Eches - Technology | OS | Mobile | Software | Gadgets » Web Browser http://eches.net Tips & Tricks related to web, internet and computer Fri, 30 Mar 2012 04:45:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 What’s new on Firefox 9.0? [Download link] http://eches.net/whats-new-on-firefox-9-0-download-link/ http://eches.net/whats-new-on-firefox-9-0-download-link/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:11:11 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=10781 Mozilla is moving fast and if we go back in time we can see that they are releasing one major version of Firefox after another at shorter period of time. Before Firefox 9.0 is released, Firefox 8.0 went to public on November 8, 2011, that was about 6 weeks ago. The update is done automatically through auto update feature but if you still get the latest copy of Firefox 9.0 you can head over to Firefox official page to get it manually.

Firefox 9.0

Firefox 9.0

What's new on Firefox 9.0?

Add-on compatibility

There are major improvements associated to add-on compatibility issue because none of my add-ons appear to be disabled, not like in previous upgrades. Because there are literally thousands of Firefox add-on used by millions of people, you may not have the same experience as mine.

Little changes we can see on the surface but Mozilla claims that there are lot of things going on under the hood. The areas that Mozilla claims has significant changes include the CSS, HTML5 and MathML support. For those who want to learn in great details for the bugs and security fixes, you can do so by visiting the links given.

Improved JavaScript Performance

Firefox 9.0 brings Javascript performance boost up to 30%. This is achieved through the usage of Type Inference (TI). Basically it is a SipderMonkey feature that analyzes variable values and statement on a running program that result in more efficient code.

New support to CSS3

1. font-stretch property

This property allows a particular text to be stretched out or shrink-ed in. There are 8 values that can be assigned to font-stretch property

font-stretch: ultra-expanded;
font-stretch: extra-expanded;
font-stretch: expanded;
font-stretch: semi-expanded;
font-stretch: normal;
font-stretch: semi-condensed;
font-stretch: condensed;
font-stretch: extra-condensed;
font-stretch: ultra-condensed;

2. text-overflow: ellipses

text-overflow: ellipses was introduced since Firefox 7 where any overflow will have "..." appended to it at the right most end of an overflowed string. Firefox 9.0 brings more options on how the overflow text should be handled - you can end the text string with a hard clip, custom string or ellipses.

Example: If "abcdefgh" was centered in a small element, the following css property

text-overflow: ',' ellipsis;

could result in "abcd..."

Firefox future

Mozilla seems to struggle to keep up with Google Chrome browser but the release of Firefox 9.0 seems to give a renewed hope for Mozilla to really push forward. As a happy Firefox fan, I'm impatiently waiting for Firefox 10.0 which is due on the end of this month.

Download link: Firefox 9.0
]]> http://eches.net/whats-new-on-firefox-9-0-download-link/feed/ 0 Download Opera 12 Beta Build 1076 [Codename Wahoo] http://eches.net/download-opera-12-beta-build-1076-codename-wahoo/ http://eches.net/download-opera-12-beta-build-1076-codename-wahoo/#comments Sun, 02 Oct 2011 13:20:24 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=9361 Opera team is currently working around the clock to complete the upcoming major release of Opera 12 that goes with the codename "Wahoo". As this article is written, the current build is 1076. So what we can expect from the next Opera 12? According to a member of Opera team, Opera 12 will feature an improvement on the bookmark system where it will appear in the address bar of the browser. This ensures a bookmark can be added and removed on the fly by users.

Opera 12 Beta Build 1076 - Codename Wahoo

Apart from that, Opera team also upgraded the compiler on Mac platform, allowing a better Javascript performance on the OS. Interested users can have a look at the changelog provided by Opera team. Opera 12 Beta Build 1076 also includes fixes and addresses unintended behavior and other bugs.

Download Links: Windows | Mac | Linux
]]> http://eches.net/download-opera-12-beta-build-1076-codename-wahoo/feed/ 0 Download Firefox 7.0 Final http://eches.net/download-firefox-7-0-final-officially-available-to-public/ http://eches.net/download-firefox-7-0-final-officially-available-to-public/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:29:22 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=9337 I was one of the big fans of Firefox but since the release of Firefox 6, I have to switch to Google Chrome. Firefox 6 kept freezing and halt my Windows system. Firefox is quick to notice how Firefox has been left far behind by other web browsers such as Opera and Safari in term of speed.

