browser

Do Not Track proposal runs into more roadblocks

The Do Not Track proposal seems to be causing confusion and frustration among some W3C members charged with approving it.

Once ratified, the DNT policy would require advertisers and other third parties to turn off tracking for Internet users whose browser settings specifically restrict it.

The push for DNT has already created a chasm between advertisers, who naturally want the policy to be as lean as possible, and privacy advocates, who want tough standards.

Browser makers have also been caught in the furor. Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari, and Internet Explorer already include DNT settings. But Microsoft has caused waves by … Read more

Hey, Web developers! Here's a one-stop shop for your app needs

Enough with having separate Web programming tutorials from Google, Apple, Opera, Mozilla, and Microsoft.

These five major browser makers, along with Facebook, Adobe Systems, Nokia, and Hewlett Packard, have become stewards of a new effort to centralize developer resources at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). This Web Platform Docs project will include not just help on to use a bewildering array of new Web technologies, but also will detail which ones are accepted standards, how well the various tools work across multiple browsers, and how stable the standards are.

"A key part of this project is that it … Read more

Expect frustration from Faster Downloader

There are so many easy ways to download streaming media these days that we find absolutely no reason to bother with a program that's the least bit complicated. For that reason, we recommend that users who want to download video and music from streaming sites (where that's permitted, of course) look for something other than Faster Downloader to do it with. This unintuitive program left us scratching our head and wondering why the creators had so needlessly complicated what should be a simple process.

Faster Downloader boasts that it's "fully integrated" with Firefox and Internet … Read more

Chrome 23 beta adds more video support, features

Google's Chrome 23 is currently in beta. And the search giant yesterday offered up some new features that it says will make it easier for users to watch and access video.

To make good on that promise, the Chrome Beta comes with Track support in HTML5 videos. Track delivers subtitles, captions, and metadata for HTML5 video that can be viewed online. Developers can split videos up and add that data to clips with help from Track. However, users won't be able to see it all until the browser supports it. Chrome 23 will.

In addition, the Chrome 23 … Read more

Web security protocol HSTS wins proposed standard status

A Web security protocol designed to protect Internet users from Internet hijackings due to unencrypted Web sites has won approval as a proposed standard.

A steering group for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) gave its blessing to a draft of HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), an opt-in security enhancement in which Web sites prompt browsers to always interact over a secure connection.

Web browsers complying with the policy will automatically switch insecure links to a secure version of the site, using "https," without the Web surfer having to remember to type that in the URL bar.

HSTS … Read more

Opera 12.1 beta brings SPDY, Retina support

Norwegian browser maker Opera Software has released its 12.10 beta version, designed for faster Web communications by supporting technologies including Google's SPDY and the Web Socket standard.

The new browser version, which had been known in earlier testing as version 12.50, adds some clout to Google's SPDY effort to make Web pages load faster. That effort got started with Chrome and arrived next in Mozilla's Firefox. SPDY is a variation on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, and its features are under consideration for a new version of the HTTP standard.

"Opera has always been about … Read more

Add tabs to Windows Explorer with QTTabBar

A little Internet Explorer shell named Netcaptor introduced tabbed browsing, and major players like Opera and Mozilla Firefox (and then Google Chrome) made the feature a default tool for surfing the Web. Even though Microsoft eventually added tabbed browsing to its own browser with Internet Explorer 7, the idea of tabs never really translated to Windows Explorer ... until QTTabBar.

QTTabBar is an extension that brings tab functionality to the Windows Explorer file browser. Began as a project by a Japanese developer known as Quizo, QTTabBar (which also goes by QT TabBar) added tabs to Window Explorer during the many years … Read more

Protect yourself with SpywareBlaster

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that's especially true when it comes to spyware; wouldn't you rather protect your system than spend hours trying to rid it of malicious visitors? SpywareBlaster is a simple program that provides protection from ActiveX-based software and unwanted cookies for both Firefox and Internet Explorer users.

SpywareBlaster has a simple interface that will be easy for even novices to navigate. The main screen shows the protection status for Internet Explorer, restricted Web sites, and Firefox. By default, protection is disabled for each of these, but you can easily … Read more

Safari on iOS favored among 85 percent of users

Apple's iOS users seem more willing to try new things than those running Android.

Advertising network Chitika yesterday released the results of a report on browser usage across mobile platforms. The company found that Safari, the default browser in iOS, is used by 85 percent of the folks running that operating system. Chrome, which sat atop the App Store's listing of free applications for several weeks over the summer, took 3 percent of the iOS market. All other browsers, including Dolphin and Atomic, combined for 11.9 percent share.

Interestingly, Android users are less likely to branch out. … Read more