Chrome is the most popular browser around, but even with its large extension library, one size does not fit all. Thankfully, there's a treasure trove of web browser brilliance built on Chrome's solid, open-source foundation—from browsers aimed at the security conscious to the multimedia hobbyists. Here are four Chrome-based alternatives worth checking out.
Why Switch to a Different Chrome?
If you're already using Chrome, chances are you're pretty happy with it and don't feel any urgency to switch. And if it's a basic browsing experience that you're looking for, there may not be any massive need to swap over.
When developers start climbing its open source Chromium framework, they generally aren't looking to create another Chrome, however. Each one has its own particular nuance, and if that purpose aligns with your net-surfing preferences, you'll find yourself with a browser that gives the web a delicious new flavor.
The good news is that, being from the same code as Chrome, you can still sync your profile and use all the same extensions and add-ons as Google's original, so you'll never be giving anything up by testing out one of these great alternatives.
And hey! There are no rules that say you can only have one of these installed a time. Why not combine them depending on what you're doing on the net today?
For the Privacy Conscious: SRWare Iron
Like most browsers, and pretty much anything else with an Internet connection these days, Chrome sometimes comes under fire for privacy issues. Not that it's giving your data away, but it might not always camouflage it as much as you'd like. So SRWare created the Iron web browser as a privacy-conscious alternative.
Much of Iron's privacy tactics are derived from removing Chrome functions, rather than adding to them, which at first glance may appear like you're getting a reduced experience. However, it's mostly working to stem the flow of information from your computer to Google's. For example, it doesn't deliver suggestions direct to the address bar, nor does it contact Google for automatic updates or error reporting. There's even a built-in ad-blocker. (You can check out a full list of differences here).
A nice side effect of this streamlined Chrome alternative is that it also runs noticeably faster, since it's not using up brain power reporting every little click and search back to Google, and instead dedicates itself purely to shepherding you around the net. This is a good option for anyone who wants to retain the Chrome experience in an app that works straight out of the box, but is using a low-speed net connection and/or has growing concerns about online privacy.
There aren't any bells or whistles about this browser, so don't expect a feature-rich experience. To some this might sound a little off-putting, but many will appreciate its minimalist, safe approach. This is the browser I've actually settled on lately, and it's fast, cheerful and rock solid. We've become very firm friends.
Update: A lot of you have noted that Iron's features are not as privacy-conscious as they would have you believe, and that its developer's intentions are less than noble. This post does a good job of summing up some info on the subject. So if you want a browser focused on privacy, you can likely skip Iron and go with Chrome or Firefox.
For the Security Focused: Comodo Dragon
Targeted more toward the tech-savvy, experienced surfer, Comodo Dragon comes to us from security collective Comodo. As you'd expect from the Comodo Group, which has its entire corporate focus on web security, this web window offers a frontline defense as you wander the digital wilds.
Your home computer can probably handle the occasional kick in the ribs from a bit of malware, spyware or even a semi-malicious piece of code, but a business or work computer can't always dismiss those risks so lightly. When you first install Comodo Dragon, it gives you the option of routing your web browsing through Comodo's highly secure DNS servers. Indeed, if you're particularly paranoid, it'll even help you route all your traffic through these servers.
Additional checks are performed on SSL digital certificates and the browser reports back to you on how strong it feels secure websites really are. There's also an on-demand site inspector that checks pages for malicious code before you saunter into digital quicksand. On top of all this, it offers some similar privacy blocks as Iron, and has its own update system built in to keep you on the latest version.
It's not perfect, of course. There are times when Dragon feels to be toeing the company line a little too hard, pushing you toward Comodo's products and services by way of light (and mostly well-intentioned) scare tactics. You'd be forgiven if this eventually turned into a deal breaker for you, but this level of built-in paranoia could prove to be your savior if you frequent the darker corners of the web.
Oh, and if you're a Firefox fan rather than Chrome, Comodo offers much the same features in its IceDragon package.
For Extra Conveniences: CoolNovo
You may remember CoolNovo from back when it was called Chrome Plus. Its name has been changed for obvious legal reasons, but the end product hasn't been altered in any way, other than some great new updates and added features.
This browser is all about convenience, and works hard to make your online experience as simple and seamless as possible. It's still got some privacy tweaks like we've seen in the others, so safety hasn't been sacrificed in the name of CoolNovo's functionality, but it's more focused on enhancing your digital journey. It's becoming less and less of an issue, but there are still one or two sites that still work better with Internet Explorer. With one click, you can load the page in "IE Mode" right in a CoolNovo tab.
Similarly, it adds things like automatic translation, customizable mouse gestures, and other shortcuts like double-clicking a tab to close it. Top this off with a range of file download tools and "Super Drag," which lets you open links just by dropping the text onto the window, and you've got a great browser that's packed with operational extras.
This is a community-run project, however, and support for CoolNovo is sketchy at best. It's mainly based out of China, so there are one or two cultural and language barriers that stand in the way if you find yourself having any difficulties. So long as it works straight out of the box, you've nothing to worry about. But it could be put to the sword pretty quickly if you ever encounter any problems.
For the Multimedia Guru: Torch Browser
As the web becomes more and more a place where we store our files and find entertainment content, web browsers need to keep up with the increasingly busy two-way street of multimedia consumption. Torch Browser makes a significant move into this realm by lighting a fire under Chromium's sharing, downloading and multimedia functions.
One of the first of such features you'll come across is its tile-based drag-and-drop interface. This is a very unique and powerful feature that lets you simply drop a link, some text, a photo or whatever else you want to share (or search for) onto a relevant tile, and Torch Browser takes care of the rest. This might be Facebook, for example, or YouTube, and whatever you threw onto the browser window is automatically put to that particular tile's purpose. It also has a built-in torrent client.
Similarly, it also has a media grabber built-in, which saves embedded music and videos as a file on your computer. Downloading from the web is given a shot in the arm by way of the browser's download accelerator, which you can turn on and off as required. It even has Hola built-in, so you can access region-locked music and videos.
Ultimately this Chrome alternative targets the heavy social and multimedia user with pinpoint accuracy, all while delivering Chromium's usual smooth and user-friendly browsing experience. But no matter how we dress it up, there's no avoiding Torch Browser's likely appeal to the more...pirate-like among us, which might switch some people off if it begins to weigh on their conscience. For the rest, its interface may be a little cluttered, but it's got a good amount of useful tools built-in if you're willing to explore it.
These aren't the only browsers based off Chrome, of course, but they're some solid ones worth looking at (many of which you guys have mentioned before). If you've got needs Chrome can't service out of the box, they might be worth a look.
Title image remixed from pixelparticle (Shutterstock).Source: http://lifehacker.com/four-alternative-useful-browsers-based-off-of-google-c-1558525397
An honorable mention: Chromium Chromium The first place to start is the one closest to home. The open source core of Chrome, Chromium is what the browser is before Google adds its branding and integration features. These include things like user metrics (the sending of browsing stats back to Google), crash reporting, the built-in Flash player and PDF viewer, multimedia codecs (MP3, AAC), and the auto-updating system. Folks who lambast Google over privacy issues often recommend using Chromium, which lacks the user tracking features they dislike in Chrome. Browsing in Chromium is virtually the same experience as using Chrome itself, in big part because many of the missing pieces are made up for in other ways. The lack of the internal Flash plug-in isn't a problem, for instance, because Chromium can make use of whatever copy of Flash is already installed in Windows. One potential hurdle is that Chromium isn't distributed in the same manner as Chrome itself. There are automated builds of Chromium in the maze of directories for Google's Chromium site, and anywhere from four to five builds a day are created automatically from the latest source code. But because Chromium doesn't have Chrome's auto-updater, you need to upgrade Chromium manually. Another problem is Chromium's inherent instability. If you simply pick a build, there's no guarantee it will run properly, so you may have to do some research ferreting out a reasonably stable one. Fortunately, some people have done a little of this legwork for you. For instance, the CRportable project repackages reasonably stable Chromium builds in the PortableApps format, so you can run the browser from a USB key or portable hard drive.
Okay, Chromium isn’t technically based on Google Chrome — it’s the other way around; Chrome is based on Chromium. Chromium is the completely open-source version of Google Chrome. Chromium lacks many features found in Chrome, including the Google Updater, the bundled Flash plugin, the service that optionally sends usage data to Google, and non-free codecs like MP3 and AAC. Without the update service, you’ll have to update Chromium yourself.
Google doesn’t release stable builds of Chromium. If you want to use Chromium, check out the Chromium Portable website.
All browsers claim to be secure these days, so is there any point in using one that majors on its security?By John E Dunn
Browse the web with privacy and security with these best secure browsers. Protect your privacy online with the five best secure browsers you can use in 2015.
What does the idea of a secure browser mean in 2015? The world is now more complex than it was in 2010 when we last looked at the contenders. People are more oriented to mobile devices running under very different conditions while a range of security features such as URL filtering, download protection and do not track have transformed mainstream desktop browsers such as Chrome, IE and Firefox. In a sense all browsers could now plausibly claim to be ‘secure’ browsers. If that’s the case, what has happened to what were once considered secure browsers? One answer is the specialised products are now more focused on the issue of user privacy, of handing back control to the user and opting out of data collection systems of the sort that underpin firms such as Google. It is perfectly possible to tweak Chrome, Firefox or IE, fine tuning them for security and privacy if that’s important. Each now has a privacy mode – which might or might not convince the sceptic of course. But the philosophy behind the true secure browser is to eschew the notion of platforms and plug-ins, stripping back every non-essential feature to create a more minimalist experience. The following five (OK, plus one plug-in) achieve this is in different ways. This list is not intended to be exhaustive, merely an indication of what’s on offer from ones that caught our eye. Privacy usually requires compromises so they won't be for everyone.
Best Secure Browser: Epic privacy browser
Based on Chromium, Epic is the perfect example of a browser that strips out every conceivable feature to maximise privacy. It’s rather like using a minimalist Google Chrome with the Google. Cookies and trackers are eliminated after each session, all searches are proxied through the firm’s own servers (which means there is no way to connect an IP address to a search), and it attempt to prioritise SSL connections wherever possible., useful for open Wi-Fi connections. It does not collect data about its users and comes with excellent built-in ad blocking. For a fully-encrypted connection, it includes a one-button proxying feature that does slow down browsing but will appeal to some users (it can’t necessarily be used as a regional bypass proxy because Epic’s servers are based in the US). Despite eschewing plug-ins a handful are available to make life a bit easier, for example password manager LastPass. Downsides? Epic doesn’t seem to include the malware or anti-phishing protection now found on popular browsers.
