64-bit Chrome finally available to download: Faster, more secure, twice as stable

At long last, Google has released a stable 64-bit version of Chrome for Windows. A download link is available at the bottom of this story. According to Google, 64-bit Chrome for Windows has three major advantages over its 32-bit cousin: It’s faster, more secure, and more stable. Some tasks, such as decoding HD video on YouTube, are 15% faster under the 64-bit version of Chrome. The only major caveat seems to be a lack of support for 32-bit NPAPI plug-ins — but with the exception of a few lesser-known plug-ins, most major plug-ins, including Silverlight, Java, and Flash have all been updated to 64-bit. That’s a small price to pay for increased speed, security, and (according to Google) twice the stability of 32-bit Chrome, though.
Google, like Mozilla and Firefox, has been working on a 64-bit version of Chrome for a long time. Unlike Mozilla, though, which seems destined to never release a 64-bit version of Firefox for a variety of reasons, Google actually pulled the trigger and pushed its 64-bit build of Chrome to its public alpha testing channels (Dev and Canary) back in June. Three months of testing later, and the 64-bit build of Chrome has passed muster and percolated down to the latest stable version: Chrome 37.





According to Google, the shift to 64 bits provides a marked improvement in rendering speed, thanks to the latest compiler and processor optimizations and “a calling convention that allows more function parameters to be passed quickly by registers.” Google says it sees an average improvement of 25% in graphics and multimedia content. In my own testing, I didn’t see much of an uplift across a handful of JavaScript benchmarks and Browsermark. Google specifically says that VP9 video decoding (i.e. surfing YouTube) is 15% faster. I suspect the 64-bit version of Chrome will feel a bit faster in everyday use, but you will only see a significant speedup in a few specific scenarios.

The improvements to security and stability are much less nebulous, however. Moving to a 64-bit process allows Chrome to use features such as High Entropy ASLR (address space layout randomization) and improve defenses against JIT spraying, which should make the browser significantly more secure against some zero-day vulnerabilities. Rather remarkably, Google says that Chrome’s 64-bit renderer process is almost twice as stable as the 32-bit version — i.e. it only crashes about half as much. (Obviously I’ll need to do some longer-term testing to confirm whether this is actually the case. The 32-bit version of Chrome for Windows was already pretty darn stable.)


For now, 64-bit Chrome is only available for Windows. 64-bit Chrome for OS X has been in development since 2009 and is yet to make it to the alpha channel, but presumably the pace might pick up a bit now that the Windows version is out of the door. We could see a 64-bit build of Chrome for Android L, which will be optimized for 64-bit chips. It’s also worth pointing out that Internet Explorer 10, released way back in September 2012, was actually the first major 64-bit browser.
Chrome 37 also introduces DirectWrite support (also Windows-only) for smoother and faster font rendering, and a number of other improvements and security fixes.





Download 64-bit Chrome for Windows. Make sure “For Windows 8/7 64-bit” is shown beneath the Download Chrome button (see image above). If your browser has already auto-updated to Chrome 37, you may have some difficulties installing the 64-bit version. I had to open up Task Manager and manually kill every Chrome process before the installer would proceed.

Source: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/188741-64-bit-chrome-finally-available-to-download-faster-more-secure-twice-as-stable

Google Chrome has been updated to version 37

Google Chrome has been updated to version 37. Updates include improved font rendering on Windows, better performance and stability, and a tweaked password manager. Read more on the Chrome blog.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Stable Channel Update

The Chrome team is delighted to announce the promotion of Chrome 37 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac and Linux. Chrome 37.0.2062.94 contains a number of fixes and improvements, including:





 - DirectWrite support on Windows for improved font rendering
 - A number of new apps/extension APIs
 - Lots of under the hood changes for stability and performance

A full list of changes is available in the log.

Security Fixes and Rewards

Note: Access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix. We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven’t yet fixed.

This update includes 50 security fixes. Below, we highlight fixes that were either contributed by external researchers or particularly interesting. Please see the Chromium security page for more information.

