Beta Browsers Battle

"Of the top five major Web browsers on the market today, three of the most commonly used are Google™s Chrome, Mozilla™s Firefox, and Microsoft™s Internet Explorer; also growing in popularity is Apple™s Safari browser. Were scrutinizing the first three because each has new or upcoming beta versions on the horizon. Before we examine what the betas will deliver, we provide a rundown on the technical differences between each browser".

Google Chrome

Chrome (free; www.google.com) is considered to be the most visually seamless of the top browsers. It features a single box from which you can enter search queries and see suggestions as you type. Opening a new tab reveals thumbnails of your most-visited sites as well as recently closed sites. Chrome uses a quickly so you can shuffle them in a single window or click and drag a tab to create a new browser window. If you want to browse without building any Web history, you can do so in private with Incognito Mode. The crash protection isolates a crashed tab so that it won™t take down the entire window with it. Overall, Chrome offers a no frills interface for unencumbered browsing, plus the ability to access Web apps via Desktop shortcuts.

Mozilla Firefox

The 6,000-plus customization features available for Mozilla Firefox (free; www.mozilla.com) users make it an ideal browser for those who benefit from a lot of productivity and personalization addons. Visit addons.mozilla.org and you can browse categories that include Alerts & Updates; Games & Entertainment; Photos, Music, & Videos; Social & Communication; and Web Development. With integrated search, Firefox comes with a preloaded Search bar that includes Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, eBay, Wikipedia, and Answers.com (and you can add hundreds more). To prevent unauthorized spy-ware downloads, Firefox also asks you for permission to download and install third-party programs. Firefox also includes a Private Browsing feature that doesn't store browser, search, and download history.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

The current full version of Internet Explorer, IE8 (free; www.microsoft.com), relies on fast performance features and secure browsing. Accelerators are essentially Web shortcuts: For example, you can high-light text, click the blue Accelerator that pops up, and email the highlighted information via Windows Live. Similarly, IE also provides visual search suggestions and a predictive address bar. Safety amenities include plenty of preventive features to keep malware out and the browser contained; these include cross-site scripting, click-jacking prevention, domain highlighting, In Private Browsing, and enhanced browsing history deletion. Compatibility View, one of IE™s incredibly practical features, automatically formats Web pages that are not yet compatible with the browser.

Now Back To Betas

Chrome 9 Beta

www.google.com/landing/chrome/beta

Many of the uninitialized features that could be included in Chrome 9 are still in the experimental phase, but Google intends for this release to feature safe plug-ins, faster searching, and better 3D graphics. Chrome already supports sand boxing, a technology that restricts malware and hacking to a single tab so that your other tabs and Chrome windows dont become infected (press Ctrl-Esc to view a list of tab processes when Chrome is running). The beta version applies sand boxing to the Flash Player plug-in to add more protection from malicious hijackers. Google has also added a task manager for (background) Web apps, accessible via Tools.

Those familiar with Google Instant the search enhancement that reveals results as you type a query will appreciate Chrome instant a new option that loads a site almost as soon as you type the URL in the address bar (which Google labels the "omnibox") Chrome 9 will also advance the "3D Web" with WebGL, a 3D graphics API (application programming interface) for JavaScript that supports the development of 3D Graphics. There's no word on an official release date for Chrome 9, but some tech news sources believe it will launch in the first quarter of this Year.

 

Firefox 4 Beta 

www.mozilla.com/en-US/irefox/beta

Initially scheduled for release in 2010 Q4, Firefox 4 is inching toward a 2011 Q1 release, likely late in the quarter. Before it rolls out, though, Mozilla wants you to provide feed-back on Firefox 4 Beta. The irst thing Firefox users will notice is an updated interface that gives your tabs visual priority. You can pin an "App Tab" for frequently visited sites, so the site stays in place while you open other tabs. The new sync feature lets you sync up your settings, passwords, bookmarks, history, and tabs on multiple devices that support Firefox. A new Add-ons Manager is easy to locate: Click the Firefox button and select Add-ons to access the Add-ons store, latest updates, and more. Additionally, there is a signiicant number of appealing features "under the hood" such as multitouch support, hardware acceleration, and fast scrolling that you will be able to explore on your own.

Internet Explorer 9 Beta

windows.microsoft.com/ie9
In IE9 Beta, the file menu has been reduced to a small Tools icon appearing in the same row as the Home but-ton and Favorites icon. IE9 looks more stripped down compared to previous toolbar-heavy versions, but you can still restore some toolbar (Command, Status, etc.) by right-clicking to the right of the New Tab button and selecting what you want. The Windows 7 integration makes it possible to pin regularly visited sites to the Desktop task bar. The new download manager alerts you of potentially malicious files. Other new features include color-coded most-visited sites in new tabs and address bar direct search. IE9 also uses the process-ing power of your GPU to better support multimedia streaming. Although Microsoft continues to make adjustments to IE9 beta, a release date of the full version hasn™t been announced.