Avencius

Opera Software has released the first beta of the already attention attracting Opera 10.50. Although currently only available for Windows, work on Linux and Mac builds continue as we speak.

The new Opera 10.50 release especially lured the press by showing great leaps in the JavaScript performance space. The new engine named Carakan is up to 8 times faster than the previous engine, bringing it to the same level as Chrome's V8 and Safari's Nitro engine. Other browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox are left behind, biting the dust (although IE9 will have some major improvements as well).

But Carakan isn't the first thing you meet. If Opera 10 was anything but a change in the UI department, this ten and a half surely is. Remember Windows Vista and Windows 7? Well, these two latest releases from Microsoft sported a new glass theme, called Aero, offering shadows, transparency and other effects. For the first time in a while Opera leaps beyond the competition, say with Chrome, to offer a truly native UI that fits your modern Windows' Aero. Aero Peek (Windows 7), Jump List (Windows 7), and a new menu bar under the red and white "O" button in the top left make it all look very sexy.

Opera always considered Widgets imported, and is pushing it to be as standard. While doing that they've also greatly improved its integration in Opera, by pushing it out of the browser. Opera Widgets now run in their own processes and can be started individually (after "installing" them from a web site). Say, if it's not your lucky day and the widget crashes, Opera, nor any other desktop widgets will feel the pain. Of course this also opens the opportunity to lift widgets to be richer applications than before.

Presto is known as one of the state of the art rendering engines found in web browsers today. Not only is it portable and fast, it's also loaded with standards support. In this release you'll find even more features from HTML 5 and CSS 3, such as video support and enhanced effects.

Another feature is the new Vega graphics library, bring fast and smooth rendering of both web sites as the entire browser responsiveness when switching tabs. Of course there is even more, such as a private browsing mode (finally!) per tab or window (even better than the rest!), modal dialogs per tab (thus not blocking the entire browser), and much much more.

Work continues on this release, especially on the other platforms (and their integration) as well as ironing out bugs. With Opera Software you're never sure, so in another beta we might even see more features. If you have Windows, go take a look at this big leap for the Opera web browser, while Linux and Mac users can always opt for the (more unstable) snapshot builds.

While the Windows users are enjoying the fourth release of Chrome, and Linux users were happy with extensions support, the Mac users on the beta channel had to be patient, but that is changing now, at least if you dare to use betas.

With Chrome 4.0 for Windows out of the door, it made sense for Google to upgrade all release to version 5.0, even while the Linux and Mac builds haven't seen their 4.0 release. How so? Because Google is still actively working on both releases to get them on par feature wise with the Windows release.

This time the Linux and Mac releases are first, after a beta of Chrome 4.0 there is now a beta of Chrome 5.0, which is basically a step further in maturing it for a final release (for the first time). This release especially puts the Mac platform in the spotlight as most was already available on Linux. First of all the one feature to get excited about is support for extensions. Now you can use the same Windows (and Linux) extensions on your Mac, to enhance your browsing experience, if you want to. Best of all is Google's security architecture, meaning extensions are sand boxed as well as running in separate processes. This in combination with the limitations in the API should prevent malware extensions, which plague Firefox. Another big feature is the bookmarks manager. I know it sounds basic, but it was lagging from 4.0 and has now seen an implementation on the Mac. Oddness is that it's not the same as the Windows version, but native? Other changes include bookmarks sync as well as the task manager and cookie manager.

Site preferences are missing from the Mac release, so you won't be able to tell which sites are allowed to run scripts like the Windows release, but surely this will be picked up at some point in time. My biggest concern is the use of Keychain Access by Chrome though (see issue 35351). This password manager, which is part of Mac OS X, is used by Safari and other applications to store user names and passwords. In Safari this means that after remembering it, the username and password will be automatically pre-filled in forms that match, but in Chrome it does not work like that. On the Mac you'll need to type the entire user name before Chrome fills in the password, and well, sometimes I have different user names, and typing it completely can be a pain. On Windows this problem does not exist and considering Safari just works flawlessly I hope the Chrome developers fix this for the Mac platform.