[$30000][386988] Critical CVE-2014-3176, CVE-2014-3177: A special reward to lokihardt@asrt for a combination of bugs in V8, IPC, sync, and extensions that can lead to remote code execution outside of the sandbox.
[$2000][369860] High CVE-2014-3168: Use-after-free in SVG. Credit to cloudfuzzer.
[$2000][387389] High CVE-2014-3169: Use-after-free in DOM. Credit to Andrzej Dyjak.
[$1000][390624] High CVE-2014-3170: Extension permission dialog spoofing. Credit to Rob Wu.
[$4000][390928] High CVE-2014-3171: Use-after-free in bindings. Credit to cloudfuzzer.
[$1500][367567] Medium CVE-2014-3172: Issue related to extension debugging. Credit to Eli Grey.
[$2000][376951] Medium CVE-2014-3173: Uninitialized memory read in WebGL. Credit to jmuizelaar.
[$500][389219] Medium CVE-2014-3174: Uninitialized memory read in Web Audio. Credit to Atte Kettunen from OUSPG.

We would also like to thank Collin Payne, Christoph Diehl, Sebastian Mauer, Atte Kettunen, and cloudfuzzer for working with us during the development cycle to prevent security bugs from ever reaching the stable channel. $8000 in additional rewards were issued.

As usual, our ongoing internal security work responsible for a wide range of fixes:
[406143] CVE-2014-3175: Various fixes from internal audits, fuzzing and other initiatives (Chrome 37).

Many of the above bugs were detected using AddressSanitizer.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/chrome-37-is-now-available-updates-include-improved-fo-1626911377?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lifehacker%2Ffull+%28Lifehacker%29

Opera Browser Review v24

Features:
- Based on Chromium
- Heart icon button for quick access to Speed Dial, Stash or bookmarks bar
- Speed Dial thumbnail preview for each webpage
- Up-to-date news
- Private browsing mode
- Bookmarks
- Turbo mode for slow Internet connections
- Download manager
- Mouse and rocker gestures
- Themes, extension and plugins
- Deletion operations for browsing data
- Developer tools
- Pop-up blocker

Opera has continuously developed throughout the years and made a name in the web browser category thanks to its simple and clean browsing sessions, fast speed and security features, and of course, constant improvements.

Not only does this web browser manage to be one of the top choices for many users, but it is also able to distinguish itself from other pieces of software thanks to its unique set of features and design.

The 23 version brings a cleaner look by embedding the heart icon button in the right part of the tab bar. The newly shaped button is designed to add webpages to Speed Dial, Stash or bookmarks bar with minimal effort. When you create a new bookmark entry for the first time, the bookmark bar is automatically enabled.

Other enhancements that come with the new version are meant to prevent crashes or other issues that may affect the browser’s stability.

Fast installation

The installation process takes place in no time and you are allowed to make some small tweaks. You can change the language, install the app for the current user or all of them, select the saving directory, place shortcuts on desktop and in Start menu, and pin the browser to the taskbar.

You may also opt for running the portable version of the program which doesn’t leave any traces in your Windows registry. You can take advantage of the fact that there’s no setup included and copy it on any USB flash drive or other devices and run it on the target computer.

Smart design

Although tabs don’t look and feel as fluid as in Firefox, their robust appearance is actually practical and they deliver an overall clean and organized browsing environment. Needless to mention, the multi-tabbed browsing is included on the feature list.


Chrome and Firefox provide access to the main menu with the aid of the "Hamburger" button, while Opera preserves the traditional main menu which can be opened up from the left corner of the browser. The button doesn’t take too much space and fits perfectly into the main window.

From the main panel you can open a new tab or window, activate the private browsing mode, view a list with recently closed webpages, switch to a full screen display, zoom in or out of pages, print data, access Speed Dial, Stash and Discover features, work with a downloader and history manager, access the settings panel, install themes and extensions, as well as activate developer tools.

Features that make the browsing session smooth and seamless

Opera improves your web browsing experience with some handy features. The Speed Dial gives you the freedom to store an unlimited number of webpages with the aid of thumbnails and access them with a single click.


Plus, you can arrange the Speed Dial pages in your favorite order using the drag-and-drop support, edit, reload or delete them, as well as perform search operations. In order to group a set of webpages into a single Speed Dial entry, you need to drag one webpage onto another and a folder is automatically created. You may click on the folder for checking out the entries.

