If I try to remember the browsers that I used since I discovered the Internet, there are a lot of them in the list, but when I think about my primary browsers, there are only a few. Unfortunately, Netscape is dead and gone now, so the remaining ones are Opera, the big crowd of IE-based browsers, such as Maxthon, Avant Browser and others, depending on my mood, and Firefox, just as expected.

I know there are a lot of Firefox fanboys out there, but I am not one of those, believe me! I see Firefox as a very good browser, but I always found it to have a bunch of problems, so I never fell in love with it. No problem, there's enough time left for that to happen, but if and when it does, Firefox should really become much better than any browser in the wild!

Today, Mozilla.com also got updated, and this happened only a few minutes ago. I love the new layout of the site, mainly because now I can feel it closer to the user, being less of a corporate site and more of a user-friendly one, and you can understand whatever you want when I say "user friendly." Just take a look at it!

OK, these being said, I think we should leave anything else behind and get busy downloading and installing Firefox 3, don't you agree?

Setup
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If you already have Firefox installed, I guess the Update feature is the best choice for having Firefox 3 up and running in an instant, but I have chosen to download and setup the program once again manually, because the built-in updater was extremely slow in doing anything, but this is explained by the heavy loads on Mozilla's servers today. After all, they want to break all download records today...

The file to download has about 7MB in size, and can be obtained using the link at the end of the article(you'll want to drop a comment down there, anyway!). Once you got it on your hard drive and you have started the setup process, here's what you will encounter, if you're facing the flaming fox for the first time...

As I always do, I have chosen the Custom setup mode, but you can pick Standard and escape clicking the mouse a few extra times. Before arriving to the point where you press Finish and make sure that "Launch Firefox now" is checked, you will have to (read and) agree the License Agreement, pick the setup mode, and if you have chosen my path, you also need to choose install location, then set up shortcuts, so you can add Firefox to your desktop, Start Menu Programs folder, and Quicklaunch toolbar...or not, finally followed by pressing another Next button, reviewing the install options one last time, then press Install and get ready to rock and roll!!

Launching Firefox...

Interface

Most people will surely install their favorite skin sooner or later, and those updating Firefox to version 3 won't even have the chance to see the default interface, but my advice is to switch back, at least for a while. Why?

Just as the new default interface Opera 9.5 received a few days ago, Firefox 3 looks better than its predecessor. Much better, I dare to say. The icons have been changed, the Back/Forward buttons are looking very interesting, and the one-click bookmark icon has been added to the address bar. I know I may be missing something, so feel free to let me know what I missed!

Features

"Mammon slept. And the beast reborn spread over the earth and its numbers
grew legion. And they proclaimed the times and sacrificed crops unto the
fire, with the cunning of foxes. And they built a new world in their own
image as promised by the sacred words, and spoke of the beast with their children. Mammon awoke, and lo! it was naught but a follower.

from The Book of Mozilla, 11:9
(10th Edition)"

Why the quote above? Well, type "about:mozilla" in the address bar and press Enter. Some consider this to be one Easter Egg, I consider it to be a great quote to start talking about the features packed inside what Mozilla claims to be "the best Firefox yet." For those who want to see something else as a proof that Firefox 3 exists, since the official page seems to appear and disappear, there's the screenshot below...

First of all, one thought - Firefox 3 still could be improved when it comes to memory usage. That should say it all, and I won't mention this again. It may be a feeling I get after using so many IE-based browsers that eat far less memory than Firefox ever did, but I know this can only get better. Good...now, let's see the highlights of those "more than 15,000 improvements," shall we?

As I was saying earlier, the thing that jumps right out in your face is the one-click bookmark feature. Everything is very simple - type an address, press the empty star to the right, and you have just bookmarked that site. Press the star, which has just become yellow, again, and you will see the window above, which allows you to set the options for this bookmark, including the tag, a handy new way of grouping bookmarks, apart from the good old folders.

