Browsersphere

Whoa.  Has it really been like eight months since the last time we went around the browsersphere?  Not good.  I guess we should do something about it…

General

• Lifehacker recently put the major players through some browser speed tests after some boasting by the Safari 4 folks.
• In Mobile Browser Wars, Ed Hansberry takes a look at the browser alternatives available for mobile devices (via Web Browsers News and Reviews).
• Ten Web Browsers that You May Have Never Heard of covers iRider, Lunascape, Ultrabrowser and Shiira, among others.

Avant Browser

• Avant Browser 11.7 Build 22, which appears to be a minor release, was released back on the 26th.

Camino

• Camino 2.0 Beta 2 was released back on the 27th.
• If you’re interested in the Camino schedule, get updated.

Chrome

• Read about improvements in the spellchecker used in Chrome.
• It is believed that extension support is coming to Chrome this May (via Web Browsers News and Reviews).
• See the first screenshots of Chrome running on Mac.
• Full-screen browsing has come to Chrome, but apparently doesn’t live up to the way the feature is supported in Firefox and IE7.

Firefox

• Daniel Glazman takes an in-depth look at monetizing Firefox extensions.
• A new mascot, Foxmosa, was recently added to the Mozilla family.
• Firefox Extension Guru’s Blog discusses the Firefox 3.1/3.5 release schedule and how advancements in other web browsers’ JavaScript engines have impacted the schedule.
• Some interesting file uploading ideas came up at a recent Firefox design lunch.
• Jesse Ruderman sheds some insight into the issues surrounding “continuous integration,” which from what I can tell involves how and when code is checked in and how build machines and tinderbox displays are impacted.
• John Slater, Creative Director at Mozilla, is looking for an intern.
• Take a look at the Mozilla Community Calendar.
• Firefox 3.0.7 was recently released.
• At first it was under consideration, and then the decision was made to version the Shiretoko release of Firefox, formally versioned as 3.1, as version 3.5.
• Here’s a granular look at the type of minor performance improvements that eventually make a web browser faster overall.
• Gotta love bugs that are simply titled things like “Make location bar autocomplete faster” and “Make location bar autocomplete even faster.”
• There is a call “for new Web apps that can help people make a difference while browsing the Web.”
• Is Firefox faster on Windows or Linux?
• Firefox is dominating in Antarctica.

Flock

• Apparently the Flock folks thought Flock would make a good Valentine’s Day gift?  Personally, I’m glad I didn’t heed their advice for my wife’s gift this year.   Though, it looks like the Flock folks weren’t the only ones with this bright idea.
• “People using Flock’s Eco-Edition conducted 80% more searches per user as compared to Flock’s overall population of users.”

Internet Explorer

• The Cost of Internet Explorer attempts to track all the “wasted time and effort” on the part of web developers trying to make websites compatible with IE.
• IE8’s Compatibility View explained (and a recap).
• IE8 Beta testers are making a difference.
• It’s not every day anymore that you see browsers like Internet Explorer 4 and 5.5 mentioned.
• An IE8 Reliability Update has been made available for Windows 7 users (like myself) who are using IE8 (unlike myself).
• It looks like the IE team will be pretty busy at MIX09.
• Check out a video that goes into detail about IE8’s new rendering engine (via Robert O’Callahan).
• Here’s a comparison between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of IE7.
• Is the codename for IE9 “Triton?”
• Sarah Dutkiewicz wonders why Microsoft is held to a different standard when it comes to bundling IE with its operating system, Windows.

Maxthon

• Check out a chromed-out Maxthon icon.
• I think MaxthonGuy and I may have reached some kind of virtual truce.  That is, until the next time the madness reappears over at his blog.
• Learn how to use the custom search feature in Maxthon (via Maxthon Resources).
• A new version of Maxthon 2.5 was released recently.
• At least one Maxthon user is frustrated that his favorite browser isn’t included in the browser reviews found in PC magazines, etc.

Opera

• Avencius’ coverage of the Opera 9.64 release uncovers some details about some platform-specific code that should make Windows users’ browsing experiences more secure.
• Opera unveiled Opera Turbo last month at Mobile World Congress 2009 and it was later discussed at Opera Watch.
• Take a look at a speed comparison between the browsers developed for the Nintendo DS and the DSi.
• Similar to my recent post about various web browser vendors claiming ‘First!’, Choose Opera touches on the topic of whether it matters who developed a feature first or not.  Then, the very next day, they answered their own question.
• Opera Fingertouch is “a technology designed to make interacting with the Web easier and simpler on touch-based devices.”
• Apparently there is a demand out there for making Opera look like IE7 (via Daniel Glazman).
• Check out the Carakan FAQ for more information on Opera’s new JavaScript engine (via Opera Watch).
• Combining Opera with a touch UI.