The Stash feature provides a flexible way for keeping websites close to the click of a button. Webpages are stored in a resizable environment and you can use the built-in slider for zooming in or out.


Additionally, you may remove items from the Stash list or add them to the Speed Dial. Compared to the Speed Dial mode, the Stash one doesn’t give you the freedom to drag and drop the webpages in the desired order as it displays them in a simple list.

The Discover mode keeps you up-to-date with the latest news from all over the world. Plus, you may filter the results by country and language or categories, such as Arts, Business, Entertainment, Food, Health, Living, News, Science, Sports, Travel and more.


The tool combines the search and address bar into a single one for quick searches on the Internet and implements the heart icon button for helping you add pages to Speed Dial, Stash or bookmark bar. Context menu entries are also supported and they appear whenever you perform a right-click operation on a part of a webpage and their content pretty much depends on the element type (page, text, link, image, form).

The Opera Turbo mode is specifically designed to help you speed up browsing sessions in case you have slow network connection by saving bandwidth and compressing data.


The download manager appears whenever you grab files from the Internet, displays a progress bar, lets you pause the downloading process, and disappears when the download is complete.

What’s more, you can create bookmarks which are automatically placed on the bar below the combined address and search bar. Plus, folders can be used in order to group multiple bookmarks. You simply need to drag and drop webpages onto the target folder.


For fast web browsing operations, you may enable the mouse gestures which give you the option to perform common browsing actions (e.g. open a new tab, reload the page, close the current tab) by holding the right mouse button or moving the mouse to a different direction.

Rocker gestures help you navigate backwards and forwards by rocking your fingers between the right and left mouse buttons and there’s also support for keyboard shortcuts.

The sync mode makes it possible to save your information and access it across different devices. You need to create an account for Opera Link in order to view your bookmarks, Speed Dial and other details on your phone, tablet or another computer.

Themes, extensions and plugins

Personalizing the browsing experience is a must-have feature and Opera helps you change the look of your browser using themes. You may choose from several preset ones, download some more from the Internet or manually create your own theme by specifying the name, choosing a custom image, aligning the photo to bottom, center or top, applying text shadow and selecting the text color for Speed Dial entry names.


Opera gives you the freedom to enhance your browsing sessions using various extensions and plugins, which are grouped by Enabled or Disabled categories.


Privacy tools

Opera is not all about providing a pleasant browsing experience and comes packed with several features designed specifically for helping you secure your navigation.

Using the private browsing mode, you can make sure your Internet history and other traces left behind are removed as soon as you close the window. More specifically, the tool deletes your browsing history, items in cache and cookies.


The web browser also uses badges which are embedded in the combined search and address bar for letting you know whether you have landed on pages that contain phishing or malware data. The green lock ensures that the connection is secure and warning pages pop up whenever sites are found on the blacklist.

What’s more, you are allowed to clean your browsing data, including browsing and download history, cookies and other site data, cache, clear saved password and autofill form data.


You can activate the “do not track” feature, save passwords entered on webpages, enable auto-filling of forms on webpages, manage HTTPS/SSL certificates, as well as block third-party cookies and site data, and create a list with cookie exceptions.

Additionally, you may block JavaScript items, plugins, pop-ups and images, as well as camera and microphone access.

Several configuration settings

The tool comes packed with a suite of dedicated parameters usually found in similar powerful web browsers. You may set the search engine, make Opera your default web browser, select the user interface language, and change the default spell check dictionary or add a new one.


Plus, you may show or hide the bookmarks bar, configure proxy settings, specify the maximum number of columns used in the Speed Dial mode, as well as work with developer tools, which include a DOM view of webpages and highlighting of elements.

Last but not least, the tool integrates a task manager that helps you kill the running extensions or other tabs with just one click, and get detailed information about each process, such as name, memory, CPU, shared and private memory, process ID, FPS, GPU memory and other details.

The Good

Opera delivers user-friendly and fast browsing sessions which are backed up by several security tools designed to help you navigate on the Internet without traces, clear browsing data, as well as block pop-ups.

Several key features such as Speed Dial, Stash, Discover, mouse gestures, keyboard shortcuts, bookmarks, and sync make the browsing experience enjoyable and practical.

