A few days back, Mozilla released the latest version of their web browser – Firefox 5 which is just three months after the release of Firefox 4. Although it was already available, I didn’t immediately upgrade as I wanted to make sure that all the addons/plugins I use are compatible with Firefox 5. I had no plans of upgrading now but an update alert popped up earlier today so went ahead and proceeded with the upgrade. I was glad to know that only two of the current addons/plugins I use weren’t compatible.

Here are the new features and changes added to Firefox 5:

• Added support for CSS animations
• The Do-Not-Track header preference has been moved to increase discoverability
• Tuned HTTP idle connection logic for increased performance
• Improved canvas, JavaScript, memory, and networking performance
• Improved standards support for HTML5, XHR, MathML, SMIL, and canvas
• Improved spell checking for some locales
• Improved desktop environment integration for Linux users
• WebGL content can no longer load cross-domain textures
• Background tabs have setTimeout and setInterval clamped to 1000ms to improve performance
• Fixed several stability issues
• Fixed several security issues

Compatible Addons/Plugins:

• Colorzilla 2.5.5
• Copy Link Text 1.5.0
• DownloadHelper 4.9.3
• FireFTP 1.99.4
• Fireshot 0.91
• Greasemonkey 0.9.5
• Java Console 6.0.22
• Iget 1.0.2
• NoScript 2.1.1.1
• Rainbow 1.1
• Screengrab 0.96.3
• Tab Mix Plus 0.3.8.6

Incompatible Addons/Plugins:

• MeasureIt 0.4.8
• MR Tech Toolkit 6.0.4

Firefox 5 isn’t much different to Firefox 4 in terms of the user interface/design since most updates and changes are under the hood or only the core functions. Performance wise, it also fast as the previous version and the browsing experience was smooth. Since I only updated today, it’s too early to talk about its stability but I hope that its the same as its predecessor Firefox 4 which was very stable.

The only problem that I’ve come across so far is that all WordPress keyboard shortcuts are no longer working. I’m not sure if there’s a fix, hack or workaround for this but I’ll research about it and hopefully find one so I can use the keyboard shortcuts again. WordPress keyboard shortcuts enable me to work quicker and improves productivity.

Download Mozilla Firefox 5

Anybody else upgraded and using Firefox 5? How do you like the latest version of the web browser? Did you find any problems or issues with it? Please share your thoughts.

Microsoft released the latest version of their web browser – Internet Explorer 9 to the public last Monday and racked up a total of 2.35 million downloads in it’s first 24 hours of availability. I’ve been very busy since Monday and it was only today that I got to download, install and try out Internet Explorer 9 and to be honest, I kinda like it.

Here are the new features or changes made from previous versions of Internet Explorer:

• User Interface – Pinned Sites, Security-enabled Download Manager, Address Bar Search, Enhanced Tabs and Tab Page, Add-on Performance Advisor and Compact user interface.
• Scripting – Javascript Engine, DOM
• CSS
• HTML5 – HTML5 Media, HTML5 Canvas, HTML5 Inline SVG support
• Web typographyMalware protection

Unfortunately for Windows XP users, Internet Explorer 9 only works with the following versions of Windows – Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

One of the cool features of IE9 that I like is the Pinned Sites feature which integrates with the Windows 7 taskbar and allows the user to “pin” a site to the taskbar and use it as a shortcut. If you want to “pin” a site, all you need to do is type the URL of the website that you want to pin and once the site has completely loaded, just click on the tab, drag towards the taskbar and when it says “Pin to Taskbar” release it. See screenshot below.

I’m sure some of you will like the Internet Explorer 9′s built-in F12 Developer Tools, this is similar to the Firebug extension on Firefox or Developer Tools on Google Chrome which allows the user to edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.

If you’re trying to look for a Search bar on Internet Explorer 9, you won’t find any because it doesn’t have one. On Internet Explorer 9, the address bar doubles as the search bar. If you choose Google as your default search engine, you can enable Google Suggest (an auto-suggest feature).

Other cool features include InPrivate Browsing (same as Google Chrome’s Incognito) which prevents Internet Explorer from storing your browsing session data – cookies, temporary Internet files, history, etc. and the Tracking Protection feature which blocks ads, third-party cookies, tracking pixels, web beacons, hit counters, analytics scripts and other tools used by ad agencies and other organizations to track and profile the activities of web users.

I really like Internet Explorer 9 because it is a whole lot better than its predecessors and it has some very cool new features, but I’m still sticking to Mozilla Firefox as my default web browser because of the extensions/addons/plugins that I rely on for work and make things so much easy and convenient for me. Although, I might consider replacing Google Chrome and use Internet Explorer 9 as my secondary web browser.

Download Internet Explorer 9

Anyone installed and tried Internet Explorer 9? How do you like it so far? Which feature/s of Internet Explorer 9 do you like the most? Would you consider using it as your default web browser? Please share your thoughts.

10 years ago a browser was born.

Its name was Internet Explorer 6. Now that we’re in 2011, in an era of modern web standards, it’s time to say goodbye.

This website is dedicated to watching Internet Explorer 6 usage drop to less than 1% worldwide, so more websites can choose to drop support for Internet Explorer 6, saving hours of work for web developers.

The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown website not only encourages users to get rid or abandon the aged browser but it also displays data based on the usage of Internet Explorer 6 around the world.

The website also provides users resources on how to spread the word about IE6 Countdown campaign or how to educate others on why they should stop using IE6. They even provide a tool for displaying a “You are using an outdated browser” banner for use on websites and blogs.

Microsoft has also designed special programs called “migration workshops” that are designed to help companies and business organizations that still use IE6 to have an easier and smoother transition to a more modern web browser. The program covers topics like how to address compatibility issues and virtualization solutions for IE6.

