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Monday, 22 February 2010
OPERA’S NEW BETA
Opera have released a beta version of their latest browser update in the shape of a version 10.5 preview release. This release comes alongside claims that the new browser is faster than both Chrome and Safari when handling JavaScript. A new engine has been implemented to bring about these improvements and a swathe of new features has been introduced.The new beta is said to be two and a half times faster than Opera 10.2 and continues to embarrass both IE and Firefox in the memory footprint and caching stakes. This latest release also features a private tab and private window function, previously missing from Opera.
(Source: El Reg)
Epicentre Says: “Opera has continued to set the pace for other browsers, so that its market share remains so low has always been a bit of a mystery. Features introduced over the years have constantly been adopted by other browsers, sometimes years later, and it looks set to lead the way in terms of customisability. Could this be the release that gains Opera the share of the market it deserves?”
ADOBE FIXES IMMINENT
Adobe has published a new update for Flash. It fixes the domain sandbox security protection fault that allowed hackers to make unauthorised cross-domain requests when bypassed. The fix also requires an update of Adobe’s AIR plug-in, and is available for Windows, Mac and Linux versions.Adobe have also stated that a fix for a critical flaw in Acrobat and Reader will be released on February 16th. The fix is said to be related to the Flash plug-in fix, a rare out-of-cycle patch. Adobe has suffered many critical flaws of late, with often difficult-to-apply fixes.
(Source: El Reg)
Epicentre Says: “Many users will have taken these flaws as an opportunity to sample alternatives to the ubiquitous plug-ins, though the fixes may be enough to entice regular users back to the Adobe fold. Epicentre advises updating all affected software as soon as possible.”
FIREFOX 3.7 OR WHATEVER
Mozilla has released an alpha version/developer preview build of the latest incarnation of Firefox, 3.7 Alpha 1, for testing and development purposes. Versions released previously have proved mildly confusing, with version 3.1 becoming 3.5 due to delays in development.This preview build introduces support for CSS Transitions, WebGL and Core Text text rendering for Mac OS X. It is said to include some major rewrites of the code to improve handling of scrolling, as well as several architectural changes to improve performance. Currently there is no date specified for a final release, and there may even be a further change of name and number.
(Source: El Reg)
Epicentre Says: “This latest version is definitely not for the faint of heart and should only be installed by those planning to develop for the new version of the browser. The many changes and tweaks alongside the new features should give this version of Firefox an added edge in the ongoing browser market war.”
Friday, 19 February 2010
FIREFOX OFF IN 10.4
Mozilla have revealed that the next major release of their Firefox browser will not be compatible with Mac OS X 10.4, Tiger. The drop of support is expected to affect close to 1.5 million users currently using versions 3.5 and 3.6 of Firefox, around 24% of Mac Firefox users. This change will go into effect as a result of the Gecko rendering engine jumping from 1.9.2 to 1.9.3, though some support for the aging OS was removed way back in September 2009.Those using Firefox 3.6 on Tiger will still be able to use the browser but no further updates will be released for it. Any security issues uncovered in the browser after the jump will not be addressed or fixed, though Mozilla has claimed that it supports older versions of Max OS X longer than most companies.
(Source: Ars Technica)
Epicentre Says: “This is a surprising move for Mozilla, though an understandable one. As the browser market strives to be on top of the latest operating system developments, legacy support will begin to increasingly drop off as browser vendors strive to remain cutting edge. Epicentre advises that developers ensure that they are fully equipped for this drop of support when creating compatible applications.”
ADOBE IS SORRY
Following a recent accusation from Apple’s top man Steve Jobs that Mac crashes are more often than not caused by Flash, an Adobe product manager has stepped forward to apologise for allowing a potentially critical bug in Flash to fester unfixed for 16 months. They went on to reveal that a previous update released within that time should have fixed the lingering issue and that category ‘A’ bugs, such as crashes, are taken very seriously. The report of the bug in version 9 is said to have “slipped through the cracks” due to the subsequent release of version 10, though this only goes some way to explaining why the bug was allowed to sit unfixed for so long.(Source: El Reg)
Epicentre Says: “With Adobe allowing an issue to remain unfixed for so long it’s understandable that Jobs and Apple are reluctant to allow Flash onto the iPhone and iPad - although this decision may provide the opportunity Microsoft need to push Silverlight out to a much wider audience. Adobe’s ubiquitous Flash player has gained a huge grip on the web content market as the web has matured, but with glaring flaws being uncovered with greater frequency and fixes taking a long time to surface, it may soon fall from favour.
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