Choose Your Browser

IE is not Alone

If you just bought a Windows PC, chances are that the only Internet browser on your computer is Internet Explorer 8 or 9. It’s a better browser than it has ever been. Long ago (before version 7), IE was buggy and prone to virus infections, now it’s secure and fast. It got to this point by taking the best features from other browsers. So, if you want a preview of what the next version of IE will look like you should try some of these other browsers.

There are many other browsers, but just a few front runners. They are all a little less prone to infections than IE, mostly because IE is installed on every Windows PC and hackers and crackers want to reach a large number of people. They all look a little different and all have slightly different features. To choose the one you like you may have to try more than one. You may even use more than one on a regular basis.

Mozilla Firefox

Despite IE being installed on every PC, Firefox is actually the most used browser. As of November 2011, Firefox is used by about 38% of users while IE is in third place with 21.5%. Firefox is used by so many people because it is stable, has a reputation for being secure, and has a huge repository of add-ons and extensions. Regular, nearly invisible updates keep security holes and software bugs at bay. Plus ,you can customize and extend Firefox to behave and look exactly how you want.

Google Chrome

Right now, Google Chrome is the second most used browser, but the way things are going it might overtake Firefox in 2012. Chrome is an operating system unto itself. In fact there are actually netbooks that only run Chrome. The reason they can do this is that Chrome runs Google Docs, Gmail, Google Apps, and just about everything else Google related better than anyone. With the Chrome store you can get an app to do just about anything that Windows or OSX can do. To top it all, Chrome runs really fast and takes up less memory than Firefox or IE.

Opera

Opera built its reputation on being fast and introducing us to tabbed browsing. It has never had a large market share, but those who use it, love it. Tabs are in every browser now, but Opera is still very fast. It is lightweight and can adjust to slower internet speeds if need be. If you are looking for something different, Opera might be the way to go.

Apple Safari

If you are using a Mac, Safari isn’t a third party browser at all. But, if you are using a Windows PC and you like the design and beauty of Apple, Safari is your only option. Apple’s developers have done well making Safari compatible with Windows, it runs quickly and smoothly. Their developers know how to make a great first impression and the top sites page, when you first start Safari, does just that. It gives you a beautifully rendered view of the front pages of all the sites you visit most, so you don’t have to waste time wading through your bookmarks.

HTML5

One more factor you might want to figure into you browser choice is the upcoming switch to HTML5. HTML is the “programming” language of webpages. HTML5 is the latest incarnation of that language. Considering HTML 4 has been in use since 1999, this version is long overdue. Adoption of HTML5 has been slow, but should become the standard in 2012. It’s new features are worth the upgrade. Most sites that need multimedia rely on plug-ins like Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight. HTML5 allows web developers to integrate audio and video without using plug-ins. But, HTML5’s capabilities rely heavily on the browser you use. Currently the browsers above stack up like this in regards to HTML5 support:

1. Google Chrome
2. Opera
3. Firefox
4. Safari
5. Internet Explorer 9

The Amazon Kindle Fire vs. The iPad 2

Up until now, if you wanted a tablet you got an iPad and if you wanted a e-reader you got a Kindle. But, Amazon wants to change the rules. On November 15, 2011 they released the Kindle Fire at a price lower than the cost to make it: $199. With this action they moved to take a large bite out of the tablet market. But, what do you give up if you go with the Kindle Fire? What do you gain? And, is it worth it?

The iPad 2 is a beautiful work of engineering. It is one of Apple’s best products ever. With it you can watch HD movies and you can video chat with FaceTime. Then there’s the app store with hundreds of thousands of capability boosting apps and games. The iPad has a gyroscope to notice which way you’re holding it. And, when you need directions it’s got GPS and wireless internet.

The Kindle on the other hand has no cameras or microphones, so no video chat. You can watch movies, but they’re not quite in HD. No gyroscope, no GPS, and only Wi-Fi, no cellular internet plans. But, the Kindle does have the power of Amazon behind it. One more knock on the Fire, despite being smaller, it has a shorter battery life than the iPad.

But the Fire is only $200 and is incredible for that price. Amazon wants to make sure you never go un-entertained. They have the Kindle Store stocked with full color magazines, books, and games.  And just to make sure that you never run out of space, which would be pretty easy with the meager 8 GB of internal storage in the Kindle, they give you unlimited cloud storage for all your content.

The Fire and the iPad both have email clients and document reading capabilities, the iPad can create documents while the Kindle can only read them. They both can stream Netflix and Pandora, but if you have a Amazon Prime account you can also stream 10,000 movies and TV shows, as well as borrow any over around 5,000 books on the Kindle.

So you get a lot with the $200 Kindle Fire. You give up some pretty big features, but overall it is an incredible deal. Especially considering the least expensive iPad is $300 more.

New Amazon Kindle Fire and E-readers

A trio of new devices from Amazon are scheduled to hit stores and be available online November 15^th.  Pre-ordering may be a good idea if you are looking to get a Kindle Fire as the excitement for this 7 inch tablet has been building for some time, and only escalated when they announced that it was going to be available for $199.  The Fire will compete directly with Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet (upgraded version of 2010’s Nook Color) and for many people, may be a cheaper alternative to Apple’s iPad.  It will run a very customized version of Android and have access to ebooks, magazines, and video on demand services as well as the Amazon app store.