Some of you might be wondering what all the fuss is about IE6. Here’s a little background information for those who don’t have any idea about this topic. IE6 is the default web browser installed on Windows XP & Windows Server 2003 and because it is a very outdated browser, it has a lot of security issues and lacks support for modern web standards (XHTML, CSS, HTML5, etc.).

If you’re still using Internet Explorer 6, please do yourself a favor and upgrade to a later version of Internet Explorer or use an alternative web browser like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Opera.

Do you or someone you know still use Internet Explorer 6 or IE6 as their default web browser? What do you think of the Internet Explorer 6 Countdown website? Are you helping in spreading the word to get IE6 completely eradicated?

Mozilla Firefox is a very good and stable browser and I love it because of the many available extensions/addons/plugins that provide lots of extended features. However, Mozilla Firefox when used (with a lot of extensions installed) on Windows Operating System, tend to slow down and tend to crash more often. I think its because Ubuntu like other Linux flavors get a Firefox version that’s optimized for the system. If you’re a Mozilla Firefox user who’s looking for a custom-built Firefox browser that would perform 25% better and faster on Windows Operating System, then you should try out Pale Moon.

The Pale Moon project is a custom-built, optimized Firefox browser designed specifically for the Windows Operating System. Although it is built on Firefox, it doesn’t have all the features or functions that Firefox has because some features have been disabled to maximize the speed and efficiency of Pale Moon.

Features:

• Highly optimized for current processors
• 100% Firefox sourced: As safe as the browser that has seen years of development.
• Uses slightly less memory because of disabled redundant and optional code
• Significant speed increases for page drawing and script processing
• Support for SVG and Canvas, downloadable fonts, WOFF and some HTML5
• Support for Firefox extensions, themes and personas
• Support for OOPP (Out-of-process plugin execution)
• Able to use existing Firefox profiles, bookmarks and settings with this migration tool

System Requirements:

• Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/Seven, 32-bit or 64-bit (64-bit O.S.es are not natively supported, but the browser will run fine on them)
• A modern processor with SSE2 support like a Pentium IV or Athlon 64 or later (see list of supported processors) Standard Pale Moon will NOT run on Athlon XP processors! Please GO HERE if you are running on an Athlon XP or Athlon MP processor machine.
• 64 MB of RAM (128 MB or more recommended)
• At least 50 MB of free (uncompressed) disk space

I’ve tried Pale Moon for about a week now and I can say that it really is faster and performs better than a regular Mozilla Firefox build on a Windows Operating System. I’ve compared the boot time for each version and Pale Moon definitely boots up faster than Firefox. One particular test that I did was to load up several flash intensive websites like NBA.com, CNN.com, YouTube and Hulu on both Firefox and Pale Moon, and then checked the memory usage for each browser. As you can see from the screenshots below, Pale Moon uses less resources than Firefox.

Another important thing to mention is that almost all Firefox extensions/addons/plugins can be installed and will work on Pale Moon. I installed the exact extensions/addons/plugins that I have on Firefox and everything worked fine. I also noticed that the whole time I was using Pale Moon, the browser has never crashed. I tried and tested it by doing the same stuff I do on Firefox – logging in to my WordPress dashboard, web browsing, watching online videos, etc.

Pale Moon is an open source project so it is FREE to download/use. If you want to be updated with the latest Pale Moon developments and news, you can follow it on Twitter – @palemoonbrowser.

Click here to download Pale Moon.

IMPORTANT: Some users who tried it report that uninstalling Pale Moon can delete your existing Mozilla Firefox profile (stored bookmarks, passwords, sessions, etc.). To make sure you won’t lose your profile you can back it up by installing either the FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) or the MozBackup Firefox addon.

UPDATE: As pointed out by one of our readers, only older versions of Pale Moon caused issues with the Mozilla Firefox profile as Pale Moon 3.6.6 and later versions no longer share profiles with Firefox. If you’re running a version earlier than 3.6.6, you can use the Profile Migration Tool to migrate your profile.

Anyone else tried or are using the Pale Moon web browser? From your experience, is it faster and does it perform better than Firefox? Please share your thoughts.

Today, November 9th marks the sixth birthday of the Mozilla Firefox web browser. Firefox is my main browser of choice for the past eight years. I started using it back in 2002 when it was still called Phoenix/Firebird. I still remember the day I first installed it on my computer and how it felt to have a cool, new browser that was much better than the default Internet Explorer or alternative web browsers like Netscape and Opera.

For something that started as an experimental branch of the Mozilla Suite, Firefox has surely gone a long way. Firefox is now available in more than 70 languages and has about a quarter of Internet users choosing Firefox as their web browser of choice. Mozilla Firefox has been downloaded more than 1 billion times with the latest version, Firefox 3.6 having been downloaded more than 42 million times. Aside from that, more than 150 million users use Firefox Add-ons to customize their Web experience.

Personally, I’m looking forward to the new features and other enhancements that will be added/included in the upcoming version – Firefox 4. New features will include a redesigned UI (user interface), a home tab, “door hanger” notifications, improved support for HTML5 and CSS3 features. Firefox 4 will also include the Firefox Sync project – a tool that allows users to sync stuff like bookmarks and browsing history with the cloud and a new type of tab called an “application tab” similar to the Mozilla Prism project which allows users to turn web pages like Gmail into applications.

I know that other browsers like Google Chrome and Opera can hold their own against Firefox but until another web browser can offer me the same addons/extensions I have on Firefox which I heavily use and rely on for work, I’ll continue to be a happy Firefox camper.

Happy Birthday Firefox!

[image source: Flickr/Ryan Doherty]