Webware

A few months later than expected, Mozilla is calling it quits for version 3.0 of its Firefox browser.

"There will be no more updates for Firefox 3.0.x," Mozilla said Tuesday in a meeting planning document. The last update will be Firefox 3.0.19, due March 30, according to the Mozilla Wiki page. Mozilla started building the new version after some last-minute security fixes over the weekend.

Mozilla had planned to discontinue support for Firefox 3.0 in January, but the browser got a lifespan extension after Firefox 3.6 arrived later than planned.

The move reflects a gradual shift toward upgrading browsers more frequently, not just to keep up with new features, but also to free up resources otherwise spent on testing and maintaining older browsers and to reduce security risks associated with them. Google is even more aggressive: its Chrome browser updates automatically in the background by default, and it calls new releases "milestones" to be passed rather than version numbers to be attained.

Microsoft issues frequent patches to its browsers but sees things differently when it comes to longer-term issues. It still maintains support for Internet Explorer 6, introduced in 2001. "We are excited for people to move on. We want people to move on," IE General Manager Dean Hachamovitch said in an interview this week for the IE9 Platform Preview launch, but meanwhile, providing security updates is the "responsible" thing to do.

Browsers are a fast-moving, increasingly important, technology and are central to the shift toward cloud computing. But there's a tension between organizations and people, for whom change can be a technical challenge or an expensive compatibility-breaking problem. Compatibility with standards can ease these transitions, but Web standards are in flux and aren't uniformly supported either with browsers or Web sites.

Mozilla released Firefox 3.0 with great fanfare in June 2008, and it's been patched as 3.0.18. Firefox 3.6 is the current supported version, and, of course, future work is under way. Mozilla has released two public alphas of its successor, which is called 3.7 for now though that's not necessarily the final name.

In the nearer term, Mozilla also preparing a Firefox 3.6 update called Lorentz. Mozilla had hoped for a beta release of Lorentz. But its chief feature--the out-of-process plug-ins (OOPP) design aimed to reduce crashes by putting Flash Player and its like into a separate memory compartment--is proving thorny. In addition, Mozilla programmers have only just begun the OOPP work for Mac OS X.

Well, that was fast. Just last week we speculated that Opera Software would release the final versions of their latest beta Web browsers in time for the CTIA cell phone conference in late March. Instead, Opera released them  a week earlier than we predicted.  Tuesday morning, Opera turned its Mini 5 beta 2 and Mobile 10 beta into the company's latest stable versions of its mobile Web browsers.

For those who have been following along, the newly finalized Opera Mobile 10 and Opera Mini 5 hew close to the beta versions. They don't receive any new features, though there are some fixed bugs and the app now supports more than 100 languages. 

Opera Mini 5 is a glossy, polished app with far more features than the previous stable version.(Credit: Opera Software)

If you're new to browsing with Opera software, Opera Mini's proxy browser works on phones running Java, including BlackBerry. However, Opera Mini 5 remains in beta for Android and Windows Mobile phones. The company's standalone Web browser, Opera Mobile, works on Symbian Series 60 phones and Windows Mobile phones.

The change from yesterday's stable Opera Mini 4.2 to today's Opera Mini 5 is dramatic, and centers on a cleaner, updated interface governed by Opera's speed dial thumbnails, faster browsing speeds, and more advanced features such as support for tabbed browsing and a password manager (see our initial hands-on look for more detail). Opera Mobile 10 looks nearly identical to the earlier Opera Mobile 9.6. Since it already had tabs and a password manager, the interface and performance changes are its claim to fame. While some features, like the bookmark-syncing Opera Link, were temporarily unavailable during the first beta rounds, but now they're back in the final version.

Stay tuned for a video update of Opera Mini 5 and Opera Mobile 10. In the meantime, here's an oven-fresh hands-on look at Opera Mini 5 beta for Android, which is nearly identical to the Mini and Mobile versions being released today.

You can download the latest Opera browser for your phone by visiting m.opera.com.  As usual, tell us what you think of the app in the comments.

Overall, we're fans of the improved interface and functionality, which  makes Opera our go-to mobile browser on many phones. However,  it sees competition from Skyfire's mobile Web browser for Symbian and Windows phones as well as  browsers like Xscope and Dolphin browser for Android. Although Firefox Mobile only works on  Nokia's Maemo platform at the moment, it's also under development for Windows Mobile.

Opera has won this round, but we don't see competition over mobile browsers letting up anytime soon.

Related:

Opera Mini now on Windows Mobile. Yeah, you read that right
Opera Mini browser for iPhone?
Opera Mini and Mobile betas bestowed with sync

In a recent white paper on security in Chrome, Google let it slip that one of the most controversial features it's added to the Chromium source code will be going away after the first program update check. The white paper (PDF) states that the "unique ID," which Google says it introduced to Chrome as a way to keep track of installation success, will be deleted after the program checks for updates for the first time. This means that if you run Chrome immediately after installing, the ID will be deleted within minutes of a successful install.

