A new round in the browser war
Firefox 4.0
After no fewer than 10 beta versions, we finally have the Release Candidate of Firefox 4 (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/RC/) - this is the version just before the final release. Most new features have been more or less copied from other browsers. For instance, Firefox now also shows its tabs at the top of the window, and the size of the toolbars has been drastically reduced. In addition, Firefox has “App Tabs”, permanent tabs for, say, Gmail or Twitter which you want to open automatically whenever you start Firefox. App Tabs only show the icon of the website concerned and take up little space. When a new Gmail or Twitter message comes in, the icon will flash briefly. You can create App Tabs by right-clicking on a tab and choosing the appropriate option. Firefox now also features a Tab Groups button (http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/what-are-tab-groups), which lets you group tabs and search these groups. In addition, it can now sync your bookmarks, passwords, form data and opened tabs between several devices on which you run Firefox 4 - your laptop, your desktop, your business computer, etc. Like IE9, Firefox 4 has a showcase demo site (https://demos.mozilla.org/en-US/) where you can explore the numerous possibilities offered by HTML 5. Tip. You won’t have to download the definitive version of Firefox 4 yourself: as soon as it’s released, it will be installed automatically.
Chrome 10
Google Chrome regularly makes minor improvements and attaches a new version number to them: this brings us to Version 10 already. The most conspicuous innovation is the improved Options button. It no longer opens a tiny window but a full page containing all possible configuration options. You can even search within this page: if you, for instance, type downloads in the search field, you will see all the settings relating to file downloading. Synchronisation between various installations of Chrome was possible already, but finally this also works for passwords, in a secure setting. In addition, Chrome 10 is again just that little bit faster than Firefox 4. Like the Google website, Chrome now also offers an Instant option (http://www.google.com/instant/) in the browser. As soon as you start typing a Web address or a search term in the address field, the top page of this site or the top search result will be displayed in the browser even while you’re typing. Note. This function should be activated explicitly in the Search section on the Options page. On the downside, the number of useful add-ons for Chrome is still well below those for Firefox. The things you can do faster in Chrome are generally things that you can do slower but more efficiently using the right Firefox add-on.
The verdict
Ultimately, the major browsers are growing more and more alike. For instance, the new versions of the three browsers all use your video card in order to display photos and streaming videos more rapidly. Their approach to certain issues may differ somewhat, though. To fend off Web ads, Firefox 4 can send out special “Do Not Track” signals to the websites you visit, although this requires the voluntary co-operation of the advertisers. IE 9 uses public lists of obtrusive websites and advertisers, which it can block immediately. And in Chrome you can install a Keep My Opt-Outs add-on in order to block certain major advertisers.
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