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5 Good Google Chrome Resources

Although I use it as a secondary browser to Firefox, I've been steadily gaining respect for Google Chrome since its arrival a few months back. It's fast, works around many of the crashing problems I've experienced with other browsers, and I'm especially looking forward to upcoming extensions for it. If you're using it too, you may be interested in the following five Chrome resources, including a more secure fork of the Chromium core, and solid information on what to expect next for the browser.


Firefox 3.1 Facing Late Arrival; Will It Ship With TraceMonkey?

Digital Arts Online has a thorough break down of some of the snags the Firefox development team has encountered as it continues work on the browser's 3.1 release. TraceMonkey, the JavaScript engine that's responsible for the browser's performance boost, seems to be what's holding its actual release back.

According to the forum posts the article points to, both Firefox developers and those focusing specifically on TraceMonkey agree that a decision has to be made -- but whether it's better to release Firefox 3.1 without TraceMonkey, release Firefox with TraceMonkey disabled by default, or give the developers a set amount of time before making the decision at all -- might be a sticking point.



Chrome for Linux To Use GTK

Via OSNews comes word that the developers bringing Chrome to Linux have opted to use GTK over Qt as the browser's framework.

The development team's decision wasn't an easy one. The questions they addressed about Chrome's appearance and behavior, what end-users need and expect, and how to make it work smoothly on the Linux desktop are highly subjective, and in some cases, emotionally charged. The FAQ on the Chromium developer's site states that while both toolkits are capable of doing the job (WebKit handles most rendering with the exception of some form controls and dialogs), the team opted for GTK due to their level of familiarity with it.



The Open Source Movement, and Microsoft's Unlucky Breaks

Microsoft Watch's Joe Wilcox, in solemn observance of Friday the 13th, compiled a list of Microsoft's ten most unlucky breaks. The strokes of misfortune chosen were weighted according to heinousness (with #10 being least signficant, and #1 the most).

Checking in at #7 is the development of the Linux kernel. Putting aside Microsoft's whole Schrodinger's cat sort of approach to Linux over the years (Linux is not a threat. Linux is a threat), it is interesting Wilcox (and the analysts who helped him narrow down the list) focused on the kernel as the bad break.



Firefox Version 3.1 Beta 3 is in Tests: What About Version 3.2?

It may not be perfectly stable yet, but if you've been following along with the beta releases of Mozilla's Firefox 3.1 browser, you can now get and test the candidate for Beta 3, as described here. Mozilla is calling for a Test Week for this latest version. Beta 3 was scheduled to be out on February 2nd, but bug fixes were required. Meanwhile, PC Pro has an interesting story up in which Firefox architect Mike Connor describes plans for version 3.2 of Firefox.


OStatic Buffer Overflow

Foxmarks syncs bookmarks in Safari, Internet Explorer. The Foxmarks browser synchronization platform now works with proprietary browsers. It's always been a hit with mobile users.

Chrome getting faster JavaScript. Chrome developers have swapped a built-in third-party software package in favor of their own as part of a browser speedup.

Google just added 1.5 million books to your phone. Google has 1.5 million public domain titles scanned and digitized in a small-screen format.

Marten Mickos, Sun's SVP of databases, to leave in a reorg. This follows the resignation of MySQL co-founder Monty Widenius, and a big quarter for MySQL.

Does Microsoft subvert the virtualization space to harm Red Hat? BoycottNovell looks into allegedly suspicious partnerships and revenue sharing.

Facebook joins OpenID. Facebook has joined the board of the OpenID Foundation and will host an OpenID Design Summit.

 



Extensions Coming in May for Chrome: Look Out IE

The Google Operating System blog and The Open Road have noted that Google's open source Chrome browser will get Firefox-like extensions by May. That's when the Google I/O conference takes place in San Francisco, and there is a session there titled Developing extensions for Google Chrome. According to Google officials This talk will cover the basics of the extension system (distribution/packaging, installation, updates), as well as the different APIs to enhance with the browser. As I've written before, this, along with the delivery of Mac and Linux versions of Chrome, will kick the browser into high gear, with Internet Explorer facing many problems.


Internet Explorer's Market Share Still Taking Hits

Recently, we covered benchmarks showing the Release Candidate for Microsoft's Internet Explorer version 8 browser seriously lagging open source browsers Firefox and Google Chrome. We also discussed Microsoft's acknowledgement that the European Commission may force it to see that alternative browsers to IE ship on new computers. Now, representing the latest blow for Internet Explorer, new research shows Microsoft's browser continuing to lose market share.