Personalizing the web browser can be done with the aid of preset or user-defined themes. Plus, the support for extensions makes it easier for you to improve the overall performance of the web browser.

The Bad

Mouse clicks need to be accurate and performed exactly on the tab space if you want to access the current webpage. If you click above the tab area, the current tab is not opened and this proves to be quite annoying.

The download feature gives you the possibility to pause a file which is grabbed from the Internet. In case you change your mind and want to delete the active download from the list, you are not allowed to perform the action. You need to manually open the download manager and clear the entry from the list.

The Stash feature proves to be quite useful in case you have a high-resolution display. On a small display, the view mode makes no miracles.

There’s no search option implemented in the Discover mode, so you need to manually browse throughout the entire collection of preset categories. The thumbnail rendering mode is not always fast when you get to the bottom of the page.

The Truth

All in all, Opera has proved to be an important player on the market and brings forth a handy suite of features for helping you acquire a smooth and secure browsing experience. Although it needs a few improvements here and there, its powerful mix of features makes this web browser suitable for rookies and power users alike.

Source: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Browsers/Opera-for-Windows-without-Java.shtml

Speed Up Firefox By Enabling Its New HTTP Cache

If Firefox has been feeling sluggish for you lately, you might be able to cut down on some of those UI hangs with an about:config tweak.

The Mozilla team is working on a number of performance tweaks for upcoming versions of Firefox, one of which is the use of a new HTTP cache that should fix some UI hang issues. It isn't enabled by default yet, but will be soon—and you can enable it right now with an about:config tweak. To do so:

1. Enter about:config into Firefox's address bar and press Enter.
2. Search for the browser.cache.use_new_backend flag and double-click on it.
3. Change its value from 0 to 1 to enable the new cache. (You can flip it back at any time by changing it back to 0).
4. Close about:config and continue browsing—no need to restart or anything.

I enabled it and while it hasn't been a silver bullet, it seems to have helped decrease the number of times the browser screeches to a halt. Check out the link below for more info, and while you're digging around in about:config, check out some of our other favorite tweaks.

Source: http://lifehacker.com/speed-up-firefox-by-enabling-its-new-http-cache-1570488335

The Best About:Config Tweaks That Make Firefox Better

You've probably heard a lot about Firefox 4's new interface, speed, and feature improvements, but many of you have already left it for… Read…

Firefox doesn't get enough love these days, but it's still the most customizable browser around thanks the numerous options in about:config. Here are 10 under-the-hood Firefox tweaks you should try out.

If you aren't familiar with about:config, it's simple: just type about:config into Firefox's address bar and you'll be greeted with hundreds of hidden settings tweaks that change how Firefox works. In some cases, these are quirky or unfinished features, but in other cases, they just change certain parameters that Firefox uses by default. Double-click on any item to change it, but be careful—some options may act weird, slow down Firefox, or break it altogether. Check out Mozilla's Knowledge Base entry for more information.

We've shared a number of about:config tips over the years, but it's been awhile, so we thought we'd revisit some of our favorites—along with some new ones we haven't seen before.

 

 

Disable the Delay When Installing New Extensions

When you install a new extension, Firefox makes you wait 5 seconds before installing to ensure you pay attention to where it's coming from. It ends up just being an annoyance. To turn the delay off, just open up about:config and search for:

security.dialog_enable_delay

...and set the value to 0.

Give Bookmarks Higher (or Lower) Weight in the Awesomebar Suggestions

When you type something into the Awesomebar, Firefox ranks its suggestions by something it calls "Frecency," a combination of how frequently and recently you visited a given URL. However, you can adjust the "weight" it gives to certain types of URLs—like bookmarks—with a few about:config tweaks.

You can do a lot with this, and we won't go through all of it here, but let's say for example that you wanted to give bookmarks a higher weight (so Firefox is more likely to suggest them near the top of the list) or no weight (so you don't see bookmarks at all in the Awesomebar suggestions). Just open about:config and search for:

places.frecency.unvisitedBookmarkBonus

The default value is 140, so if you want bookmarks to rank higher. increase this number. If you want them to rank lower, decrease this number, or set it to 0 to eliminate bookmark suggestions entirely. For more information, check out Mozilla's developer page and Knowledge Base article on frecency settings.

