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 |  Computerworld -
Nov-04-2009Google adds bookmark sync to Chrome browser(topic overview)
CONTENTS:
- Google have released the latest Chrome Beta build 4.0.223.16 which offers 30% faster browsing speeds and useful features such as bookmark synchronising. (More...)
- Recently, we announced that we're starting to ramp up hiring for positions across the company, continuing our investment in the future as we imagine it. (More...)
- Established in 2001 and read by over 250,000 users world-wide, infopackets features the latest in headline news based on MS Windows, Internet, and technology trends. (More...)
- Chrome just doesn't work very well yet and lacks a lot of features that people like. (More...)
- The benchmarks are not exactly good, Sorry, but Google's V8 benchmark suite does not provide as good a "real world" test as WebKit's Sunspider benchmark suite'''the reason you see "negligible real world" difference between the browser versions. (More...)
- I have to say, I've grudgingly replaced Firefox with Chrome at work. (More...)
- Funny how 3.6% is "strong" for a google product but any market share under 50% for microsoft products is weak. (More...)
- It's a bit of spiced up figureGoogle might have also included users who use chrome once in a blue moon. (More...)
- Firefox is pretty darn great all around but features in Safari keep me using it for GP. (More...)
- Microsoft Corp's Bing search engine continued to make small gains on rivals Google Inc and Yahoo Inc in the U.S. Internet search market in July, according to the latest data from research firm ComScore. (More...)
- Google has been using that 30 million active user number since July. (More...)
- Clearly they are trying to get new users on board by constantly changing the version numbers. (More...)
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Google have released the latest Chrome Beta build 4.0.223.16 which offers 30% faster browsing speeds and useful features such as bookmark synchronising. It offers a cloud backup of your browser bookmarks and is very similar to a very popular Firefox extension. This is a very useful feature for a user that wants all of their computers to show the same bookmarks. It works by you logging into your Google account and saving the bookmarks to your profile. This then means you can sync all of your computers to have the same information by simply logging in on each machine. Google are looking to give users and potential users all of the features they want from their browser. It is clear that Google will continue to add more and more to challenge the market leaders Internet Explorer and Firefox. [1] Next Chrome and version 4.0.223.16 (Google has never been a fan of upfront, or even user friendly, code numbers) brings yet more speed (something it probably doesn't need) and, most interestingly, Cloud-based bookmark syncing. The video above does a pretty good job of explaining how this works, but essentially users will be able to synchronise their bookmarks between multiple computers in real time. This is an increasingly vital ability as we work on and own many different computers and should greatly help with organisation. Yes other browsers can do this too, but it is handy to have the industry's fastest browser add features not just raw speed for once. Lastly Opera has also released the first beta of its Mobile 10 browser for Nokia and Symbian/S60 handsets.[2] The latest beta version of Google's Chrome Web browser is making it easier for you to keep track of all your favorite Web sites across multiple computers. The search giant introduced bookmark syncing this week as a feature of Chrome's latest trial version. Google started testing bookmark syncing earlier this year on developer builds of Chrome, and its release on the beta channel means bookmark syncing is one step closer to becoming a standard feature of Chrome's stable version.[3] Google has launched the latest beta of its Chrome web browser. This release includes bookmark sync. "For those of you who use several computers -- for example, a laptop at work and a desktop at home -- you've asked for a way to keep your Google Chrome bookmarks in sync across multiple computers," explains Google.[4] Google Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin recently gave the Chrome team a multi-million-dollar stock bonus for creating the browser. Google Nov. 2 rolled out a beta of Chrome 4.0 with the much-requested bookmark sync tool to enable Chrome's 30 million-plus users to keep their favorite Web pages up to date across multiple computing devices. The idea is fairly obvious these days; most users have computers they use at home and computers they use at work. Workers don't always -- or can't -- take their work machines home. Users want to access the same bookmarks at home that they would normally tap into at work without manually adding their bookmarks every time they use a different computer. Bookmark sync is a natural solution for this quandary.[5]
Google has published a beta release of Chrome 4.0 that will allow users to keep their bookmarks in sync and up-to-date across multiple computers. The update will remove the need for users to manually copy bookmarks every time they use a different computer, according to Google.[6] In addition to a number of speed improvements, the most exciting thing about today's beta release is the inclusion of the Google Chrome synchronization framework. Although still in development, this technology allows Chrome users to sync their browser bookmarks across multiple computers without having to manually recreate them on each machine used.[7] BEIJING, November 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Google has updated its Google Chrome browser with a new beta release which allows users to synchronize bookmarks between different computers.[8]
The new version of Chrome for windows has a new feature called " Google Chrome bookmarks sync," (creative name, Google), that will take your bookmarks with you on all your computers. This is a boon for the corporate worker with computers at work and home, or the travelling person with separate laptop and desktop needs. Those Chrome users that have been subscribing to the developer builds have already seen this, but it is now in the normal beta channel.[9] If you grab the beta of Chrome 4, either as a version upgrade from Chrome or a new install, you'll get an option in your "wrench" menu to synchronize bookmarks, enabled through your Google account. We've shown you this feature when it was an optional switch, but this feature looks to make it into the final build of Chrome's Windows release. Google touts Chrome's DOM Core speeds (i.e. jQuery powers) at its blog post, continuing in the tradition of browser makers constantly changing their speed metrics.[10] The latest Windows version of Google Chrome, version 4.0, is now in beta. It's reportedly a scorching 30% faster than the current release, and it includes a bookmark syncing feature that's been floating around in the developer preview version of the browser for some time.[11] ''Aside from speed improvement which according to Google is a 30% improvement from the current stable release, the new Chrome beta comes with bookmark synching feature. This new feature simply means that you can now synchonize all your bookmarks across all computers where you installed Google Chrome beta.[12] I've downloaded the new Chrome beta release but ''haven't started synching bookmarks on my desktop at home and at the office. Will have to check later whether this feature goes well. I would have to say though that this latest beta version of Google Chrome is definitely faster than the previous version I was using.[12] At the time users had to specifically activate the feature in the latest Dev channel release via a command-line flag. The Chrome 4 beta release now enables this feature by default and users need only sign in using their Google account on each of their computers to use it. According to Google, once activated, any changes to the bookmarks will automatically be synched on all of their computers in a "few seconds" using the same XMPP -based servers that power Google Talk.[13] "Today's new beta release allows you to do just that! You can keep your Google Chrome bookmarks synchronized and up-to-date across the multiple computers you use, without needing to manually recreate your bookmarks every time you use a different computer."[4]
A new beta release of the Google Chrome browser introduces bookmark synchronisation and delivers further speed improvements.[14] Google has delivered a new beta release of its Chrome browser, with bookmark sync as the headline feature.[14] Google has released version 4.0 of its Chrome browser for Windows, which introduces the bookmark sync feature first rolled out in a developer-only preview version in August. While Google's Anthony LaForge showed huge excitement for Chrome's latest feature addition in a video explanation, it's hardly new.[15] Google Chrome bookmark sync is a new feature introduced with version 4.0 Beta, with a self-explanatory moniker.[16] The development of Google Chrome has certainly been interesting thus far. It's seems like we're always getting the "30% faster" claim (who's complaining?), and tons of other great features. No different this time, dear readers, because Google has just let loose beta build 4.0.223.16 of Chrome, and you know what? Google claims the browser is 30% faster and they're introducing a new feature called Bookmark Syncing.[17] According to Google's blog post about the beta release, the sync feature has to first be activated on each of your computers where Google Chrome is used. To do this, you'll need to download the beta build of the browser available here.[7] A new release of Google Chrome 4.0 is now available for download, full build string 4.0.223.16. Loyal to a Cloud-tailored mantra of simplicity and performance, Google has kicked up a notch its open source browser, revealing the first Beta development milestone of version 4.0.[16]