Now Mozilla releases Firefox 7.0 that has much better performances. Another interesting point to note is that Firefox 7.0 is released without any new features, a bid to catch up with the builds number of Internet Explorer, Chrome and Opera. Official announcement will be relased soon but you can download it right now from the direct links below.

Firefox 7 Final

What makes Firefox 7.0 better than its predecessors?

  • Increased speed due to significantly improve memory usage (up to 50% better)
  • Firefox Sync - Changes in password and bookmark are reflected almost instantly
  • New rendering backend introduced to speed up Canvas operations
  • Added support for text-overflow: ellipsis
  • Added an opt-in system - Users can participate to improve future build by sending performance data to Mozilla.
  • Web Timing specification is now supported
  • Several stability issues fixed

You should be able download Firefox 7.0 by now through its Firefox system update (not yet available as this post is written) or you can use the direct download links below.

Download link [FTP]: Firefox 7 for Windows | Firefox 7 for Mac | Firefox 7 for Linux
]]> http://eches.net/download-firefox-7-0-final-officially-available-to-public/feed/ 0 Download Mozilla Firefox 6.0.1 http://eches.net/download-mozilla-firefox-6-0-1/ http://eches.net/download-mozilla-firefox-6-0-1/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 04:58:42 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=8601 Firefox is now receiving new update from Mozilla with the latest version 6.0.1. Due to fraudulent in SSL certificate issuance, Mozilla has revoked the root certificate for DigiNotar in this update. There are several other improvements being introduced in Mozilla Firefox 6.0.1 which you can find below.

Here is the list of changes brought into Firefox 6.0.1

  • Website domain you visited is highlighted on address bar
  • Added support for the latest draft version of WebSockets with a prefixed API
  • Streamlined the look of the site identity block
  • Added support for server-sent / EventSource events
  • Added Scratchpad
  • Added support for window.matchMedia
  • Web Developer menu item added
  • Improved Firefox Sync discoverability
  • Improved usability Web Console
  • Startup time reduced when Panorama is used
  • Fixed several stability and security issues

Mozilla Firefox 6.0.1 can be downloaded from the following link.

Download link: Mozilla Firefox 6.0.1

]]> http://eches.net/download-mozilla-firefox-6-0-1/feed/ 0 Download Safari 5.1 [Safari browser update] http://eches.net/download-safari-5-1/ http://eches.net/download-safari-5-1/#comments Sat, 23 Jul 2011 02:27:56 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=7699 Apple has recently released a new version Safari 5.1 which is available for download. Below are several features of the latest version of Safari browser.

Some new features

Reading List: Reading List is a feature that allows you save interesting things that you come across while browsing. You can come back later to read, watch or shop the page you already saved.

Privacy Pane: Some websites you visit may leave something like data on your PC. The new Privacy pane reveals what type of data a website is storing and allows you remove it. From this pane, you can customize cookie settings as well.

Private AutoFill: This feature ensures your information is kept safely private. No information is ever added automatically to a form unless you give it a go.

Download link: Safari 5.1
]]> http://eches.net/download-safari-5-1/feed/ 0 How to Disable Firefox hardware Accelerator http://eches.net/how-to-disable-firefox-hardware-accelerator/ http://eches.net/how-to-disable-firefox-hardware-accelerator/#comments Mon, 20 Jun 2011 07:01:29 +0000 niazor http://eches.net/?p=7569 Firefox 4 is the latest stable edition to the latest Firefox family. With Firefox 5 and Firefox 6 (aurora) is still on the development table, Firefox user now have the the feature called hardware acceleration which designed for faster performance just like other browser such as Chrome which is set for HTML5 and CSS3 compatibility.

One of the major set back for Firefox 4 user with hardware accelerator capability is the rendered font may be a little bit eye sore. disabling the hardware acceleration in Firefox 4 may fix the problem.


How to Disable Hardware Acceleration in Firefox 4

1. Open Firefox, click on the orange Firefox button on the upper left and select "Options".

2. Go to "Advanced" tab and untick "Use hardware acceleration when available" option.

3. Click on OK and restart your browser.

Another way to fix the issue on your Firefox 4 browser is simply update the display driver on your computer or you can use this plugin for Firefox.