Another side note - considering the way this feature works, a quick bookmark removal feature would also be welcome. If you ask me, I would go for a right click on the star, or a Delete option inside the window I have just shown you. Why? Think about trying to open a bookmarked site, and seeing that the domain has been parked, or that the site is no longer available in your country, and so on. Why click at least 4-5 times to delete it, when one click could be enough?

Obviously, Firefox 3 is faster than Firefox 2, just as expected. The score in the Acid3 test is still lower than Opera's, with 71/100, compared to 83/100, while Acid1 and Acid2 are both passed without breaking a sweat.

When talking about security, there's a feature called "Instant Web Site ID," having the purpose to help you "Avoid online scams, unsafe transactions and forgeries with simple site identity." It seems this is something similar to Opera's Fraud Protection, more or less...

Before moving on, one more thing - I don't understand why they still have left this behind, but Firefox 3 doesn't have mouse gestures! Well, you can't have them all...

When working with bookmarks, things have become a lot better, showing that Mozilla didn't simply watch those bookmark management extensions that appeared in the last years, without learning anything from them. The Library contains your browsing history, as well as you bookmarks, and you can sort them based on a lot of criterions, from name to location, tag or keyword.

Even more than just the above, you can save frequent searches in dynamic smart folders, saving a lot of your precious time, because these folders automatically update as your bookmark list and history grow. Pretty cool, huh?

The integrated Web Search now features smart keywords, so you can assign certain keywords to various search engines. This way, when you look for certain products, you'll use Amazon instead of Google, without having to change the default search provider. Even better, there are also search suggestions available, as you can see above.

As usual, this is only the top of the iceberg, because there's plenty to see in Firefox 3, especially when talking about security and usability. I guess that until I manage to decide which are my top 10 features of those that have been added, we'll have to be happy with what I noticed today...but you can help by adding your own observations, and I urge you to do so!

Final Thoughts

Ehem...all the official Firefox pages are now back to the old versions. I have no clue about what's happening, but I guess it has something to do with Mozilla's server being completely overrun by the incredible amount of traffic Firefox 3 can generate. We'll surely find out more about this in the coming days...or not!

What else to say about Firefox 3? I am impressed, honestly. I am not crazy about it, I didn't start to love it yet, because we have to get to know each other much better, and Firefox 3 is not one of those browsers to discover in a few hours.

So far, everything's good, and leaving aside the lower score in the Acid3 test, Firefox 3 may be even better than Opera 9.5, my current favorite, but only time will tell, because changing your primary browser is not something to do over night.

Developer: Mozilla
Price: free
Full version download: Download

No matter how strange it may sound, Microsoft is paying for Open Source! I know - this is not something you'd expect to happen, but this is probably more than meets the eye. Why? Well, the Redmond-based company is not actually paying to use Open Source software, but sponsoring The Open Source Census project. Ok, very nice, but WHY?

<-234x60 Half Banner - left->The aim of the OSC project is to track and catalog the use of open-source software in enterprises all over the world, but I am sure it's more in stake for Microsoft hear than the fact that they need to adapt to the increasingly heterogenous environments present in the enterprise world. I guess cleaning the sins of the past can go on second place, after all...

Just as a side note, I think it's good to see Microsoft giving back to the industry, after taking so much. Also, we're not in late 1990s, and things have changed a lot. Open-source software is getting more and more popular with enterprises and home users alike, and I think this is a great chance for everyone. To be honest, I don't trust Microsoft. It's not about Vista, not about the fact that Steve Ballmer doesn't seem the best mean to lead the company these days, it's just my personal feeling as one of those millions using Microsoft software, as well as open-source alternatives to the solutions provided by the Redmond giant.

Well, I guess we should wait and see how this entire effort moves along, and what's going to be the prize for Microsoft, because I am sure that behind every good deed, there's a reward, or at least the need for it.

Remember the Microsoft-Yahoo deal? I am sure you do, but I have to add that, in fact, that was no deal, because Microsoft got rejected, as most of us were expecting to happen. After hearing that Microsoft may still have Yahoo targeted, I really had no idea what to think anymore. To make matters even worse, various "outside forces" are trying to force Yahoo into accepting to become a part of Microsoft, but today, hopefully, everything has just come to an end!

