How to restore the old Bookmark Manager in Chrome

So Google rolled out a new bookmark manager in Chrome Stable introducing several core changes to the look and feel of the application.
When you open the new bookmark manager in Chrome for the first time, after getting a prompt asking you to sign in which you can thankfully skip, you will notice that the display has changed significantly.

Previously, bookmarks were listed as text only information one per line. The new bookmark manager uses a mobile-friendly display with large boxes for each bookmark.
While that may not be an issue if you have only a handful of bookmarks in the browser, it becomes less usable if you have more than that.
Thankfully though, there is an option to switch to list view instead in the cog menu at the top. This does not bring back the default list mode though as each item in the bookmark manager is using more space and larger fonts than items in the old manager.

If you compare the functionality of the new system to the old, you will notice that the option to sort bookmarks by title has been removed in the process.
Extensions such as SuperSorter may bring back sorting options though. This particular extension lets you select a preferred sorting order for bookmarks so that title sorting becomes an option again in the browser.
Another feature that is missing is manual sorting. The old manager allowed you to drag and drop bookmarks to a new location in the same folder while the new does not seem to support that feature at all.

Getting rid of Chrome's new Bookmark Manager
Google calls the new bookmark manager an enhanced version. For now, it is still possible to restore the old version in Chrome.
In fact, the old version seems to be the default on non-stable versions of Chrome for now.

Here is what you need to do:

1. Load chrome://flags/#enhanced-bookmarks-experiment in the Chrome address bar.
2. Switch the state of the preference to disabled.
3. Restart Chrome.

When you load Chrome again, the old bookmark manager is available again with all of its functionality.

It is unclear for how long this option will be available in Chrome. If Google's track record is anything to go by, it will be removed at one point in time in the browser.
If you like the new Bookmark Manager and use a different version of Chrome, you can use the same preference to enable it in that version of the browser. Just set the preference to enabled instead and restart Chrome.
You should get the new interface afterwards.

Source: http://www.ghacks.net/2015/04/22/how-to-restore-the-old-bookmark-manager-in-chrome/

Mozilla Firefox 38.0 Will Bring True HTML5 YouTube Playback on OS X and Linux, Tab-Based Preferences Page, Reading List

Only a couple of days after releasing the final build of the Firefox 37.0 web browser, Mozilla has now pushed the next major version of the application to the Beta channel. We were very curious to see what’s new, so we have downloaded Mozilla Firefox 38.0 Beta in order to report its new features and improvements.

Therefore, after a few hours of testing, we can tell you that the Mozilla Firefox 38.0 Beta web browser brings an all-new tab-based Preferences page, which will now open in a new tab, just like the Preferences page of the Google Chrome web browser. We posted a screenshot below to see what it looks like.

Another feature we want to mention here is the full support for HD HTML5 playback on YouTube for the Linux and OS X operating systems. As you might know, Mozilla Firefox 37.0 allows HD HTML5 playback on YouTube up to 720p on the aforementioned OSes, so the Beta version of the acclaimed web browser now allows you to play even 4K video clips on YouTube using the HTML5 web technology.

 

Reading List, activate tab sharing in a Hello conversions and more

Among other interesting features implemented in the Mozilla Firefox 38.0 Beta, we can mention the ability to share the active window or tab in a Hello conversation, and a brand-new Reading List that lets you track all your favorite blog posts and articles. We have been informed that the final version of Mozilla Firefox 38.0, due for release on May 12, 2015, will be based on the next ESR (Extended Support Release) release.

Of course, there are many other small improvements into the HTML5 support, as well as new tools for developers.

You can download Mozilla Firefox 38.0 Beta for Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows right now from Softpedia. We remind you that this is a testing (read: unstable) software and it is not recommended to be used on production environments.

Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Mozilla-Firefox-38-0-Will-Bring-True-HTML5-YouTube-Playback-on-OS-X-and-Linux-Tab-Based-Preferences-Page-Reading-List-477468.shtml

Internet Explorer Now Has Over Double The Share Of Chrome

The browser wars are well and alive, then! Internet Explorer has shown some strong progress over the past couple of years, even though Microsoft is ready to make IE part of history.
And that is because the company is readying Spartan, the codename for a brand new web browser that will be introduced with Windows 10 when the new operating system launches later this year.
That said, it does not mean Internet Explorer is on the down.
Numbers provided by market research firm Net Applications for the month of March 2015 indicate that Internet Explorer continues to be the top choice for users worldwide, with a large number of them using Microsoft’s browser to browse the web.
In fact, IE now has more than double the market share of Google Chrome.

