Wi-Fi Broadcast. Wi-Fi Broadcast will let you share an item with anybody on the same Wi-Fi network who is also running … Read more

Sometimes code speaks louder than words.

That's why Microsoft today published software demonstrating its own proposal for a Web standard enabling browser-based audio and video chat. In the demo, the CU-RTC-Web (Customizable, Ubiquitous Real-Time Communication) technology is used to set up a real-time voice communication link between Chrome on Mac and IE10 on Windows.

Microsoft has an uphill battle getting CU-RTC-Web to catch on: it showed up late to the game, well after the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) began work standardizing a different approach called WebRTC.

But Microsoft thinks its own proposal … Read more

Pokki's Windows 8 Start menu app has been refreshed with more features and more flexibility.

Pokki provides unique Start menu to Windows 8 users who can't quite live without one. The app blends in smoothly with the Windows desktop, offering all the traditional Start menu features while tapping into the new Windows 8 environment.

Released yesterday, the latest version kicks in a new layout and design with larger fonts and wider spacing, so it's easier on the eyes. You can also switch the layout between a light and dark color scheme.

You can now add folders and … Read more

Updated Thursday, January 17, 2012, at 4:50 p.m. PDT with comment from AV-Test.org.

For the second time in a row, Microsoft Security Essentials has failed to be certified as effective by AV-Test.org, an independent testing lab based in Germany.

The lab publishes test results every two months, and the test from November and December 2012 looked at 25 consumer antivirus security programs. Three failed certification: PC Tools Internet Security 2012, AhnLab Internet Security 8.0, and Microsoft Security Essentials 4.1.

This was the second test in a row in which MSE failed to earn certification. … Read more

Firefox maker Mozilla has concentrated more engineering power in the hands of Chief Technology Officer Brendan Eich as the organization expands its ambitions beyond just browsers.

Eich, who in the 1990s invented the JavaScript at the heart of the Web's interactive abilities, had been leading Mozilla's strategy and Web standards work. Now he'll be more directly involved overseeing engineering for projects including Firefox for PCs and Android phones, the upcoming Firefox OS, and efforts such as the Firefox Marketplace. He'll also lead the organization's work marshaling the open-source programmers who help Mozilla.

The move comes … Read more