According to Google, the new beta is also 30 percent faster than the browser's current stable version and 400 percent faster than the first stable version of Chrome.[18]
"Recently, we announced that we're starting to ramp up hiring for positions across the company, continuing our investment in the future as we imagine it. That future is shaped by small teams of creative people who want to make a difference. We're on the hunt for these kind of people -- let us know if you think you're one of them." The Chrome team, undistracted by its windfall, turned loose a new beta of version 4 of the browser, featuring the addition of bookmark synchronization across multiple computers and speed improvements that make it 30 percent faster than Chrome 3 and 400 percent faster than Chrome 1.[19] Chrome 4.0.223.16, which runs only on Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7, includes the ability to sync bookmarked sites across multiple computers, said Idan Avraham and Anton Muhin, a pair of Google software engineers who announced the beta on a company blog late on Monday. Bookmark sync requires that all the machines being kept in step run the Chrome beta, and that the user has a Google account, such as a Gmail username and password.[20] Google has a lot riding on its Google Chrome Web browser. The search engine Nov. 2 added bookmark sync for its latest build of Chrome to let the browser's 30 million users to keep their favorite Web pages up to date across multiple computing devices.[5] You'll be able to access your bookmarks in a weird location: a read-only folder in Google Docs (things will look less weird when Google Docs is transformed into Google Drive, a general-purpose online storage service). Install Google Chrome's dev build on a different computer and you'll be able to access your bookmarks, edit them and all the changes will be saved online. It is unfortunately not possible to sync bookmarks across multiple web browsers using this method.[21]
The latest developer versions of the Google Chrome browser come with the build in option to synchronize bookmarks across multiple computer systems by utilizing a Google account to store the data.[21] The latest builds of the Google browser, for example 4.0.223.11 and above, offer bookmark syncing between multiple computer systems running Google Chrome out of the box.[21]
There's no way to set the interval between synchronizations, but Avraham and Muhin said that "any changes you make to your bookmarks will appear on all synced computers in just a few seconds." Google is using the same servers based on XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) that power its Google Talk instant messaging service for Chrome's sync. Most other browsers can sync bookmarks only with special add-ons, such as the free Xmarks, which is compatible with Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE), Mozilla's Firefox, Apple's Safari, and Chrome.[20] The latest leap by Google's Chrome has helped it inch closer to the third-ranking Apple Safari browser; which is behind the top rankers - Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) and Mozilla's Firefox.[22]
Google works in hyperwarp compared to the rest of the browser industry, slapping a major version number on browser updates that include only minor feature improvements. It's taken Mozilla about seven years to get to version 3.6 of Firefox, for example, while Google has raced to version 4 of Chrome in little over a year. The standout feature of Chrome 4 is bookmark synchronisation - a feature that Internet Explorer and Firefox have offered for years via extensions such as Xmarks.[23] Chrome's new speed claims come on the heels of similar statements from Mozilla, which released the beta version of Firefox 3.6 on Friday. Despite the media attention heaped on Chrome since its initial release last year, the browser is still far behind in popularity compared to the two market leaders: Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.[3] While it still lags behind Internet Explorer and Firefox, Google Chrome's simplicity, speed and functionality has attracted many users. "As with every release, this new beta comes with many speed improvements," Google said in a statement on its blog.[8] According to new figures from Net Applications, both Firefox and Google Chrome continue to wrestle away market share from long time leader Internet Explorer, with Chrome seeing the strongest growth. Chrome saw over 10 percent growth to reach 3.58 percent market share, while Firefox continued its ascent moving to 24.07 percent.[24] If you compare browser market share data from Net Applications for IE, Chrome and Safari for September 2009 versus September 2008 (as illustrated by the Atlantic's Daniel Indiviglio), it's pretty clear that Microsoft has given up nine points of market share to Firefox (+4 basis points), Chrome (+3), and Safari (+2). Why is this significant? Well, imagine if Google's search share had fallen from around 65% last year to 56% now; people would say the sky was falling, and they'd be right. It would be a lot worse for Google, as search share is directly related to the company's only significant revenue stream, which is online advertising. This nine-point decline isn't less significant for being an indirect indicator of the direction in which Microsoft is headed: down. It's not as if Opera, for instance, were catching fire with the hip crowd (which would be a lot better sign than what's actually going on).[25] Overall, the October figures reveal that a monthly downturn in IE helped the other browser's to gain market foothold. Other than the Chrome, Firefox gained 0.3 of a percentage point to end up with 24 percent share for the month; while Safari gained 0.2 of a percentage point to end the month with 4.4 browser-market share. The increase of 0.4 of a percentage point for Google's Chrome happens to be its biggest increase thus far for the Windows-only browser which was launched in September last year.[22] NetApplications shows Chrome with only a 3.58 percent market share at the end of October, compared to 24 percent for Firefox and 65 percent for IE. But remember, Chrome only launched a year ago, so that is a fast ramp by any standard. Google is signaling with this award (which was previously won by the teams which created Gmail, Google Maps, and AdSense) and this figure that it is dead serious about Chrome.[26]
According to the most recent data forwarded by the Aliso Viejo, California-based Web metrics firm Net Applications, with 0.4 of a percentage point increase in its Web-browser market share in October, the Google Chrome ended the month with a 3.6 percent share of the browser market.[22] Chrome accounted for about 3.6% of all browsers used last month, according to just-released data from Web measurement company Net Applications, but Chrome gained more market share in October than either Firefox or Safari.[20] You can see the market share pie for October 2009, according to Net Applications, at the top of this post. The graph just above shows how things at Ars are very different: Firefox continues to dominate, but the default browsers for Windows and Mac OS X still show their strength, and Chrome's lead over Opera is much more significant at Ars.[27]
There are numerous bug fixes for all platforms and Mac users finally get printing and the Apple Quicktime plugin. What's also interesting from my point of view is that Google is now treating its Chrome Frame - the effort to enable Chrome to run inside of a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser - as its own release version, same as Windows, Linux and Mac. There are 14 seperate fixes for Chrome Frame made by Google in its recent release, and that's significant. It means that Google takes its fight to take over IE from the inside seriously and is putting the full weight of its Chrome engineering expertise into the effort.[28] Google's Chrome is catching up on popular web browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer as Google recently claimed Chrome now has 30 million active users. Google is still one of the most generous companies in the Silicon Valley and the company is yet again willing to go the extra mile in offering the best perks to its employees.[29] An alternative that is working with multiple web browsers is the Xmarks extension which supports Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer ]] Internet Explorer and Safari.[21]
Fresh on the heels of Firefox's latest beta, Google has also just released a new beta build of their Chrome web browser.[7] Google has released the first beta of Chrome 4, the latest version of its increasingly popular web browser. For those wondering if they've banged their head and woken up in 2018, don't adjust your sets.[23]
Google's Chrome 4 web browser is now in Beta. Chrome 4 has been in the dev-channel cycle since August and has one key differentiating feature over its predecessors in the Chrome 3 browser series, bookmark syncing.[30] Chrome 4.0 also adds the ability to accommodate extensions, but it's not enabled in this version. This is another feature which has left Chrome behind competing browsers, but its other innovations are what draw users to it. Speaking of other innovations, Chrome 4.0 introduces other significant features, although it's not clear whether they'll arrive in the beta or stable versions. One such feature is Google's Native Client, which allows JavaScript applications to take advantage of the PC's processor through a secure mechanism.[15] Now any Chrome users can use the feature with minimal effort. To activate it and get the bookmarks synced in seconds, users need to click the wrench menu on the right of the Chrome browser tab, select "Synchronize my bookmarks" and sign in with their Google account identification.[5]