Best Secure Browser: Comodo Dragon/Ice Dragon
Comodo has continued to improve its Dragon secure browser, forking it into two version based on Chromium (Dragon) and Firefox (Ice Dragon), sort of remixed versions of the standard browsers that add features while removing some potentially undesirable ones. Which one you choose would depend on your current investment in either Chrome or Firefox because each aims to maintain compatibility with thing like plug-ins, stored passwords, and favourites if desired. Features? Probably the first one is the ability to choose whether to use Comodo’s SecureDNS servers for either Dragon or all applications (or not at all), which potentially offers privacy and security compared to a user wanting to bypass their ISP’s infrastructure. This incorporates a domain filtering system designed to limit exposure to problem domains of the sort used by malware Probably the most intriguing feature is the browser’s ‘virtualised mode that isolates it from the host system. This is a free feature but requires the user to install Comodo Internet Security (CIS), a free version of the company’s anti-virus software. Not everyone will want to do that but the added security of this approach is worth considering. Comodo also includes SiteInspector, a system for filtering suspect URLs as they are accessed. Downsides? Comodo is set up as a parallel world to Chrome or Firefox minus some of the tracking and with some extra added layers of security. Impressive as this sounds it’s almost the polar opposite of Epic’s minimalism - worth experimenting with perhaps. We should also mention that the recent controversy that engulfed Comodo over its promotion of tools such as PrivDog does not, according to the company, affect Dragon. ‘Chromodo’ Comodo also now offers something called Chromodo. As far as we can tell it is identical to Dragon but with a more standard (i.e. non-Comodo branded) look and feel. Best Secure Browser: Tor
The Tor browser has become the watchword for the anti-surveillance because it is built on an entire infrastructure of ‘hidden’ relay servers. Built atop a modified Firefox, it can be installed on a Windows, Mac or Linux PC but also on a USB stick if that’s preferable. The important thing to remember about Tor is that it is really an advanced privacy browser rather than a secure one in that it includes no anti-malware technology and blocks plug-ins by design. It is designed to anonymise a user within certain constraints such as the requirement to use only HTTPS connections (enforced by HTTPS Everywhere – see entry below). The Tor Project offers a list of do and don’t for using it securely, including being very careful about downloading and opening documents which require external applications. Tor is a privacy browser not a secure environment. Downsides? Using Tor will be slower than with other browsers and it can be demanding to use to its full privacy potential. Some people think that anyone who uses Tor is trying to hide something. Of course they are right. If privacy is that important, let them think what they want.
Hornet
As an aside, in 2015 a system called Hornet was proposed fir the future that would speed up Tor’s Onion routing by minimising the system’s network overhead. Today, Tor browsing is slower than conventional browsing but this might not always be the case.
Best Secure Browser: Dooble
Dooble is a lean Chromium-based multi-platform (Windows, Linux, OS X) browser that won’t be for everyone despite its privacy features. In its default state it disables insecure interfaces such as Flash and Javascript which will make it difficult to use with a lot of sites but might be worth it for its stripped-down approach. The browser assumes the user wants to travel incognito from the off, while HTTPS can be enforced and third-party session cookies in iFrames blocked. The handling of cookies is unusually granular. An innovative feature is that all user content (bookmarks, browsing preferences and history) can be encrypted using various ciphers and a passphrase. Another interesting feature is to set privacy, for example private browsing, for each tab using the right-click option. Reviewers haven’t taken to Dooble because it lacks refinement in places but we found it fast and in some of its ideas clever. Downsides? As stated.
Best Secure Browser: Maxthon Cloud Browser
Maxthon is not so much a secure browser as a totally new type of HTML5-compatible browser that wants to act as a straight replacement. With origins in China, and designed around synchronisation between PC and mobile and builds in features often enabled in other browsers using plug-ins. Although not a security browser per se, it embeds claimed protection from AdBlock Plus including the (for some) contentious ‘Acceptable Ads’ technology, AES256 encrypted synchronisation of files to its cloud services, and says it limits employee access at its end to customer data. That probably gives most people the collywobbles but it’s worth pointing out that exactly the same issues exist for any cloud service, including Google. Downsides? Despite the interesting aspect of cloud integration we couldn’t see how Maxthon was inherently more secure than running a branded browser with the security settings turned up. In places poorly explained and documented, it’s also unclear whether it has features such as download protection that would come as standard elsewhere.
Best Secure Browser: HTTPS Everywhere A browser plug-in rather than a browser as such, HTTPS Everywhere is an EFF/Tor project that enforces SSL security wherever that’s possible in Chrome, Firefox and Opera. Its promise is to make what would otherwise be a complex and uncertain process much simpler because it is easy to start out using HTTPS on a website and be sent back to non-HTTPS pages without realising it. Downsides? It’s another plug-on of course but it’s worth it. A boon for café surfers everywhere. Best Secure Browser: Cocoon browsing
When we first looked at Cocoon in 2014 we were put off by the fact that it didn’t seem to have been much recommended since its first appearance around 2011-2012. More recently the firm seems to have re-launched itself as an ad-supported free product (a more advanced Cocoon+ is ad-free but costs $19.99 per annum) as a “military-grade” product offering a range of alluring security features –anonymous browsing, anti-Facebook tracking, better W-Fi security on open hotspots, and an encrypted end-to-end connection. Based on a plug-in design (Firefox, Chrome, Safari and IE), Cocoon is really a proxy VPN-like service in which the user logs into its server using a created account, and logs out after conducting any browsing. In theory, this makes it ideal when using unsecured PCs away from home. We have yet to properly test the browser’s security for this review (that is imminent) but the paid version does advertise some interesting additional features such as ‘mailslots’, basically disposable email addresses that hide the real address (webmail services also offer this through aliases although the underlying service such as Gmail or Yahoo is always apparent). Deleting the temporary email address effectively unsubscribes you from anything signed up for.
Best Secure Browser: IceBrowser (Cocoon)
Based on the Cocoon platform, Icebrowser is a Firefox-only plug-in that offers exactly the same security features as Cocoon but routes traffic via servers in Iceland. The advantage? Browsing data is logged in that country, far from the prying eyes of the NSA and others, or at least we assume that’s the benefit. Using the service requires the user to sign up to the possibility of a $9.95 per annum charge on the basis of the following: “You will not be charged at this time. Providing your billing information ensures your service will continue uninterrupted at the end of your free trial and limits one free trial per person to avoid fraud.” Make of that what you will. Source: http://www.techworld.com/security/best-7-secure-browsers-2015-3246550/3/
Mozilla Firefox is due for some big changes soon. By the end of 2015, Firefox will move to a more Chrome-like multi-process design. And, in a year to a year and a half, Firefox will abandon its current add-on system for one largely compatible with Chrome extensions. These aren’t necessarily bad changes — in fact, they’re arguably big improvements. But Firefox seems to be abandoning its big advantage and becoming even more Chrome-like. The list of reasons to use Firefox over Chrome is shrinking.
A Multi-Process, Sandboxed Firefox is Almost Here
Firefox currently stands alone as the only single-process web browser. Chrome was multi-process when it launched, and other browsers like Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, and Opera are all multi-process browsers now. Actually, Firefox isn’t really single process anymore — it has a special plugin-container process it uses to isolate the Flash plug-in and other browser plug-ins from the rest of the browser. But, if you have an eight-core CPU and load eight web pages, they won’t run on eight cores — they’ll just run on a single one.
Mozilla has had an on-again, off-again project to fix this named Electrolysis. The project was halted in 2011 because it was too hard, but it was restarted years later. Thankfully, it’s almost here. Multi-process Firefox is on by default in the current nightly builds of Firefox and will be rolled out to everyone in mid-December 2015, according to Mozilla. This means
Firefox will finally perform better on multi-core CPUs when rendering multiple web pages. As another bonus, security sandboxing will arrive along with Electrolysis. This is another long-awaited feature other browsers — yes, including Internet Explorer — have had for years. Firefox is currently the only web browser not making use of sandboxing technologies to limit the damage browser exploits can do. This has had real impacts in the real world — witness the recent malvertising attack that used a zero-day in Firefox to compromise Windows, Mac, and Linux users on a Russian website. Sandboxing likely would have prevented this, or at least would have required the attackers exploit a separate flaw in the sandbox as well.
WebExtensions Will Replace Firefox’s Powerful Extension Framework
Mozilla recently announced its intention to kill the current Firefox extension framework and replace it with something new. The new framework, named WebExtensions, is “largely compatible with the model used by Chrome and Opera.” Microsoft Edge is about to gain an extension framework that will also be largely compatible with Chrome’s extension framework — everyone but Apple seems to be jumping on this bandwagon and incorporating Chrome-like extensions.
Current XUL and XPCOM extensions will be deprecated and removed entirely within a year and a half. Those powerful add-ons you’re using in Firefox today? They’ll be gone at some point in the near future, replaced with add-ons much more like Chrome’s. Now, this isn’t the end of the world. Mozilla wants to extend the Chrome extensions framework to add features to make extensions like NoScript possible and add sidebar support like the sidebar support in Opera. Mozilla wants to ensure current popular extensions can continue to work in the FIrefox of the future, and is working on making that happen.
And, what’s more, this is good news. Firefox’s powerful extension framework has led to a lot of teething problems, particularly when Mozilla jumped on board a Chrome-like rapid release cycle. It’s about to cause a lot more problems, as many extensions will need to be updated to support multi-process Firefox or they won’t work properly. Future projects like Servo — a new layout engine to perhaps one day replace Gecko — wouldn’t be compatible with the old extension system, either. And there should be an improvement in security, as extensions can be sandboxed a bit more and don’t all have access to everything. But this rightly rubs some people the wrong way. Firefox’s extension system is about to become less powerful. Currently, browser extensions can do practically anything in Firefox. That leads to security problems, compatibility issues, and breakages during development. But it’s also Firefox’s big advantage — Firefox is the browser with the most powerful add-on framework, bar none. That’s about to no longer be true. Mozilla will add features to allow the most popular add-ons to continue to function, but less-used add-ons and future add-ons will be much more restricted in what they can do.
If Firefox no longer has the most powerful add-on framework, its biggest advantage over its competitors will be gone.
Firefox Has Been Following in Chrome’s Footsteps for Years
Of course, Firefox has been following in Chrome’s footsteps for a long time now. Shortly after Chrome launched, Mozilla jumped on-board a rapid release cycle that sees regular releases of Firefox every six weeks. This caused a lot of problems with broken add-ons because Firefox’s add-on framework was never designed for this. Last year, Firefox received a new theme named Australis designed to be more “modern.” Many users considered this much more Chrome-like and balked at it. Firefox has also dumped the status bar, as Chrome did.
Other features have become increasingly Chrome-like, too. Firefox Sync was redesigned to use just a username and password instead of the old security key system — just like Chrome. You can now have both normal browsing and private browsing windows at once, like in Chrome. Mozilla has started packing in questionable features like Firefox Hello and Pocket integration, just as Google has built its own features into Chrome. Firefox can now play H.264 videos on the web, as other browsers can.
Mozilla is also only going to allow Mozilla-signed add-ons on the stable version of Firefox, requiring users switch to a developer version to install ones Mozilla hasn’t approved. Chrome is also limiting these for security reasons.
And Mozilla is about to come out with Firefox for iOS — a browser for iPhone and iPad that provides a different skin around Apple’s Safari renderer but allows you to sync with your Firefox account. Chrome for iOS works similarly, but Mozilla avoided doing this for years because they couldn’t use their own Gecko rendering engine.
Firefox Needs a Distinct Identity
Now, don’t get us wrong: Most of these changes are good. Even the most controversial ones like getting rid of the extension framework will probably be an improvement in the long run. But there’s no doubt that Firefox is gradually losing its distinct identity. Abandoning the most powerful extension framework for an add-on model largely compatible with Chrome’s will be a huge blow to a vocal part of Firefox’s user base. Mozilla has to answer an important question: Why use Firefox over Chrome? Mozilla would probably argue that Firefox is unique because it’s made by a non-profit company dedicated to making the web better, rather than big for-profit corporations that do more things like its competitors. It also uses Gecko, a different rendering engine, which hopefully helps preserve web standards through a variety of implementations. But is that really enough? Firefox is now using Yahoo as its default search engine, and that certainly isn’t a big advantage. Go ahead — search “vlc” on Google, Bing, and Yahoo right now. Google will show you a big VLC download link without any misleading ads, Bing will show you some dangerously misleading ads but still point you toward the VLC download page, and Yahoo will show you a bunch of ads trying to get you to download malware without a clear indication of where you can get VLC. Firefox has the worst default search engine of any mainstream browser, and Mozilla certainly isn’t helping users by going with Yahoo.