Other than that, the release feels solid as before, be sure to check it out if you're using a Mac and want something different than Safari, while using the WebKit engine.

Following our story on the iPad, Opera Software issues a press release about a sneak peek of Opera Mini for iPhone. Those who're going to the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will be able to preview it.

But wait, isn't there a problem, like a big problem. Huge even. Yup, the folks at Opera Software have not yet submitted it to Apple for approval. Without approval it will not be a part of the App Store available to iPhone, iPod touch and future iPad users. The current way of goings with approvals indicate that "confusing" products like Opera Mini, that use different rendering engines than WebKit, are not allowed. Opera Software hopes that Apple will approve it, on the grounds of freedom of choice.

Not much else is know about the iPhone release, but those going to the MWC will not be disappointed as there will also be previews of Opera Mobile 10 for Android OS (yay!), Symbian OS and Windows Mobile. Of course it's popular little brother, Opera Mini 5 will show its face, as the chosen champion for almost any J2ME powered phone.

With the announcement made by Steve Jobs and the rest of the Apple crew it seems that the entire web was hyped or anti-hyped about the device. Of course it wasn't a surprise anymore that it would be a tablet. But the price and features make it a worthy opponent to the current Netbook market.

Starting at $499 for the 16 GB WiFi version up to $829 for the 32 GB WiFi+3G version, Apple wants to pretty much cover anyone. Whether teen, tween, or any other generation, the device may apply to you. For each their own, and such is the iPad, a general purpose device that Apple hopes to fill the gap between iPhone (smartphone) and Mac (notebook).

Looking at the device imminently reminds you of an iPhone or iPod touch XL, but the heavily customized iPhone OS, say iPad OS, in conjunction with the release of iWorks and iBooks makes it a new experience. Simply put, you might actually be able to use the iPad to write long e-mails, extensive browsing and reading eBooks. However being an almost a future device from either Mass Effect or Star Trek there is so much more potential. My guess is that the iPad will certainly sell well, but besides our simple needs as consumers it will also extend itself as a tool for medical care.

Imagine a doctor next to your bed reading your status chart (which shows a lot more info than a sheet), and updating it on the fly, administered in the medical care cloud. Before you know it everything will be dealt with and hopefully you can be treated, or going home soon with much less hassle. Or in the education you could see school kids not dragging heavy bags, but just an iPad with their school books in eBook (ePub) format. And of course their assignments are typed in, papers are send per e-mail and history lessons with text, video and interactive elements will never be the same.

The way we consider computers will never be the same. Let's face it. We are the technical people, sometimes referred to as nerds or geeks, or just enthusiasts. Let's not put labels on groups of people though. But what I'm getting at is that a large portion of people does not want to be bother by the computer, but wants to use it. A closed environment like the iPad is exactly what they want. No hassle, just go surf, read e-mail, or play a game. No weird errors, no difficult installs or uninstalls, no viruses, no other web browser but Safari.

Wait, hmm let me explain. I love Safari, I especially adore its engine WebKit, a love apparently shared by Google as well, hence the inclusion in Chrome. And with such a cutting edge web browser being even more widespread available, we as web standards supports cannot but be happy. But I believe that a free product, such as Safari, should be allowed to have competition on the App Store. Currently players like Opera, Mozilla and Google cannot participate because it duplicates function as a competitive product. Of course Apple does not want direct competition of it's iTunes, App Store or iBooks Library. After all that's where the money truly is. But a web browser with richer or innovative features is not something you should block.

Hopefully Apple will reconsider some App Store restrictions as they have with VoIP. As the iPad with WiFi+3G has no "phone" application (nor SMS), VoIP is a valuable alternative to have voice conversations. Similarly having the option of other web browsers on App Store should enrich the user experience.