Google Chrome 4.0 Beta allows users to synchronize bookmarks across multiple devices that are running v4.0 of the open source browser.[16] Chrome's version allows you to log-in to your browser with your Google account details and synchronise bookmarks across multiple machines in real-time - which means a bookmark added to your work machine will appear instantly on your home PC.[23]
Computerworld - Google upgraded the beta version of its Chrome browser yesterday, adding integrated bookmark synchronization and boasting of a 30% speed improvement over the current production edition.[20] Google has announced that Chrome 4.0 has hit beta stage, an update which adds more speed and better bookmark functionality. Now users who have Chrome installed on a number of computers ''' say at home and at work ''' can sync their bookmarks so there's no need to re-visit and save your favourite sites for each and every machine.[31] "Once you've activated Google Chrome bookmark sync on each of your computers, any changes you make to your bookmarks will appear on all synced computers in just a few second (For those of you who are curious, this bit of magic is made possible by the same XMPP -based servers that power Google Talk )," the company says. Google also says that this version is faster.[4] "Once you've activated Google Chrome bookmark sync on each of your computers, any changes you make to your bookmarks will appear on all synced computers in just a few seconds," said the web giant in a blog post.[6]
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Google Chrome 4 Beta debuts including bookmark sync.[30] Google introduced the bookmark sync feature for the developer-preview version in August, and now it is also in the better-tested beta version, Chrome 4.0.223.16.[32] The app is available now for download via the beta channel. Google is pushing bookmark sync as the major innovation of this latest version. The feature lets users sync their preferred sites across multiple systems in a matter of seconds.[18]
To sync your bookmarks across multiple locations, just download the beta version of Chrome on each computer you use, and repeat the steps outlined above. When you add, delete, or edit your Chrome bookmarks on any device, those changes will be updated across all your computers.[3]
'''You can keep your Google Chrome bookmarks synchronised and up-to-date across the multiple computers you use, without needing to manually recreate your bookmarks every time you use a different computer,''' said software engineers Idan Avraham and Anton Muhin in a post on the Google blog.[33]
More people will get a chance to try out bookmark synchronization with Monday's release of a beta version of Google Chrome for Windows.[32] Version 4.0.223.16 is Windows only, Google informed, giving no indications as to any future plans to offer Chrome 4.0 for users of Linux and Mac OS X platforms as well. In this regard, early adopters looking to start test driving Google Chrome 4.0 Beta will need to do it on Windows XP SP2, and SP3, Vista RTM/SP1/SP2 and Windows 7.[16] Realizing that, Google, which is investing considerable cash in Chrome OS, should be concerned. How will it take out Windows? How will it see a return on its investment? The more people enjoy using Windows 7, the worse it will be for Google and Chrome OS. A few years ago, I would have been hard-pressed to say that Microsoft really understands its users. It seemed that, for a while, the company was content to maintain status quo while other firms, like Google, set the new pace in the industry.[34] Let's start with the 2-point gain for Safari. One thing is clear: this isn't about PC users switching to Safari; it's about the general hysteria around the iPhone 3GS lifting all things Apple, while potential PC users waited for Microsoft to introduce Windows 7 before deciding whether or not to buy a new PC. The 3-point gain for Chrome is about the growing netbook phenomenon, and the agnosticism of netbook makers for both operating systems and Web browsers -- including the eponymous Chrome operating system which, whether Steve Ballmer likes it or not, is Microsoft's first real rival in the netbook market. Microsoft is expecting a bounce in those numbers once the effect of Windows 7 has manifested itself at retail, but the howls of pain felt by Vista users trying to upgrade to Windows 7 has probably dampened any consumer enthusiasm Microsoft might have drummed up with it's "Windows 7 was my idea" ad campaign.[25]
The latest build improves performance by 30% since the current stable release of Chrome and by 400% since the very first stable release, as measured by Mozilla's Dromeao DOM Core Tests. Both companies are going head-to-head when it comes to browser speed, JavaScript performance and startup times, but no official speed tests have been done yet to compare the two new beta releases.[7] Windows: The latest beta release of Google's Chrome browser ups its dynamic page building speed by quite a bit.[10]
Google has added bookmark syncing to Chrome in its latest beta. The beta for Chrome 4 will let you see the same bookmarks in every instance of the browser that you use, so long as you'''ve synchronised them.[33]
Not just quickly, mind you, but immediately. This is possible because XMPP is what's known as a "real-time" communication protocol - the same one that powers Google Talk, the company's IM service. The use of this sort of technology hints at how Google plans to make their Chrome web browser the core of their upcoming netbook operating system, Google Chrome OS.[7] Speed is a big deal for Chrome and Google's forthcoming Chrome Operating System, which will be the Linux-based launching platform for the Chrome browser and Web applications. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has praised Chrome OS for its speed versus other OS'. Google Chrome team members had other reasons to celebrate their progress with the browser, which launch in September 2008.[5] The new OS will run web applications "in the cloud," a radical change from current OS offerings where many applications are still installed on the computer's hard drive itself. With Chrome (the browser's) ability to synchronize data in real-time between computers, it's easy to see how a cloud OS could operate. It wouldn't matter which machine you used, your data would be available, stored in the cloud, synchronized, and all accessible upon login to your Google account. That prospect is either amazing or terrifying depending on your trust level when it comes to Google. Perhaps it's even both.[7]
"In particular, as web applications we use every day become increasingly dynamic, browsers like Google Chrome need to be able to construct and change elements on web pages as fast as possible.[8] If Google Chrome is not your thing, but you like the concept of bookmark syncing, you can also get the same functionality on other popular browsers.[3]
Chrome OS is of course based on the Chrome browser and I can see Google leveraging the same kind of sync XMPP engine on the desktop to sync and backup a whole lot more than just user's bookmarks.[30] The ability to sync bookmarks is likely to make Google Chrome that much more popular. It has already seen significant growth in its global user base from 3.4 percent to 3.6 percent from September to October this year.[8] The bookmarks will be uploaded. As users do this to multiple devices, Chrome will ask users if they want to merge bookmarks. To see this action, check out this video demo. Google also claims it boosted performance scores on Chrome by 30 percent since its current stable release, according to Mozilla's Dromeao DOM Core tests.[5] "We've improved performance scores on Google Chrome by 30% since our current stable release, as measured by Mozilla's Dromeao DOM Core Tests, and by 400% since our first stable release," claim Google software engineers Idan Avraham and Anton Muhin on the Google Chrome blog.[23] "We've improved performance scores on Google Chrome by 30 per cent since our current stable release''' and by 400 per cent since our first stable release.[31]
Google said a Mac beta version of Chrome is a priority. "Our goal for this Friday is to be able to count our Mac P1 M4 release blocker bugs on one hand (we're in the 20s now)," said Chrome programmer Mike Pinkerton in a Google Chrome 4.0 graduates to beta status on CNET News.[32] Shankland also tracked down some news on the upcoming Chrome Mac Beta. The team working on it has been instructed to fix all their high-priority bugs by the end of the week, and it looks like getting the Mac version out is near the top of Google's to-do list.[11]
Chrome 4.0 is available for Windows only, although Google has been working on versions for Linux and Mac OS X for months. The Mac version -- the latest is 4.0.223.11 -- has remained in Google's "dev" channel since June, indicating its not ready for official beta testing.[20] Google has just released the latest beta version of its Chrome browser.[12] Google says the latest developer build of Chrome is thirty percent faster than the browser's current stable version.[3]
One of the ways Google recognizes and rewards project teams is its Founders Award, presented periodically by Larry Page and Sergey Brin for large-scale, game-changing achievements. This being Google, the prize is something more than a plaque and an autographed picture of Al Gore. As the company announced Monday, the latest honorees are the members of the team behind the Chrome browser, which has amassed more than 30 million active users in its first year, and for their efforts, they'll divvy up a multimillion-dollar stock bonus (and maybe some cake).[19] Maybe it still is, but Google is now fighting that perception in a very public way. Today, it announced that the Chrome Team won a Founder's Award for their achievements so far, and for the first time revealed how many people are using the Chrome browser: 30 million active users.[26]