Pros Opera boasts cutting-edge multimodal features and competitive navigation speeds.
Cons The browser is missing helpful features such as parental controls, and it has compatibility issues with some sites.
The Verdict: 9.3/10Despite some compatibility conflicts, Opera is a secure, fast and feature-rich internet browser worthy of your consideration.
Having started back in 1995, Opera stands as the second-oldest web browser currently in use. This software runs on a Google Chromium system. It is compatible across every platform and device. Opera is not the most popular desktop or mobile browser out there, but we were impressed with its features and security options, and found it to be one of the top internet browsers in its own right. Opera is the Top Ten Reviews Bronze Award winner for the best internet browsers.
Opera's multimodal interaction is just one of its many cutting-edge features. The browser also boasts competitive launch and page load times and comprehensive user support. Such well-rounded capabilities would make Opera a first-rate internet browser, if not for some hindering compatibility issues.
Like most internet browsers, Opera claims to be the fastest browser available, and on most accounts it delivers highly competitive speeds. Opera took 2.2 seconds to boot up our site initially. Over 10 cold startups, the time decreased to an average of 1.8 seconds. The time it took to visit another site was 3.3 seconds. That impressive time beat out most of its competitors.
Browser speed doesn't matter much if the browser is difficult to navigate. The latest version of Opera delivers a refined user interface, boasting a clean, featherweight design that emphasizes the content and not the browser. It may take you a bit of time to learn how to take advantage of the browser's full capabilities, but overall, Opera is intuitive and easy to use once you become familiar with how it works.
The compatibility of Opera across the net takes a hit based on each site's browser sniffing. Much of the internet is outdated and "sniffs" for particular browsers in an attempt to format the site for the browser. Because these sites are outdated, they may still block Opera entirely.
Features Compare 9.2/10
Opera is known for debuting original browsing features that later become standard on most internet browsers, including tabbed browsing and built-in search. Opera continues to stay ahead of the curve with a new integrated mail client, one-click bookmarking and tab stacks. That third feature is a tab-grouping mechanism that allows you to stack related tabs vertically rather than horizontally.
Opera delivers versatile multi-modal interaction. For instance, it is possible to control virtually every aspect of the browser with a keyboard. You can use voice commands to navigate the web and even have the browser read text to you. Opera also supports mouse gestures, which are similar to keyboard shortcuts but use the mouse. These features alone make Opera a more accessible browser for a wider range of users than many of its competitors.
Opera is robust in terms of features, and is noticeably lacking only one feature that we looked for in internet browsers: parental controls. They aren't a necessity, but the inclusion of the controls would make the browser more apt for family households.
Security Compare 10/10
Opera has security features that check websites for malware and phishing schemes. The browser also uses advanced encryption when you visit a secure website and provides the option of erasing all private data, such as browsing history and cookies. This is convenient if you are browsing on a shared computer.
The internet browser allows you to customize your security settings. For example, you can turn off the option to have the browser check each site you visit for security threats, even though doing so can leave your system vulnerable.
Help & Support Compare 10/10 You can purchase a premium support package that comes with email support. However, there is enough online information that you probably won't need the supplementary support. Online you find tutorials, FAQs and a knowledgebase. Opera's web forums are also a valuable resource; in addition to submitting bugs and known issues, you can ask questions and interact with other users.
Opera Summary:9.3/10 Opera's compatibility issues are likely to be the deciding factor for many prospective users, but more and more websites become compatible with the browser each day. Moreover, while Opera does not have the firm backing of a major corporation like our other top-ranked internet browsers, it manages to stay on par with the competition with its robust feature set, advanced security protocols and rapid speeds.
The era when Google Chrome was head and shoulders above the competition has ended. Today’s popular browsers compete on a level playing field. Internet Explorer 11 — the oft overlooked Microsoft standby — is being replaced by Edge, a lean browser for Windows 10. Mozilla Firefox and Opera continue to ramp up their version numbers, and Safari tenaciously scuttles along as the under-appreciated byproduct of Apple’s quest for global domination.
You can’t really go wrong with any of the popular browsers, but there are a few things here and there that give each its own competitive edge.
Updated September 8, 2015 by Brendan Hesse: Updated information and benchmark tests in response to Microsoft’s Edge full release, and to account for new versions of the other browsers.
Installation, updates, and compatibility
Installation across the five browsers is basically the same. Users can download them from their respective websites if they aren’t built into your operating system already (i.e. Safari comes preinstalled on Mac OS X, Edge on Windows 10, And IE on all previous versions of Windows), and each will typically download in under 30 seconds depending on your Internet connection.
When it comes to updates, Opera, Firefox, and Chrome have the advantage. They install silently, quickly, and transparently download updates in the background and automatically apply the new software when you relaunch the programs. What’s more, the third-party browsers update most frequently, every few weeks, so any major problems are likely to be fixed quicker than with IE and Safari. It’s too soon to say how frequently Microsoft will update Edge.
Users can also manually install updates on Firefox if they would like to have greater control over the browser or prefer to use an older version for whatever reason. Keep in mind that turning off automatic updates is more likely to put your computer at risk, though, since each browser is continuously adding security fixes and other key stability updates.
If we didn’t know better, we’d say that the current trend in browser design is for the browser to disappear entirely. IE, Edge, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome all attempt to be as minimal as possible, offering next to no actual text and small, monochromatic buttons that discretely blend with the aesthetic design of operating systems like Windows 8 and Mac OS X. Overall, all five browsers appear to achieve their goals fairly well. Below we compare and contrast browser design.
Google Chrome
Google Chrome: Chrome has a lean address bar configuration, stripping everything down into a simple tab layout and address bar configuration that also doubles as a search bar Google calls the “Omnibox.” Like most browsers, the window can get incredibly cramped with 15+ tabs open, but it still does a fantastic job of delivering content whether you have the browser fully expanded or slightly minimized for the sake of space.
Adjacent to the omnibox is Chrome’s simple standard navigational features (i.e. back, forward, refresh, home) by default, but you can easily slim down the window by customizing the toolbar and deleting any buttons you deem pointless. Chrome’s single-click bookmarking method, done by simply clicking the star located on the right side of the address bar, also makes bookmarking your favorite webpages a breeze and hassle-free experience.
Mozilla Firefox: This browser features a similar, yet more useful layout when compared to its competitors, placing the tab bar above the address bar. Despite reaching version 40 of the software (it skipped versions 18 and 11 through 16, apparently), it still feels like the bulky predecessors of the software, refusing to unite the address and search bars in a single unified field like all of its peers.
However, this is more of an aesthetic issue than a functional one — you can search within the address bar or the accompanying search bar to its right. The browser offers the same kind of single-click bookmarking that Chrome does — all you have to do is click the star located to the right of the search bar — but there isn’t much else that separates it from the rest of the pack. The settings menu is accessible in a similar fashion to that of Google Chrome, allowing you to access various options by clicking a simple button depicting three horizontal bars located in the upper-right corner of the window. Unfortunately, it also takes up a bit of space that could otherwise be used by the tab bar.
Internet Explorer 11
Internet Explorer: Technically, IE 11 is the most minimal Internet device of the four, with less “chrome” than Chrome. IE 11 features a single bar that simultaneously functions as the browser’s address and search bar. The space at the top places your open tabs to the right of the address-search bar, making it somewhat more cluttered than some of our other picks given the amount of space the search field takes up, but it typically isn’t worrisome unless you’re really stacking up a high volume of tabs. Other notable design features include the single-click bookmarking star now widely adopted by almost all other prominent browsers.
The two decade old browser is being phased out to make way for Microsoft’s newest browser, Edge. IE is still available in Windows 10, but is not the default and will not receive new features.
Safari: The browser that has traditionally attracted criticism is now a serious competitor to the likes of Google and Firefox. The newest version of Apple’s browser is fairly minimalist in design, but retains enough familiarity for old users of the browser to feel at home. Like its peers, Safari offers the address-search bar hybrid. Updates to Safari 8 include a share icon embedded to the right of the search field. The sharing feature serves as a way to bookmark pages, post to social networks, and share via native Apple platforms (iMessage, Mail). The updated Safari is worth a shot for any OS X users. Mac users running the most recent operating system can even launch the browser in full-screen mode, essentially expanding the window and for the ultimate viewing experience.
Opera
Opera: This browser embraces Google’s chromium Web engine while retaining signature features that distinguish the browser from the rest. Opera has a single hybrid address-search bar like Chrome, but the alternative browser also sports Opera’s signature features, stash and speed dial.Speed dial allows for easy bookmarking and functions like “the most visited page” on Safari. Stash is similar to Pocket, allowing you to quickly store pages for future browsing. The bottom line, it’s a clean design with innovative features that holds its own against the rest of the competition.
Edge
Edge: Edge resembles IE 11, though with even smaller borders, fewer icons, and a streamlined toolbar designed to take up more real estate on your display than IE 11. A solitary, address-search bar will also run the width of the page, as well as a trio of headline features that include markups, reading view, and Microsoft’s equivalent to Siri (aka Cortana). It is the standard web browser for Windows 10, and has integration with many of the OS’s features and apps, including Cortana and Outlook.
Most browsers are compatible with Web standards and handle speed with relative ease. A casual user probably won’t notice a difference in the Web page rendering speed between browsers. All five browsers are much faster and leaner than the browsers of a few years ago and become even more so with each new build. Below are our benchmark results for the five browsers, bold text indicates the winner for each category.
Browser
Acid3
Sunspider
Kraken JavaScript
Octane 2.0
HTML5 Compliance
Chrome 45
100
759.3 ms
4366.4 ms
9437
523/555
Internet Explorer 11
100
405.4ms
7509.2 ms
5748
348/555
Mozilla Firefox 30
100
633.5 ms
4580.6 ms
6554
466/555
Safari 8 (Mac only)
100
144.5 ms
3357.5 ms
8615
400/555
Opera 31
100
735.5 ms
4256.6 ms
8638
520/555
Edge
100
384.6ms
4231.3 ms
9117
397/555
Google Chrome bested the HTML5 compliance benchmark, and the test that indicates how “future-forward” a browser is, as well as Sunspider and Octane 2.0, which measures how your browser will perform under the weighted stress of gaming or highly-interactive webpages.
Chrome was outpaced in two tests; IE, though ranking rather low in the HTML 5 Compliance benchmark test, performed remarkably well in the Kraken JavaScript benchmark, a test that measures rendering time. Safari did very well in the JavaScript-based benchmarks, but not as well in combined and HTML5 benchmarks.
The second of Microsoft’s web browsers, Edge was faster when running the Sunspider benchmark than its older counterpart, and it proved surprisingly efficient in regards to Octane 2.0. Like IE, it stumbled in regards to HTML5 — though, it still scored higher than its predecessor, which seems appropriate.
Features are what truly separate one browser from the next given that speed and compatibility are no longer really an issue. That being said, each browser does have its own slate of differentiating features, from expansive app stores and add-ons to various extensions and tools, that makes it shine in its own light.
Chrome differentiates itself through its constant updates, but also through its extensive Web Apps Store, which offers apps that blur the line between Web and local apps in some unique ways. Much of this philosophy comes from Chrome OS, Google’s desktop operating system based on the Chrome browser. Still, we like the idea and Chrome remains the most integrated software for accessing anything Google related (i.e. Gmail, Google Drive). If Web apps and seamless dashboard features are important to you, check out what Google has to offer.
Check out the mobile versions for Android and iOS devices while you’re at it.