Download link: Anti Aliasing Tuner for Firefox
]]> http://eches.net/how-to-disable-firefox-hardware-accelerator/feed/ 0 Download Offline Installer Google Chrome 12 Stable Version http://eches.net/download-offline-installer-google-chrome-12-stable-version/ http://eches.net/download-offline-installer-google-chrome-12-stable-version/#comments Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:10:07 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=7482 The latest version of Google Chrome 12 is finally released. Google Chrome 12 brings along a lot of security improvements, graphics capabilities and privacy. Chrome is a much safer web browser to use with its new capability of detecting links that contain malware.

Other new features and updates, include:

  • Launch Apps by name from the Omnibox
  • Improved screen reader support
  • Integrated Sync into new settings pages
  • Removal of Google Gears
  • New warning when hitting Command-Q on Mac

Google Chrome 12 Stable is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Linux OS.

Download links

Windows | Mac | Linux
]]> http://eches.net/download-offline-installer-google-chrome-12-stable-version/feed/ 0 Download Internet Explorer 9 Final [Full Offline Installer] http://eches.net/download-internet-explorer-9-final-full-offline-installer/ http://eches.net/download-internet-explorer-9-final-full-offline-installer/#comments Sun, 03 Apr 2011 20:17:09 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=6325 The final build of Internet Explorer 9 (IE 9) was just launched by Microsoft on March 14, 2011 and below are the list of some new feature of Internet Explorer 9.

New Features of Internet Explorer 9 (IE 9):

  • Compact user interface.
  • Download Manager with ability restart and pause a download.
  • Pinned Sites for accessing frequently visited web pages
  • Enhanced tabs browsing with ability to tear-off tabs out of Internet Explorer
  • Search in the address bar with search suggestions support
  • New Tab page with listing of most often and frequently visited webpages
  • Notification Bar appears at the bottom of Internet Explorer
  • GPU hardware acceleration
  • Add-on Performance Advisor
  • ActiveX Filtering
  • Tracking Protection private browsing

Full Offline Installer of Internet Explorer 9 is available in 39 languages and is now available 32-bit and 64-bit of Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Server 2008. Unfortunately, there is no support provided to Windows XP.

]]> http://eches.net/download-internet-explorer-9-final-full-offline-installer/feed/ 0 Download Internet Explorer 9 RC [FULL Offline Installer] http://eches.net/download-internet-explorer-9-rc-offline-installer/ http://eches.net/download-internet-explorer-9-rc-offline-installer/#comments Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:27:04 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=5847 Internet Explorer 9 (IE 9) RC was released several days ago where you need to download a small installer which will help you to complete download the rest of the file and install it for you. The problem arises when installation process may fail due to internet connection failure that takes place in between.

A full offline installer for Internet Explorer 9 (IE 9) can be a better solution to those who are in the vicinity of bad broadband connection area. The following is the links for the respective 32-bit and 64-bit of Internet Explorer.

Download link: Internet Explorer 9 RC (32 bit) (link removed) | Internet Explorer 9 RC (64 bit) (link removed)

You can find more about Internet Explorer from eches.net
]]> http://eches.net/download-internet-explorer-9-rc-offline-installer/feed/ 0 Download Firefox 4 Beta 9: What’s new in it? http://eches.net/download-firefox-4-beta-9-whats-new-in-it/ http://eches.net/download-firefox-4-beta-9-whats-new-in-it/#comments Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:11:49 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=4989 Mozilla has finally released last Friday of what's most likely to be the final test build of the next iteration of Firefox browser. With the final date is drawing near, only several new features are incorporated into Firefox 4.

One of the overhaul is on bookmarks and history code that is claimed to have improved in term of performance and speed. This latest build also has "per-compartment garbage collection" enabled to reduce work load when rendering complex animations

Even though it is coming to the final phase there are few bugs that are not yet properly addressed. The new tab sorting interface (Panorama) still have some glitches and need to be fixed. Among other problems that are gathered from user feedbacks are US video website Hulu.com is blocked in beta version and it is reported that Twitter is barely accessible especially when entering text on the website. Scrolling in Gmail window also appears a bit sluggish for some people.

A final Firefox 4 will come with additional hardware acceleration, JaegerMonkey Javascript engine extension and will also allow coders to build plug-in-free 3D graphics via WebGL.