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Let's leave the past behind now. Why? Well, some previous rumors were saying that Yahoo and Google could get together, so Google services would be used by Yahoo. Now, that has been confirmed. As the official press release says, Google "announced that it has reached an agreement that gives Yahoo! the ability to use Google's search and contextual advertising technology through its AdSense™ for Search and AdSense for Content advertising programs. Under the agreement, Yahoo! has the option to display Google ads alongside its own natural search results in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, Yahoo! can serve contextually targeted ads on its U.S. and Canadian web properties as well as on its current publisher partner sites. Yahoo will continue to operate its own search engine, web properties and advertising services."

Bye bye, wicked Microsoft!

...but wait, there's even more - "In addition, Yahoo! and Google agreed to enable interoperability between their respective instant messaging services bringing easier and broader communication to users."

I guess we should all wait and see how this works in the long term, but I am sure everything will be just fine. I love the interoperability part the most. Obviously, I would also love to see Steve Ballmer's face when he got the news. That would really be priceless! What about you?

At last, since I said "long term," here's what we know: "The agreement has a term of up to ten years: a 4-year initial term and two 3-year renewals at Yahoo!’s option. Financial terms between the two companies were not disclosed."

Godspeed, Google, and godspeed, Yahoo! The future just got a bit more interesting...

Do you hate Opera? I know too many people that don't like it, and in the last weeks, it even started to piss me off, although I use it as my primary Web browser. Anyway, we'll talk about my issues with Opera 9.27 a bit later, because there's quite a lot to say.

Now, it's enough to say that the long-awaited Opera 9.5 browser was released today, and since it was a pleasure to update it, I will share my experience with you, while trying to come up with one of the first Opera 9.5 reviews on the Web, and - hopefully - the first honest review, and written from the point of view of an old Opera user.

Setup

When I tried to use the built in update feature, I ended up with a strange message saying that Opera 9.5 wasn't available in my language, although I had the English version. As I saw this, I thought that backing up all my current Opera setup would be a good idea, so I started packing the Opera folder(primitive yet effective backup approach, when talking about Opera), after downloading the setup package from the Opera 9.5 download page, of course.

<-234x60 Half Banner - left->As you can see above, the first thing that strikes you in the face is the new Welcome screen of the setup program. It's new, I know, and despite the fact I've seen better, this one is simple, yet stylish, and has black and red - one of my favorite color combinations...



OK, so you should - obviously - select the "Upgrade" option when asked, if you are already using Opera, then move on. I had no special problems while updating to Opera 9.5, and I guess you shouldn't, either.



At last, be sure that "Run Opera when I press Finish" is checked, press "Finish," and get ready to rock!

Interface

To be honest, I don't see anything that special with Opera 9.5, when looking at it. Some icons have been changed, the Status Bar got a few new features, but it's not what I expected. So...what was I expecting? I can't exactly tell why, but I had in mind that Opera 9.5 will have a completely overhauled interface. Good for me, that's not true.



Anyway, since after updating, I remained with my heavily customized layout I had before, it's not a surprise that I still feel like using Opera 9.27, except the fact that now...everything is much, much better, as we're going to see right away!

Features

Features, just great! Now, let's leave the features nicely aligned, waiting to be checked, because I have to tell you about the problems I had with Opera 9.27 lately, problems which are now gone.

As we all know, Internet Explorer can be anything but a memory hog, which is not true with Firefox, for example, which is a very good browser, but a huge memory hog. Unfortunately, the same is true with Opera. Well, "it was," because while Opera 9.27 was using over 300MB of memory most of the time, in some cases even going above 500MB, Opera 9.5 only uses about 200MB, most of the time less, and that's in the same conditions - with about 40 websites loaded simultaneously.



In the last few months, Opera 9.27 kept crashing on me on a regular basis. Most of these crashes were not random, since I noticed that, as an example, when trying to download from certain FTP servers, Opera would crash. Opera 9.5 didn't crash so far, but I guess I'll have to think about this again in a month or two.