Opera Mini

• Armenia, a country with around three million people, saw its Opera Mini usage grow by 2800% last year.  See this and other interesting statistics in the State of the Mobile Web report (via Choose Opera).
• “Yahoo! is expected to begin distributing Opera Mini via Yahoo! Mobile and also as a standalone download from Yahoo!’s mobile Web sites in the near future.”

Orca Browser

• The first build of Orca Browser 1.1, Build 1, was released back on the 25th.

Safari

• Avencius’ review of Safari 4 Beta is a very positive one, and some details regarding branding of the new JavaScript engine are ironed out in the comments.

SeaMonkey

• Read a draft of the new SeaMonkey vision (via Mozilla Developer News).
• SeaMonkey 2.0 Alpha 3 was released this past week.

Skyfire

• Skyfire 0.9 Beta was released back on the 12th.

There was a lot to cover this time around, and there’s much more I haven’t yet covered.  Hopefully that means we’ll see the 13th installment of “Around the Browsersphere” sooner than November.

Tags: Add-ons, Avant, Avencius, Beta, Bugs, Camino, Carakan, Chrome, Compatibility, Compatibility View, Daniel Glazman, Design, Extensions, Features, Firefox, Flock, IE7, IE8, IE9, Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 4, Internet Explorer 5.5, iRider, Jesse Ruderman, John Slater, Linux, Lunascape, Mac, Market Share, Mascots, Maxthon, Maxthon 2.5, MaxthonGuy, Minor Players, MIX09, Mobile, Monetizing, Mozilla, Nintendo, Opera, Opera 9.64, Opera Fingertouch, Opera Mini, Opera Turbo, Orca, Performance, Releases, Rendering Engines, Safari 4 Beta, Schedules, Screenshots, SeaMonkey, SeaMonkey 2.0, Security, Shiira, Shiretoko, Skins, Skyfire, State of the Mobile Web, Themes, Touch, Triton, Ultrabrowser, Windows 7

Let’s take a look at what web browser news has surfaced over at Digg over the past month:

• Firefox sails past 20% market share, IE drops below 70% – “Mozilla achieved an important milestone in November, sailing past 20% market share over an entire month for the first time since its release in November 2004.”
• Google Chrome Browser To Support Customization – A step in Firefox’s direction.
• Safari Tops 7% Of Browser Market Share, Mac OS X On The Rise – Not quite Firefox’s gain, but movement upward nonetheless.
• Firefox Beats Chrome And Webkit Eats Them For Breakfast – Links to some SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark results for bleeding edge builds of Chrome, Firefox and WebKit.
• Opera 10 alpha – The alpha release of Opera 10 features the Presto 2.2 rendering engine.
• Second Firefox 3.1 Beta Due ‘Very Shortly’ – A reference to the since-released Firefox 3.1 Beta 2.
• New trojan targets Firefox, masquerades as Greasemonkey
• Opera 10 Aces Acid3 Browser Test, Boosts Performance by 30% – More on the Opera 10 alpha release.
• Webkit Still The Best And Rips Opera 10 Alpha A New One – Perhaps the hidden gem in this one is the ground Chrome gained on the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark since the aforementioned link’s resulMozilla to pull the plug on Firefox 2 “soon”ts.
• Mozilla to pull the plug on Firefox 2 “soon” – no complaints here.
• First look: Firefox 3.1 beta 2, now with private browsing – The feature appears to be implemented very similarly to Chrome’s implementation.
• Firefox Adds Multitouch Gestures for Macs
• Google Chrome Comes Out of Beta
• Google anticipates a bright and shiny future for Chrome – Links to an interesting ars technica article covering the challenges Chrome faces in trying to catch up with Firefox and IE.
• Google’s Browser Sheds Its ‘Beta’ Label – One post just wasn’t enough.
• Mozilla reverse-engineers OSX to enhance Firefox 3.1 for Mac
• Google grants outsider Chrome-coding privileges – Given the requirements of becoming a Chrome “insider,” I’m not surprised to read that only one outsider has been granted permissions thus far.
• Internet Explorer security alert
• Exclusive: First look at Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 RC1 – RC1, “which is believed to be the first feature-complete version of the browser, will lack in compatibility with web standards and will not match the JavaScript performance of all other major browsers.”
• Has Internet Explorer ever been safe?
• Firefox Issues Eight Patches for Web Browser
• FireTorrent Brings BitTorrent to Firefox
• Google pushing users away from IE?
• 7 Things Google Chrome Needs – Now That It’s Out of Beta – Links to a pretty good wishlist of Chrome improvements and enhancements.
• Firefox is most vulnerable Windows software in 2008 (PDF)
• Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 on Linux uses less memory
• Which sites will make the IE8 Compatibility Hall of Shame? – Apparently the Compatibility Mode feature of IE8 is one of its most critical.
• Firefox picks up 2 out of 3 users IE loses
• Mozilla releases second alpha of Fennec mobile browser – I haven’t covered Fennec here yet, but apparently it’s a descendant of Minimo.
• Mozilla’s mobile browser gets closer to prime time – By the way, a Fennec Fox is “a small nocturnal fox found in the Sahara Desert of North Africa.”