Currently, Mozilla is working around the clock to reduce bugs to zero before coming up with the Release Candidate (RC) version of Firefox 4, which should arrive early February 2011.

]]> http://eches.net/download-firefox-4-beta-9-whats-new-in-it/feed/ 0 Download Opera 10.5: World’s Fastest Browser for Windows http://eches.net/opera-10-5-world%e2%80%99s-fastest-browser-for-windows/ http://eches.net/opera-10-5-world%e2%80%99s-fastest-browser-for-windows/#comments Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:13:17 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=2973 Opera 10.5 is currently crowned the world's fastest browser, beating all other big players in web browsing industry. According to Computerworld's test run, Opera is almost 20 percent faster than Google Chrome and 15 percent faster than Safari (Windows). It is also twice faster than the latest Mozilla's Firefox 3.6, over 8 times faster than Opera 10.10 and leaving Internet Explorer way behind.

Web browser Opera 10.5

Web browser Opera 10.5

Key features of the Opera browser

  • Security: The best security level amongst leading web browsers
  • Speed: For the time being, it is known as the "world's fastest browser"
  • Opera Turbo: Load webpage much faster on a slow network
  • Customizable Speed Dial: Easily access favorite sites when a new tab is opened.
  • Opera Link: Sync your speed dial, notes, bookmarks and other useful data across all your devices on the fly

Latest Opera 10.5 features Carakan, a new revolutionary JavaScript rendering engine that boasts a new vector graphics library called Vega which in turn handles all graphics rendering in the web browser. According to Opera, Vega renders graphics roughly 3 times faster than the library utilised by the previous Opera 10.10. The incorporation of this new feature allows Opera 10.5 to easily take the top speed spot.

The release of Opera 10.5 coincides with the execution of new browser ballot screen on Internet Explorer in European region. For what it's worth, the move by Microsoft is done after Microsoft was instructed to do so to prevent monopoly. This action will make easy for PC users to switch browser to other browser than Internet Explorer. As of now, Opera is holding 1.8 percent of the web browser market, way behind that Internet Explorer's share.

Back to Opera 10.5, you should easily notice that it has a more refined interface with the traditional menu button is being replaced with the Opera menu button. Open new windows and tabs work the same as in the Google's Chrome web browser. On top of that, it also displays Aero Peek, Jumplist and Windows 7 Aero Glass features.

For me, the best of all is the private browsing option that works a bit different from other web browsers. You can easily set your browsing experience to be private not in totally new windows but only at different tabs.

Download Opera 10.5
]]> http://eches.net/opera-10-5-world%e2%80%99s-fastest-browser-for-windows/feed/ 0 Firefox Plugin: Check Places – Check Duplicate Bookmarks in Firefox http://eches.net/check-places-check-duplicate-bookmarks-in-firefox/ http://eches.net/check-places-check-duplicate-bookmarks-in-firefox/#comments Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:57:30 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=2286 I bookmark many new pages everyday and imagine how easily my bookmark collection swells into a pile of messy favorite pages. With the burgeoning number of bookmarks, categorizing them into proper categories is essentially important. Unfortunately, as time goes by your memory might betray you. You may start adding the same exact page again in different category or even sometimes in the same category. How about pages that become obsolete and may no longer available for access? How do you handle that?

Checking each and every bookmark is not a practical option; it's tedious and a waste of time.

Check Places is a useful extension that is able to clean sweep all Firefox 3 bookmarks for duplication or obsolete pages. By installing the plugin, the new Check Places entry will be added to the bookmarks menu for easy access. A click on the menu will automatically pop up a new window so that user can customize how the scan should be done.

This add-on is small but versatile. It is able to scan the entire bookmarks or even on selected folders. It can also include exclusions to folders or bookmarks.

The scan won't take long, a minute or so for few hundreds bookmarks. The results are then displayed, detailing the bookmarks that are no longer exist or identified as duplicates.

Please note, this add-on is still in experimental, so you can only download this little plugin after you successfully login into Mozilla site.

