Posts Tagged ‘Opera’

Google has posted an update for the unstable version 6.0.437.1 of Chrome, but is receiving heat for the integration of a native PDF reader in its browser. Mozilla is unusually quiet about Firefox 4 Beta, which is due this Thursday, but said that it is further delaying the release of Firefox 3.6.4 and will skip Firefox 3.6.5. Opera is pitching the fastest browser on Earth and Microsoft pushes its IE8 ad campaign. Update 5:05 PM: Mozilla has officially released Firefox 3.6.4

The latest edition of our browser updates brings another piece of news for Firefox 4, a monstrous security patch for IE, a new Chrome Developer version as well as Opera’s plan for world domination.

Apple is the opposite of modesty and in some cases, rightfully so. But in other cases, the company’s claims do not support reality and its modesty may expose the company with its pants down. In case of its latest Safari browser, the statement that Safari 5 is the world’s fastest browser is a flat out lie. A lie that is completely unnecessary.

Net Applications and StatCounter have released their browser market share estimates for May and they surely will cause a discussion how accurate the numbers really are – or can be. Once more, however, both agree that Firefox shows no growth anymore, while Chrome user share appears to be growing. The runner up in the market growth category in May is … Opera. Mozilla may have a growing problem with Firefox and is under increasing pressure to deliver a fantastic Firefox 4.0.

Opera today said that Opera Mini for the iPhone is now being used by 2.6 million users. The browser was launched on April 14 of this year and scored the first million downloads within the first day of availability, and another 1.6 million in the following two weeks.

Analysis - For a brief moment, you could have thought the browser speed race was over and is now replaced with a contest for the best HTML5 implementation. The latest Chrome and IE9 previews tell a different story – more speed continues to be a feature of browsers and there is room for improvement. Time to take the latest browser versions through the benchmark parcours, which not only reveals the fastest browser available today, but also a forgotten strength of the current IE8.

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer dropped to a historic market share low in April, according to Net Applications. The company estimated IE’s market share at 59.95% in April, which is about the range that was reached by Internet Explorer 4 more than 11 years ago in early 1999. The big winner was once again Google’s Chrome browser, which maintained a double-digit growth rate and is now more than 2 points ahead of Apple’s Safari browser, which it surpassed four months ago.

Given Apple’s tight grip on what applications is available in the App Store and which is not, the approval of the Opera Mini browser for Apple’s App Store may come as a surprise. And apparently, there is a real benefit if you switch: Opera Mini is claimed to be much faster than the native Safari browser.

Opera Software today said that it has counted more than 100 million Opera users worldwide during a March 2010 survey. The number consists of a claimed 50 million users for Opera on Windows, Mac and Linux computers, as well as 50 million people using Opera Mini on cellphones.

Analysis – One year ago, Firefox looked like a sure bet to take over the browser market. It was the most mature of a new generation of browsers; it was trend setting in offering new features and security. It was years ahead of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer in virtually any measurable discipline. Firefox is still a viable choice over the Internet Explorer today, but its rivals are catching up. Especially Google’s Chrome is gaining traction and market share. What if you had to decide today which browser you should put your money on? Which one would you choose? Which one will dominate two years from now? Is Firefox doomed? Will Chrome break IE’s neck? Extra: Charts and Slideshow

Newsbyte – Microsoft released the first platform preview of the next Internet Explorer, which comes two years after the first preview of IE8 and unveils an entirely different product approach: Microsoft departs from a strategy of pushing proprietary strategies and is focusing on technology trends instead. And IE9 is faster. A lot faster.