And now for some bonus coverage from Slashdot:

• Too Good To Ignore — 6 Alternative Browsers – Really, it ends up being five alternative browsers with the Mac and PC versions of Opera counting as two.
• A Cheat Sheet To All the Browser Betas
• Firefox 2.0 Update To Remove Phishing Detection
• Safari and Chrome: Tied For the Worst Password Manager
• Chrome Complicates Mozilla/Google Love-In

Happy New Year, everybody.

Tags: Acid3, Ars Technica, Benchmarks, Beta, BitTorrent, Chrome, Compatibility Mode, Competition, Digg, Extensions, Features, Fennec, Firefox, Firefox 2, Firefox 3.1, FireTorrent, Google, Greasemonkey, IE, IE8, Internet Explorer, JavaScript, Linux, Mac, Market Share, Minimo, Minor Players, Opera 10, OS X, Performance, Phishing, Presto, Private Browsing, Rendering Engines, Safari, Security, Slashdot, SunSpider, WebKit

An article titled Check the Security Status of Browsers with Opera Widget reads a bit like something coming directly out of the Opera marketing department.  The article covers an Opera widget called Stay Secure that refreshes based on the latest data from Secunia every hour to show you a graph like the following indicating the security levels of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari and Konqueror:

I say the article reads a bit like a release from the Opera marketing department, because assuming Opera views Firefox as a competitor, the widget screenshot shown in the article and statements like “the test showed that Firefox 3 was [the] most vulnerable one and Opera the least” seem a little biased.  Was this actually a test, or did it happen to be the state of security at that moment the screenshot was taken?  For example, above it looks like Internet Explorer and Konqueror are the two most vulnerable.

Regardless, it seems like a neat little widget for those who like to follow web browser security closely, as long as you’re willing to use Opera to track it, since the widget is Opera-only at present.  For those like me who dabble among various browsers, this isn’t an issue.

Anyone know of similar features/extensions for other web browsers?

Tags: Add-ons, Extensions, Firefox, Firefox 3, Internet Explorer, Konqueror, Marketing, Opera, Safari, Secunia, Security, Stay Secure, Widgets

It’s that time again.  Since the last update, major versions of both Opera and Firefox have been released.  Only one of the two has been dominating in terms of Digg presence, though.

