Aja Lapus

Category: Tech

  • The Second Browser War Round 2

    Upgrade to Firefox 2 Now! Though Windows Internet Explorer 7 came out earlier than Mozilla Firefox 2 for about a couple of weeks, I could not help but to announce that my favorite Web browser just released its second major update. But do not forget Opera 9 as it offers a faster and lighter browser for someone who would just want to surf the Web.

    The browser wars have just stepped up to the next level. For now, here are some comparisons with my own opinions and rankings:

    Web Standards Compliance

    1. Firefox 2 and Opera 9

      Though Opera 9 has been the only browser on the Windows platform to pass the WaSP Acid2 test, Firefox 2 is the only browser to ever support JavaScript 1.7. Both have considerable support for Web standards on XHTML and CSS under most circumstances (as Acid2 tests for uncommonly used standards support).

    2. Internet Explorer 7

      They say that they have improved support for standards on Internet Explorer 7 but when I test sites that break on Internet Explorer 6, they still break on version 7. Besides, support for the proper XHTML media type, application/xhtml+xml, would cause Internet Explorer 7 (as well as earlier versions) to look for an external application that supports it.

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    Customizability

    1. Firefox 2

      With so many user-contributed addons, from Web development tools, custom toolbars and multimedia entertainment addons to usability, accessibility and Web services integration tools, the possibilities are endless.

    2. Internet Explorer 7

      The only thing that I think would work on Internet Explorer 7 is the ability to add custom toolbars which are usually from search engine and portal companies such as Google and Yahoo!

    3. Opera 9

      I really do not know how we could customize Opera though its suite of applications such as a good download manager, mail/newsgroups and BitTorrent clients all in a lightweight package contribute to its popularity.

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    Security

    1. Firefox 2 and Opera 9

      I haven’t researched much about the security differences of both these browsers, but I know since the majority of users are using Internet Explorer (with the automatic update to 7 on the start of November) they are more likely to be targetted that way. Both have good popup blockers and Firefox 2 has a phishing checker.

    2. Internet Explorer 7

      Still is the most widely used (or will be with automatic updates) browser and the most vulnerable to attacks. Though the integration with Windows has been cut off, support for ActiveX controls remains as an opt-in feature. It’s much better than Internet Explorer 6 though. It has a popup blocker and it has (currently) a better phishing checker than Firefox 2 has, according to some site. (I can’t seem to find the link right now, to be posted as an edit later.)

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    Page Load

    1. Firefox 2 and Opera 9

      Based on my experience, both of these browsers load pages faster than Internet Explorer 7 though I still haven’t compared them to one another.

    2. Internet Explorer 7

      Even with Internet Explorer 6, whenever I switch from Firefox to Internet Explorer (for Web page layout rendering), the latter would load a page slower. I think the phishing checker of Internet Explorer 7 made it worse as it always waits for it to finish (and it’s not that fast) before starting to load a page.

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    System Performance

    1. Opera 9

      Loads up on your system much faster than Firefox 2 though I still haven’t compared it to Internet Explorer 7 for they are both perceivably fast to load on my system.

    2. Internet Explorer 7

      Loads up faster than Firefox 2 though the Scobleizer says that it consumes more memory than Firefox 2 without even finishing to load the same pages Firefox 2 has. The Lifehacker also published another comparison.

    3. Firefox 2

      Loads for the longest time compared to the other two but the said reason for this is the different language used to render its chrome to provide support for its themes/skins. It also receives criticisms for high memory usage.

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    Interface

    1. Firefox 2

      Cleanest and simplest interface [but with elegant looking buttons] to get you started surfing right away. Just lacks the default new tab button to familiarize new users with tabbed browsing though it can be added with toolbar customization. It’s skinnable as well.

    2. Opera 9

      Feels very much like a standard Web browser interface [as with Firefox 2 and Internet Explorer 6] though some search boxes are more suitable for Web shoppers rather than the average Web surfer or Web developer. It also offers color schemes to suit every user’s taste.

    3. Internet Explorer 7

      Very compact, works without a menu bar, but just plain confusing with a very far stop and refresh button especially when you are used to Internet Explorer 6—users could be more familiar with Firefox 2 and/or Opera 9 this way.

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    Other Features

    1. Firefox 2 and Opera 9

      I could not seem to summarize them all, just take a look at the Mozilla Firefox 2 features page and the Opera 9 features page.

    2. Internet Explorer 7

      It features many things that makes it better compared to Internet Explorer 6 than to Firefox 2 and Opera 9 since both the latter browsers offer these features new to Internet Explorer 7. The complete list can be found on the Internet Explorer 7 features page.

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  • Scrap Metal

    One day, I thought I heard a distant explosion—one you could think of as a failing transformer on an outdoor electrical post. My computer’s power flickered but It came back just nanoseconds later. But I was wrong. My computer wouldn’t turn on anymore. I realized what I heard was a discreet boom from the power supply.

