Hey everyone! Hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable spring break! If you have not touched your computer during the past week, now would be a good time to update some of the programs on your computer, particularly your web browser. Over spring break, Mozilla and Google made some updates to their respective web browsers. Mozilla released a stable version of Firefox 4.0, which includes a brand new user interface, speed enhancements, security updates, and more customizable features. If you download and open Firefox 4.0, you may realize that the browser's appearance looks almost exactly like that of Google Chrome's. Tabs are now placed on top of the URL bar, so you can view more of the contents of the sites you visit. And speaking of the URL bar, that is now called the Awesome Bar. Why is it called that? Because just like Google Chrome's Omnibox, it allows you to type in a URL or a search query, and it remembers your previous entries, so that you don't have to spend time searching for certain websites again.

For many veteran Firefox users, it may take some time to get used to the new UI, but I'm pretty sure many of you would be pleased at the speed enhancements and security updates that Mozilla put into Firefox 4. Plus, you still get access to Firefox themes and personas, as well as add-ons and extensions. However, not all add-ons and extensions may be compatible with Firefox 4, so be sure you check the browser requirements of each add-on and extension before you download them.

Let's shift our attention to Google Chrome. For many Google Chrome users, you probably are not even aware that Google has updated its browser, since you most likely opted for automatic updates. However, if you follow the Google Chrome Releases blog, you are probably aware of the updates that Google releases to their dev, beta, and stable channels. And what exactly am I talking about here? Well, Google has three different channels for Google Chrome. Each channel represents a different version of Chrome. The Dev Channel gives you the most up-to-date version of Chrome, but it is highly unstable because it contains new and untested features. The Beta Channel gives you the next most up-to-date version of Chrome. It is a lot more stable than the Dev Channel, but not every feature is stable. And finally, there is the Stable Channel, the channel that everyone uses. As the name suggests, this channel provides you with the most thoroughly tested version of Chrome. However, you don't get that much updates on this channel, and you're not necessarily going to have the most up-to-date version if you use this channel.

Personally, I often switch between the stable and beta channel. To download the beta version of Chrome, just type in "Google Chrome Beta" in Google, and the first link will provide with the appropriate website. Anyways, I don't find much difference between the stable and beta channels. Even though the Beta Channel provides the latest version of Chrome, the UI remains constant, and the speed and security features do not change very much at all. However, over spring break, Google updated the Beta Channel to Chrome 11. The UI is exactly the same as Chrome 10, but it contains some new and improved features. Perhaps the "biggest" change that occurred in Chrome 11 is the Google Chrome icon. It's pretty much the same thing, but instead of having a 3D look to it, it's 2D and the colors are much more vibrant. You can see for yourself if you go to the Google Chrome blog: http://chrome.blogspot.com/. Other than that, there is not much of a huge update for Chrome.

At this point, you're probably wondering about the other web browsers. Well, they made some updates too, but those were released before Spring Break. Safari was updated to version 5.0.4 on March 9, but like Google Chrome, it only added security updates. Internet Explorer, on the other hand, had a huge update. Microsoft released IE9 on March 14, a week before Mozilla released Firefox 4. Like Firefox, IE9 has a brand new user interface, speed enhancements and security updates. However, if you look at a couple of screenshots of IE9, you'll notice that it somehow resembles Firefox 4 and Google Chrome. Well, knowing Microsoft, that is not surprising. It would appear that most of the major browsers (except Safari) are now following Google Chrome's example, with tabs on top of the URL box, the URL box having a search ability, and a simplified design that allows the user to see more content on the site. Apple's Safari web browser is the only one of the major web browsers that has not followed the Google Chrome example. Knowing Apple's motto, it just would not make sense for them to copy Google Chrome's design. It would, however, make more sense for Apple to invent a new web browser design.

So, when you get back from Spring Break, or if you decide to fire up your computer sometime before Spring Break officially ends, open your browsers and update them. Try out some of the new features they have (provided that there are new features). Also, try one of the browsers that you don't normally use and just have fun with it. While you may not switch to that particular browser, it's a good idea to get to know some of the new features in those browsers. So go ahead. Have some fun!