Google Chrome dev build users might already know the feature from previous developer builds where it had to be enabled by launching the Google browser with the enable-sync parameter to enable the menu item and the feature.[21] Users that currently have a Chrome beta channel release installed can update using the built-in update function by clicking 'Tools', selecting 'About Google Chrome' and clicking the 'Update' button.[13] You can sign up for the beta releases here, and download the beta build here. Google made a video for the release (something that they nearly always do now), which we have''embedded''below. In a last comment, Google points out the this beta version of Chrome has sped up by a shocking 30%.[9] Google is claiming the Chrome 4 beta is 30 per cent faster than the current release, and 400 per cent faster than the very first version of Chrome. It may seem just yesterday that Chrome 3 was released, and that'''s because it was - or six weeks ago, at least.[33]
Google has three main releases for Chrome, dev, beta and stable channel. The move into the beta channel for Chrome 4 means it's getting ready for prime time.[30] Google distributes a browser three ways: through the Developer Channel with the latest, but also the least stable versions, beta releases of the channel and the channel with the finished version for production.[35] Net Applications says given Chrome's growth and recent beta release of Chrome 4, the browser will likely surpass Safari, and the 5 percent mark, by February of next year.[24] Chrome 3.0 was released in September offering 25 per cent improved performance on the previous release, HTML5 capabilities and a redesigned New Tab Page. Browser market share figures from Net Applications released this week show that Chrome is the fourth most widely used browser in the world with 3.6 per cent of the market.[6] Opera's Speed Dial is far superior to any similar offering from other browsers, while Chrome's clone was infuriating to start with (the pages I want always there on my front page are not always the ones I visit most for example). It might have a small market share but it's a strong product nevertheless.[23]
I just feel that most people making comparisons of Chrome vs Firefox's market share are really not taking into account the leverage Firefox had by coming out when it did. Don't get me wrong, it's a great browser, but it's success also has a lot to do with that often neglected fact.[26] Around half of that lost market share has gone to Mozilla's Firefox (19.6% rising to 24.07%) with the rest going to Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome.[36] I don't care whether Safari or Chrome gains market share. They are both based on WebKit, i.e. practically identical from the perspective of a web-author. Therefore any growth for WebKit makes it more worthwhile for a website to support WebKit, rather than just Internet Explorer. End-users, they get to choose which UI around WebKit is their favorite (Safari or Chrome).[37]
For now, Internet Explorer still reigns supreme against Chrome in the browser market. Although it's gaining steam, Android has yet to establish itself in the mobile space. Chrome OS is also very much a question mark. All the while, it's Microsoft that Google is looking up at. Although Microsoft's partnership with Yahoo won't help it rule the search-engine space, it does improve its chances of getting closer to Google.[34] In Opera since version 9.5. The synchronization of bookmarks between browsers as Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari (in the case of the latter in the installation of Mac OS X) is a useful free extension Xmarks (formerly Foxmarks).[35] For web browsers, Internet Explorer still represents more than 60 percent of the market. That would be great for Microsoft, if it weren't for the fact IE is down about 10 percent from a year ago and Firefox is up about 5 percent.[37] Microsoft Internet Explorer's (IE) share of the browser market fell for the fourth consecutive quarter to its lowest recorded level in October, according to Net Applications.[38] Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft's most recent update to the browser, had 18.1 percent share, moving it to within days of surpassing Internet Explorer 7 at 18.2.[24]
The eight-year-old and extremely inefficient Internet Explorer 6 remained the leader for the pack, at 23.2 percent. IE6 remains the leader despite Microsoft's plea for users to stop using the browser, if they have the choice.[24]
The figures come from visitors to sites which use Net Application's web application services. While that represents only a sample of the entire Internet browsing audience, it's large and diverse enough to give a reliable overall picture, particularly with such a clear and continued trend. In most cases where a user changes their browser, they are starting from the default option, Internet Explorer, and then switching to a rival. If they try a different browser and don't like it, they'll usually switch back quickly enough that it makes little difference to such figures.[36]
Unfortunately for the Apple web browser, Google's Chrome is gaining faster. Compiling data from more than 160 million visitors to its worldwide network of sites, web metrics firm Net Applications has released numbers for the month.[37] Considering that Google is ranked #1 on the web; the Chrome Browser is growing in popularity very fast. It is the most secure web browser; hackers don't like playing in the "sandbox".[26]
Chrome is an early adopter, power-user, geek elite browser like Firefox was 5 years ago. Almost all of their 30 million users users are in the "heavy web users" category and each one will account for a large amount of _usage_.[26] Not just at loading web pages but in general start up and responsiveness too. With Firefox I loved the extensions but they didn't half eat up system resources. Used to annoy me when I'd want to try a new beta and half of them wouldn't work. They all do the same thing but you should find that you're far more productive using the right one as having a browser nicely set up can really speed up your web activities. That tab search has got me unhealthily excited! Used to love Firefox and the extensions but I'm firmly in the Chrome camp now. It really is so much faster.[2] Listen up. Three major new browser betas have hit the world today and they provide significant insight into how the masses will be surfing in the next few months: Firefox 3.6, Chrome 4.0 and Opera Mini 10.[2]
Once you've downloaded the Chrome beta, you can access the new feature by clicking on the wrench icon on the far right side of your browser window.[3] Once again lifted from Opera Link, which was implemented in Opera years ago. There is nothing innovative about this from Chrome. Its nice for all browsers to have a bookmark syncing ability. Sadly this feature is not available in the linux builds of chromium yet but I welcome this feature when they get round to it.[7] Opera has had support for synchronization for years now (Opera Link), only it isn't restricted to synchronizing bookmarks, but history and custom searches among other things too, even between the different versions of its browser (mobile, desktop). I find it amazing that Opera, as solid a browser product as any other and a pioneer of a lot of browser ideas like this one, is consistently omitted in news reporting, not only here but elsewhere too.[23] @John: If you don't feel like waiting, check out Opera v10 for Mac. It has the original Speed Dial and Opera Link (bookmark sync) and custom search shortcuts and 'Quick Find search from the address bar' that were "borrowed" bit-by-bit by lesser browsers.[26] I can import all my bookmarks from Safari to Opera quite easily, but I can't figure out how to automatically sync Opera bookmarks to Safari. If I could sort this 1 issue out Opera would be my browser of choice on the mac.[26]
The browser syncs bookmarks using Google Docs, the company's Web-based application suite.[20] Google is directly integrating the sync into the browser and leveraging the power of the Google cloud to do it. This narrows the gap between desktop and cloud computing and brings Chrome into the Google online services fold. Browser sync also give us a very early preview of what Google has in store from Chrome OS, it's netbook operating system.[30] Google Chrome's bookmark sync has come a long way since I last looked at it.[39] Google Group has just 4 beta of Google Chrome. The main novelty is the ability to synchronize bookmarks with those stored at Google. In this way you can harmonize bookmarks between many different instances of Chrome.[35] To download the latest build of Google Chrome beta, head over to the Chrome beta site here.[7] Ahead of the November 2nd launch of Google Chrome 4.0 Beta, version 4.0 was offered exclusively through the Mountain View search giant's developer channel. This is no longer the case.[16] One aspect of Google Chrome's evolution that is also characteristic of version 4.0 Beta, is the added horsepower introduced by the Mountain View search giant.[16]
Recently Portable version of chrome was launched, Portable Google Chrome 3.0 ( http://inforids.e-for-download/ ) & thats really good.[26]
Google Chrome development is moving along full speed ahead. Why is this news? Well let me tell you. Early last week, Google developer Anthony LaForge ( no not Geordi, he's working on the warp core still. ) issued a 'Code Yellow' alert halting all Google Chrome release until some critical bugs could be fix.[28] More details about the release can be found in a post by Google Engineering Program Manager Jonathan Conradt on the Google Chrome Releases Blog.[13] The ever innovative company, Google recently granted a Founders' Prize, a multimillion-dollar stock bonus, to the team that developed Google Chrome and is willing to extend the same offer to the rest of the engineering community.[29]