Anyway, I'll definitely buy it. I really believe this is the device we've been waiting for to accompany the computer (PC or Mac). Over the years we'll see much heavier interaction between our computer and tablet. If you were working on a paper and want to continue re-reading what you've written you just drag it out of your screen to your tabled, and walk away with your coffee and tablet to sit outside. The Apple A4 SoC is already very powerful but new CPU/GPU evolutions is certainly taking place there with giant leaps. And once the LCD is replaced by some kind of Pixel Qi inspired technology (with superb colors, and refresh rate) you'll by all means have forgotten why this was even discussed at all. As long as Apple keeps the device open for alternatives, I have no problem seeing them as one of the major players.

The Mozilla Labs have released the final version of Mozilla Weave, the Firefox and Fennec extension to synchronize user data amongst all your Firefox powered devices.

Of course alternatives like Xmarks (formely Foxmarks) already existed for a long time, Weave is more than just bookmarks synchronization (although not really cross browser). Mozilla Weave is all about user data in the cloud, meaning your bookmarks, preferences, passwords, history and tabs. The beauty of it is that Mozilla Labs both offers the extension for clients to use with Mozilla's servers, as well as the server portion to host it yourself (for you, family and friends for instance). Of course syncing your passwords sounds scary, but Mozilla Weave uses encryption to make sure all your personal data is safe.

You can download Mozilla Weave from the add-ons page; in the future expect even more elaborate synchronization with the cloud, such as your installed add-ons (yay!) and a possible inclusion in future Firefox releases. Mozilla Weave is a recommended download for Firefox users, as it transcends both Chrome's bookmarks sync as well as Opera Link in form and function and keeps your data safe.

Well, if you though last week's Firefox 3.6 from Mozilla was exciting think again. Today the fine folks at Google released Chrome 4.0 in stable release channel, bringing a whole load of new features and improvements to the normal end user.

First of all you should take notice that we're talking about the Windows release. Linux users who are using builds from the Chrome beta channel have access to most, if not all of the new features. Mac users on the other hand will have to wait a little while longer, although a lot of features are available in the unstable dev channel for the time being. That being said, Google is honestly working on getting all three versions up to speed.

Extensions, extensions, extensions!
So what's so new and great about this release that should get you all excited. Well, you have access to 1500 new features. Yes access, because for the first time Chrome supports extensions. And in the Chrome architecture way, each extension runs as a separate process, increasing stability, security and memory management. Often heard complaints with Firefox that extensions would slow everything down or eat memory can now be monitored from Chrome's task manager (right click in the tab bar). Oh and the nicest thing about them, you don't need to restart, they install in one click and work right away. Of course the extensions range from good to bad, from mature to immature, but just think about it, they've only been available in the dev and beta channels, so a lot of work needs to be done to get those extensions polished. Several extensions to block ads, social networks (Facebook, Twitter) and mail (Gmail, Wave) are available for adoption.

Bookmark synchronization, and alternatives
So is that all, well if it would, it would be one hell of a huge feature to allow features, but there's more! If you have a Gmail account (or Google account if you insist), you can now synchronize your bookmarks. This way you can access them from any computer as long as you use Chrome. The bookmarks are part of your Google Docs account, so you can also access them from there. Of course the support for extensions also allows you to use Xmarks (previously Foxmarks) to synchronize bookmarks between different browsers.

Our beloved others
But what would Chrome be without V8? And so the famous JavaScript engine that ignited with Safari's Nitro the performance war was updated to be even more on the top. Mozilla's Dromeao DOM Core tests by increased 42% in performance over the last stable release and 400% since the first stable release last year.

Support for web standards remains important, and WebKit is leading the way with in HTML 5: notifications, web database, local storage, WebSockets, Ruby support and more. And last but not least full ACID3 pass, due to re-enabled remote font support (with added defense against bugs in operating system font libraries).

Other changes include: enhanced developer tools, Skia performance improvements, HTTP byte range support, "Strict Transport Security" support, and an experimental new anti-reflected-XSS feature called "XSS Auditor".

Conclusion
Google shows that Chrome does not only fly in performance when rendering HTML or executing JavaScript. They litterally throw out new and exciting releases on a regular base using a streamlined process. I believe this release marks the turning point where it can fully compete with the rest of the markt. Mozilla surely will have a tougher opponent now that Chrome support extensions, and for IE, well, that should be a piece of cake. If Google and liverage its own popularity to diminish IE used by the average Joe and Jane, by all means! Of course we all should help open the web and support Google in our own ways. My prediction for this year? Chrome with a (near) 10% market share!

