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New leaked images show entirely different design for Microsoft Spartan browser

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Yesterday we showed you what was reported to be the first ever leaked screenshot showing an in-development build of Spartan, Microsoft’s upcoming Web browser for Windows 10 which was first rumored late last year. Today though there are a couple of new leaked images doing the rounds, and these two show us a very different design for Spartan.

That may be a good thing, given how cartoonish its interface looked in yesterday’s shot. The downside is that today’s leak is comprised of two extremely small and extremely blurry screenshots. Read more »

Microsoft’s upcoming Spartan Web browser for Windows 10 shown in first leaked screenshot

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At the end of last year, we heard an intriguing report which said that Microsoft would ship Windows 10 with two Web browsers on board – IE11 for backwards compatibility, and a new one codenamed Spartan, which was allegedly being built from scratch. Today the existence of project Spartan has pretty much been confirmed by the leaked screenshot you can see below.

This apparently shows us the second version of Spartan, dating back to November. It’s an older iteration than the one currently in the works, but it does help us get a general idea about it. And immediately that codename starts making sense, for this is shaping up to be a very bare bones experience, with a very minimalistic design. Read more »

Microsoft is allegedly working on a new browser for Windows 10

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When Windows 10 launches, it will do so with two Web browsers on board – IE11 (for backward compatibility), as well as a brand new one codenamed Spartan. This will be lightweight, will look a lot like Chrome or Firefox, and will support extensions.

However, Spartan will still use Microsoft’s Chakra JavaScript engine and its Trident rendering engine, according to a couple of unnamed sources. Read more »

Microsoft is no longer required to show the Browser Choice screen on Windows in the EU

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Believe it or not, five years have passed since the European Commission forced Microsoft to add the Browser Choice screen to the versions of Windows it sold in the EU. And incidentally, this means that the requirement has in fact expired.

As of now, Microsoft no longer falls under the obligation to show people in the EU the Browser Choice screen, so it’s stopped doing so. The dedicated website for the feature is gone too. Read more »

Firefox 34 for Android fixes MP4 playback, adds Chromecast support

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Mozilla Firefox for Android was updated today to version 34 sporting a wide array of bug fixes and new features. The coolest feature of all is the ability to mirror to Chromecast directly from the web browser.

HTML5 support is enhanced with the introduction of Device Storage API, ECMAScript 6 WeakSet and CSS3 Font variants and features control. Moreover, MP4 video playback is now working on Android 5.0 Lollipop. However, there are still some pending issues. Read more »

Chrome Dev Summit boasts 400 million mobile users and exciting new features

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The years Google I/O came with a whole array of exciting surprises. And even though the latest version of android 5.0 Lollipop took the spotlight, the Chrome division also had more than a few points to delight, one of which was the whopping 300 million user base on mobile devices. Last week, at this year`s Chrome Dev Summit, Darin Fisher updated that number to 400 million, which is a staggering growth to say the least.

Most of the focus was unsurprisingly centered around Lollipop and all of its various bells and whistles, like Polimer and Material Design. But Chrome has undergone some hefty improvements itself. Read more »

Mozilla makes Yahoo the default search option in Firefox

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Mozilla ditched Google for Yahoo as the default search engine in the popular web browser Firefox. The change will first affect Firefox users in the United States beginning in December as part of a five-year agreement between the tech giants.

Users outside the US will get the Yahoo treatment early next year. Read more »

Opera Mini is the first web browser for Samsung Gear S

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The Tizen-based Samsung Gear S now has its very own full web browser thanks to Opera.

The Opera Mini will allow you to browse the internet on your wrists and has the familiar features – mobile compression that shrinks pages to as little as 10% of their original size and speed dial with your recent pages. Read more »

Chrome 37 brings DirectWrite support on Windows

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Google has released v37.0.2062.94 of the desktop version of Chrome for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it brings with it a highly requested feature on Windows: DirectWrite support.

DirectWrite is a set of API from Microsoft for rendering text and glyphs on screen. It allows higher quality rendering of fonts that look noticeably better than the standard GDI or Graphics Device Interface method of rendering. This is something Firefox and Internet Explorer have had for years on Windows but Chrome is just getting now. Read more »

Opera and Microsoft sign a licensing agreement

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Opera Software signed a licensing agreement with Microsoft. Under its terms, Opera Mini will become the default web browser for the Redmond giant’s range of low-end phones, where its will replace the currently used Xpress Browser.

The agreement applies to phones which run Series 30+, Series 40, as well as those with the Asha platform. Read more »

Chrome will protect you from dodgy file downloads

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Google, the internet’s good guy, wants to protect you against download links that lie. And they’re training Chrome to do this with the company’s new Safe Browsing initiative.

Google wants to safeguard Chrome users “against additional kinds of deceptive software.” What kind of deceptive software? Read more »

Microsoft pulling the plug on old versions of IE

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So we reported recently that Microsoft would be updating its IE software to protect against older, malicious plug-in malware.

The catch was, the new updates would leave older versions of Internet Explorer left to fend for themselves. New info reveals that Microsoft is going to be pulling the plug on older versions of IE. Read more »

Internet Explorer beefs up its security against plug-ins

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Sure, your web browser might be secure, but the same cannot always be said for web plug-ins.

Well Microsoft has decided to do something about this security flaw, by adding greater protection against vulnerabilities found in browser plug-ins in Internet Explorer. Read more »

Latest Chrome for Android version brings security fixes and better font rendering

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Just yesterday the Chrome team pushed an update for the iOS version of its browser and today it’s Android’s turn. Chrome for Android reaches version 36.0.1985.122 and addresses important issues and bugs.

One of the key improvements is the better text rendering on websites that aren’t mobile optimized. Chrome 35 brings similar improvements on Windows with a feature called DirectWrite, and makes fonts look much better. Read more »

Latest Chrome for iOS update has Cast support in tow

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The iOS version of Chrome has received an update bringing it to version 36.0.1985.49. The latest iteration of the Google-made web browser brings the long-awaited Cast support.

Now, users with Cast-enabled devices can stream web pages seamlessly with their Chrome on iOS. The updated version of Chrome also should be more stable and with less bugs. Read more »