    My whitebox computer exploded Monday last week as I was about to print a document for our Electronics I report. It felt like the sky fell on top of my head. Panic struck me, though I came up with a way to retrieve the data. Besides, only the power supply really blew up. I just removed the hard disk drive from the system unit and plugged it into the external hard disk enclosure bought with our 250-gigabyte hard disk. I made a mess in my room trying to fix things. But, I wasn’t able to print it right away as our notebook doesn’t have a parallel port. Oh well, at least the data wasn’t lost.

    My uncle gave [or lent] me a spare power supply unit from an unused computer to replace that scrap metal I had been using since 2002. I’ve just finished replacing it yesterday along with a busted floppy disk drive and the much larger hard disk drive [the one bought with the enclosure]. I could really describe my computer as katay, which is Tagalog for butchered—a rather exaggerated term for something taken apart [then replaced] piece by piece.

    If you could remember my past article, my desktop computer had its motherboard and CPU replaced. Now, I’ve just replaced the power supply, hard disk drive and floppy disk drive. Hmmm … I wonder when I could build my own computer from scratch with new parts.

    Easy answer: Not today. *tee-hee*

  • Buying the Competitor

    I first saw it with Adobe Systems‘ acquisition of Macromedia last year—i.e., buying Adobe SVG‘s competitor, Macromedia Flash, for one. Now the news is with Google Inc.

    I’ve just read in a press release from the YouTube Web site that the search giant would be buying them for $1.65 Billion in stock. But isn’t that Google Video‘s competitor? I really do not understand these companies making such actions, but still, with the proper explanation in the said press release, I think the merge could be beneficial to the users of the more popular YouTube.

    YouTube fans need not worry about this as they said that the YouTube team would still operate independently to preserve its brand and community.

    The complete press release is posted in the following Web pages:

    Note: Both pages contain the same content/press release.

    Now if only I could solve my connection problem with Google Web sites. [Yes, this is a different matter—completely unrelated to the news.] I could surf most sites but not Google and its sub-sites [Calendar, GMail] from time to time. I’ve checked my router and modem already, I just hope this is an ISP matter that is going to be fixed very soon as I don’t have time for fixing right now. Hmmm … I think I better study for the finals now. 😛

  • Gmail for My Domain

    Ever since I’ve received my first invite to beta test Gmail, I’ve been using it as my primary email as if it is already a release version of the Webmail client—no major bugs and excellent features. I am glad nothing from it disappoints me.

    I then came across a random blog entry that told me Gmail is offered for domain owners as a Webmail client. I’ve signed up to beta test Gmail for your domain on my domain, and now I’m using it instead of forwarding all email to ajalapus.com to my original Gmail account.

    Gmail for your domain inbox screenshot Here is a screenshot of my Gmail for your domain Inbox.

    Management seems easy, creating users and aliases for those users—I currently have two, one as a main user and the other as the catch-all (i.e., catch everything else) user. I haven’t encountered any bugs as of now. And, comparing Gmail for your domain to Gmail, I could only find two differences listed below:

    1. Gmail for your domain doesn’t have the ability to view and display avatars of Gmail contacts—no biggie.
    2. Gmail for your domain only has 2048 MB of storage compared to Gmail’s 2749 MB and growing—2 GB is still enough.

    Oh, and you could look at my sign in page—it’s so cool! 😛

  • Frustrated Entry

    My fixed desktop PC Whew! My desktop PC had just got through from a major overhaul. A couple of months ago, my desktop occasionally hangs even before Windows finish starting up and that incident became worse every day. I was just happy I have a notebook on which I can continue school work and Web work. We brought my dead PC to my uncle, but even after replacing the memory modules and the processor, it still was a wreck. That was when we concluded that the motherboard was the problem. It was now replaced with a new one that includes a whole lot of new features — more USB 2.0 ports, an on-board LAN, support for AGP 8X, and 400-Mhz DIMM slots — I was glad. 😀

    Gawd, I’ve written that [paragraph above] about a week ago. But since I haven’t got all the time in the world, I was not able to finish, especially with all my school work that was nearing their deadlines and finals week that was coming. Now everything that I haven’t been able to write earlier just faded into [my] memory that I am not able to put into words anymore.

    I so hate it when that happens. A Gift from My Princess Good thing my baby gave me this cute little stuffed toy: a tiny fat pig. Oh, you see our resemblance? 😆 Ehehe … I love you, princess! 🙂

    Well, everything has been fine with me unless of course I try to think about my Phys 205 grade, which I have a very bad hunch about. I really hope I’m ready to know what it really is come this Friday. Oh, please wish me all the luck I need …

    Err … I just can’t seem to forget that this entry was a frustrated post. I really hope it won’t happen again. I’m really not so worried about ruining my story, it’s just that I’ve realized I have ruined memory. Oh stop it. I’m not getting that old. 😆

    Now I am thinking: Maybe those wrecked motherboard and slow memory modules that were on my PC caused my memory to leak, too. Waaa!

    OK. I’ll stop now.