 

 

Increase the Number of Suggestions in the Awesomebar Dropdown

By default, when you type something into Firefox's Awesomebar, it spits out 12 suggestions for you. If you'd like more, just head into about:config and search for:

browser.urlbar.maxRichResults

Change the value to however many suggestions you want. Alternatively, set it to -1 if you'd like to disable the suggestions altogether.

 

 

Open Search Results in a New Tab

 

Expand

By default, Firefox has a search box in the upper-right hand corner from which you can Google things with ease. When you type in a search term, it opens the results in your current tab, which is annoying if you want to keep your current tab open.

To change this behavior, open about:config and search for:

browser.search.openintab

Double-click the setting to change it to True, after which your search results should open in a new tab.

Every type a URL into the address bar, only to realize you want to keep the current page open? Instead of pressing Enter, press Alt+Enter to open… Read…

If you use Firefox's Awesomebar to search instead of the search box, you can get the same effect by pressing Alt+Enter when you search.

 

 

Tweak the Way Firefox Shows URLs in the Address Bar

These days, Firefox displays URLs a bit differently so they're easier to read. By default, it eliminates the "http" before a URL, and greys out text beyond the main domain of a site (such as "lifehacker.com").

To turn off the URL greying, open about:config and search for:

browser.urlbar.formatting.enabled

Double-click it to change it to False, and you should find the URLs display in all black text.

To unhide the "http" portion of a URL, search for:

browser.urlbar.trimURLs

Double-click the setting to change it to False.

 

 

Disable Compatibility Checking for Extensions

Isn't it annoying when a developer hasn't updated their extension to "work" with a new version of Firefox, even though it actually works fine? You can disable these checks. Open about:config and right-click on an empty space. Choose New > Boolean and create a new setting called:

extensions.checkCompatibility

Set its value False. Alternatively, you can install the Add-On Compatibility Reporter extension to achieve the same effect.

 

 

Make Firefox's Spell Checker More Useful

Firefox's spell checker is fine, but there are two useful options in about:config that make it more helpful. First, you may have noticed that Firefox only enables its spell checker in multi-line text boxes, not single-line text boxes like many search boxes. To enable it in all text boxes, search for:

layout.spellcheckDefault

...and its value to 2. You should then see those familiar squiggly red lines in search boxes and other single-line forms.

Speaking of those squiggly red lines, do you ever wish they were a bit more obvious or harder to ignore? A hidden setting makes it so: open up about:configand right-click on an empty space. Choose New > Integer, and name it:

ui.SpellCheckerUnderlineStyle

Set its value to 1 for no highlighting, 2 for a dotted line, 3 for long dots, 4 for a single straight line, 5 for a double underline (my personal favorite, shown above), and 6 for the default squiggly line.1

 

 

Preview Tabs in the Ctrl+Tab Switcher

You know how you can cycle through your open programs in Windows with Alt+Tab? Well, you can do something similar with Firefox's open tabs with Ctrl+Tab. By default, it just moves you to the next tab, but with anabout:config tweak, you can have it show you previews like Windows' task switcher does. To do so, just search for:

browser.ctrlTab.previews

Set its value to Trueand you're on your way.

 

 

Add More Rows and Columns to Firefox's New Tab Page

By default, Firefox's new tab page shows 9 sites. If you want it to show more, you can do so! Just head toabout:configand search for:

browser.newtabpage.rows

and

browser.newtabpage.columns

Set each to the number you want, and you'll be able to fit more sites on that new tab page.

 

 

Disable Animations for New Tabs, Tab Groups, and Full Screen

Animations are cool, but they can also slow things down if you're on a particularly old machine. To turn off the animations for new tabs, Firefox's "Tab Groups" feature, and the transition to full screen, just search for the following options (respectively):

browser.tabs.animate
browser.panorama.animate_zoom
browser.fullscreen.animateUp

Set the first two of these to False and/or the last to0to turn them off.

---

These are just a smattering of the options you'll find inabout:config, but they're some of our favorites. To see more, check out Mozilla's huge list, or go exploring for yourself. Be sure to check out our power user's guide to Firefox and our Lifehacker Pack for Firefox for even more great tweaks and power-ups.