Like Chrome, Firefox is on a six-week update schedule, and sports a strong catalog of extensions. Developers will have to retool many of these to support the newest Firefox iteration, but some users refuse to leave Firefox solely because it offers unique extensions that have become essential to their browsing experience. Most other browsers support add-ons, but Firefox may have a lead in mindshare here (for now). The built-in PDF viewer is incredibly handy, as is the browser’s support for Macbook Retina displays and grouped tabs, and Firefox remains the most customizable in terms of interface and display out of the five on our list.
Currently, Firefox only offers a mobile version of its browser for Android devices.
Safari may not have the admirable extension catalog to rival its peers, but it does have offer a good deal of extensions and utilities for productivity and organization. Unlike Firefox and Chrome, though, the third-party extensions are rather bland and aren’t as integrated into the software as they probably could be. The bulk of them also lack the “fun” factor found on other browsers, but hopefully Apple will take a cue from the current market and work more accessible and entertaining extensions into the Safari Extensions Gallery. Other awesome built-in extras include the ad-free Safari Reader, which lets you view solely text without all the unnecessary clutter, and comprehensive iCloud integration for syncing pages across all your devices.
Safari’s mobile version comes preinstalled on iOS devices.
IE11 sports heavy integration and optimization for Windows 7 and 8. Many functions, like turning tabs into new windows, are much easier with Microsoft’s new browser. It retains some of the unique features introduced in IE10, like individual tab previewing from the task bar and a new feature called site pinning, which lets you ‘pin’ a website to the Windows 8 task bar like you would a normal application. However, unlike an ordinary taskbar shortcut, pinned websites can offer customized “right click” menus. For example, pinning the Facebook toolbar will let you right click and auto browse to different sections of the Facebook site like News, Messages, Events and Friends. In addition, when you open a pinned site, the IE11 browser customizes itself to resemble the site you’re viewing. Currently, this only means the icon in the upper-left corner will change along with the colors for the back and forward buttons, but we like the idea.
IE’s mobile version comes preinstalled on Windows devices.
Creating a browser that can compete with the browser giants is an an uphill battle for Opera. That said, the decision to embed Chromium has proven to pay dividends for the Scandinavian company. Opera’s add-ons library utilizes Chrome’s major apps, including mail and pocket. Thankfully, Opera doesn’t attempt to beat Google at its own game. Sure, the extensive Web-app store offers a variety of mostly-free apps, but Opera’s extensions are centered around the browser’s signature tool, Speed Dial — a touchscreen-optimized homepage. Each extension can be tacked to Opera’s Speed Dial homepage. The simplicity of having your Gmail account stored next to a dependable news aggregatior on your homepage is hard to pass up.
At this point, Edge doesn’t offer any extensions. However, extensions have proven to be more than just a niche feature given their wide-spread adoption in other browsers. Microsoft has confirmed that Edge will support extensions in one capacity or another, but there’s no word on what exactly that will entail as of yet. However, Edge does offer an attractive an easy to use reader mode, that removes clutter and formatting from web pages and articles to make for comfortable reading on the web.
Security and Privacy
The most valuable tool for secure browsing is user discretion. Every browser has encountered security broaches in the past. And Internet Explorer and Chrome’s reputation for protecting users’ security and privacy credentials is spotty at best.
Chrome, Safari, and Firefox rely on Google’s Safe Browsing API to detect potentially dangerous sites. Thanks to constant updates, Mozilla, Chrome, and Opera all make constant security updates. But Chrome takes security a bit further by also scanning for potentially harmful downloads. There’s also encryption ad-ons currently in the works at Google.
All browsers offer a private session option, too. Private sessions prevent the storage of history, temporary Internet files, and cookies. For example, Internet Explorer 11 features a security measure called Do Not Track. Only Internet Explorer goes so far as to to block trackers completely from communicating with your browser. What’s more, according to a 2013 NSS study, only Internet Explorer blocks trackers used on more than 90 percent of potentially hazardous sites.
According to the latest numbers from StatCounter, Chrome was the top browser for March 2015, garnering nearly 50 percent of the global browser market share and further solidifying its spot as top dog. IE and Firefox continue to be popular, holding roughly 18.06 and 17.96 percent, respectively, but both seem to be leveling out. Safari and Opera round off the top five, fixed at around 10 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. On the mobile side, Chrome wins out with a staggering 31.52 percent, but Opera’s touch-screen optimized browser holds an impressive mobile browser market share at 8.4 percent. Mobile incarnations of Safari and IE jostle for supremacy with significantly lower shares. Edge is too new to be on the list.
For now, Chrome remains the best browser on the market. Google’s proprietary browser boasts the largest and most useful selection of apps and extensions, along with a frequent update schedule.
Other browsers, however, are upping their game. Opera and Firefox now offer a similar update frequency and IE 11 outperforms Chrome on Sunspider’s benchmark standards. Then there’s Spartan, which could become a contender when Windows 10 is released.
The bottom line is this, we’re in an era where the most minimal and modular browser reigns supreme. Chrome remains the most nimble and most app-ready browsing experience. IE/Spartan, Firefox, and Opera have narrowed their lead significantly, each offering new features to better accommodate the needs of some users.
Update April 13, 2015 by Joe Donovan: Updated article to reflect the most recent versions of each browser, with the inclusion of Microsoft’s Edge.
This article was originally published on March 31, 2013.
Google Chrome is one of the most popular browsers in the world, second only to Internet Explorer by most measures. Why? Lay credit at the feet of Chrome’s vibrant extension catalog, popular app platform, and deep integration with Google services.
It’s a fantastic browser, but just as with Firefox there’s an ideal way to get the most out of Chrome. Here’s how to set up Chrome the right way.
Sync your data
One of the best features of Chrome is its ability to sync your bookmarks, browsing history, and open tabs across all your devices. Chrome syncs all your data via a Google Account (what you use to sign in to Gmail and other Google services). If you don’t have a Google Account you’ll be able to create one using the same method below.
Open Chrome and type chrome://settings into the address bar. At the top of the page that opens, click Sign in to Chrome under the “Sign in” heading. A pop-up window will appear giving you the option to either sign in using your Google account or create an account.
Once you’ve signed in, click new button under “Sign in” that says Advanced sync settings... Here, you’ll be able to decide what to sync across your devices, such as apps, autofill data, bookmarks, extensions, history, passwords, settings, themes, and open tabs. Just uncheck anything you don’t want to use and then click OK.
Chrome lets you encrypt all your sync items with a passphrase only you know.
Privacy conscious users should also note you can encrypt all your synced data with your own passphrase that is never sent to Google. The downside of this approach is that if you lose your passphrase you won’t be able to access your synced data. Using your own passphrase also means Google Now won’t be able to suggest sites based on your browsing history and you can’t access your saved passwords on passwords.google.com. Personally, I’d go for the personalized passphrase option and then stash it in a password manager for later access.
Import bookmarks
Chrome can easily import your bookmarks for you.
If you’re moving to Chrome from another browser you’ll of course need to bring your bookmarks with you. Chrome makes it really easy to grab bookmarks from other browsers. Click on the “hamburger” menu icon and navigate toBookmarks > Import bookmarks and settings... This will open a pop-up window in a new tab. At the top you’ll see a drop down menu listing all the browsers you have installed on your PC that Chrome can grab data from. Simply select the right browser, click Import and you’re done.
This menu also gives you the option to import bookmarks from an HTML file if your browser isn't listed. You can find instructions online on how to export your bookmarks to an HTML file from Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari.
Extensions
Chrome has a very vibrant extension and app ecosystem. It’s hard to choose just a few items that most users will find useful, but we’ll do our best.
Hangouts is a great choice since it allows Google’s messaging app to behave as a desktop program.
VPN provider TunnelBear offers an easy-to-use proxy extension for Chrome that allows you to enjoy encrypted, safe browsing. If you’re overseas it can also help you get past geoblocking for many sites, although not Hulu. The downside to TunnelBear is that a free account only gives you 500MB of bandwidth a month, for more than that you’ll need a paid account.
Mute Tab Shortcuts is also a great extension that lets you mute multiple tabs with audio playing at once.
Finally, Vimium is a fantastic extension that lets you control your browser with keyboard shortcuts. Vimium is designed to work similarly to Vim, a popular keyboard-controlled text editor among hacker types.
Firefox also offers many of the advantages that Chrome does, including cloud-based capabilities that sync your bookmarks, browsing history, and open tabs across devices.
Here’s how to set up Firefox the right way so you can get the most of this fantastic open source browser. This tutorial is based on version 41.0.1.
Firefox Sync
Sync is Mozilla’s answer to Chrome’s cross-platform service that lets you sync your bookmarks, browsing history, installed add-ons, and open tabs across your PCs and other devices.
To use Sync you need to sign-up for a Firefox account, which you can do right from your browser.
Get started with Firefox Sync right from the browser’s menu.
Click on the “hamburger” menu icon in the upper right corner and select “Sign in to Sync” towards the bottom. This will open a tab where you can create a Firefox account. Fill it out as you would anything else, and then click Sign up.
Mozilla will then send you a verification email that you’ll need to click before you can continue. Once that’s done, Firefox will start syncing your data to Mozilla’s servers so you can access it with Firefox on other PCs, and with Firefox for Android.
By default, Sync saves your tabs, bookmarks, passwords, history, installed add-ons, and preferences. If you’d like to change any of that, open a new tab in Firefox and typeabout:preferences#sync. Then uncheck any boxes under “Sync” that you don’t want saved. Personally, I don’t bother syncing passwords since I use a password manager.
To turn off Firefox’s feature for saving passwords, type inabout:preferences#security in a new tab then under “Passwords” uncheck “Remember passwords for sites.”
Import bookmarks
When you first install Firefox you’re given the option then to install bookmarks from other browsers installed on your system. If you missed that boat, you can still do it after the initial set up process. First, check out instructions online for how to export bookmarks from Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari.
If given the choice, export your bookmarks as a .HTML file and save it somewhere on your PC that you’ll be able to find again, such as the desktop or your documents folder.
You can import your bookmarks from other browsers via Firefox’s bookmarks manager.
Now open Firefox and type Ctrl + Shift + B to open the Bookmarks Manager. A new window will open; at the top, click the Import and Backup button and select Import Bookmarks from HTML... Select the HTML file you exported from your old browser in the previous step and Firefox will do the rest.
Must have add-ons
Like Chrome, Firefox has a healthy add-ons catalog that enhance the capabilities of your browser. To start installing add-ons, type about:addons into a new tab and hit Enter.
Privacy and security conscious users will want to use NoScript, a classic Firefox add-on from developer Giorgio Maone that stops JavaScript and other content from running without your say-so. It has granular permissions that give you control over exactly what runs and what does not on every site you visit.
Another privacy favorite is the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s HTTPS Everywhere. This add-on forces most popular sites to connect to you over a more secure HTTPS connection if an HTTPS connection is available for the site. This makes it much harder for anyone to snoop on your online activity. You may not think reading the news or your favorite blog is important enough to keep private, but that kind of activity can betray your political leanings, interests, and religious views (or lack thereof) to name just a few data points you may want to keep private.
Another great tool is Download Manager Tweak, an add-on that adds some power to Firefox’s download manager. You can open the manager in a tab or sidebar, delete a downloaded file, and re-download files.
Firefox also comes with the add-on from read-it-later service Pocket built-in.
Google's About Me page enables you to manage Google account information that are publicly available on the Internet. Whenever you create a social media account, and sometimes others as well, you expose some information to the public. While there is no guarantee that anyone else stumbles upon the information ever, it means that it is theoretically possible that it happens. Public means that the contents get indexed by the social network site and third-party sites as well. If you use a search engine to find information about someone on the Internet, these public information may be returned. Since that is not always desired, social networking sites provide you with options to manage what you reveal about yourself up to a point. Google's About Me page makes this simple. All you need to do is visit https://aboutme.google.com/ in your browser of choice, sign in to your Google Account if you have not already, to see what others see about you.