The other two additions are both new e-ink readers.  Both will sport 6” Pearl e-ink displays and faster page turns than previous version Kindles.  The Kindle Touch will have an infrared touchscreen and 4GB of storage (enough for 3,000 books), and will come in wifi only and wifi + 3G versions for $99 and $149 respectively.  The new basic Kindle will offer a 5-way button for navigation and keyboard input and no 3G option and be priced at $79.

All of Amazon’s e-readers now come with “special offers” – ads that appear as your screen saver, but do not appear when you are actually reading.  You can opt for the ad-free model for an additional $30-$40 depending on the model.

Adobe kills flash for mobile

Back on November 9^th, Adobe announced that it would be stopping development for Flash on mobile devices.  What does this mean?  Probably not a lot.  While it does negate one of the big differences between Apple mobile devices and Android phones and tablets, most of the media/web apps currently using Flash will be adapted for HTML5 or Adobe Air.  So, what does this mean for the average user?  Nothing.  While these videos, etc. may be handled differently behind the scenes – they will still play just fine on your device.  You may even notice improvement in battery life as Flash becomes less common on the mobile web.

IE9 gets a release date

As Microsoft looks to kill off Internet Explorer 6, the Redmond software giant made official the launch date for IE9: March 14th, 2011. The final code will be available for download from Microsoft’s servers starting at 9 AM PST on Monday, making good on Microsoft’s promise to deliver its next generation browser in the first quarter. There are several changes in IE9 compared to previous versions, including hardware-accelerated text, video, and graphics. There’s a new tab page, improved integration with Windows 7, a streamlined design, pinned sites, and a host of other new features.

The improvements to Internet Explorer are as much about what you don’t see as what you do see. Internet Explorer 9 has a streamlined design, fewer dialog boxes to click through, more intuitive navigation, and many new features that speed up your web browsing experience. Features like Pinned Sites let you pin your favorite website directly to the taskbar for one-click access. Other features, like hardware acceleration, deliver an all-around faster browsing experience. With Internet Explorer 9, websites perform and feel more like the programs you use every day on your PC.

Here’s what’s new:

Streamlined design

The first thing you’ll notice when you open Internet Explorer 9 is the compact user interface. Most command bar functions, like Print or Zoom, can now be accessed by clicking the Tools button, and your favorites appear when you click the Favorites button. Otherwise, Internet Explorer gives you the basic controls you need, and lets the web take center stage.

Pinned Sites

If you visit certain webpages regularly, Pinned Sites allows you access them directly from the taskbar on your Windows 7 desktop.  Pinning a site is simple: click the icon to the left of the web address in the address bar (or the website icon on the New Tab page) and drag it to the taskbar—the website’s icon will stay there until you remove it. When you click the icon later, the website will open in Internet Explorer. Whenever you open a pinned site, the website icon appears at the top of the browser, so you have easy access to the website home page (you can also add multiple home page tabs in addition to the primary home page). The Back and Forward buttons change color to match the color of the icon.

Download Manager

Download Manager is a powerful new feature that keeps a running list of the files you download from the Internet and notifies you when a file could be malicious. It also lets you pause and restart a download—if you have a slow internet connection—and shows you where to find downloaded files on your computer. You can clear the list at any time.

Enhanced tabs

Tabbed browsing allows you to move easily between multiple open webpages in a single window, but there might be times when you want to look at two tabbed pages at the same time. Tear-off tabs allow you to drag a tab out of Internet Explorer to open the tab’s webpage in a new window, and Snap it for side-by-side viewing. Tabs are also color coded to show which open webpages are related to each other—to give you a handy visual reference as you click between tabs.

New Tab page

The redesigned New Tab page displays the sites you visit most often and color codes them for quick navigation. A site indicator bar also shows how often you visit each site, and you can remove or hide the displayed sites anytime you like.

Search in the address bar

You can now search directly from the address bar. If you enter a website’s address, you’ll go directly to the website. If you enter a search term or incomplete address, you will launch a search using the currently selected search engine. Click the address bar to select your search engine from the listed icons or to add new ones. When you search from the address bar, you’ll have the option of opening a search results page or the top search result (if your search engine supports the feature). You can also get optional search suggestions in the address bar—but they are off by default, in case you don’t want to share what you type with a search provider.

Notification Bar

The Notification Bar that appears at the bottom of Internet Explorer gives you important status information when you need it, but it won’t force you to click a series of messages to continue browsing.

Add-on Performance Advisor

Add-ons, such as toolbars, can enhance your browsing experience, but they can also slow it down. Add-on Performance Advisor tells you if an add-on is slowing down your browser performance, and will then allow you to disable or remove it.

Hardware acceleration

To speed up performance, Internet Explorer uses the power of your computer’s graphics processor, also known as a GPU, to handle graphics-heavy tasks like video streaming or online gaming. By tapping into the GPU, Internet Explorer delivers a faster and more immersive web experience.

Tracking Protection

Some content on websites can be used to track your activity as you browse the web. Tracking Protection allows you to limit the browser’s communication with certain websites—determined by a Tracking Protection List—to help keep your information private. Anyone can create Tracking Protection Lists, and there should be many to choose from in the near future.

ActiveX Filtering

ActiveX is a technology that allows web developers to create interactive content on their sites, but it can also pose a security risk. Internet Explorer allows you to block ActiveX controls for all sites, and then turn them back on for only the sites that you trust.