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UK competition regulator confirms probe into Apple and Google's mobile dominance
The UK's competition regulator has launched a probe into Apple and Google's "duopoly" after receiving "widespread support" for its proposals.
Microsoft Edge Kids Mode rolls out in the US
We learned in February that Microsoft was testing a Kids Mode for its Edge browser — as of today, it's now available for English users in the US.
Microsoft Edge gets smarter about handling annoying website notifications
Microsoft is now taking a smarter approach with how Edge handles website notifications.
Atari VCS will feature Google Chrome as its built-in browser
The Atari VCS retro console will also feature Chrome as its built in browser.
Microsoft Edge on Linux preview is coming in October
Microsoft's Edge browser arrives on Linux as a developer preview in October.
Microsoft's Chromium Edge browser arrives January 15th
After launching a beta test for the new Chromium Edge in September, Microsoft is now gearing up to officially launch the browser on January 15th, 2020. Over the weekend, the company also revealed a new pinwheel-like Edge logo, which looks like an offshoot of Chrome's logo. You can test out the near-final Release Candidate version today, which should be stable enough for anyone to use, but also serves to let IT administrators to prepare for the new Edge. And speaking of IT folks, Microsoft is also debuting new Bing features for businesses, which gives the search engine the ability to index intranet files and corporate data.
Google's Password Checkup feature will be built into Chrome
It's hard for anyone to stay on top of the seemingly endless string of data breaches. To help users with this challenge, Google created a tool for its Chrome browser which automatically checks whether passwords have been compromised.
Microsoft's Chromium Edge browser is ready for beta testing
After testing its next-generation Chromium Edge browser for several months, Microsoft announced that it's now ready for a slightly more stable beta release. Windows 10 and MacOS users can now snag the beta, which is more suited to regular users than the experimental Canary and Developer Edge builds. It'll be updated every six weeks, compared to the daily and weekly refreshes for the other releases. Still, you can expect to see all of the major features we've been expecting in the new Edge, including a dark mode, online tracking prevention, and of course, the speed boost from Chromium. The company says this will be the last test version of the browser before its official release -- unfortunately, we still don't know when that will be.
Mozilla explains why all Firefox add-ons broke at once
Firefox Chief Technology Officer Eric Rescorla has written a detailed blog post explaining exactly how the browser's add-ons came to break all at once last week, how it was fixed, and how the company will avoid another 'armagadd-on' in the future.
Microsoft Edge is getting an Internet Explorer mode
There are some big changes ahead for Microsoft's Edge browser. In December, the company announced that it'll be moving over to Chromium, the open source project that powers Google's Chrome. But that's not all: Microsoft announced today that the next version of Edge will come with an Internet Explorer mode, allowing you to run older websites that don't support modern browser tech. That probably won't mean much to most consumers, but it's a boon for corporate users and their IT departments, as they're often stuck using aging web apps.
Microsoft begs you to stop using Internet Explorer
Old habits die hard, but they do eventually have to die. Microsoft knows there are still plenty of businesses and organizations out there using Internet Explorer because the outdated browser supports legacy web apps, but the company is asking people to finally let go of their old ways and to embrace a modern browser.
Chrome boosts page load speeds with clever bits of code
Google's main selling point for Chrome has always been simple: speed. With the browser's latest update, 64-bit Chrome 53 and 32-bit Chrome 54 on Windows, the internet juggernaut is upping performance again. By using Microsoft's Profile Guided Optimization -- a part of Visual Studio, as noted by TechCrunch -- the browser has boosted new tab page loads by 14.8 percent and page loads by 5.9 percent. In terms of firing the browser up for the first time (people actually close it?), that's seen the most improvement of all, with Google claiming 16.8 percent faster startup time.
Firefox adds a 'Narrate' mode to take your eyes off the screen
Mozilla's latest Firefox adds a couple new and refined features intended to improve the time you spend reading online. While Firefox released an ad-stripping, layout-simplifying Reader Mode way back in 2012, the newest release brings a new "Narrate" feature and additional tweaks for a better reading (or listening) experience.
Google Safe Browsing makes accessing The Pirate Bay harder
Guess what? There's another speedbump to browsing The Pirate Bay. Rather than internet providers blocking access to the URL (currently thepiratebay.org), certain web browsers are flagging torrent download pages with variations on the following message: "The site ahead contains harmful programs Attackers on thepiratebay.org might attempt to trick you into installing programs that harm your browsing experience (for example, by changing your homepage or showing extra ads on sites you visit.)"
Brave browser now blocks scripts and ads on the desktop
Former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich's privacy-focused, ad-blocking browser has been quietly rolling out new features for desktop. What sets Brave apart from other browsers and ad blockers, was Eich's promise that the browser would actually pay you back if you agreed to be shown ads from its own network.
Microsoft's Edge browser is clamping down on Flash, too
"Adobe Flash isn't responding." It's the message you can feel coming as soon as your browser grinds to a halt and you abandon all hope of salvaging what you were working on. Well, if you're a developer that's part of the Windows Insider program and have grabbed Windows 10 build 14316, you're living in a future where the aforementioned nightmare scenario sounds less likely. Microsoft is changing how its Edge browser handles Flash elements by disabling all but those that it says are central to the page you're viewing, like games or Flash-based video.
Mozilla is removing (some) ads from Firefox
Whether you still use Firefox or not, the company has some news: It's pulling ads from the Tiles that pop up when a new tab is opened. The company says that the move is the result of learning what its users want (content that's "relevant, exciting and engaging") and that it'll use the free spaces to help enable discovery of said content. But this won't happen overnight. VP of content services Darren Herman writes that Mozilla will of course honor its obligations with its advertising partners and will gradually end the program over the next few months.
Unity Engine working to keep years of browser games alive
One of the big factors to game engine Unity's success is that for awhile it ran on basically any platform be it Oculus, PS Vita or home consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. But according to the developer, recent moves by the likes of Google, Microsoft and Mozilla are going to put an end to that. The latest version of Chrome doesn't have support for a specific plugin (NPAPI, specifically) that the Unity Web Player relies on, and Unity says that Firefox's support for plugins is going the way of the buffalo while Edge isn't supporting them at all. Most everything is moving toward WebGL these days.
Chrome's next update makes it less resource hungry
A big part of what's won Chrome a lot of converts is how much faster it is over the competition. That speed comes at a price, though: The web browser is notoriously a resource hog (especially if you have a dozen or so tabs open at once) and it dramatically cuts into battery life. As Google tells it, the latest version of the browser will help absolve those sins a bit. New tweaks include restoring only the most frequently used tabs should it detect that your machine is precariously low on resources, and a way of detecting when a page isn't busy with something else and using the free processor cycles to clean up idle memory.
Opera still exists, releases Opera 25 redesign to prove it
When was the last time you used the Opera browser on your Mac? Never? Well if you're a fan of beautiful bookmarks, you might want to consider changing that for Opera 25. The new Opera update brings with it something the company calls Visual Bookmarks, which are essentially large icons pointing you to your favorite sites, complete with accompanying images. "When I think back on moments, I can see them. That's my way to remember," Opera's Zhenis Beisekov writes on the company's blog. "It's the same for how I find things on the internet. All those videos, pictures or songs that I've discovered are visual memories for me." That's the idea behind the new, prettier bookmarks. If you want to give Opera 25 a spin you can download it now directly from the announcement post, and feel free to sound off about the new tweaks below.
