Internet Explorer 8 Archives

May 22, 2010

Beta version of Encrypted search in Google

Try browsing google with just https instead of http and now you can see the beta version of Google search through SSL.This is the full link that leads you to the encrypted versions
https:\\www.google.com

You could wonder how this encrypted version would be of great help.It helps a lot of users from blocking the search contents visible to other websites or even to other hackers.But still the search content will be visible to Google as it will be available in their database.Its obvious that Google will be having complete details on search but there is some good amount of trust on Google as the contents will not be shared and it will be kept secure.IT administrators can have good benefit through Google search since the search traffic is kept private between you and Google

There are also some more benefits for the business users.First and foremost benefit is that the Google search traffic cannot be intercepted.Searches that are done through google are not archived in the browser history.Autofill option is also disabled if the search is tried using SSL in Google

There are many features available in Internet Explorer version 8 which acts as a support to the encrypted version of Google.IE secure features are available inside the InPrivate browser mode.If you are into the InPrivate browser mode then many contents like Web history, cookies, temporary Internet files, or other data will not be traced and will not be available inside the browser.
But the only drawback is that it cannot protect the data crossing the Internet

Only drawback of Google’s encrypted search is that the contents URL will be available inside browser History and other one is that the encrypted version is available only for contents but not for the images,maps etc.So to get the full benefit of security its better to use InPrivate mode of Internet Explorer 8 along with Encrypted version of Google

October 17, 2009

Windows Browser Ballot System – A total waste of time

EU is pushing Microsoft to provide a browser ballot in the Windows versions shipped in European Union countries.Well it is definitely not going to help the consumer/ end user. The argument from EU and Microsoft’s rivals is that since windows comes pre-installed with Internet Explorer, the users are not given equal opportunity for using other browsers.

Browser Ballot Screenshot for Windows in EU

If the users are not tech savvy enough, how does EU expect them to make a wise or useful choice upfront ? So these decisions may be forced on them by their relatives or the people who help them set up a computer. Especially if a non techy user finds that he/she is missing their favorite Internet Explorer (or comfortable) and when they try to connect office network and get thrown out because they are using a non IE browser ?

One way or the other this ballot system will be a failure from the start just like Windows Editions launched without Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer. Well no one bothered to buy these Windows Editions specifically launched in EU, after all why not have IE or Windows Media Player if they are not going to harm your computer?

Probably EU regulators should now look at other real issues like launching Phones like Iphone locked and limiting their use to only one network etc.

March 29, 2009March 29, 2009

Best Web browser ? – Google Chrome Review

My first impression of Google Chrome was not so good.The first time when I downloaded and started using it, felt very uncomfortable without the Google Toolbar. I got so used to using Google toolbar and my first thought was this browser is not for me at least for time being. So after a few hours I was back to Firefox and IE 7.

Few days went on and heard somewhere Chrome works better with google’s products like GMail and Youtube. So again I went back to Chrome and started using with Gmail and to my surprise, Gmail was very fast in Chrome and I decided to try it for a few more days.The other main factor which was refreshingly good was how fast the browser itself opens and in this Google Chrome seemed to beat Firefox and IE by a quite a margin. But this could be because the current version
of Chrome doesnt allow support addons or extensions and does not have a separate toolbar like Firefox or IE. Maybe this might or might not change in future versions.

Now coming back to Missing toolbar issue, after a few hours with Chrome, I started using the address bar of Chrome to search, jus like the way we type site addresses. Type any word and enter and your search results are there for you. Still Im missing the suggest(and Autofill) feature which is present in google toolbar, which will bring related
keywords and help you in searching.

Google chrome Browsing history view

One more notable feature is the ‘ Browsing history view ‘ when you open Chrome, It brings up to nine most visited website thumbnails, and most of the time I use these thumbnails to navigate these websites. This is definitely a very useful addition. The incognito tab option, which is basically private browsing which would allow any tracking files(cookies) to be stored in your computer or wouldnt leave any browsing history / Search history in your computer. Chrome also maintains browsing history in a calendar fashion with thumbnails and allows to search the browsing history. The browsing history can be deleted by day or completely.

Though Chrome doesnt have many new features now it has replaced Firefox in my laptop as the primary browser, I still use IE for what I used it for even before I got Google chrome. Nowadays I mostly dont use Firefox, this could be because firefox isnt faster or lighter anyomore and Chrome offers what I need. I believe Chrome will definitely eat into Firefox’s market.

On the negative side FTP downloads doesnt work in Chrome and even some other sites which use Flash also work differently in Chrome. Hopefully this will change with the newer versions of Chrome, afterall Chrome is a newbie in Browser market. If you go sheer speed of Browsing and JavaScript rendering Google Chrome seems to be the best browser in market.

Download chrome – http://www.google.com/chrome

Download Chrome Beta (New version with more features) – http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/chrome/beta/

Google Chrome Blog – http://chrome.blogspot.com/

Google Chrome’s Features – http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/features.html

[PS: I recently downloaded IE 8 and quite impressed with it, Not like Chrome but still will come out with its review soon]