It now powers more than 1 in every 2 PCs across the globe, with Internet Explorer 11 leading the charts with a commanding share of 24.22%. Internet Explorer 8 follows suit with 17.3%. And Google Chrome is good enough for a third place finish at 10.66%.
Internet Explorer 11 is, of course, now the default browser on both Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.
Overall though, the various versions of IE account for a total of 56.54% share worldwide, and Chrome in total comes as a runner up with 24.99%.
Firefox had a share of 11.89% this past month, while Safari come next with 5%.

Source: http://www.eyeonwindows.com/2015/04/01/internet-explorer-now-has-over-double-the-share-of-chrome/

Firefox 37 arrives with improved YouTube HTML5 playback, faster downloads on Android

Mozilla today launched Firefox 37 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Notable additions to the browser include HTML5 playback improvements on YouTube for Windows computers, and improved download performance for Android devices.
Firefox 37 for the desktop is available for download now on Firefox.com, and all existing users should be able to upgrade to it automatically. As always, the Android version is trickling out slowly on Google Play.
Mozilla doesn’t break out the exact numbers for Firefox, though the company does say “half a billion people around the world” use the browser. In other words, it’s a major platform that web developers target — even in a world increasingly dominated by mobile apps.
In Turkey, Firefox is getting a big change. Like in Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, Yandex is now the default search provider for the Turkish locale.

Desktop

Firefox for Windows is gaining improved support for HTML5 playback on YouTube. While Firefox users see the HTML5 video player by default for most videos, the browser doesn’t support all the features that YouTube requires.
Here is what Firefox used to support, according to YouTube’s HTML5 page:




Here is what Firefox 37 supports:




In other words, Media Source Extensions (MSE) has been added. This W3C specification allows JavaScript to send byte streams to media codecs, allowing for client-side prefetching and buffering code for streaming media entirely in JavaScript.
Here’s the full Firefox 37 changelog:

• New: Heartbeat user rating system – your feedback about Firefox.
• New: Yandex set as default search provider for the Turkish locale.
• New: Bing search now uses HTTPS for secure searching
• New: Improved protection against site impersonation via OneCRL centralized certificate revocation.
• New: Opportunistically encrypt HTTP traffic where the server supports HTTP/2 AltSvc.
• Changed: Disabled insecure TLS version fallback for site security.
• Changed: Extended SSL error reporting for reporting non-certificate errors.
• Changed: TLS False Start optimization now requires a cipher suite using AEAD construction.
• Changed: Improved certificate and TLS communication security by removing support for DSA.
• Changed: Improved performance of WebGL rendering on Windows.
• HTML5: Implemented a subset of the Media Source Extensions (MSE) API to allow native HTML5 playback on YouTube (Windows only).
• HTML5: Added support for CSS display:contents.
• HTML5: IndexedDB now accessible from worker threads.
• HTML5: New SDP/JSEP implementation in WebRTC.
• Developer: Debug tabs opened in Chrome Desktop, Chrome for Android, and Safari for iOS.
• Developer: New Inspector animations panel to control element animations.
• Developer: New Security Panel included in Network Panel.
• Developer: Debugger panel support for chrome:// and about:// URIs.
• Developer: Added logging of weak ciphers to the web console.

If you’re a Web developer, you may want to get more details at the Firefox 37 for developers page.

Android

Firefox 37 for Android isn’t a huge release by any stretch. The biggest improvement is probably a new back-end for the download manager, which Mozilla says should result in improved download performance.
Here’s the full Firefox 37 for Android changelog:

• New: Locales added: Albanian [sq], Burmese [my], Lower Sorbian [dsb], Songhai [son], Upper Sorbian [hsb], Uzbek [uz].
• New: Yandex set as default search provider for the Turkish locale.
• New: Improved download performance with new download manager back-end.
• New: Improved protection against site impersonation via OneCRL centralized certificate revocation.
• New: Opportunistically encrypt HTTP traffic where the server supports HTTP/2 AltSvc.
• Changed: URL bar now displays page address instead of page title by default.
• Changed: Disabled insecure TLS version fallback for site security.
• Changed: Extended SSL error reporting for reporting non-certificate errors.
• Changed: TLS False Start optimization now requires a cipher suite using AEAD construction.
• Changed: Improved certificate and TLS communication security by removing support for DSA.
• Changed: Android home screen shortcut now opens existing tab instead of new tab.
• HTML5: Added support for CSS display:contents.
• HTML5: IndexedDB now accessible from worker threads.
• HTML5: OpenH264 support added to WebRTC for Android.
• HTML5: New SDP/JSEP implementation in WebRTC.

Firefox 37 was supposed to arrive faster than usual (“by the end of March”), and indeed it has made it in the nick of time. Mozilla typically releases new Firefox versions every six weeks, and we thus expect Firefox 38 to arrive in mid-May.

Source: http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/31/firefox-37-arrives-with-improved-youtube-html5-playback-on-windows-faster-downloads-on-android/