• Top 5 Web Browsers That Aren’t IE, Safari or Firefox – A site called OMGLists covers five web browsers that aren’t in what they consider the top three.  However, I’m not sure if I’d agree with calling a media player a web browser.
• Clarification about Firefox 3 system-killing performance – Some misunderstandings about Firefox 3 performance on Linux are addressed.
• Mozilla Firefox 3 Guinness World Record (Actual Page) – News of Mozilla’s attempt at a world record hits Digg.
• Ah, the Irony! Microsoft says Safari isn’t Safe on Windows – Discussion of a “carpet bombing” flaw in Safari.
• Safari Flaw Worse Than First Thought, Microsoft Warns – Moderate flaws in IE and Safari combine to make one critical flaw.
• Firefox to pass 20% before July? – Early speculation about Download Day’s impact on Firefox’s market share.
• Why Firefox 3 matters – Speed, memory use, phishing and malware protection and bookmark management are among the new features of Firefox 3 that make the browser “matter,” according to the target article.
• WSJ’s MOSSBERG: Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Is the Best Browser – Walt Mossberg gives a glowing review of the latest Firefox release.
• What’s new in Firefox 3? Check out this demo! – An overview of some of the new features in Firefox 3.
• Best Firefox Addon Ever?
• Beautiful glyphs – font rendering improvements in Firefox 3 – The system that renders text has been completely reworked in Firefox 3.
• Firefox 3 Download Day Pledges Hit 1 million
• Mozilla Announces Release Date for Firefox 3 — June 17th
• Opera 9.5 released
• Firefox 3 and Safari 4 in browser speed race
• Third Firefox 3 Release Candidate available for download
• A Field Guide to Firefox 3: A Full Inventory of the Goodness
• Web Browsers: Speed Testing the Latest Web Browsers – Lifehacker tests the latest major web browsers on Windows (informally) and Firefox, Safari and Opera all win in various categories.
• Don’t forget to be part of Firefox’s Download Day!
• IE8 development: Microsoft should learn from Apple, Mozilla – The article argues that due to Microsoft’s “closed” approach to developing its browser, IE will always be trailing the other major players in terms of development.
• Mozilla prepares for Firefox 3 release and plans for 3.1 – ars technica covers add-on compatability in Firefox 3 and gives a quick preview of what’s in store for Firefox 3.1, codenamed “Shiretoko.”
• 15 Browser Add Ons. No One Knows Them All!
• The History of Firefox 1.0 to 3.0 in Screenshots
• Why You Should Download Firefox 3 Right Now – Over 10,000 diggs on this one.
• Power User’s Guide to Firefox 3
• Firefox Download counter
• Forbes: Why Firefox Matters
• The cake is a lie: IE team bakes a treat for Mozilla
• Firefox 3 launch a success: 8 million downloads in 24 hours
• Mozilla Hits Its Firefox 3 Download Goal…and then some!
• Firefox 3 mentioned on the Colbert Report
• And the fastest browser is… – A quick post on CNET News relays information from Zimbra that Safari is the fastest browser with Firefox not far behind.

Tags: Add-ons, Apple, Bugs, Comparisons, Digg, Digg Watch, Download Day, Extensions, Features, Firefox, Firefox 3, Firefox 3.1, Fonts, Forbes, History, Hybrids, IE8, Internet Explorer, Linux, Lists, Market Share, Microsoft, Opera, Performance, Previews, Rendering, Reviews, Safari, Screenshots, Security, Shiretoko, Walt Mossberg

Hot on the heels of Firefox 3 potentially being released, I noticed (via Twitter again) that the Flock team has made Flock 2.0 Beta 1, which is based off of the Firefox 3 codebase, available for download.  The key advancements being touted with the beta release are performance, security, the user interface, favorites management and general feature enhancements.

I’ve yet to give Flock a try myself, but this may be the time to do it.  Flock 2.0 Beta 1 is available for download for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Tags: Beta, Favorites, Features, Firefox, Firefox 3, Flock, Flock 2, Linux, Mac, Performance, Security, Twitter, User Interface, Windows

As so astutely pointed out by commenter iamcheese, Opera 9.50 was released on Thursday, June 12th.

Those following the Opera Desktop Team Blog likely saw the release coming, as there was a lot of focus on stability in the weeks leading up to the release, and also a preview of some of the major features, including a new default skin (which, like any major theme change, received a lot of immediate feedback) and malware protection.

Impressively, the official release of the browser came only two days after the release of the Opera 9.50 Release Candidate build.  For interesting facts about the release, you can check out the official announcement or the coverage at Opera Watch.  The latter also has some additional coverage on the new skin change.  Or, if you’re interested in the improvements made in Opera 9.5 on the CSS front, be sure to look at CSS3 . Info’s synopsis.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, you can download the latest release at opera.com.

Tags: CSS, Opera, Releases, Security, Themes and Skins

There are some rumblings in the browsersphere as of late with a Firefox 3 RC1 release right around the corner, news that the latest service pack for XP isn’t compatible with a pre-installed IE8 Beta 1, etc.  So let’s get caught up.

General

• Any web browser review that uses phrases like “donkey’s years,” “boffins” and “heebie-jeebies” is worth a read, isn’t it?
• Jeremy Keith has written a good summary of some of the more recent innovations in web browsers, including support for CSS3, HTML 5, ARIA, etc.
• TechRadar.com has compiled a list of the top eight alternative web browsers, which includes a few interesting minor players I hadn’t heard of before.
• The Washington Post reports that hackers are starting to focus their sights on Firefox and Safari rather than their usual victim, Internet Explorer (via Digg).