Firefox plugin page: Check Places
  • SEO plugin: SEO Quake
    It's really time consuming if you are browsing through a website and really keen to learn about its ...
]]> http://eches.net/check-places-check-duplicate-bookmarks-in-firefox/feed/ 0 Run Multiple Versions of Internet Explorer with IE Collection http://eches.net/run-multiple-versions-of-internet-explorer-with-ie-collection/ http://eches.net/run-multiple-versions-of-internet-explorer-with-ie-collection/#comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:30:10 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=2240 Normal computer users may not even consider to use multiple versions of Internet Explorer but for those who are developing websites (especially related to XHTML and CSS) know very well, they need to cross check their design in the latest version of Internet Explorer and of course, in the older versions of IE, further back to IE 5.5. Microsoft doesn't allow multiple versions of Internet Explorer running on the same machine, so it would be troublesome to designers who would like switch back and forth to different IE versions.

Internet Explorer Collection comes handy to web developer because it allows you to install multiple instances of Internet Explorer right from Internet Explorer 1.0 to Internet Explorer 8 RC1. You can choose what version you want to install or you can even install every single version of Internet Explorer all together.

However please note that even though this application is compatible with Windows Vista, not all versions of Internet Explorer are compatible with different Windows OS. To make sure what IEs are compatible with your current Windows OS, you can check the compatibility chart before you start installing.

Judging from the latest version of IE (IE 8 RC1) included in the application we can safely say that it is updated regularly. If you think of downloading it, below is the download link

Download Internet Explorer Collection
]]> http://eches.net/run-multiple-versions-of-internet-explorer-with-ie-collection/feed/ 0 How to run Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) in Windows Vista http://eches.net/how-to-run-internet-explorer-6-ie6-in-windows-vista/ http://eches.net/how-to-run-internet-explorer-6-ie6-in-windows-vista/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:08:05 +0000 eches http://eches.net/?p=1306 As soon as you install Windows Vista on you computer, you just say goodbye for good to Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) because it is replaced by Internet Explorer 7. Why bother? Yup, that's the correct question to normal users but for web developers the absence of IE6 is troublesome especially when it comes to cross browser compatibility check. If you are on Windows XP you don't have problem to install multiple IEs as they can run side by side but not in Vista.

There's a solution to get around the problem but it's not really the easy one. I break down the steps into 2 parts so that it would be easier to follow.

Part 1: Software installations

1. First you need to download and install Virtual PC 2007 (roughly 31 MB)

Virtual PC 2007

Virtual PC 2007

2. Download IE6 VPC Image. There are several packages so make sure you choose the right installer (IE6-XPSP3_VPC.EXE) which is 377 MB.

Windows_XP_IE6.exe file

Windows_XP_IE6.exe file

3. Once you are done with step 2, unpack the installer to a folder of your choice.

4. Run Virtual PC 2007 and click new to setup new virtual machine.

5. There's a wizard that will walk you through the process and here are the details you need to fill in.

  • Select "create a virtual machine" when you are asked for an option
  • Name and location: Rename it if you plan to have several virtualization (i.e. running Linux at the same time)
  • Select Windows XP as an operating system
  • Simply go with 128 MB, you may upgrade it later on
  • Select Windows XP as an operating system
  • Virtual Hard Disk Options: choose "an existing virtual hard disk"
  • Find IE6 image by browsing the directory where you unpack IE6 VPC Image in step 3

At this stage you should be able to boot into Windows XP with Internet Explorer 6 installed. As far as I'm concerned, I had already completed my wordpress theme and had uploaded it to my hosting server and now I need to see it online via IE6. The following part will show how to set our IE6 so that it can be connected to the internet.

Part 2: Getting IE6 Online

1. Go to Virtual PC console and click on settings > Networking and select "Adapter 1" dropdown menu on the right. As I'm on a wireless network, I just select network card that's associated to wireless connection. Otherwise, select "Shared Networking (NAT)" and click OK.

2. Go to Tools > Internet Options > Connections and click on "setup" in Internet Explorer 6. Make sure to do the following

  • Network Connection Type: Connect to the Internet
  • Choose Set up my connection manually
  • Internet Connection: choose Connect using a broadband connection that is always on
  • Click on "Finish".

3. Without exiting the "Internet Option", select "Local Are Network (LAN) Settings" and tick "Automatically Detect Settings" and click OK.

4. Restart Internet Explorer 6 and you should be able to online by now.

Now you are good to go online with IE6 on Windows Vista!

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