Next, we have YouTube and other similar sites. What's about them? Embedded Flash video players, of course. OK, what's that special with them? Well, lately I wasn't able to play any video content in Opera, because it kept freezing the video, and I had no sound. Obviously, same sites worked great in other browsers.

At last, there's speed and low CPU load when playing browser-based Flash games or video content. Opera 9.5 is much better than its predecessor at first sight, and I need no tests to prove that!

Since I said "tests," let's see how does Opera 9.5 handle the Acid tests, shall we? Anyway, don't expect screenshots, because it's enough to give you the scores and links to do the tests for yourselves, so here we go: Acid1 - perfect, Acid2 - perfect, and Acid3 - 83/100. As a side note, it's enough to say that, in Acid3, Firefox 2 scores 53/100, while Safari 3 reaches an impressive 75/100.

Opera has all the features you'd need from a modern browser, and even more - BitTorrent support built into the download manager, custom content blocking, tabs and sessions, mouse gestures, quick find, and others, but there are only two things worth being mentioned before I draw the conclusions...

First, there's the new browser engine, which Opera claims to be "More than 2x faster than Opera 9.2 in rendering JavaScript and HTML." I didn't use a timer to compare loading times, but it's surely faster, as I said before. This new browser engine comes together with a very useful Opera Link feature which allows you to sync your bookmarks between mobile phone, computer, and even more than just that.

Second, there's Opera Fraud Protection. Phishing, malware? No more! As you can see above, a dangerous site is market so you can't miss it. Just keep your eyes on the address bar, and be sure to report any malicious websites you pass by, if they are not recognized by the browser as "evil."

That should be it for now. I know there's a lot left to say, so feel free to draw your own conclusions, but first, let's see mine!

Final Thoughts

What do you think I should say about Opera 9.5? I love it! It wasn't about writing the Opera 9.5 review, after all. In the end, it was about restoring a user's faith into a program that started to become a bit of a disappointment. Did it work? Oh, yeah!

Opera 9.5 is faster, more secure and more reliable than before. Opera Link is a handy addition, and Opera Fraud Protection is one of the first bricks added to the foundation of a safer Web for everyone.

Weak spots? Good question! Probably there are still a lot of websites that won't display properly in Opera, simply because they were build for IE 6, in most cases, but I still have to bump into such sites, at least with Opera 9.5.

Leave the past behind, and forget anything you heard about Opera until today. Opera has just reborn, and if someone would ask me to choose a nickname for Opera 9.5, that would surely be "Phoenix." I'll be here, waiting for your own impressions regarding the best browser in the world today. That's it!

Developer: Opera Software ASA
Price: free
Full version download: Download

As far as I know, "carpet bombing" has nothing to do with computing. Developed by the British head of Bomber Command, Air Vice Marshal Arthur "Bomber" Harris, and copied by the United States, this is a strategy that is aiming at weakening morale and destroying entire cities. Since World War II, things have changed a lot, and now we're in a full scale war against malware, including attack codes used to exploit various weaknesses of computer software. Unfortunately, today Apple has been hit by such an attack, only a day after updating QuickTime and fixing some issues with that program...


<-234x60 Half Banner - left->OK, now here's the secret link between carpet bombing and computer software - a hacker just made public attack code that can be used to exploit critical flaws in both Safari and Internet Explorer, and the Safari bug that's being targeted allows attackers to mess with the executable files located on the desktop of the victim, this being an attack known as "carpet bombing." Got it know?The interesting part comes when talking about the fixes for these problems, because Microsoft seems to beat Apple on this one. How's that possible? Well, the Safari bug was discovered on the 15th of May, and it seems they have no plans to patch it, while Microsoft released a security advisory regarding this problem on the 30th of May, so they'll probably come up with a fix pretty soon.Oh, my...whatta pity! Anyway, I won't stop using Safari for Windows yet. After all, there's no perfect browser yet, and while Safari may not be the safest one, it surely has a lot of other qualities!