The page lists among other things public contact information, work history, places, sites, gender, birthday and other personal information. Next to each section is an edit button that you can click on to add, edit or remove information from it. For instance, you may quickly change the visibility of an email address displayed to the public, or add a new site that you contribute to. The information provided are a reflection of what is shown on the Google Plus about page. While you may edit them on the page as well, it is not as straightforward as on the About Me page as it lists information visible to only the account owner as well on that page. Plus, it seems easier to open the Google About Me url than the Google Plus url. The About Me page links to the Privacy Checkup online tool which lets you review and adjust "what data Google uses to personalize your experience" and "update what information you share with friends or make public". Here is a quick rundown of what it allows you to do:
Choose what Google+ profile information are shared with others.
Whether people with your phone number find you when they search for it.
Choose who can see your YouTube videos, likes, and subscriptions.
Choose whether to remove geo location information from photos you share.
Manage Google activity and history logging, e.g. location history.
Select whether you want ads based on interests.
Closing Words Google's About Me page does not reinvent the wheel but it makes it easy to edit account information quickly on a single page.
When Google+ entered the social space in 2011, it was met largely with skepticism. Joining a crowded field with platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, many users questioned the need for another social network. But roughly two years later, Google+ has established itself as the second-largest social media site in the world and boasts a monthly active user base of 235 million. And some of the products that Google built into the platform, such as Hangouts and Communities, along with its added integration in Google News that can benefit an active poster, have made Google+ an intriguing network for all users.
If you're a newbie to Google+, these tips will help you get started.
Creating a Google Account
First things first, in order to have a Google+ account, you must have a Google account. To do that, go to plus.google.com and find "Create An Account" located at the top right of the screen. From here, you will be asked to provide a few pieces of information, including your name, birthdate and current email address. Next, you'll be prompted to add a profile photo to accompany your Google Account. You can either take a web camera shot of yourself to add to your Google profile or upload a headshot. Regardless, the image must be a minimum size of 250 x 250 pixels.
After adding your profile picture, you will then be redirected to your new Gmail account. From this new account, you can navigate to Google+ from the dashboard icon located on the top right in your account. You are now ready to add friends, family and others to your Google+ Circles.
Creating Circles
The first time you access Google+, a screen will prompt you to add people you know or want to follow, as well as a list of suggested users Google has curated for you to follow — also known as a Circle. Much like how Twitter works, you can follow someone and see all the activity that he or she publishes publicly. When you want to add someone to a Circle, there are already four default Circles you can choose from: "Family,""Friends,""Acquaintances" and "Following." But if you want to add a person or brand page to a Circle that isn't listed, you can create a new Circle in the open box provided below the list.
Circles act very much like filters — you can share content with those in your Circles and you can see what they choose to share publicly. People and brands will be notified when you have added them to your Circles, but they don't know which Circle or who else is in that Circle with them.
Adding Extra Details to Your Google+ Profile
After you've added all your favorite people to Circles, Google will ask you to share just a little more information about yourself — including your current place of employment, where you went to school and where you live — to make your profile a bit more interesting. These sections will be public initially, but you can edit the visibility of this information once you have your profile set.
Google+ is a very visual platform, so beyond your profile picture, you also have quite a bit of real estate on your profile page for a cover photo. If you're a Facebook user, you already know the large cover photo on that platform, which is 851 x 315 pixels. But Google+ takes that to an even more extreme level: 2120 x 1192 pixels.
With your profile set up with a profile picture, cover photo and background information, you're ready to browse the network.
Navigating the Stream
When you arrive at the Google+ home screen, you will see a variety of posts, products and more.
On left sidebar of the platform, you'll see 10 options to choose from, including "Profile,""What's Hot,""Communities,""Events" and "Hangouts On Air," among others, many of which we will cover shortly. On the right side of the screen is your Hangouts box, which shows the list of individuals or brands in your Circles. From here you can text chat or video chat with those on the list. In the center, you will see all posts from your list of Circles. You can filter through these posts by navigating to the Circle of your choice — from "Friends" to "Following" and more. This section will also include posts that Google+ has deemed popular on the network. When interacting with posts, there are a number of things you can do, including +1'ing a post (which is essentially "liking" the post), sharing the post or commenting on the post. On the top right of each post, there is a downward carrot symbol that gives you more options for things you can do with this post, such as viewing its activity, embedding the post, muting the post or linking to the post, among other options.
Now that you know how to interact with a post, let's dig into how to create your own.
Posting on the Platform
Google+ makes it incredibly easy for your posts to target a large or small group of accounts when you post on the platform. When you try to post on Google+, you will need to select who you want to share it with — whether that's with the public, "Family" or with just one person, for example.
Much like with Facebook, you can tag individuals or brands in your posts. Tagged users or brands will get notifications that they have been mentioned on the platform. A tagged post can also serve as a private message with an individual or group. If you do tag another page, be cognizant of whether you want to share that post with just that person, brand or Circle, or if you want to share it publicly while also tagging that page or multiple pages.
Communities
If you're looking for where a lot of the conversations take place on Google+, look no further than Communities. Launched in December 2012, Communities are where users can find vibrant discussions around very specific topics with other users who are just as interested in the conversation. And the topics on the platform seem endless — ranging from social media to animals to comedy and more. In order to join the conversation, all you need to do is request to join.
Sharing to Communities is much like sharing to a Circle. Although you can post to the Community directly, you can essentially share to these pages from anywhere on the platform. If you are posting to a public Community, this post will also show up on your profile page and will be visible to users who navigate to your page. There are also private Communities, where you have to request to join in order to post content or see other users' shares. And unlike public Communities, anything you post within a private Community is exactly that — private from anyone outside of the group to see.
Hangouts
Google+ Hangouts are one of the most popular features on the platform. There are three types of Hangouts — the text chat version that has essentially replaced Gchat, private Hangouts and Hangouts On Air. For this tutorial, we will be discussing the latter two: Hangouts and Hangouts On Air. Hangouts are a great option for individuals or companies who want to host a private video chat with up to 10 different accounts. Unlike Hangouts On Air, this will not be publicly viewable and will only be seen by those who are invited to join. You can initiate a Hangout from the Hangouts box on the right side of the web platform, or from an individual's profile page.
Hangouts On Air are the public version of Hangouts, which can be viewed by all and are also archived as YouTube videos. You can navigate to this by finding the "Hangouts On Air" icon in the options on the left sidebar of the platform. In order to start a Hangout On Air, your account must be associated with a YouTube account; otherwise, you will not be able to move forward.
Hangouts On Air also allow you to video chat with up to 10 users (including yourself). Because you are choosing to host a public Hangout, it's important to follow a few easy, and important steps:
When possible, try to host Hangouts On Air when you are in a place with high Internet connection speeds.
Have headphones in case there is audio feedback on your end.
Set yourself up with good lighting.
Not all of these are always achievable — in fact, Google now offers an audio-only mode and a bandwidth slider within Hangouts On Air if you are in a location with low bandwidth.
Events
Google+ Events is an essential tool for individuals and brands who want to promote everything from a Hangout On Air to fundraising events to private parties. An added layer for Events is that it can fully integrate within Google Calendar for added organization. Events can be found on the left sidebar of the social platform. When you arrive in the Events section, you will have to click "Create Event" to get started. The Events interface is incredibly easy to set up. As with scheduling any kind of calendar event, you should create a strong event title, set the day and time, location (if needed) and any details that are necessary to explain the event. Finally, similar to using Google+ posts, you can set the event to be seen publicly or to be seen by just a select group of people.
What's Hot
The "What's Hot" section of Google+ is one of its major standouts as a social network. As with Hangouts and Events, you can find this section on the left sidebar of the platform. "What's Hot" shows the posts, topics and hashtags that are trending on Google+ at any given time, as well as suggestions for Communities that may interest you. Speaking of hashtags, Google+ has gone all in with hashtags, and it has added a whole new level to social search on the platform. Using hashtags in your posts can improve your content's discoverability. Beyond that, though, Google+ will also suggest related hashtags for your posts to make them resonate more on the platform.
Google+ Mobile
The Google+ mobile app is a highly-functional, scaled-down version of the desktop platform. You can still post links and photos from the platform, filter through Circles, create events and more on the mobile app. Google has also created its own standalone Hangouts app, with which you can interact with those in your Circles through text or video chats, just like you would on the desktop version. This guide is only the beginning of what can be a deeply immersive social experience. But if you are new to Google+, this will be enough to get you started. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. Image: iStockphoto, samxmeg
If you head over to Google+ today, you’ll see that things look a little different. Since we last posted, we’ve spent a lot of time listening to what people using Google+ had to say. There were two features they kept coming back to: Communities, which now average 1.2 million new joins per day, and Collections, which launched just five months ago and is growing even faster. Whether it’s the Nonfiction Addiction Community, where people can be found discussing the best in Crime or Travel storytelling, or the Watch Project Collection, where more than 40,000 people are following an antique watch hobbyist, these are the places on Google+ where people around the world are spending their time discovering and sharing things they love.And so we’ve reimagined Google+ to help them do that. Today, we’re starting to introduce a fully redesigned Google+ that puts Communities and Collections front and center. Now focused around interests, the new Google+ is much simpler. And it’s more mobile-friendly—we’ve rebuilt it across web, Android and iOS so that you’ll have a fast and consistent experience whether you are on a big screen or small one. You’ll need to opt-in to this new version of Google+ on the web to see the changes—check out our Google+ post for more on how to give it a try.
Creating great products that solve real needs and make life easier for people is something Google is always striving for. Your feedback got us this far—as we continue to refine Google+, we’d love to keep hearing from you. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing how today’s changes help kickstart even more conversations around everything from Zombie Cats to Vintage Calculators.
ByMartin BrinkmannFirefox 42 will be unveiled officially on November 3, 2015 by Mozilla. This guide walks you through the core changes and feature editions of Firefox 42 for the desktop and Android. All other Firefox channels will receive updates as well on this date. In particular, this means that Firefox Beta will be updated to Firefox Beta 43, Firefox Developer Edition to version 44, Firefox Nightly to version 45, and Firefox ESR to version 38.4. The information you find below covers only Firefox 42 and no version that is still in development. I suggest you check out our Firefox category here on Ghacks if you are interested in keeping an eye on future changes as we cover those regularly here. Firefox 42 is a big update that brings along with it notable new features and the long awaited 64-bit version of the browser for Windows.
Firefox 42 download and update
If you are running Firefox already you may use the internal update checker to download and install the new version. Please note that updates may not yet be available depending on when you are reading this post. To check for updates tap on the Alt-key on your keyboard, and select Help > About from the menu that opens up. This displays the current version of the web browser and whether an update is available. If it is, it may either be downloaded and installed automatically or manually depending on the update settings of the browser. If you are new or want to download an installer instead, use the following links to do just that.
You cannot upgrade a 32-bit version of Firefox to 64-bit directly. What you need to do instead is download and install the 64-bit version, and have it use the Firefox profile that you are using in the 32-bit version so that you don't lose any data in the process. I suggest that you create a backup of the profile before you do that though to be on the safe side. How do you know if you are running a 64-bit version of Firefox? Load about:buildconfig in the browser's address bar and check the "target" string under build platform. If you see "64 in the string you are running a 64-bit version of the browser.