It is good to work at Google, especially if you are on a successful product team. Along these lines, Google has announced that members of the Chrome browser team will receive an early holiday bonus.[40] I don't think google is quite different from MS. Chrome is good and I sometimes use Chrome, but there are no reason to change to Chrome if you don't have any specific problem with the current browser which most people usually don't.[26] You also have to take into account, that it's probably not home based users with IE6 or 7 that is giving that big of a number, but more on the side of corporations that are still using IE since it is more secured in a corporate environment rather than FF, Safari, or Chrome. If you can show me 1 company that uses mainly other than IE for it's day to day browsers, I will show you 10 companies that use it. Working in an IT field, I find it much easier to utilize FF rather than IE only because IE is just a pain in the arse to use when multi-tasking and accessing information sooner rather than later, unfortunately, IE has all the security that is being used in a corporate environment so it's kind of a catch 22.[24] I have both Safari 4 and Chrome installed on my Windows machine. Overall, I much prefer Safari as it's more of a full featured browser. I do like Chrome's search bar that's used for both URLs and searches. That's both a great idea and a good use of space.[37]
Sony and others are considering bringing Windows 7 computers with Chrome browser pre-installed instead of IE, and Chrome OS is going to be released within weeks for $100 ARM based laptops that will dominate the laptop market.[26] To synchronize your bookmarks on all your computers, you need to activated by clicking on the wrench icon in your Chrome browser, then select "Synchronize my bookmarks", then click "Merge sync."[12] Even more, you can now sync your bookmarks across multiple computers. Chrome, recently found to have an install base of 30 million, has long been known for its jet-fighter speed.[9] In addition to a number of bug fixes and speed improvements, the latest beta release adds the ability for for users to synchronise their bookmarks between multiple computers.[13] "The Beta Channel is being updated to 4.0.223.16 which is our first Beta release for 4.0. This release includes many bug fixes and for the first time Bookmark Sync is enabled.[16] Google is leveraging the XMPP servers it uses for Google Talk to make the magic happen. That's pretty clever since the first word in IM is "instant." While the new bookmark sync feature is welcome, it's only part of the puzzle.[39] While Bookmark Sync is the most interesting feature to debut in the new beta, there are some notable speed improvements to mention, too.[7]
And, as with all Chrome updates Google has once again felt the need for speed. As Google explains on its blog : "This new beta comes with many speed improvements.[31] The new beta will also come with speed improvements, Google said, and 30 per cent better performance than the current Chrome 3.0.[6]
Google inexplicably gives a fresh version number to every new release of Chrome, even it it'''s just a tiny upgrade.[33] For the Chrome-using slice of the world, get ready. Google is releasing a new build of Chrome that is its fastest release yet.[9]
By the end of the week, not only was the Code Yellow lifted, but Google also managed to issue two dev-channel releases for the Chrome browser.[28] I am an early adopter of Google Chrome all the way from day one. It is simply the greatest browser I have ever used.[26] Chrome is very light and very fast browser so i think that's the reason behind the popularity of google chrome.[26]
The security of Google Chrome will only lead to the creation of the most secure Operating System on the market when Chrome OS is released early next year.[26] Based on WebKit and released just over a year ago for Windows, Google's Chrome is now at 3.57 percent, up from 3.17 percent in September.[37] Net Applications pegged Chrome usage at 3.6 percent in October up from 3.2 percent to 3.6 percent in September. Yeaah it's small, but that's why Chrome Frame is so important to Google.[28] Microsoft has the money. Although Google is trying to make its way into the software space with applications such as Chrome and Android, it has yet to gain a real footing.[34]
The browser numbers, on the other hand, reflect significant sample sizes and timelines against which trends can be compared. Microsoft is lucky it still has business users in the thrall of its enterprise license agreements, because the trend among consumers is growing clearer by the day, and where browsers are concerned it's not good for Microsoft. It's not so much Mac that Microsoft should fear as much as Chrome, which is built for the Web, allows retailers to sell netbooks at lower prices while maintaining margins, and has a much prettier logo.[25] Early adopter users use the Web more than late adopters. Firefox's first 30 million users were probably a lot more like Chrome's current 30 million users, but today Firefox has more than 330 million users and most of them are not power users, they're "regular people".[26] Try Chrome side by side with Firefox or IE in 10 Web pages and say with a straight face that you notice a huge difference in speed. Of those 30 million users, a large portion are people like me and you technorati who mess around with kind of thing as a hobby.[26]
Have been using Chrome since it came out, and it has never let me down like IE and FireFox. I really like it's everyday operation.[26]
When you start introducing more competitors, shifts seem less dramatic. 30 million users in a year is nothing to scoff at. If Chrome had come out first and had as much time on the market as Firefox has, I have no doubt it would easily outnumber the amount of users Firefox has at this time.[26] I have been using Chrome for more than a year and I cannot live without it. It is relatively very fast compared to IE and Firefox. I tested IE and Firefox last week just for comparison and they cannot beat Chrome.[26]
Although still the market leader, IE's market share dropped 1.07 percentage points to 64.64%, continuing the more or less steady decline it has experienced over the past five years. Unless Microsoft is able to reverse the loss, its market share could drop below 50% in the next two years. Mozilla's Firefox browser continues to expand its reach, with its market share rising to a new high of 24.07% in October. This beat the previous record of 23.84% set in April.[38] While having browser sync is not a new idea, delicious has been doing it for years and there have multiple add-on efforts for Firefox to include synchronization, Google's approach is a little different.[30] As to what sort of data that could be, Google can't provide any official confirmation just yet. They did say that you could imagine that "this type of infrastructure could be extended to other types of user data such as passwords" in the future. We'll speculate that it will eventually include those passwords, your browser history, and whatever favorite websites appear as thumbnails on the New Tab page. If Mozilla's Weave Sync prototype can handle those sorts of tasks already, there's no reason to believe that Google couldn't do the same.[7]
The user can activate the service through my bookmarks Sync option in the configuration menu. After synchronizing bookmarks, you can also reach them using Google Docs.[35] Bookmark sync appeared in the Chrome for the developer build in August, but the average user doesn't subscribe to that channel.[5] The latest Windows beta build now offers bookmark sync, which by itself may not sound glamorous.[39]
If that sounds like a reasonable trade for more dynamic page speed and bookmark syncing, Chrome 4 Beta is a free download for Windows systems only. Send an email to Kevin Purdy, the author of this post, at kevin@lifehacker.com.[10] The beta for the lastest Chrome browser includes bookmark synching and is 30 per cent faster than the last version.[33] I see a few comments saying "still using FF and Safari" etc. Why the heck are you? Fair enough if your on a Mac and don't want to beta test the current version but if you're on Windows then what's the deal? It's the fastest and most stable browser for Windows, I've been using it for 14 months intensively for both work (along with FF) and home and its been almost flawless throughout.[26] I may still use it occasionally but as of now I've got my favorite browser back in operation on mac os 10.6. Safari 4 beta! I loved tabs on top. It saves quite a bit of screen space and I have yet to find a browser that has such a small menubar that is still as usable as safari 4 beta. I'll probably stick with Safari until Apple gets off their pompous ass and releases Safari 4 with the option for tabs on top.[37]
Even if one were to include Safari on iPhone OS, it would do no more than delay the inevitable a little longer. There are just too many Windows users looking for alternatives to IE. Apple isn't really interested in getting people to use Safari for Windows anyway, but rather getting them to use Safari for the Mac.[37]
Then again, Safari on Mac is way better than Safari on Win (which is really good though, but it lacks OS integration and thus addon support, unlike Safari on Mac), so I'd prefer seeing a graph of browser market share on the Mac.[37] Unlike Linux, the iPhone OS is steadily increasing share, and with the introduction of the iPhone in China and the U.S. holiday season, iPhone OS may break half a percent by the end of the year. To put that number in perspective, it's about a 10th the market share of Mac OS X.[37] Regarding market share by version, after jumping to 18 percent in the month after release, Snow Leopard increased to just 21 percent of OS X users for October, with plain-old Leopard accounting for 50 percent of the user base.[37] The problem with Safari is that the Windows version just never caught on. After more than two years, its market share is yet to reach a third of 1 percent.[37] Opera slid 0.02 percentage points (from 2.19 percent to 2.17 percent). Although IE's decline seems to be unceasing, the real shame is that the old versions have more share than the newer ones (we can only hope that as Windows 7 gains popularity, this trend will reverse).[27] Apple's Safari went from 3.24% in September to 3.42% last month. Microsoft is hoping the recent launch of its Windows 7 operating system can provide a lift to IE's falling market share.[38] Compared to last month, IE gained share (possibly due to our review of Windows 7 ), but so did Firefox.[27]