Bonus Tip to Reduce Memory:
Now, this is by no means a REAL fix for the Firefox memory leak, but it certainly does appear to help it quite a bit. This little fix will move Firefox to your hard drive when you minimize it, and as a result it will take up less than 10MB of memory while minimized. So far, from my experiences with using this today, when you maximize Firefox it will obviously increase the memory usage. However, it does not seem to go back up to the insane amount that it was at before minimizing it. For example, Firefox was at 180MB of memory usage and then I minimized it and after a few seconds I maximized it. After maximizing it and continuing on my routine business it appeared to only have gone up to 60MB. This seems to be a good solution for me right now since I frequently maximize and minimize Firefox anyways.
Now I know many people will say that Firefox will take longer to maximize since it will be located on the hard drive, but I haven’t noticed ANY delays. It is able to redraw itself just as quickly as if it was located in the ram (in my experience). Okay, now here are the few simple steps:

1. Open Firefox and go to the Address Bar. Type in about:config and then press Enter.
2. Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean.
3. In the box that pops up enter config.trim_on_minimize. Press Enter.
4. Now select True and then press Enter.
5. Restart Firefox.

See how quick and painless that was? At any rate you can always go back and delete the same setting that you just created if you start to experience any issues. I have also set the browser.sessionhistory.max_total_viewers value to 0 because that will prevent Firefox from caching pages for the back button. This is also supposed to free up some memory that gets stolen.

Update:

Martin has informed me that this fix also works for Thunderbird. I am not a Thunderbird user so I didn’t realize this. After thinking about it I realized it “should” also work for Netscape, Mozilla, and SeaMonkey. Also, this fix is only for Windows machines (sorry Mac users).

Source: http://lifehacker.com/the-best-about-config-tweaks-that-make-firefox-better-1442137111

How to switch Chrome channels to test new features before they're cool

Derek Walter @derekwalter

• Aug 14, 2014 3:30 AM

Google Chrome's coolest new features are available only to those who want to live a little closer to the edge. Want a 64-bit version of Chrome? How about DRM support in HTML5? You're not going to find those in vanilla Chrome just yet.
Switching Chrome's release channels lets you try new features while they're still in development. Just remember, this early access comes at a cost: stability.
It takes only a few steps (albeit careful ones) to switch channels. And if the result is too unreliable for your liking, you can always revert to the stable version.

What are these channels you speak of?

In all, there are four separate versions (called channels) of Chrome: Stable, Beta, Dev, and Canary. If you installed Chrome from Google’s website, the stable channel is probably what you’re running.

You can find out what version of Chrome you are running from the settings menu.

The Beta channel is typically pretty stable as well, but it gets more frequent updates and new features before they hit the public version.
The Dev channel is more experimental than Beta. This channel is where Google tests out newer Chrome features before they're ready for general use. It's a great way to check out what’s new, though don’t be surprised if the browser crashes.
Canary is for those living on the digital blood-soaked edge. Google warns that Canary may break entirely at times.
Finding out which channel you’re on is rather straightforward. Click the settings menu (the icon with three horizontal bars, or hamburger) and select About Google Chrome. This will tell you if you’re running the Beta, Dev, or Canary channel next to the version number.

Switching Chrome channels

At any time you can download the channel of choice or switch to a new one. However, doing so requires a few steps to ensure the smoothest possible transition.
To choose your Chrome channel, go to the Chrome Release Channels page on the Chromium project site. (Chromium is the open-source project that the Chrome browser and OS are based on.)

On the Chromium project's website, you can chose what Chrome channel you want to install.

Before changing channels, back up your profile by making a copy of the User Data/Default directory. You want to be able to locate it later in case Chrome doesn't recognize your profile data on its own.
The location of your profile will vary by operating system; the different iterations are all listed on the Chromium website. For example, on Windows 7 the stable, beta, and dev channels will be found in this folder:

\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default

If you're using Windows Explorer, make sure you can see hidden files. In Windows 7, click Tools > Folder Options... > View and check Show Hidden Files. In Windows 8's File Explorer, click View, and check Hidden items.