Firefox 42 Changes
The introduction of 64-bit stable builds are not the only important change in Firefox 42. Private Browsing with Tracking Protection
Originally designed to come out with Firefox 39, Tracking Protection is finally launching in this version of the web browser. It is an add-on for the browser's private browsing mode that blocks a selection of web trackers automatically in that mode. To enable or disable it, load about:preferences#privacy in the browser's address bar and check or uncheck the "Use Tracking Protection in Private Windows" box on the Privacy page once it opens. The effect? A comparison of the loading time of the top 200 Alexa websites came to the conclusion that load time dropped by 44% on average with Tracking Protection enabled. In addition, it reduced the average data usage by 39% and the number of HTTP cookies set on the system by 67.5%.
New Control Center with site security and privacy controls
A new shield icon is displayed under certain conditions in regular browsing and private browsing mode. In regular mode, it will tell you if the connection to the site is secure or not. In private browsing mode, information about trackers found on the page and controls to disable the Tracking Protection feature are added.
Audio indicators and one-click audio muting
Audio indicators and muting options are finally available in all versions of Firefox. The browser indicates if audio is playing in any of the tabs open in it with an icon that it adds to the right side of the page title. You may click on the icon to toggle the audio at any time to either mute the audio or unmute it. Please note that this won't affect playback of the media content on the page in any way though. This can be very useful to indicate where audio is coming from, especially if it starts playing in the background, for instance when triggered by advertisement or an auto-playing video on a page.
Other changes
Improved performance on interactive websites that trigger a lot of restyles
Login Manager improvements: improvements to saving usernames and passwords, options to edit and show all logins in line, and migration of passwords from Chrome and Internet Explorer on Windows.
Media Source Extension support is available on all sites visited in the web browser.
WebRTC improvements: IPv6 support among other things.
Most changes made to the Android version are identical to those of the desktop version. This is true for Tracking Protection in private browsing for example or under the hood improvements. The changes listed below are exclusive to Firefox 42 for Android. Android changes
External urls (for instance from chat applications or email apps), can be opened in the background now in Firefox for Android.
Family friendly browsing supported when restricted profiles are created on tablets.
Voice input for searching from the URL bar supported.
Security updates / fixes
Mozilla reveals security patches after the official release. We will update the review as soon as they become available.
2015-133 NSS and NSPR memory corruption issues
2015-132 Mixed content WebSocket policy bypass through workers
2015-131 Vulnerabilities found through code inspection
2015-130 JavaScript garbage collection crash with Java applet
2015-129 Certain escaped characters in host of Location-header are being treated as non-escaped
2015-128 Memory corruption in libjar through zip files
2015-127 CORS preflight is bypassed when non-standard Content-Type headers are received
2015-126 Crash when accessing HTML tables with accessibility tools on OS X
2015-125 XSS attack through intents on Firefox for Android
2015-124 Android intents can be used on Firefox for Android to open privileged files
2015-123 Buffer overflow during image interactions in canvas
2015-122 Trailing whitespace in IP address hostnames can bypass same-origin policy
2015-121 disabling scripts in Add-on SDK panels has no effect
2015-120 Reading sensitive profile files through local HTML file on Android
2015-119 Firefox for Android addressbar can be removed after fullscreen mode
2015-118 CSP bypass due to permissive Reader mode whitelist
2015-117 Information disclosure through NTLM authentication
Tab Groups is a brand new add-on for the Firefox web browser that replicates the functionality of Firefox's built-in tab grouping feature.
Mozilla announced some time ago that Tab Groups would be one of the features that it would remove from Firefox as part of the organization's "great or dead" project. A core reason for the decision was the feature's low usage numbers, but also that it caused overhead during development as it needed to be adjusted regularly based on changes made to Firefox's core mechanics.
Mozilla hoped that add-on developers would re-introduce the feature to Firefox. The first add-on to do that was Simplified Tab Groups which added the core functionality to Firefox but did not replicate the functionality exactly. While it supports the main functionality, that is the creation of different groups of tabs and the ability to switch between those groups, it did not offer the UI that was a major part of the feature in Firefox.
Tab Groups Add-on
The new Firefox add-on Tab Groups fills that gap as it replicates the functionality exactly. It has been created by Quicksaver, an author responsible for add-ons like FindBar Tweak, OmniSidebar or Beyond Australis.
The add-on picks up existing tab groups and takes over flawlessly in the background. This means that you can install it right now to replace the native Firefox implementation without losing any functionality in the process.
In fact, it is recommended to do so considering that you may not be able to restore tab groups once Mozilla removes the feature from the web browser.
Mozilla plans to migrate tab groups to bookmarks, and to save a backup file to the desktop as well. The Tab Groups add-on is compatible with that backup file which means that you can restore it as long as you have access to that file.
The Tab Groups add-on adds a toolbar icon to Firefox that opens a visual representation of all tabs and groups open in Firefox currently.
You can drag and drop tabs to groups using it, and switch between groups with a single mouse click. Options to name groups for better recognition are provided as well. New groups are created with a right-click on a tab and the selection of "Move to Group > New Group" from the context menu. There you find options to move tabs between groups directly as well.
You may use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Shift-E instead to open the Tab Groups interface. The options provide you with the means to change the keyboard shortcut, and to disable the zooming animation.
Last but not least, a backup and restore function has been implemented on the options page on top of that which you can use for safe-keeping.
Closing Words Tab Groups is the real deal. It replicates Firefox's Panorama functionality, takes over without you noticing that it does, and can even load the backup file created by the browser when the native tab grouping feature is dropped.
If you use Tab Groups currently and want to continue using the feature, this is the add-on you need to get for that.
Marathoning, or binge-watching, is when you watch large amounts of content all at once. Think of it as the Netflix model. Instead of watching one YouTube video every week as it’s released, you find a channel that you love and watch several years of videos in the span of a few hours or days. Like it or not, this is the model to which we’re moving. Having TV shows that air at specific times on specific dates is becoming a thing of the past. Many people record their favorite TV shows to watch when they want, and YouTube and Netflix are basically made for this kind of consumption. In fact, many folks — especially the younger generation — are ditching traditional cable for more versatile streaming options. It might not seem practical to sit down and watch hours of a single YouTube channel’s videos, but once you find a channel you really love, you’ll find that it hard to stop. And besides, they’re educational, so you be comforted by the knowledge you’re acquiring!
CGP Grey is a legend within the YouTube community. His videos are known for explaining extremely complex topics (like gerrymandering, first past the post voting, and the process of becoming the Pope) and making them interesting and relatable. You’ll never see his face; instead, you’ll see graphics, images, and drawings explain everything, which means this is very visual rather than just someone talking at you. Occasionally you’ll see a stick figure guy sitting at a desk explaining things, but that’s a part of his signature style. His most popular video, shown above, explains the difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain, and England. It currently has almost 8 million views, and as an American, it taught me so much about that confusing mess of islands across the ocean. He doesn’t release videos that often — maybe one every couple of months — but he has built up an impressive backlog for you to tackle in a few sittings.
Physics can be a tough subject to wrap your mind around. It deals with such complex subjects, often on huge, unimaginable scales, and it can be difficult to get a concrete idea of what is actually being discussed. But physics is super interesting, and MinutePhysics has tons of short videos (under five minutes, often under three minutes) that allow you to get all of the interesting with none of the confusing. The drawings illustrate concepts that might otherwise be too abstract to comprehend. This channel’s most popular video, shown above, deals with the classic question: What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? The other videos deal with topics ranging from Schrodinger’s cat, through parallel universes, to why the solar system is flat, and things are explained that you might never have thought to question, like, Why is the sky dark at night? And, What exactly is fire? Recently, the upload schedule has been inconsistent, but again, you’ll find a large backlog of wonderful content just waiting to be binge-watched.
What’s that? You find science fascinating but hate that it’s always explained in such a dull way? Well, worry no longer, because AsapSCIENCE has your back. Run by Canadians Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown, AsapSCIENCE is home to tons of videos explaining scientific concepts — again by using drawings. It’s a similar style to MinutePhysics, but covering a wide range of scientific concepts, including classic questions like, Which came first, the chicken or the egg? And, What hurts worse, getting kicked in the balls or giving birth? You can even find more adult topics addressed, like penis size, orgasms, and marijuana. More recently, Mitchell and Gregory have been appearing in videos themselves to explain topics, giving their channel a nice diversity of content. They have a whole playlist of interesting illusions, and their most popular video (over 20 million views!) brings us back to the “What color is this dress?” fiasco from earlier this year (shown above). Seriously, even if you don’t like science, you have to give this channel a try. You’ll find you love science after watching just a few videos.
Veritasium is a YouTube channel with such high production values that you’ll feel like you’re watching a real TV show. Instead of drawings, you’ll walk through the streets with Derek Muller as he goes to different locations to try out various experiments and test different scientific concepts. It feels like a real science show — because it is. With over 3 million subscribers, this is no amateur YouTube channel. Derek’s videos tend to be on the longer side of YouTube — around 10 minutes — but that’s because he really delves deeply into the various questions and ideas, and explores them to their conclusion. The length makes them even more ideal for binge-watching, since you’ll be changing videos less often. You can meet the world’s roundest object, learn about how the six degrees of separation work, and find out if silence actually drives you crazy. Give it a shot. You’ll love it.
“Hey, Vsauce, Michael here.” Trust me, that’s a phrase you’re going to hear a lot. Every video on this YouTube channel subscribed to by 9 million people and counting starts with that sentence, and Michael Stevens’ iconic voice and persona are sure to draw you in right away. Vsauce is about exploring the bizarre, about answering the questions you never thought to ask, and about teaching you something in a way you wouldn’t expect. You’ll mostly see his talking head, occasionally with graphics or images to demonstrate different ideas, but this channel is very much made by Michael’s charismatic personality. Find out who owns the moon, why we kiss, and is your red the same as everyone else’s red? His most popular video, “What if everyone jumped at once?” (shown above) has over 17 million views. Watch one, and you’ll be sure to want to watch more.
I’m not going to lie, the word “math” always conjures up memories of hours of boring homework for me — so I wouldn’t be recommending this channel unless it was genuinely fantastic. It’s an entire YouTube channel themed around mathematics, specifically around numbers (as the name might suggest). Anything related to numbers is fair game, from how big infinity is through what a googol and googolplex are to what 666 is. You can even learn how to shuffle cards or how to cut a cake (shown above). Numberphile’s concept — making videos about numbers — sounds boring, but watch a couple of videos and you’ll be hooked. People are interviewed about fascinating, obscure ideas that you may never have heard about otherwise, and they talk about it in understandable terms. This is math made accessible to the masses.
We can’t talk about all these other science channels without talking about SciShow. SciShow is one of the classics — it was even around back in 2012 when we talked about scientific YouTube channels, and it has got even better since then. SciShow’s main goal is to make science accessible to everyone. So, in order to reach that goal, everything talked about is discussed in a way that even science amateurs like myself can understand. SciShow explain what anesthesia does to your brain, how to escape quicksand, do you really only use 10% of your brain, and, What happens after you flush the toilet? Most of the videos tend to be short, around five minutes, but they often delve deeper into topics that require it (like overpopulation) and SciShow has a series of videos called Quick Questions that answers specific questions in under 3 minutes, like, What does your uvula do? With a constant stream of new videos, you’ll likely never run out of content, and there’s something for everyone, from a Quiz Show, to a Talk Show, from a List Show, to a News Show. Get to watching!