Avant

• One user thinks Avant is brilliant; another thinks it’s the worst browser.

Firefox

• Andy Atkinson demonstrates how CSS3 rounded corner rendering has improved from Firefox 2 to Firefox 3.
• Something for those who like mozzarrella on their Firefox…I guess?
• Be mindful of your warranty in Firefox 3.
• The Firefox Extension Guru’s Blog, which just celebrated its 2nd birthday, has some tips on how to remove stuff from the Firefox 3 UI.
• Michael Kaply shares his thoughts on Firefox branding.
• A Firefox screencast contest will kick off on May 19th (via Mozilla Developer News).
• The Firefox 3 themes now have names.
• Firefox had an encounter with Tron Guy at ROFLcon.
• The Firefox team is currently accepting last-minute changes to and suggestions for the Firefox 3 credits.
• Work on the next version of Gecko appears to be starting to pick up steam.
• Asa Dotzler cleared up some misconceptions about a Vietnamese Language Pack at the For the Record blog.
• Read up on site identification in Firefox 3.
• Firefox pulled in quite a win in LinuxJournal’s Readers’ Choice Awards.
• An Opera user believes that “Mozilla has vastly improved their product [in Firefox 3 Beta 5].”
• Firefox market share continues to climb in Europe (via Digg).

Flock

• “Flock is the baddest ass browser for internet losers.”
• Flock won a webby for social networking.

Internet Explorer

• One user got some help implementing a liquid faux column layout in IE7.
• Dariusz Siedlecki thinks that IE8’s “rendering model is…too precise.”
• IE8 will feature per-user ActiveX.
• Lifehacker walks you through how to get Firefox’s “best” features in Internet Explorer.
• Security researcher Aviv Raff has uncovered a 0day vulnerability in Internet Explorer but has hidden it somewhere on his blog rather than disclosing its details outright (via Digg).

Konqueror

• KDelicious adds del.icio.us functionality to the right-click menu in Konqueror.
• Don’t confuse Konqueror with Conkeror.
• Some information on running Python scripts directly from Konqueror.
• Apparently the WordPress visual editor doesn’t work correctly in Konqueror.
• It sounds like the spellchecking in Konqueror (and KDE) leaves something to be desired.
• Perhaps it goes without saying, but some KHTML and Konqueror bugs have been being dealt with.
• There are some comparisons between Konqueror and Firefox over in an Ubuntu forum.
• Neither Opera nor Konqueror got much love in the Readers’ Choice Awards 2008 (Linux).
• One user claims that Konqueror is excellent for dealing with cookies.
• Epiphany will be following in the footsteps of Konqueror and switching to WebKit.

Maxthon

• One user ponders why there are so many more Firefox ads than Maxthon ads.
• Disabling Ad Hunter can help with cookie-related problems in Maxthon and maybe others as well.
• It sounds like, in some cases at least, Maxthon’s ad-blocking may be too good.
• Maxthon’s support for cached images may not have parity with Opera.
• If you’re interested in the history of Maxthon, one blog has a pretty good synopsis.

Opera

• The latest Opera snapshots have gotten more efficient thanks to something called profile-guided optimization.
• Opera announced a specification for File I/O access in widgets.
• Opera 9.5 Beta 2 was recently reviewed by ars technica (via Digg).

Opera Mini

• The Opera Mini 4 servers were recently upgraded with some improvements, specifically around RSS feed support.
• Opera Mini 4.1 is scheduled to be released this coming week (and there’s a summary of the new features listed at Opera Watch).

Safari

• Safari tripled its market share on Windows in April (although the statistics in question have been brought up for debate).

Minor Players

• A forum post points to two lightweight browsers, Scope and NetWorker, the former of which claims to take up only 250k of disk space.
• HydraBrowser is another IE shell that apparently utilizes user interface elements similar to those in Office 2007 products.
• Watch the ACE browser as its implemented in Visual Studio 2008.
• There’s a heated debate on whether a Zune browser would be possible or usable.
• Leet Browser allows you to multitask with non-gaming applications from within your game (via Digg).
• GeneNET Web Browser is “hack-proof” and there is a screenshot available.
• Sunrise is billed as a web browser for web developers and utilizes the KHTML rendering engine (see screenshot).
• BigScreenLive is geared toward the elderly and “computer-phobics.”
• WebGoo 4 is 70% faster.  Than what?  I couldn’t tell you.
• Have a look at the web browser on the HTC Touch Diamond (Blip.tv video).
• OWB is a web browser for CE devices that is based on KHTML.
• Midori is another browser billed as “lightweight” and it utilizes WebKit under the hood.  There’s a pretty good review of the browser and its potential over at Associated Content.
• Read about how Shiira has plans to overtake Safari on Macs.
• Someone spotted a browser called DeepFish in a YouTube video.
• IBM is working on a voice-controlled web browser called Spoken Web.