When backing up your Chrome data, make sure you are copying the hidden files too.

Once you’ve backed up your data, click the channel you'd like to use and click the Download button to get the setup program. The channel page has all four channels separated by platform and version.
If you have a newer computer, consider trying the 64-bit version of Chrome in the Beta channel.

Download the Beta or other versions of Chrome from the official site.

You'll have fewer issues if you uninstall your current version of Chrome and download the new channel with a different browser.
Switching channels is far easier on a Chromebook. Open Settings, then click Help > More Info. Click the Change Channel button and select the channel you’d like to use.

Switching channels is a much simpler process on Chrome OS.

Switching back to a more stable channel

After walking on the wilder side of the Beta or Dev channel, you can always return to the safety of the Stable channel.
The best way to do this is to delete your profile data, because going back to the Stable channel means you’re installing an earlier version of Chrome. That means you won’t get automatic updates until the channel catches up.
It may be easier to completely uninstall Chrome. Before doing this, make sure you're signed into Chrome with your Google account. This ensures your bookmarks, apps, and extension data will reappear when you download the browser again.
When you're ready, head back to the Chromium site and choose to download the Stable channel.
There's no indication if Google is planning to make such switches more convenient on Windows or Mac at this time, but it certainly be easier for users who want to try out the different channels.

Dual-wield Stable and Canary side-by-side

You can even have it both ways—enjoy a stable browser and have the option to experiment with the latest features. Chrome Canary, the least-stable channel, is also the only channel that can exist in harmony with the Stable channel.
Be sure you are running the Stable version of Chrome and download Canary. It will be easy to identify which version of Chrome is which: Canary features the Chrome logo in bright gold.

Get the best of both worlds by using the stable and Canary builds of Chrome on your desktop.

Features in Canary usually don’t make it to the stable build for several weeks, if at all. But it can be fun to see what Google's working on.
Living a little more dangerously with Chrome doesn't have to be scary, or difficult. If you choose to take the step into the world of testing new software, you'll be the first to experience the newest features coming to Chrome.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2463916/how-to-switch-chrome-channels-to-test-new-features-before-theyre-cool.html#tk.nl_pwr

IE11 Offers Browser Emulation Modes for older versions IE5,7,8,9, and 10

By Craig Buckler. A month ago I reported how Browser Modes had been removed from IE11. Browser modes have been provided since IE8 to help developers fix issues quickly by telling a site to render like a previous version of the application:





The modes were intended to help companies continue to use legacy web applications while developers made fixes.
However, far more of us used browser modes to test old IE rendering. We certainly shouldn’t since the modes are an unreliable imitation of the real browsers. For example, you can find features such as CSS3 animations working in IE10 when it’s switched into IE9 mode.
Many developers applauded Microsoft’s decision. I did. Browser modes are flawed, impart a false sense of security and have become increasingly unnecessary as IE improves.
Many developers disagreed…

Browser modes allow devs to quickly reproduce something a user is experiencing, and provides a quick way to test fixes in your own environment, yes the final fix should be tested in a non-emulated browser, but MS makes that hard since you cannot have more that one version of IE on a system at a time.

Despite browser modes being a poor substitute for oldIEs, many find them convenient for quick and dirty testing. Starting up a virtual machine may only take a few seconds on a fast PC, but browser modes are almost instantaneous.
Anyway, they’re back. Microsoft has listened to the complaints and re-implemented browser modes in IE11 on Windows 8.1 (technically, they were always lurking beneath the surface and just hidden). I’m not aware of any official announcement — I found them by accident when tinkering with IE11 final on Windows 8.1 for a SitePoint review.





To access the modes, start the F12 Developer Tools, click the Emulation icon at the bottom, and choose a Document Mode — they’re not named “browser modes” any longer.
Has Microsoft made the right decision? Ironically, the lack of browser mode functionality would have dissuaded some companies from upgrading IE9/10. Fewer upgrades means longer having to support oldIEs. I suspect they’ve done the right thing.
That said, please don’t use browser modes! I know they’re convenient, but they could cause more problems than they’re worth when real IE8 users report issues with your site or application.

Are you pleased to see the return of IE browser modes?

Source: http://www.sitepoint.com/ie11-browser-modes-return/