Apple's Safari 4 tops 11 million downloads in 3 days

Apple's Safari 4 Web browser was downloaded more than 11 million times in the first three days of release, the company said Friday. 

And more than 6 million of the downloads came from Windows users. 

Since Safari 4's public beta release in February, Apple has touted the browser as the fastest in the world, when compared with other popular browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer 8. 

According to Apple, Safari 4 tops IE 8 and Firefox by three times or more when loading HTML Web pages. With its Nitro JavaScript engine, the company claims, Safari executes JavaScript almost eight times as fast as IE 8 and more than four times as fast as Firefox. 

Based on the open-source Webkit browser engine, Safari includes HTML 5 support for offline technologies and is the first browser to pass the Web Standards Project's Acid3 test. 

Safari includes several enhancements, such as Top Sites, the ability to search history, Google Suggest, and Full Page Zoom, to make browsing the Web a bit easier. 

Safari is free for download for both Mac and Windows users.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Relaunched Google Search Service Fingers Malware-Spreading Advertisers

'Anti-Malvertising' lets Website owners perform background checks on potential online advertisers

Google is going after malware-spreading advertisers more aggressively with the quiet launch of a free service that lets Website owners run background checks on potential online advertisers.

Anti-Malvertising, which yesterday received a face-lift with additional resources and a higher profile, is a custom search engine that lets you check if an online advertiser is known to have spread malware-laden advertisements.

Attackers are increasingly using legitimate Websites to spread their malware, either hiding it within an ad itself, embedding it on the page, or using a download link to infect victims.

Eric Davis, a member of Google's Anti-Malvertising Team, says the custom search engine originally went live in February, but Google yesterday relaunched the site with more information and content. "We created Anti-Malvertising.com to help ad publishers and Internet users learn more about malvertising threats," Davis says.

The search engine checks third-party sites that track ad malware. "What's new as of yesterday is that we redesigned the site and added new, expanded educational content to supplement the custom search engine" so ad publishers and Internet users can better protect themselves, Davis says.

Bottom line: Google wants to keep the online advertising "ecosystem" clean.

"The overall site fits into our broader goal to help and encourage all members of the online advertising ecosystem to take an active role in malvertising prevention," Davis says.

Still, Google warns that the custom search engine is just one source of badware information. "Its search results should not be considered the last word on a prospective customer, but one potential source of helpful information. If a party you're researching comes up in a search result here, we recommend you take a closer look at the party in question before rendering judgment," Google's site says.

Source: www.darkreading.com

Chrome 2.0: Google's biggest yawn

Google's upgrade of Chrome to 2.0 is exceedingly underwhelming --- there's so little new that if you blinked you'd miss the changes. It's baffling that a company that keeps fully featured software like Gmail in beta for years has jumped to 2.0 for a browser with so little to offer.

After the upgrade, you won't notice a change in Chrome at all --- it looks just like the previous version, and largely behaves like it as well. There are a few little tweaks, though, such as a full screen mode available via the F11 key.

There's also a form filler for filling in Web forms, something other browsers have had since the Dark Ages. You can also remove thumbnails from the "New Tab" pages that launch whenever you open a new tab. And you can zoom better.

The only substantial change is speed. Google claims that the new Chrome is 30% faster than the previous version, and I can believe it. It loads pages lightning fast.

But there's more to browsing the Web than fast-loading pages. That's where Chrome 2.0 is still far inferior to Firefox and Internet Explorer.

It's hard to understand Google's plans for Chrome, because it's so bare-bones that it will never gain significant market share. It may be, though, that Google considers its browser little more than a front end for Web-based applications such as Gmail or Google Docs, and figures that the applications themselves, not the browser, is where most functionality will reside. But the ubiquitous cloud-based world is still far away, and until then, Chrome will languish.

Firefox Records 8.2 Million Downloads in First Day

Mozilla’s Download Day ended at 11:18 PDT Wednesday, well on its way to setting its Guinness World Record goal with a staggering 8.2 Million downloads of the Firefox 3 browser — shattering all expectations the company had when organizing the event.

According to the Download Day FAQ, Mozilla is the first company to attempt this record, thereby setting the bar for most downloads in one day. The foundation’s goal was to beat the number of first-day downloads of Firefox 2, which was 1.6 million downloads. The “sky is the limit” number was 5 million. A Mozilla representative confirmed it crossed 8 million about 30 minutes before the window closed.

In the upcoming week, Guinness World Records judges will verify the number using count records and logs while removing duplicates before it becomes the number to beat in the future.

For those who took part in the “historic” day, Mozilla is handing out personalized Firefox 3 Download Day certificates that you can download, print, frame and hang next to your high school diploma.

If you are late to the party, you can still download Firefox 3 at Mozilla’s Spread Firefox page.