Browsers & Add-Ons - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

  • Browsing tips: Slow-loading sites, Google Chrome tweak

    True story: I'd been getting fed up with Firefox, in part because it was acting sluggish and flaky, so I decided to give Google's Chrome browser a try. And by "try," I mean make it my primary browser for a couple weeks.

  • 10 must-have free Firefox 4 add-ons

    The recently released Firefox 4 is a big improvement over previous versions of the popular Web browser, but you can still teach it plenty of tricks.

  • Hands on with Firefox 4

    A lot has changed in the browser universe since Firefox 3.0 launched in June 2008. Google Chrome burst onto the scene, and has undergone frequent updates since then. Microsoft released IE 8 and IE 9. Safari advanced from version 3 then to version 5 now.

  • Can your browser really stop sites from tracking you?

    Something like this has happened to all of us lately: You shop for a watch for a friend's birthday and for a week afterwards every site you visit features ads for watches. It seems like everyone from Google on down is tracking where we go and what we do on the web and using that information to send us targeted advertisements.

  • Firefox 4 release date revealed, coming March 22nd

    Just a few short days after delivering the first Release Candidate build of Firefox 4, Mozilla's Senior Director of Engineering Damon Sicore has confirmed that the final build of the browser will be ready to launch before the month is out.

  • Internet Explorer 9 launch: What you need to know

    Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 launches tonight at 9 p.m. Pacific, accompanied by a celebratory bash at the South-by-Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. The hoopla might be appropriate, because IE9 is Microsoft's most aggressive attempt yet at hanging onto its lead in the browser market.

  • Rockmelt: The Facebook of Web browsers

    A new Web browser, Rockmelt debuts in limited beta Monday and aims to help you keep tabs on your Facebook friends, your favorite sites, and make your Web searches faster. Backed by Netscape founder Marc Andreessen, Rockmelt was first reported on by The New York Times in August 2009. At the time, Rockmelt was supposedly going to be a next-generation Web browser designed to take advantage of new Web applications and services.

  • Chrome: Switch to new tab

    When you right-click a link in Chrome and select Open link in a new tab -- or if you point to the link and click the wheel rather than one of the buttons--the browser will open that link in a new tab.

  • Browser GPU acceleration: Navigating standards minefield

    Once upon a time, in the distant past, there was VGA. VGA begat "Windows Accelerators" -- graphics chips that were slightly enhanced beyond dumb frame buffers in order to accelerate Windows-specific functions to paint small "w" windows on the screen faster. Later came 3D, along with a number of competing standards. That all settled out to mostly Direct3D on Windows and OpenGL everywhere else.

  • Internet Explorer 9 Beta

    Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 -- now in public beta -- is the newest version of Microsoft's browser. Compared with IE 8, it's faster, with a streamlined interface. But it's also still A beta, and unsurprisingly, some areas still need refinement.

  • As Internet Explorer Turns 15, We Take A Look Back

    Microsoft Internet Explorer marks <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/08/16/internet-explorer-15-birthday/">its 15th anniversary this week</a>. The first version of the browser was launched back in the summer of 1995 and since then the browser--now in its eighth rendition--has undergone numerous updates, revisions and versions.

  • Google Chrome integrates Flash

    Google's Chrome has now integrated Adobe's Flash directly into the browser. Chrome 5.0.376.86 was released over Google's Stable channel and is now available to download for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The update also includes five bug fixes, including two relevant to video handling.

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