Firefox claims 330 million users under 24% market share. Thats 13.750 million users per 1%, making for a 1,375,000,000 total user base. I know these numbers (particularly browser %'s) should always be taken with a grain of salt though just emphasizing that.[26] Internet Explorer 6 has finally been surpassed by Firefox according to the latest worldwide market share numbers.[27] Internet Explorer is slowly losing market share to its biggest rivals, Apple and Google, for reasons as disparate as they are significant. Internet Explorer is slowly losing market share to its biggest rivals, Apple and Google, for reasons as disparate as they are significant.[25]
Interestingly was the numbers behind Internet Explorer, which although still the clear market leader at 64.64 percent, is a far cry from the 93 percent share it owned in 2003.[24]
Internet Explorer users can download the Windows Live Toolbar to store and sync bookmarks with Microsoft's online storage service, SkyDrive.[3] Internet Explorer remains ahead of the rest of the competition, but since month after month it continues to lose ground to all other browsers, Firefox has now finally surpassed IE6, which is easily the most hated version of Microsoft's browser.[27]
Microsoft's share of the Internet browser market has fallen by almost a tenth in the space of one year. Monitoring firm Net Applications has just released its browser statistics for October.[36] @Keith the 30M figure comes from Google, the market share figures come from Net Applications.[26] At 0.37 percent in October, and combined with 0.07 percent for the iPod touch, iPhone OS now measures 0.44 percent of total OS market share. While that may seem insignificant, it's a little less than half what Net Applications reports Linux as having.[37]
Gauging browser share is a black art, at best. They're US-skewed, which would be like tabulating OS market share in Redmond and extrapolating globally. (Plus, they've been demonstrably dishonest in the past, as you can see from the linkfugly).[26]
Sure, but Chrome has more market share, is faster, and is growing more quickly. Opera is great though, I have Opera on both my computers.[9]
I'm wondering if there will be a way to manage or add bookmarks from within Google Docs. It would be a simple way to get at or manipulate bookmarks on a computer that doesn't have Chrome installed.[39] Activate bookmark syncing on each of your computers, and Chrome will automatically synchronize any changes to your bookmarks across all your machines. It's made possible by the magic of XMPP, which also powers Google Talk.[11] Any changes will be replicated across any computer that you'''ve activated bookmark sync on. The pair explained: '''For those of you who are curious, this bit of magic is made possible by the same XMPP-based servers that power Google Talk.'''[33] Bookmark sync transfers any changes to the bookmarks on one computer to all the others linked through a Google account.[14]
Browser and search history are likely desirable bits of data too, but Google offers the option to provide the search history, regardless of browser. Although Google didn't mention this in their blog post, I noticed something interesting when I performed an initial sync: Google is also leveraging Google Docs for the bookmark data.[39] The bookmarks will still be stored in Google Docs and not in Google Bookmarks, apparently because of the way bookmarks are stored in the web browser.[21]
There is a perception that Google's Chrome is a rounding error when it comes to browsers.[26] Back in August, I had some issue with the bookmarking syncing feature which wasn't really well integrated with either Google's online services or with Chrome itself. That was months ago, and Google has since improved the whole process.[30] According to Stephen Shankland at CNET, Google is reworking the extensions interface for Chrome, so that feature is disabled for now.[11]
According to Google software engineers Idan Avraham and Anton Muhin, the synchronisation occurs within seconds and uses the servers behind Google Talk. There was no indication of when this feature is likely to arrive in a stable release.[14] Add a new feature and add a +1 to the release version is the policy with Google.[23]
Google's strategy to date has been a somewhat traditional volume licensing play, working with hardware and carrier partners to spread Android far and wide as the mobile operating system of choice, rather than following Apple's lead with a complete hardware and software design like the iPhone. Almost two years later, the software is rounding into form with the release of several phones this year along with the pending release of the Motorola Droid, which runs Android 2.0 on Verizon's network. This article was first published as a blog post on CNET News.[41]
Chrome's rate of growth, plus the imminent release of a Mac version, as well as one for Linux, leads inexorably towards Chrome passing Safari, most likely by year's end.[37] I'll TRY Chrome, when GOOG gets off its tail and ships a stable version, but I continue to be most impressed with Firefox 3 (Mac); I prefer it even to Safari.[37]
I've found Chrome to agree very closely with FF (and Safari not surprisingly), especially code-wise, though there is the odd discrepancy in the rendering IE on the other hand Would be so nice if we didn't have to support IE anymore. Someday soon, with any luck! (If their versions even agreed with each other, let alone with the other browsers, that would be an improvement.)[26] I use Filehippo.com for my main freeware updates and was surprised to see this story. Why? As the first version 4 of Chrome was released back in August, and my wife has been running it on her Vista laptop since then, as her default browser.[23] Chrome was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2 2008.[8]
The latest beta is claimed to be 30% faster than the current stable release of Chrome, at least according to Mozilla's Dromeao DOM Core tests of JavaScript performance.[14] Specifically, Chrome's performance has improved by 30%, based on Mozilla's Dromeao DOM Core tests. That is compared to the most recent stable release. It's actually improved by as much as 400% since the first stable release.[4]
Recently, we announced that we're starting to ramp up hiring for positions across the company, continuing our investment in the future as we imagine it. That future is shaped by small teams of creative people who want to make a difference. We're on the hunt for these kind of people ' let us know if you think you're one of them." The Founders Award comes in the wake of Brin's recent revelation that he was displeased that the Chrome team has not yet created a stable build for Chrome running on Macintosh machines. [5] With Chrome Frame, Google's addressable footprint is (theoretically) as big as IE's. No, we don't quite know at this point how many people have downloaded Chrome Frame, but the opportunity is still large for Google.[28] Chrome has neither to a full extent (okay speed, okay rendering and a few extensions released just recently), plus it has Google's evil eye spying on you all the time (unless you patch it, but that's a different story).[37] WebGL is another significant addition - it does the same as Native Client, but with hardware-accelerated graphics. Together, these two innovations have the potential to dramatically improve web-based applications - something Google is banking on for its Chrome OS.[15] I have been using Chrome from its initial days and now its part of my online life. As a web developer, I feel to get decent applications on Chrome other web development standards need to be compatible this browser.[26] I'm still using Firefox for web development because Firebug is still indispensable, but for everyday browsing, Chrome is just so much faster.[26] There is no reason why anyone should be using the headache that is Firefox or heaven forbid, IE. Chrome is simple, and a heck of a lot faster than any other alternative.[26]
According to a new set of stats from Net Applications, Chrome is gaining on IE (though very marginally).[28] Chrome has added 30 million users in 14 months compared to Firefox which has added 30 million new users in the last 8 weeks.[26] Not that I'm a particularly good data point, considering my employer, but I just switched from Firefox to Chrome as my default browser, and couldn't be happier.[26] We're talking about syncing with other computers with the Chrome browser installed, allowing you to take your bookmarks, well, anywhere.[17] You no longer need to manually recrete your bookmarks every time you use Chrome on a different computer.[12] The popular Xmarks extension has been around for quite some time and expanded beyond just supporting bookmark synchronisation in Firefox on different computers to synchronising bookmarks across multiple browsers as well.[15] If you have multiple computers signed in to Google, adding a bookmark on one computer adds it to the other in a near-real-time fashion.[39]
The stronger Microsoft's position is in search, the more Google should consider the possible ramifications of Microsoft getting too big. It might not garner the kind of respect it once did, but Windows is still an extremely important application. It runs on the vast majority of computers. It's the top enterprise operating system.[34] I don't think that's true anymore. Today, Microsoft seems to understand what its users want. Nowhere is that more evident than in Windows 7 and Bing. Google isn't the only company that understands its users any longer.[34] A Single Sign-In for All Your Websites? Google Hopes So The Official Google Blog on Tuesday beat the OpenID drum, and gave a quick run-through of how the service might benefit Facebook and Plaxo users. Best Buy Movie Downloads: Is the Death of the DVD Nigh? The emergence of multimedia niceties such as Windows 7'''s Internet TV and home networking standards such as DLNA 1.5 are starting to make streaming video all the more appealing.[3]