Google reiterated previous statements in the white paper that it uses the randomly-generated identification tag to keep track of an installation's success and that it isn't associated with any of the user's personal information. However, the unique ID has been a lightning rod to privacy concerns despite a lack of evidence proving claims that the company had been using it to collect personally identifiable data.

Until the change is implemented, users can install the UnChrome add-on, which will remove the ID for them. It is also located in the Local State file in the Chrome installation folder (C:\User\[Name]\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome for Vista and Windows 7 users) as user_experience_metrics.user_idkey.

While there are still concerns about Google and data privacy issues, it's telling that Google chose to respond to this largely symbolic stress point rather than tackle more serious issues. The white paper also points out Chrome's privacy behavior and options for the Omnibar, 404 errors that redirect to google.com, local storage of the phishing and malware blacklist, promotional tags, and usage statistics. There are few changes, if any, in those fields, and the white paper serves more as a reminder that they're there than anything else.

(Via The H)

Sure, Adobe Systems spends a lot of effort developing and promoting its Flash technology. And sure, a lot of the new "Open Web" technologies are a competitive threat to Flash.

But that doesn't mean Adobe isn't interested in HTML5 and CSS3--the updates to Hypertext Markup Language for describing Web pages and to Cascading Style Sheets for Web page formatting--that are two of the most important parts of that Open Web work. After all, Adobe does have its DreamWeaver product for Web site development.

Adobe demonstrated CSS3 feature in Dreamweaver that lets a Web page's format change according to what size screen is being used to view it.(Credit: Adobe Systems)

But there's a new sign that Adobe is taking more interest in Open Web work. Last week, it launched its Design and Web blog, written by Paul Gubbay, senior director of engineering, and Lea Hickman, senior director of product management for the Creative Suite design and Web tools, suites, and services.

So far the pair have hinted that Adobe is working on some more powerful tools for HTML5 and CSS3, with internal demonstrations of what can be done, though no promises of shipping anything anytime soon.

"Recently, we attended technology demos across our design and web products. We saw a range of prototypes, many of which were focused on new services, multiscreen authoring leveraging HTML5 and CSS3. We have been spending a lot of time internally thinking about how our tools can best support and take advantage of some of the new functionality in HTML 5, and we wanted to share a couple of early ideas with you," they said, offering a demonstration of the Canvas technology for 2D graphics through HTML5 in one post.

In another, they describe Adobe's approach to "multiscreen" authoring with CSS3--in other words, coding a Web site so that it displays correctly on a variety of different devices with different screens. We are, after all, entering the era in which browsers are in widespread use on mobile phones, e-book readers, TVs, and Apple's iPad, which notably doesn't include Flash support.

"There has been much discussion around whether or not HTML5 and CSS3 will make it easier for designers to reach new devices," the two wrote. "We think it will."

Web standards are experiencing something of a renaissance. The World Wide Web Consortium--of which Adobe is a member--has in recent years returned to HTML development after a years-long hiatus focused on XHTML 2.0 technology that didn't catch on.

And Microsoft, which also showed little interest in HTML for years, made an effort to make its current Internet Explorer 8 browser conform to Web standards, and it's begun active participation in some of those efforts. That effort is expected to increase with IE 9, the subject of a talk this week at Microsoft's Mix conference in Las Vegas.

A new version of Adobe's Creative Suite products is due to arrive soon, but these demonstrations won't be showing up in the software, the two said.

"We'd like to share some of these with you to get your feedback and see what resonates," Gubbay and Hickman said. "To be clear, we are giving you a very early view. It won't be in the next version of CS."

Browser makers, grappling with outmoded technology and a vision to rebuild the Web as a foundation for applications, have begun converging on a seemingly basic by very important element of cloud computing.

That ability is called local storage, and the new mechanism is called Indexed DB.

Indexed DB, proposed by Oracle and initially called WebSimpleDB, is largely just a prototype at this stage, not something Web programmers can use yet. But already it's won endorsements from Microsoft, Mozilla, and Google, and together, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome account for more than 90 percent of the usage on the Net today.

"Indexed DB is interesting to both Firefox and Microsoft, so if we get to the point where we prototype it and want to ship it, it will have very wide availability," said Chris Blizzard, director of evangelism for Mozilla.