Web Standards

• The WHATWG wiki has a list (or an attempt at a list) of all known implementations of HTML 5 in today’s web browsers.
• Writing web browsers can apparently lead you to hate the W3C with a “purple throbbing passion.”
• Dave Hyatt implemented support for CSS Gradients in WebKit in about four days (via Daniel Glazman).  Support for CSS Reflections (web developers are going to go nuts with this one) and CSS Masks has been implemented as well.
• Read a bit about “CSS Qualified Selectors” and why they’re a pain in the butt (via CSS3 . Info).
• Mark Pilgrim wrote a particularly scathing article concerning Mozilla’s approach to the Acid3 test, which is perhaps best observed in blog posts from Mike Shaver and David Baron.  It’s an interesting read; form opinions as you will.

Holy cow.  That’s a lot of information.  The browsersphere is a bustling place.  Hopefully you found something useful in all that.

Tags: Acid3, Avant, BigScreenLive, Branding, CSS3, Dave Hyatt, Deepfish, Epiphany, Extensions, Firefox, Flock, GeneNET, History, HTML 5, Hydra Browser, IE7, IE8, KHTML, Konqueror, Leet Browser, Linux, Mac, Maxthon, NetWorker, Opera, OWB, Reviews, Safari, Scope, Security, Shiira, Spoken Web, Sunrise, Vulnerabilities, W3C, WebGoo, WebKit

According to YugaTech, Internet Explorer will remaing king of the browsers.  Several of the reasons given hold water, such as the fact that IE comes bundled with all computers that ship with a Windows operating system installed.  However, there are a couple that are flat-out wrong, like:

You want online banking? More or less, you’ll need to fire up IE. You want to pay utility bills with your credit card online? IE again.

I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t remember the last time I had to use Internet Explorer for anything that required security, a credit card or paying a bill.

Maybe things are different in the Philippines.

Tags: Elsewhere, Internet Explorer, Market Share, Parity, Security

Yet another minor player has hit the browsersphere, and it is called e-Capsule Private Browser.  According to Web User News:

[The browser] aims to provide you with the most secure internet experience possible.

The e-Capsule Private Browser has been developed by Enterprise Information Security Systems and Technology (EISST) and, according to the company, it keeps your information secure using encryption.

Information such as passwords are kept encrypted and hidden within the browser and not stored anywhere else on your system.

“Unlike other internet browsers, there is no data exposure to the operating system even while using the software,” said Corrado Ronchi of EISST.

The browser is intended to leave no “footprints” on your PC, by not installing temporary files or modifying the registry in any way.

Encrypted data storage and anonymity guarantee privacy and security. The encryption protection is seamless and has no impact on the computer’s performance,” Ronchi said.

However, it comes at a cost. The e-Capsule Private Browser costs £20, but there is a free trial download, which lasts for 14 days.

The browser is available to download and/or purchase at eisst.com.

Tags: Minor Players, Security

The browsersphere is a busy place, and only gets busier as I start to hone in on all the web browsers that are actually out there. Without further ado…

• Bryan Clark asks, does anyone use a homepage for their browser anymore?
• A member of the Ars Technica Forums wants to know why there’s no official browser for the Xbox 360.
• Jesse Ruderman has filed 3,000 Firefox bugs.
• The WebKit Detection Script has been updated to support the iPhone and the iPod Touch.
• Matt Brett believes that IE7 has done nothing but add more garbage to the pile.
• Kenneth van Wyk believes that Firefox is safer than Internet Explorer.
• Mashable has a list of 30+ skins for the Opera web browser.
• Software Battle calls Mouse Gestures Firefox’s killer extension.
• Mozilla Links reports that there’s a brand new Firefox start page.
• Have you tried split browsing in Firefox?

Tags: Add-ons, Bugs, Extensions, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Minor Players, Opera, Safari, Security, Themes and Skins