The official Google release notes say the browser is only compatible with Windows XP SP2 and Vista, although it installed perfectly on Windows 7 64-bit machine.[23] While that's something of a plateau, it will be interesting to see how adoption between Snow Leopard and Windows 7 compares. A week after the official launch, Windows 7 is at 3 percent, up from 2 percent a week ago based on those using early release versions.[37] OS X was at 5.26 percent for October, up from 5.12 percent in September so much for Windows 7 hurting the Mac.[37] Windows 7 Upgrade Woes Mount: Endless Reboots and Product Key Problems Microsoft message boards are active with users complaining of upgrade problems related to Windows 7. Consumers Won't Pay $120 for Windows 7 Upgrade We've gotten used to free or cheap software, so Microsoft should offer some deals for its newest OS.[3] Windows PC users can hold their heads up high again - after the Vista fiasco Microsoft needed a big win, and Windows 7 might just be the ticket.[18]
Established in 2001 and read by over 250,000 users world-wide, infopackets features the latest in headline news based on MS Windows, Internet, and technology trends. [36] When your internet connection ebbs & flows, other browser will only slow down, but the new Turbo feature in Opera will kick in to give you a ~3x rendering boost. Btw, it's great for pruning those ugly flash-heavy sites.[26] How is that relevant in this context? We're talking about browser features, surely the amount of 'muscle' a browser has matters in that context, not the amount of users? When it comes to the former Opera can comfortably play along with 'the big guys'. When it when it never gets credit where credit is due, then it will have a hard time improving on the latter.[23]
Pushing for a design feature is a far cry from designing an entire phone, contracting with a manufacturing partner to build it, and working the distribution channels to get it to market. That would be "a fundamental shift" in Google's business model, Rubin said, and one the company does not seem prepared to make at this time.[41] The bookmark synchronisation feature was originally introduced in mid-August by Google Software Engineer Tim Steele in a post on The Chromium Blog.[13] For now, the Sync feature is only synchronizing browser bookmarks, but the framework behind Sync is ultimately designed to handle the synchronization of other kinds of browser data as well.[7] Because the new Sync feature uses an XMPP connection to synchronize the changes, changes made on one computer are synchronized immediately to another.[7] I notice Firefox is slower then IE for a few things but, hey the user experience and features i need are there in Firefox and easier to use, given a page might load faster/slower is not a driving factor for me, power and functionality is. This message has been edited since posting.[24] Firefox is by far better, more features, easier to use, much easier to get and install add-ins.[24]
Chrome just doesn't work very well yet and lacks a lot of features that people like. [26] I don't know how many people use Chrome and I don't care. It's the best browser, and so I use it.[26] Chrome has as much of the browser share on my, decidedly non-tech, site as Netscape 4.[26]
Google Chrome also enjoyed a record gain in September, with a 0.4-point increase taking it to 3.6%.[38] Once installed, click the "wrench" menu (yes, the one with the wrench icon) in Google Chrome and select "Synchronize my bookmarks" from the menu that appears.[7] Until now, to change the channel, it was necessary to a small tool called Google Chrome Channel Changer.[35]
Google Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin recently gave the Chrome team a multi-million-dollar stock bonus for creating Chrome.[5] Google's developers clearly missed all the Halloween fun, with both the Chrome and Wave teams slinging out updates yesterday.[42]
A message posted to the Chromium-dev forum by a Google employee, however, indicates that the Mac team is pushing forward. "Our goal for this Friday is to be able to count our Mac P1 M4 release blocker bugs on one hand (we're in the 20s now)," wrote Mike Pinkerton.[20] "(The) future is shaped by small teams of creative people who want to make a difference. We're on the hunt for these kinds of people -- let us know if you think you're one of them," wrote Alan Eustace, senior vice president for engineering and research at Google.[29] "We're enabling other people to build hardware." Now, Google has played a role in designing phones that have emerged with Android, such as the G1. Google advocated the infamous hinge design on the G1 based on its desire to offer a phone with a five-row keyboard, Rubin said. That design was not popular with reviewers, however, and Rubin joked that perhaps that's why Google shouldn't make its own hardware.[41]
The benchmarks are not exactly good, Sorry, but Google's V8 benchmark suite does not provide as good a "real world" test as WebKit's Sunspider benchmark suite'''the reason you see "negligible real world" difference between the browser versions. [37] As the article states it took Mozilla 7 years to reach version 3.6 and Google a year and a bit to version 4.[23] One often overlooked reason that any not-Mozilla browser is succeeding right now is that Mozilla pushed the industry towards standards compliance from 2000-2004 when Firefox was released. It was Mozilla's effort that broke open the IE-only world of websites and that was no short-term task at all. It took years and years of outreach to Web sites and developers and a slow grind up to a few percent of the market to push the top 1000 or so sites to not be totally broken in not-IE browsers.[26] I've been using the daily builds of Chromium for months now and I've hardly bothered using Firefox at all. I could see Chrome/Chromium picking up a few percentage points in the next few years when the major distributions switch to it as their default browser. I think that's pretty inevitable; to me, Chromium is so self-evidently superior in every way that I'd be very surprised if this didn't happen.[26]
Firefox is a mainstream browser which means it has hundreds of millions of non-geek users. These "regular people" don't spend 24/7 online. They will account for a smaller amount of _usage_ each.[26] The system is the first to ship with a new 'ballot' option, which lets consumers choose whether to install IE or another browser. This could encourage more users to try a new browser instead.[38] New beta version but you can also install directly from the browser's homepage.[35] If you've only got the one machine, or would prefer your home surfing not to be reflected on your work machine, the new beta still promises a 30 per cent speed increase over the most recent version.[42]
Sound good? Go ahead and download Chrome 4.0 Beta. This beta version of Chrome is also notable for what it leaves out: extensions support.[11] I tried the Mac version of Chrome and it's missing a lot of functionality that Safari has, especially apparent in Chrome's lack of support for contextual Services and lack of any Apple Event support.[37] I tried the mac version of chrome and I was impressed with its performance. I was very unimpressed with its overall usability.[37]
Have you tried opera 10.1 for the mac yet? It's super fast, and most pages render perfectly and much, much more stable hen chrome.[26] Firefox's steady gain continues, Safari remains in a nonthreatening third place, Chrome is happily carving out a small niche for itself, and poor Opera can't seem to budge from fifth place.[27] Safari increased 0.18 percentage points (from 4.24 percent to 4.42 percent) while Chrome once again moved further away from Opera: it gained a worthy 0.41 percentage points (from 3.17 percent to 3.58 percent).[27] Safari now stands at 4.4 percent, up from 4.24 percent in September, and 2.87 percent last year, and that's great, but not as great as Chrome.[37] Going by the most recent trends, there are indications that the Chrome will outdo the Safari in February next year.[22]
Because the user experience of Chrome is far superior to Safari, especially for power users. As a web developer, it's even better.[37] I'm not a Chrome user, but I welcome the pressure this puts on FF to add bookmark synchronization.[7] Essentially, bookmark syncing will allow Chrome to do just that sync bookmarks.[17] Well, one new treat/trick, it seems, in the shape of bookmark sync, which allows bookmarks and subsequent updates to be mirrored across multiple machines.[42] The new Synchronize my bookmarks option is located in the Tools menu of the browser.[21] My biggest reason that I don't use it as my default browser is because I like to have my bookmarks synced to my iPhone and my mac mini via Mobile Me.[26]
Users wanting to continue using the latest extension API are advised to use the latest Dev channel release. As this is a beta channel release, use in production environments and on mission critical machines is not advised.[13] The download has to be performed manually and given it is a beta release may still have some glitches. For those who use a computer at work, a desktop at home and a laptop on business travel, such a facility will prove invaluable.[8]
The initial, and Windows-only release was 14 months ago. They said they were hard at work making a Mac version happen but that it was proving more difficult than they'd at first thought.[26]
I have to say, I've grudgingly replaced Firefox with Chrome at work. I love Firefox's plug-ins, but it's become so bloated that it's practically useless to me (due in large part to the plug-ins, I suspect). Its biggest advantage is also its biggest weakness. [26] Admittedly I haven't work with Firefox on the extension/plugin aspect so I can't really compare, but what I've found with Chrome seems pretty awesome.[26]