Crash Course offers the gold standard of educational videos. The production quality of its animations is amazing, and the topics range from economics, to astronomy, and from the U.S. Government, to World History, and more! These videos are legitimate educational materials used in schools all over the United States — and for good reason. They’re well-made, they’re insightful, they’re interesting, and best of all, they’re fun. If you had told me in high school that after graduating I would willingly sit down in my free time and watch hours of educational videos about world history, I would have called you crazy. But now as an adult, I’ve done just that. If you’re curious about a topic or even still in school studying, these are videos that can really help you.
Healthcare is confusing. And I don’t just mean the crazy healthcare system in the U.S., but in general. Trying to find out what is best for you is a nightmare. What is actually healthy? What’s a myth? How do you sift through thousands of studies and decide which were done well? Thankfully, Healthcare Triage has done the sifting for us. They go through all of the studies, the evidence, and the science, and present the audience with fact-based videos to help inform their lives. You can learn how vaccines don’t cause autism, how organic food isn’t better for you, and how video games don’t cause violence— all backed up by reputable sources that are linked in the descriptions of the videos. You won’t find a more entertaining format for learning about healthcare. It’s a boring topic, but so necessary to learn about.
Maybe you have just graduated high school or college and moved out on your own. Maybe you’ve been living on your own for a while now but still haven’t quite figured out what you’re doing. If so, you might be asking yourself, how do I adult? How to Adult is one of the most useful things out there for anyone just trying to figure out how to handle the basic things we aren’t taught in school. What’s the difference between renting or buying a house? How do you do your taxes? How do you do laundry? How do you write a resume? If you have any kind of question about how to do something you should probably know how to do, How to Adult has you covered. This channel covers a wide array of topics from career advice to relationship tips to how to handle your mental health. For practical, real-world advice that you can use in your day-to-day life, look no further.
It's taken a long time, but Mozilla has finally released a 64-bit version of Firefox for Windows in non-beta form. Mozilla had previously offered 64-bit builds of Firefox for Mac OS X and Linux, but this is the first time it's been available in stable form for users of Windows 7 and above.
That said, there are some limitations in transitioning from 32-bit to 64-bit. "Firefox 64-bit for Windows, by design, has limited support for plugins and users will notice that certain sites requiring plugins that worked in previous 32-bit versions of Firefox might not work in this 64-bit version. As we’ve shared previously, Mozilla intends to remove support for most NPAPI plugins in Firefox by the end of 2016," Mozilla stated in a blog post. It's been an interesting road up to this point. Mozilla's been toying with 64-bit flavors of Firefox in Windows for nearly a decade, but none of the previous builds ever graduated out of beta. Some even stalled in alpha, and for a short period in 2012, Mozilla made the decision to stop developing a 64-bit version altogether.
More recently, Mozilla promised to deliver a 64-bit build of Firefox for Windows by the end of the year, and here it is with just over two weeks to spare.
So, what's the payoff for downloading the 64-bit build? Just like the 64-bit version of Windows, Firefox can properly address more than 4GB of RAM. Casual users aren't likely to notice a difference in performance, though in theory, the 64-bit build should allow for more tabs to be open without taking a performance hit.
Beyond that, developers should be able to build more complex web goodies, including games, though for now the biggest payoff is being able to say, "Hey, I'm running a 64-bit version of Firefox!" Awesomesauce.
The 64-bit version is introduced in Firefox 43, which also brings about Private Browsing with Tracking Protection, improved API support for m4v video playback, the ability to choose search suggestions from the Awesome bar, and a few other new features. Be advised that n-place upgrades will keep you on the 32-bit build. To grab the 64-bit version of Firefox, go the download page and click the 64-bit download arrow next to your language of choice (or just click here for English).
These add-ons will track your messages, schedule your meetings, and more.
Gmail raised the bar for what we expect in an email service. But if you’re only using its native features, you’re getting just a taste of its power. There are a wealth of Chrome extensions that expand Gmail’s capabilities and help you streamline your workflow. Here are four you should install today.
Full Contact
Most of us have a similar reaction when we receive an email from a new professional contact. We immediately try to learn more about them by searching their profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks. Full Contact shows you email senders’ social profiles and other details. Full Contact eliminates that legwork by providing the job titles, company details, and social accounts for each email sender. Without leaving your inbox, you can scroll through their Facebook posts, tweets, and other social updates. Add your own notes, then sync all the contact’s info to your address book so you’ll always have it at hand.
Snapmail
We don’t recommend emailing passwords and similarly sensitive material. But if you absolutely must, this Mission Impossible=style extension will ensure your message is seen by authorized eyes only. Snapmail Snapmail encrypts and destroys sensitive email messages. It adds a Snapmail button next to the Send button in your message. Pressing it encrypts the message and creates a URL for the message, which is sent to the recipient. Once they follow the link, a countdown timer informs them that the message will self-destruct in 60 seconds.
MixMax
MixMax delivers on its promise to “make email awesome.” The extension adds a host of must-have functions to Gmail, including email tracking, one-click business templates, and “send later” scheduling. MixMax adds several functions to Gmail, including “instant” meeting scheduling. Its Instant Scheduling is particularly useful for setting up one-on-one meetings. MIxMax does all the heavy lifting so you and the other party don’t have to email back and forth to find a time that works for you both. You select available times from your Google Calendar, and MixMax adds them to your email. Your recipient selects whichever one works for them, and MixMax puts it on your calendar and sends each of you a confirmation message. It’s like having your own personal assistant.
MailTrack
MailTrack removes the mystery around unanswered emails. This extension is a simple email tracker that uses checkmarks to keep you apprised of your message’s status. It adds one checkmark next to the message when it’s sent and adds a second once the message has been read. Best of all, it can tell you exactly which recipients have read a message sent to multiple parties. MailTrackThe MailTrack extension lets you know which recipients have read your email, even in a bulk message. MailTrack’s basic functions are free for an unlimited number of emails. For $3.50 a month you can add options including real-time desktop notifications and daily tracking-activity reports.
Michael Ansaldo
Michael Ansaldo is veteran consumer and small-business technology journalist. He contributes regularly to TechHive and writes the Max Productivity column for PCWorld. More by Michael Ansaldo
The majority of web browsers are offered as 32-bit and 64-bit version nowadays, and it is up to the user to decide which version to run on the computer.
This comparison guide analyzes the performance of select browsers to find out which version of it performs better.
You can use it to compare the 32-bit and 64-bit version of a browser, or compare the performance across browsers to find out which may be most suitable for you.
It won't take other differences such as plug-in support into account though so keep that in mind. These differences can be important depending on what you are using the browser for. If you require certain plug-ins for instance such as Java, you may not be able to use a 64-bit version of a browser as it may not be supported.
Performance is not everything of course and there may be other reasons why you pick a particular browser over another even if it may use more RAM or perform worse in benchmarks.
The test system is a decent Intel Core i5-2500, 8GB RAM, 256 GB Solid State Drive system with a Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 and Windows 10.
32-bit vs 64-bit browsers
Most web browsers are offered as 32-bit or 64-bit versions. It is usually the case that the 64-bit versions are not offered directly, and that one has to click on an extra link to display 64-bit download links.
The two exceptions are Microsoft Edge which is only offered as a 64-bit version and the "new" Opera browser which is only offered as a 32-bit version. Because of this, Opera has not been included in the tests. No download link for Microsoft Edge as it is only offered as part of Windows 10 and not as a standalone version.
All browsers were installed on a fully updated Windows 10 PC. No modifications were made to the browsers and all were installed using the default settings suggested by the manufacturer.
The first two tests highlight the browser's RAM usage. While RAM usage is not that much of an issue anymore on modern systems that come equipped with 4 Gigabyte of RAM or more, it needs to be considered that the browser is just one of the programs run on a system and that a high RAM usage may result in performance drops if other demanding applications are run.
The benchmarks test the browser's JavaScript performance.
The benchmark results
Browser
RAM on Start
RAM 10 Tabs
Kraken
JetStream
Octane
RoboHornet
Dromaeo
Mozilla Firefox 43.0.3 32-bit
135.8
583.1
1263.5
143.88
22168
107.4
928.12
Mozilla Firefox 43.0.3 64-bit
145.6
905.3
1241
141.52
22586
109.75
872.46
Google Chrome 47 32-bit
144.6
738.4
1273
162.83
28468
hangs
hangs
Google Chrome 47 64-bit
121.9
744.6
1081.6
173.03
29814
hangs
hangs
Pale Moon 25.8.1 32-bit
105.4
501.7
1719
hangs
17016
105.81
751.11
Pale Moon 25.8.1 64-bit
179
741.3
1830.1
hangs
14000
88.9
649.13
Vivaldi Beta 2 32-bit
95.7
620.6
1150.6
166.54
28316
150.7
hangs
Vivaldi Beta 2 64-bit
107.4
1029.5
1076.9
171.81
29633
156.02
hangs
Microsoft Edge 64-bit
88.2
1238
1256.5
193.96
29883
91.09
660.05
One surprising result of the tests that I ran was that hangs were experienced quite frequently. Google Chrome did not complete the RoboHornet and Dromaeo benchmarks, Pale Moon froze while running the JetStream benchmark, and Vivaldi froze running the Dromaeo benchmark.
The only two browsers that ran all tests without freezes or hangs were Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge. Every other browser experienced at least one freeze while running the benchmarks.
Another interesting observation is that Vivaldi outperforms Google Chrome in some benchmarks and with RAM usage even though it is still a beta release. In addition, it did not freeze while running the RoboHornet benchmark while Google Chrome did.
Mozilla Firefox 32-bit vs 64-bit
RAM usage is nearly the same on start but once all ten websites were fully loaded it was apparent that the 64-bit version of Firefox used way more RAM than the 32-bit version. That's to be expected but something one should consider especially on devices where RAM is scarce.
Benchmarks on the other hand show only marginal differences which means that users won't see a performance boost in either version when compared to the other.
Google Chrome 32-bit vs 64-bit
RAM use was nearly identical in both versions of the Google Chrome web browser. The difference in RAM on start can be attributed to the loading of additional pages on start in the 32-bit version.
It is somewhat surprising that the 64-bit version of Chrome uses nearly the same amount of RAM as the 32-bit version once all 10 sample websites were loaded.
As far as tests are concerned, the 64-bit version performed better in benchmarks, but both Chrome versions froze during the RoboHornet and Dromaeo benchmarks.
Pale Moon 32-bit vs 64-bit
RAM use was higher both on start and after loading the ten sample sites in the Pale Moon browser. The 64-bit version did not perform as well as the 32-bit version in most benchmarks, and both versions froze during the JetStream benchmark.
Vivaldi 32-bit vs 64-bit
Vivaldi's RAM usage was quite good on start and acceptable with ten websites open in the 32-bit version of the browser. The 64-bit version on the other hand used the second highest RAM count of all browsers in the test.
Performance was on-pair with Google Chrome with only marginal differences between the two. As far as 32-bit and 64-bit version performance is concerned, it is close and unlikely that anyone will notice differences while using the browser.
Verdict
Results are quite surprising, not only because of the hangs and freezes experienced during benchmarks, but also because of the performance parity between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the same browser. Most differences are marginal and not visible to the user sitting in front of the device.
Now You: Do you prefer 32-bit or 64-bit versions of browsers?
How to stop autoplaying ads, videos and media in Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer
What to do if you're fed up with adverts playing as soon as you open a web page. Here we show you how to stop videos and media from autoplaying when you open a website in Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Recently there has been a big increase in websites that host autoplaying video adverts, this can be incredibly annoying if you're listening to music on your computer while browsing the web. Here we show you how to stop videos and media from autoplaying when you open a web page in Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. See all internet tutorials.