And standardization could come. Advocates have worked Indexed DB into the considerations of the W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium that standardizes HTML and other Web technologies. In the W3C discussions, Indexed DB got a warm reception from Opera, the fifth-ranked browser. ... Read More

By Mozilla's lights, Firefox 3.6 has been a runaway success. The publisher of the open-source browser says that more than 100 million users have downloaded Firefox 3.6 since its launch in the middle of January. However, not all Firefox users have upgraded from Firefox 3 or Firefox 3.5, and Mozilla wants to change that.

Users of older versions of Firefox will start seeing this pop-up, asking them to upgrade.(Credit: Mozilla)

As of Thursday, users of older Firefox versions will start seeing a pop-up encouraging them to upgrade. The window will come with three choices: Ask Later, No Thanks, or Get the New Version. The pop-up will appear after 60 seconds of keyboard inactivity, which Mozilla called a courtesy toward users and their workflows. Selecting "Ask Later" will defer the window for 24 hours. If a user has chosen No Thanks but decides later to upgrade Firefox, running the "Check for Updates" option from the Help menu will bring up the upgrade window.

One reason that many users cite for not upgrading Firefox is a legitimate concern about add-on forward compatibility. In the press release announcing the push, Mozilla stated that more than 90 percent of Firefox add-ons are compatible with Firefox 3.6. Users can also try to force older add-ons to be compatible by using the MR Tech Toolkit or Nightly Tester Tools add-ons, which add a "force compatibility" option to the add-on context menu, but these tricks also decrease the stability of the browser.

If you use an older version of Firefox, tell us why and which version in the comments below.

All those Android smartphone owners who have been wondering when they can ditch the outmoded Opera Mini 4.2 browser in favor of the latest beta can now unfold their pouts, stop that kicking, and remove their pounding fists from the floor. Opera Mini 5 beta for Android has arrived.

On Thursday, Opera Software pushed out the Android version of its Mini 5 browser that improves the browser experience for Java phones by leaps and bounds. The beta build is equipped with an updated interface that includes a new "speed dial" start screen featuring thumbnails of most-visited sites. The browser also supports tabs, a first for Mini but old hat on Opera Mobile.

Opera Mini 5 beta (beta 2, actually) and the nearly identical Opera Mobile 10 beta (for Symbian and Windows phones) have been making the mobile rounds since September. We're fans of the latest advances to come to the free browser, and we're looking forward to Opera making those changes final and retiring Opera Mini 4.2 (and Opera Mobile 9.6, while they're at it.) We just wish that Opera had submitted Mini 5 beta to the Android Market sooner.

Opera adds Android to its Mini 5 beta lineup.(Credit: Opera Software)

There's no confirmation from Opera, but we're speculating that Opera could officially flip the switch on at least one of the Opera Mini 5 variants at the CTIA trade show later in March.

To download Opera Mini 5 beta for Android, check the Android Market from your smartphone or point to mobile browser to www.opera.com/mini/next/.

Related:
Opera Mini now on Windows Mobile. Yeah, you read that right
Opera Mini browser for iPhone?
Opera Mini and Mobile betas bestowed with sync

A bug in Thursday's update to the development build of Google Chrome renders it incompatible with Gmail offline. Users who've had Gmail and Chrome configured for offline use will find that Chrome crashes as soon as you log in to Gmail. The problem affects all development versions of the browser.

To disable Gmail offline, go to Gears Settings in Under the Hood and remove all references to Gmail.(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Right now there are only two ways around the bug. You can disable offline mode in Chrome by going to Options/Under the Hood and clearing out the Gmail-related entries under ''Change Gears settings''. This will delete all offline data from Gmail that you've saved on your computer. If offline Gmail is more important to you than using the dev version of Chrome, you can update the browser to the beta (Windows | Mac | Linux) or stable (Windows only) builds. Windows users can also use the Chrome Channel Changer to switch versions.

You can follow the bug's progress at Google's Chromium project Web site.

In an update to the development build of Chrome, Google on Thursday introduced a rough version of the native HTML5 geolocation API. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Google Chrome dev 5.0.342.1 comes with the geolocation API that Mozilla has supported since it introduced it in last summer's Firefox 3.5.

Geolocation comes to Chrome dev, but needs a tweak to work.(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

However, geolocation in Chrome is turned off by default. To activate it, users must go to their Chrome shortcut and add --enable-geolocation to the end of the target line, under the Shortcut tab. To test if it's working, you can go to http://www.browsergeolocation.com. If the browser asks for you to approve sending your location data, you know it's working.

I found that on Windows 7, launching Chrome from the taskbar did not allow it to recognize the geolocation activation command. It worked fine, though, when launched from the Start menu.

This update to Chrome dev also includes a few other minor improvements, mostly to the Mac and Linux versions. Along with the geolocation support, users on those platforms should see improved plug-in stability and better implementation of autofill preferences. Mac users only should see favicons in the history menu, and HTML5 databases have been added to the cookie manager. The full list of changes can be read here.