I love Chrome, but i think if it supports more plug in (add on) like firefox, it'''ll be much more better.[26]
In the slightly less nebulous world of Chrome, the firm has popped out a new beta, promising "a few new treats and cool tricks".[42] Now that I've upgraded with Windows 7 and IE probably fixed some bugs, I am still a loyal Chrome supporter.[26] A click on the Synchronize my bookmarks link will display a small popup window displaying a Google Account form.[21] Overall, Safari 4 is more appealing to me. In my opinion, this has more to do with the Windows world either disliking or distrusting Apple in general and loving everything Google.[37]
Funny how 3.6% is "strong" for a google product but any market share under 50% for microsoft products is weak. [26] The share of the Microsoft IE, which lost 9 points in the last year and 3 percentage points in the last three months, dropped by 1 percentage point during October to end up with a 64.7 percent share.[22] Apple's Safari still remains in third at 4.42 percent share, mainly due to increased Mac sales.[24] For October, OS X 10.6 and iPhone OS 3.0 continued to make incremental gains in market share, as did Safari.[37] There's lots of noise today about Windows 7 market share growing rapidly in percentage terms, but that's based on a small comparative and comes at the expense of Vista rather than OSX or anything else.[25]
It's a bit of spiced up figureGoogle might have also included users who use chrome once in a blue moon. [26] I've been using a variant of Chrome for awhile now, it's fantastic only still waiting till plugins are made public, so far there are only a few dev. plugins but are of little or no use.[26]
I am growing tired of the instabilities of ff and safari (pushing too hard in dev?) and hope to get a more stable platform with good performance out of chrome.[26] Doesn't seem logical to pretend you know how stable of a platform chrome will be. It is fast though but then so if Safari.[26]
Firefox is pretty darn great all around but features in Safari keep me using it for GP. [26] What users are really going to notice, however, is the built-in bookmark syncing, a feature previously available in bleeding-edge development builds.[10] Firefox users can download the Xmark add-on that allows you to synchronize your bookmarks and passwords.[3] Now, 30 million is certainly a big number, but it is still a tiny fraction of Internet Explorer or Firefox (which has 330 million users ).[26] During that one year period the percentage of Internet users who chose to browse with Internet Explorer dropped from 73.64% to 64.64%.[36]
Between October and September, Internet Explorer dropped a significant 1.07 percentage points (from 65.71 percent to 64.64 percent) and Firefox moved up a sizeable 0.32 percentage points (from 23.75 percent to 24.07 percent).[27]
Microsoft Corp's Bing search engine continued to make small gains on rivals Google Inc and Yahoo Inc in the U.S. Internet search market in July, according to the latest data from research firm ComScore. [29] NEWS ANALYSIS: Although Google is enjoying some of the best performance it has ever had, the company can't succeed in a vacuum. It's still facing off against Microsoft.[34] Google should also fear Microsoft. The software giant might still be trying to gain its footing online, but it's a massive company that won't quit. In the past, when Microsoft faced uncertain odds, it did a fine job of overcoming them.[34] Google might be a massive company with an impressive stock price, but Microsoft is still a monstrosity in the tech industry.[34]
Don't expect to see Google-developed hardware competing with the Motorola Droid anytime soon. Last week TheStreet.com reported that Google had plans to sell a Google-developed phone at retail this year, bypassing carriers with its own Android implementation. Rubin, vice president of engineering for Android at Google, scoffed at the notion that the company would "compete with its customers" by releasing its own phone.[41] According to Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, the good times are set to roll again for Google. An announcement early this year also suggested that Google was set to intensify acquisitions and hirings.[29]
Google has been using that 30 million active user number since July. [26] MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. --Google's Andy Rubin, head of the company's Android development, would like to clear something up: Google is not in the phone-making business.[41] I seem to remember a Major Media Outlet's post last year on "The Grid", a new system which will make the internet as we know it, obsolete. This system can download full length high-def movies in seconds, and will open doors for technologies like holographic media, etc. It was apparently devised by the team at CERN, the same scientists responsible for the Hydron Collider.[7] The newsletter contains links to our latest PC news, product reviews, features and how-to guides, plus special offers and competitions.[23] The other big change users might notice is that extensions are disabled in the latest beta build, as the developers are said to be reworking the add-on framework.[10] Opera users can get in on the syncing action through Opera Link, which stores bookmarks, speed dial entries and more.[3] Just use Opera Link to sync your bookmarks and typed history and custom searches to the cloud. From my iPhone, I go to http://link.opera.com to access them.[26] If you've already set up Sync on another computer, you'll then be prompted to confirm that your different sets of bookmarks should be merged together.[7]
Safari lets you synchronize bookmarks using (paid) services for mail, calendar and address book, Apple's Mobile Me.[35] FF has been pretty decent so far except for the occasional crash/hang (probably due to all the apps i run), but generally a nice browser. Presently use both Safari and FF.[26] " I was a long time IE 6 fan, i tried IE 7 couldn't stand it, and since i needed a newer browser i went to firefox and started kicking myself for no switching to it sooner.[24] I too am similar to venomX05, I'm a IT professional, i found installing add-ins for helping me test web sites soooo much easier in FireFox than IE, and half the time the ones in IE simply stop working.[24]
Firefox first and it brings the new Gecko engine (v1.9.2) into the mix for CSS, DOM and HTML5 technologies and much improved JavaScript, start-up and rendering performance (something it definitely needs). On top of this you'll find handy alerts about out of date plugins to reduce security risks, single click skin changes (including compatibility with Personas ) and better web font support.[2] For ordinary users Firefox is f. It depends Firefox is awesome for me as web dev.[26]
Sure I miss Firefox's plug ins but I guess speed and stability in the context of browsers are a priority.[26] Now any browser can come along and benefit from that knowing that sites will mostly "just work" but that didn't happen magically. That was Mozilla's doing.[26]
Clearly they are trying to get new users on board by constantly changing the version numbers. [23]
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2. Firefox, Chrome & Opera Push Out Major New Betas - Software News - TrustedReviews
3. Google Chrome Beta Gets Bookmark Sync - PC World
4. New Google Chrome Release Includes Bookmark Sync | WebProNews
5. Google Chrome Beta 4.0 Sports Bookmark Sync
6. Google releases Chrome 4.0 beta - V3.co.uk - formerly vnunet.com
7. Google Chrome Adds Bookmark Syncing Feature
8. New Google Chrome allows bookmark syncing_English_Xinhua
9. Chrome Gets Faster, Syncs Your Bookmarks, Wins Nobel Peace Prize
10. Google Chrome Beta Adds Bookmark Sync, Speed Boost - Google Chrome - Lifehacker
11. Google Chrome 4 hits beta, includes bookmark sync
12. Google Outs a Faster Chrome Beta with Bookmark Sync | Search Engine Journal
13. Chrome adds Bookmark Sync - The H Open Source: News and Features
14. iTWire - New Google Chrome beta adds bookmark sync, speed
15. Computer Shopper: News: Google releases Chrome 4.0 beta
16. Download Google Chrome 4.0 Beta - 400% More Performance over v1.0 - Version 4.0.223.16 is Windows only - Softpedia
17. Google Chrome Beta Features Bookmark Syncing, 30% Quicker | Erictric
18. Google Launches Speedy New Chrome Beta - Reviews by PC Magazine
19. Google alchemists turn Chrome into gold | Good Morning Silicon Valley
20. Google adds bookmark sync to Chrome browser
21. Google Chrome 4 Gets Bookmark Syncing
22. Google Chrome'''s browser-market share increases to 3.6% in October | TopNews United States
23. Google rockets to Chrome 4 beta | News | PC Pro
24. Chrome, Firefox steal more market share from IE
25. Microsoft Losing More Ground To Google, Apple - Digital Life Blog - InformationWeek
26. Google's Chrome Browser Is Now 30 Million Users Strong
27. October 2009 browser stats: Firefox finally passes IE6 - Ars Technica
28. Google Back to Full Speed on Chrome browser dev - InternetNews:The Blog - Sean Michael Kerner
29. Google offers 'millions in stock' incentives to developers - International Business Times
30. Google Chrome 4 Beta debuts including bookmark sync - InternetNews:The Blog - Sean Michael Kerner
31. Google Chrome 4.0 hits beta, adds speed | News | TechRadar UK
32. Chrome 4.0 gets beta release - ZDNet.co.uk
33. Google unveils Chrome 4 beta | IT PRO
34. 10 Reasons Why Google Should Still Fear Microsoft
35. Google Chrome Beta 4 » IT - Chuiko | Information Technology News
36. 10% Of Internet Explorer Users Jump Ship: Report / Infopackets.com
37. Chrome to Pass Safari in Browser Market Share
38. StrategyEye
39. Google Chrome Syncs Bookmarks Almost Instantly
40. Chrome team wins multi-million dollar stock bonus ''' Tech Products & Geek News | Geek.com
41. Google: We're not making Android hardware : News : Hardware - ZDNet Asia
42. Google wheels out Chrome, Wave updates ''' Channel Register
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