Windows software

Opera Software is acquiring Skyfire Labs and its technology for squeezing video onto congested mobile-phone networks in a deal worth up to $155 million, the Norwegian browser maker said tonight.

Opera, the fifth-ranked browser maker in terms of global usage, gets paid for adapting its browser for mobile network operators and for driving searches to sites like Yandex and Google. It's been gradually expanding its business into domains such as advertising, though, and the Skyfire deal adds a new dimension to its business selling technology to operators.

"Both companies have evolved far beyond their browser roots," said … Read more

The best antivirus software available does more than just stop computer viruses, it also addresses the myriad and complex modern threats that you'll encounter. Indeed, from the merged antivirus and anti-malware detection engines to enhancing online privacy controls, security suites are an essential part of Windows and Mac desktop life. And just like driving a car without wearing a seatbelt, you shouldn't try to get by can get by without using antivirus software just because you can.

Because of their long history of deleterious consequences to system performance, security suites deserve closer scrutiny than any other category of … Read more

Mozilla is catching its browser up to Windows 8.

The Firefox Nightly version -- the precursor to Aurora, beta, and final releases -- now supports the touch-oriented, no-menu interface of Windows 8 formerly known as Metro, according to a tweet from Mozilla about the development.

Mozilla developer Paul Rouget posted several screenshots of the Metro version of the early Firefox build.

The early build features a number of Metro features, including a no-menu-bar look that relies instead on actions triggered by swiping in from the edges of the screen. That includes the access to search engines, downloaded files, and tab … Read more

It was a good day for the WebKit browser engine yesterday when Opera Software adopted it in place of its in-house Presto. But yesterday's developments also became an opportunity for a high-profile JavaScript programmer to lodge criticisms about WebKit.

"Each release of Chrome or Safari generates excitement about new bleeding-edge features; nobody seems to worry about the stuff that's already (still!) broken," complained Dave Methvin, president of the jQuery foundation and a member of the core programming team that builds the widely used Web programming tool, in a blog post.

"jQuery Core has more lines … Read more

It might have been a smart strategic move for Opera Software to move to the WebKit browser engine and scrap its own Presto, but some think it's a step backward for the development of the Web overall.

"A switch to Webkit might benefit Opera. It's just not going to benefit the open Web," Mozilla's Robert O'Callahan said today in comments on his blog about Opera's Presto change-o. "This will strengthen the WebKit mobile monoculture and make it even harder for us to promote Web standards over 'coding to Webkit.'"

Browser engines … Read more

Opera Software, an independent voice in the browser market since the 1990s, will dramatically change its strategy this year by adopting the WebKit browser engine used by Safari and Chrome.

The Norwegian company announced the move today and said it will show off the first fruits of the work with a WebKit-based version of its Android browser at the Mobile World Congress show in less than two weeks. But the company will move to WebKit for its desktop browser, too.

A browser engine processes the Web page instructions written in HTML, JavaScript, and CSS then renders the results on screens. … Read more

It is nearly impossible to hear the acronym "IE" in a workplace setting without somebody appending to it the word "sucks." To be more genteel about it, older versions of Internet Explorer on corporate computers simply do not reflect the quality of modern browsers. So why does that massive corporation you work for make you use IE 8 or older in the first place?

A complicated problem Why you're forced to do at least some work in slow, standards noncompliant, security risk-prone legacy versions of Internet Explorer comes down to your employer's need to … Read more

Back to bed (Webware)

Guide sleep-walking Bob across rooftops and back into bed. Play as subBob, a subconscious alter-ego of Bob that takes a form of a blue dream dog with a human face. Avoid traps, pitfalls, and nightmarish creatures to guide Bob back into bed. Walk on walls, make blockades, and do whatever it takes to survive.

A crazy little game from a Danish developer, Back to Bed takes you into what seems like a nightmarish world straight out of the mind of Salvador Dali, while being narrated by a man with a creepy eastern European accent speaking through … Read more

Adobe issued an emergency update to its Flash Player to fix two zero-day threats, the company announced yesterday. The updates affect all versions of Flash on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android.

The vulnerabilities currently are being exploited "in the wild," says Adobe's blog on the patches. According to the Kaspersky ThreatPost blog on the pair of zero-days, one attack targets "aerospace and other manufacturing companies" by tricking people into opening a Microsoft Word document with malicious Flash content embedded in it. The second zero-day targets Firefox and Safari on Mac OS X by tricking you … Read more