All Windows users will be automatically updated by Chrome (or can go to Tools > About) as all updates are streamed to the end users. Non-Chrome users can switch, of course, easily by downloading the installer.

Google may be the biggest competitor to Microsoft on a whole scale of non traditional ways, but one thing is definitely true, they are pushing new technologies where they can.

Where Apple dominated the new wave of touch-screen mobile devices, Android is opening up the market by exposing a similar OS albeit with multi-tasking and customization. In the same approach not pleased with the slow development of Firefox (hey where is that new update approach coming from Mozilla, and why?) they introduced a new way of browsing the web with the fastest JS performance and multi-processes.

Today is the day that they push technology in another way, though with a sharp edge to it. We already know that HTML 5 comes with the video-tag and that there have been arguments about whether support for the different encoders should be part of the specification. Currently encoders don't play a role, and Google opted for the most superior encoder out there, but with a cost.

H.264 is the new standard to be used for Google's latest HTML 5 experiment for YouTube, but the thing is only Chrome (Frame) and Safari support it. H.264 requires that you pay a certain sum, and although Mozilla must have the money (from the Google search deal), they do not support it, heck they only support the open-source OGG format.

Anyway, if you have Chrome (Frame) or Safari, you can now enjoy the HTML 5 video-tag without the need for Flash, and with perhaps better quality at the new YouTube page. You can opt-in here if you have a supported browser.

After months of hard work the combined forces of the open-source community under the Mozilla banner have released the next version of Firefox. While the version number may not imply it, the amount of changes is significant under the hood.

Finally it's here, the final release of Firefox 3.6, which helps the furry web browser to position itself better against the fierce competition, of which the ever evolving Chrome might be the biggest on the radar.

For performance the JavaScript engine has been increased, but also updated to work asynchronously when loading the page, decreasing the start-up time. On the other hand a lot of effort was put into making the UI of the web browser, which runs on XUL in the rendering engine, more responsive while loading content.

Standards support for CSS, DOM and HTML 5 has also expended including most noticeably support for the WOFF font format.

Other changes include tighter security for add-ons (preventing crashes), alerts for out-of-date plugins, full screen video-tag support, integrated light weight themes (known as Personas), and much more.

As noted before Firefox 3.6 may very well mark a new milestone. With Firefox 3.7 possibly removed from the road map as a traditional release milestone, the coming months may be filled with small updates that include (under the hood) improvements until we reach the release of Firefox 4.0 with a new look and feel.

Firefox users are recommended to upgrade to Firefox 3.6 and can do so by downloading the full installer from the official Mozilla web site.

Previously we've already heard that theme changes for Firefox were dropped from 3.7 altogether and are purely being focused for the 4.0 release. But now it seems that there's more going on...

Once Firefox 3.6 is released sometime this month (hopefully) there may not be a successor this year. Yup, Firefox 3.7 might be canned, and although we might see the first beta's of Firefox 4.0 at the end of this year, the final release is probably coming in the beginning of 2011, leaving a big gap, or not?

Well, apparently Mozilla has the plan to introduce some of the Firefox 3.7 features into 3.6. For instance we'll see the full scale of Electrolysis (separate processes for plug-ins and tabs, like Chrome) in 4.0, but over the course of time this year we'll get minor feature updates for 3.6 of which one is plug-in process isolation (like Safari 4 on Snow Leopard). Risky changes that might affect the user experience, such as a new theme, or other GUI changes are not part of these minor updates though.

Whether it will pay off remains to be seen, but it definitely seems like a better way to have regular releases especially with the aggressive release cycle that Chrome has. With the automated test system and branches for small projects (that integrate into the main branch) they hope to hold a tight enough grip, to not cause major regressions.

Update: Corrected story to indicate this is the most likely plan to be executed, see for more details the response from Mike Beltzner.