Before we start, we really need to say that you should consider your actions before you disable autoplaying video, or media adverts from websites that you regularly visit, as there is a good chance that this is main source of income, and is what ultimately funds the production of the content you wish to read. So, if you disable autoplaying videos/media make sure you support your favourite website – including PC Advisor – some other way. See also How to change Wi-Fi channel.
How to stop autoplaying ads, videos and media in Chrome
Disabling autoplay videos and media in Chrome is simple. First of all you need to type "chrome://chrome/settings/content" into the URL bar. Then all you need to do is scroll down to the plug-in section, and select 'click to play'.
How to stop autoplaying ads, videos and media in Firefox
Disabling ads/videos in Firefox is a little different from the process in Chrome. The first suggested way to stop Flash content from playing is to enter Firefox's configuration settings by typing "about:config" into the URL bar, accepting the warning, then entering "plugins.click_to_play" into the search box and toggling the settings. However, we experienced limited success with this method.
If this technique doesn't work for you, we suggest downloading the add-on Flash Block. To install this all you need to do is Google search "Flash Block Firefox" and install/enable the add-on, and then restart Firefox. Make sure you download from a reputable source. All Flash content will now be click to play, until you disable or remove the add-on.
How to stop autoplaying ads, videos and media in Internet Explorer
Stopping videos, Flash media and autoplaying adverts in Internet Explorer is the easiest the three. Simply go to Tools, Safety and then click on the ActiveX Filtering option. This will then put a tick next to the option, indicating that filtering is enabled.
The chrome://flags page is a strange and wonderful trove of hidden settings for Google’s browser. It lets you peek under the hood of the application and tinker around with some experimental options not yet ready for prime time. Here are 16 of the most useful flag settings you might want to tweak.
It’s worth re-emphasizing that these are experimental features—they might not work correctly and they might crash your browser. “We make absolutely no guarantees about what may happen if you turn one of these experiments on, and your browser may even spontaneously combust,” reads the official Google disclaimer on the flags page, a message we echo. A browser restart is usually required to apply the changes, and you can use the Relaunch Now button at the bottom for the job. If you get into trouble, use the Reset all to default button at the top of the flags list, or uninstall Chrome and reinstall a fresh copy from the web. 1. Enable automatic spelling correction: Instead of just having Chrome suggest a spelling change while you type, you can have it just go ahead and make the alteration while you continue to tap away. 2. Enable multilingual spellchecker: Speaking of spell checking, the Chrome flags page includes an option that tells the browser to look for mistakes in multiple languages at once. 3. Enable download resumption: A fairly straightforward one—this gives you the ability to resume downloads that have been unexpectedly interrupted. Handy if you regularly deal with large files and flaky wifi.
4. Download status in Notification Center: Gives you a pop-up desktop notification in Chrome whenever a new download starts, complete with shortcuts for pausing, resuming, and canceling the download. 5. Enable password generation: Tired of the same old combinations of letters and numbers? Have Chrome suggest passwords for you (via a key icon) whenever it detects that you’re on a new sign up page. 6. Enable fast tab/window close: Separates Chrome’s JavaScript handler from its Graphical User Interface, which should in theory enable you to close tabs more quickly. Remember though that all these flags are experiments... 7. Save passwords automatically: By default, Chrome asks you if you want to save passwords for each site. But by enabling this flag, you can have it automatically store this information without prompting. 8. Material design in the browser’s top chrome: Add some of Android’s material design to your desktop. There are also separate flags for the Settings and Downloads pages, with the latter having the most dramatic effect on the visuals. 9. Smooth scrolling: An experimental feature that performs some behind-the-scenes wizardry to help pages flow smoothly from top to bottom even when the system is struggling. Integrated into Chrome OS. 10. Enable extension toolbar redesign: Want to see Google’s plans for the extension bar? Enable this flag, which puts icons for hidden extensions at the top of the Chrome menu for (slightly) easier access. 11. Enable large icons on the New Tab page: Google’s also busy redesigning the New Tab page with some bigger icons that make better use of the space—enable this flag if you want to take a look in advance.
12. Show settings in a window: Having the Chrome Settings in its own browser tab is perfectly convenient most of the time, but you might prefer it in a separate window, something this flag makes possible. 13. Emphasize titles in the omnibox dropdown: If you’ve ever found yourself wishing that the Chrome omnibox would show more search suggestions and fewer URLs when you type, this is the flag for you. 14. FPS counter: See the frame rate of a page (in frames-per-second) when hardware acceleration is enabled, via a small box overlay in the corner. More of a developer-centric option, but fun to try out nevertheless. 15. Enable tab discarding: Part of Google’s efforts to cut down on Chrome’s memory use, this abandons the contents of unused tabs when memory is low. The tab entry remains and the page reloads when you click it. 16. Enable Save Password Bubble UI: Another password-related flag, this one displays the prompt to save passwords in a pop-up bubble rather than a drop-down info bar. A small change but one you might like.
Whether it’s a music clip on YouTube, a Flash ad on a news site or the latest viral sensation on Facebook, most videos you come across on today’s web want to get going without any input from you—and that can cause problems with bandwidth as well as audio output you weren’t expecting. Here’s how to tackle the issue in your browser of choice.
One of the difficulties in addressing the problem is we’re right in the middle of a transition between old and clunky Flash and the new, streamlined HTML5 as far as video formats go. The momentum is definitely behind the latter, but you’re still going to come across plenty of sites using Flash, so you really need to block both types to be safe. After following the steps below, the problem should be minimized for the most part. But even after applying these changes, you can’t be completely sure you one or two videos won’t slip by—some publishers use custom-made code to fool your browser into thinking it isn’t dealing with a video.
Google Chrome
As far as HTML5 is concerned, you’re going to need some third-party help to stop playback. From the extensions we’ve seen, Disable HTML5 Autoplay seems to be the most comprehensive and effective option, though a small number of users report that it doesn’t work. It effectively stopped clips from playing on YouTube and Facebook when we tested it.
For the older Flash technology, you can block this at source, as it’s built into Chrome. Head to the Settings tab, open the advanced settings selection, and then click on the Content settings button. Under the Plugins heading, tick the checkbox next to “Let me choose when to run plugin content”.
On some sites, this should be enough, but we found plenty of adverts getting through the net. To completely stop the flow, click Manage individual plugins... and untick the “Always allowed to run” entry next to Adobe Flash Player This does mean you’ll have to activate Flash on sites that rely on it to work (like Rdio, for example), but this should be a one-time thing you can take care of via the blocked plugin icon that appears in the address bar—it’s a small price to pay for some peace and quiet. You can always go nuclear and disable Flash completely if you prefer.
Mozilla Firefox
In Firefox, HTML5 that can be disabled through the browser’s own settings. Type “about:config” into the address bar, click through the warning and search for “autoplay” options—double-click on media.autoplay.embed and the value changes to false.
As for Flash, open up the Firefox menu and choose Add-ons; if you click on Plugins from the subsequent screen you can select Ask to Activate from the drop-down menu next to Shockwave Flash. Any Flash videos will then need to be clicked on before they play (as with Chrome, this may interfere with some perfectly useful sites as well).
That should be enough to stop videos from playing, but sites and advertisers change their code on a constant basis and browsers don’t always manage to keep up. A variety of third-party extensions are available for Firefox too, from FlashStopper to Stop YouTube HTML5. The former replaces both Flash and HTML5 content with a thumbnail, and you may prefer it to the rather rudimentary blocking features in Firefox itself.
Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer
With Microsoft Edge still at such an early stage in its development—and with third-party extensions not yet supported—there doesn’t appear to be any way yet for you to stop video content from automatically playing. If you go into the advanced settings for the browser, you can supposedly turn off Adobe Flash Player, but it had no effect on the sites we visited (your mileage may vary).
As for the old-school joys of Internet Explorer, you can choose Safety and tick ActiveX Filtering to block some kinds of content; another option is to choose Tools then Manage add-ons to get access to the Shockwave Flash plugin. Right-click to disable it, or choose More information to remove it from one site in particular. The steps for IE described above are the ones most commonly recommended, and they stopped some auto-playing content, but plenty still got through—it seems that Chrome and Firefox are much more effective at blocking this behavior than either the old or new browsers from Microsoft. If you know of a foolproof way that works, let us know. [Header image courtesy of dolphfyn/Shutterstock.com]
Written by Ben Stegner January 25, 2016 Avast is a great antivirus program, but it has some annoying features that may be enabled without your knowledge. From irritating sounds to tracking your every move, even this good antivirus solution is flawed.
Somehow @avast_antivirus just started adding an email signature to my gmail, and I never approved or set that up. Extremely not okay.
Avast quietly introduced a new annoyance last month, when it started appending signatures to your outgoing emails — without telling you. Yes, you wouldn’t even know the program was doing this unless someone told you, or if you saw an email from someone else and made the connection. Even worse, they put this crap into all your outgoing emails whether you’re using desktop mail with Outlook or Thunderbird, or a web-based client like Gmail or Yahoo! mail. You’ve probably worked hard to craft an email signature that leaves the right impression, and having Avast hijack it without telling you is both a violation of trust and makes you look silly when sending important emails. If you decide this isn’t worth ditching Avast over, it’s easy to disable.
Open Avast by double-clicking the orange sphere icon in your notification area, or just search in the Start menu for Avast. Once in the program, click the gear icon in the top-right; you’ll be in the General tab. Now, just uncheck Enable Avast email signature to be rid of this nuisance.
There’s one other place you may want to check to ensure this is totally disabled. Switch to the Active Protection tab in the settings, then click Customize next to Mail Shield. Under the Behavior tab, uncheck Insert note into clean message (outgoing) (and you might as well uncheck the box for incoming clean messages, too, since it’s useless).
@avast_antivirus you're asking to be uninstalled with that automated email signature. I know I can disable it, but it's stupid to begin with
Chrome differentiates itself through its constant updates, but also through its extensive Web Apps Store, which offers apps that blur the line between Web and local apps in some unique ways. Much of this philosophy comes from Chrome OS, Google’s desktop operating system based on the Chrome browser. Still, we like the idea and Chrome remains the most integrated software for accessing anything Google related (i.e. Gmail, Google Drive). If Web apps and seamless dashboard features are important to you, check out what Google has to offer.
Safari may not have the admirable extension catalog to rival its peers, but it does have offer a good deal of extensions and utilities for productivity and organization. Unlike Firefox and Chrome, though, the third-party extensions are rather bland and aren’t as integrated into the software as they probably could be. The bulk of them also lack the “fun” factor found on other browsers, but hopefully Apple will take a cue from the current market and work more accessible and entertaining extensions into the Safari Extensions Gallery. Other awesome built-in extras include the ad-free Safari Reader, which lets you view solely text without all the unnecessary clutter, and comprehensive iCloud integration for syncing pages across all your devices.
IE11 sports heavy integration and optimization for Windows 7 and 8. Many functions, like turning tabs into new windows, are much easier with Microsoft’s new browser. It retains some of the unique features introduced in IE10, like individual tab previewing from the task bar and a new feature called site pinning, which lets you ‘pin’ a website to the Windows 8 task bar like you would a normal application. However, unlike an ordinary taskbar shortcut, pinned websites can offer customized “right click” menus. For example, pinning the Facebook toolbar will let you right click and auto browse to different sections of the Facebook site like News, Messages, Events and Friends. In addition, when you open a pinned site, the IE11 browser customizes itself to resemble the site you’re viewing. Currently, this only means the icon in the upper-left corner will change along with the colors for the back and forward buttons, but we like the idea.
Creating a browser that can compete with the browser giants is an an uphill battle for Opera. That said, the decision to embed Chromium has proven to pay dividends for the Scandinavian company. Opera’s 
