With this update, Chrome will begin loading your most frequented pages even before you finish typing the URL in the omnibox (the URL bar within Chrome that also serves as a Google search). Chrome will prerender the page in the background, which will allow it to load faster – “even instantly as soon as you hit Enter,” according to a blog post.

The security updates involving further protections from malicious downloads. “In addition to checking a list of known bad files, Chrome also does checks on executable files (like “.exe” and “.msi” files). If the executable doesn’t match a whitelist, Chrome checks with Google for more information, such as whether the website you’re accessing hosts a high number of malicious downloads”

They also announced intentions to update Chrome OS to improve Chromebook functionality:

In the near future, we will also begin rolling out updates to Chrome OS to further simplify the Chromebook experience. With a new image editor, Chromebook users will be able to quickly view, edit and share photos on the web. Users will also see an improved Verizon 3G activation portal, which includes the ability to set up a recurring purchase of mobile data.

Today, Google also unveiled their Screenwise initiative. The program works only in Chrome and allows Google to monitor your web activity so Google can generate info on how people browse. Participation in the program is optional, and Google is now taking email applications. You won’t be letting Google spy on you for nothing – they are offering up to $25 in Amazon gift cards to willing participants.

Now there’s an extension for your Chrome browser that will notify you when you visit a website of any company or organization that is known to support SOPA.

It’s called No SOPA and was created by Andy Baird (@ajbaird) and Tony Webster (@webster).

“Boycott? Nasty letter time? You decide,” they say.

Users have reported that some sites have not prompted the big red bar that denotes the site as a SOPA-supporting property. The creators say that they will attempt to improve the list as they go. Applicable domains are “checked against a local list – the extension does not communicate with any external hosts.”

Here’s the extension in action:

And again:

While being notified when you are frequenting the property of someone who wants to kills the internet is important, will it work? Would you immediately stop browsing a site if you saw that little red bar? I would assume that anyone who would install the extension would steer clear of any site baring the warning label.

If only we could make the extension mandatory…

If you want to read more on SOPA, check here.

[Via Reddit]

According to data from Net Applications, IE6′s market share in the United States has just dropped under the 1% mark, a milestone that is enough reason for the Windows Team to announce a time of death.

Here’s what the IE team had to say in a blog post:

IE6 has been the punch line of browser jokes for a while, and we’ve been as eager as anyone to see it go away. In fact, we launched the IE6 Countdown site last March to help accelerate the process. Less than a year later, I’m thrilled to say that the United States has joined the ranks of Austria, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway in dropping below 1% usage of IE6. In addition, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Ukraine, Portugal and the Philippines are also entering the Champions’ Circle. We hope this means more developers and IT Pros can consider IE6 a “low-priority” at this point and stop spending their time having to support such an outdated browser.

The folks at Microsoft are obviously ecstatic to see IE6 go, but it’s rather amusing to see just how happy they are. Bubbly, cake, and puns – all employed to celebrate the “demise” of the decade-old browser that, according to the data, 7.7% of the world still uses as of December 2011.

It is truly amazing that so many people are still using IE6. Unsurprisingly, the worst offender is China, with a reported 25.2% of internet users still browsing on IE6.

There are currently 12 countries who have gained membership to the aforementioned Champions’ Circle (those reaching under 1% total usage of IE6). The U.S. just joined the Czech Republic, Portugal, Philippines, Ukraine, Mexico, Austria, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway.

Microsoft hopes that this means more people are switching over to more modern browsers like IE8 and IE9. Are you still a Internet Explorer user? Or do you prefer Firefox, Chrome, or another “modern” browser? Let us know in the comments.

[Windows Team Blog via The Next Web]

Thanks to a NetMarketshare, we have an idea of the ride each browser took during 2011 in relation to usage. Immediately, you will notice Microsoft’s browser hovering around the 60 percent mark, but its total is steadily decreasing. In fact, the only browser to experience a noticeable gain, again, according to NetMarketShare’s research, was Google Chrome. Most surprisingly, at least to this writer, is the lack of a jump for Safari, Apple’s native browser.

As consumers continue to embrace all things shiny devices starting with a lowercase “i,” they apparently don’t use Safari when they access the web with their iDevice. Even more surprising than Safari’s lack of an increase is the fact that it remains firmly under the 10 percent mark in relation to marketshare. Are iOwners simply avoiding Safari in favor of another browser? Whatever the case, Safari’s incredibly low usage numbers are somewhat eyebrow-raising.

Here’s NetMarketshare’s browser breakdown for 2011, presented in graph form:

While it is an obvious tool of self-promotion, drawing attention to positive attributes is a practice that goes on everyday in the real world. Much like a peacock spreading its feathers, Mozilla’s “Firefox: 2011″ infographic reminds us there are other attractive choices out there when it comes to browsing the never-ending tubes of the web.

It should be noted that Mozilla created the graphic themselves, making it much more effective than a third party creation that may not capture the spirit of the company its profiling. The graphic in question:

- 200,000 hours of cuteness. I’m assuming this is referring to the amount of LOLCat (and similar activities) browsing while using Firefox.

- 3 red pandas adopted. It’s always nice when the product you’re most known for helps out, especially with endangered species. Read more about red pandas and Mozilla’s efforts here.

- Over 480 million installations of Firefox add-ons. People LOVE tweaking their “more advanced” browsers.

- More and more people using the “Do Not Track” feature. Perhaps personal privacy is NOT a lost art; at least for some.

- 50 percent less memory usage. To put it nicely, previous Firefox versions were absolute memory hogs. To address this issue is clearly a necessary and needed step. Kudos to Mozilla, although, it did take them a little while.

- Faster Releases. With that in mind, Firefox ninth version was released this week, and while Mozilla isn’t matching Chrome’s “UPDATE ALL THINGS” schedule, they are obviously more committed to making improved, working builds available to the public.

While Chrome may be making inroads, Mozilla is still a viable alternative to Internet Explorer, and I’m not even talking about them in reference to their performance.

Now, you can forget about all of that. It’s not happening. Google and Mozilla have renewed their deal.

Mozilla has posted the following message on its blog:

We’re pleased to announce that we have negotiated a significant and mutually beneficial revenue agreement with Google. This new agreement extends our long term search relationship with Google for at least three additional years.

The specific terms of this commercial agreement are subject to traditional confidentiality requirements, and we’re not at liberty to disclose them.

Well, at least Firefox can still use Bing if they want. In fact, Mozilla even has a special version of Firefox for “Bing enthusiasts.”

At the beginning of the month, a report came out indicating that Google Chrome had overtaken Firefox in users.

Over at the Google Chrome Blog, the stable release of Sign in to Google was announced, and while the personalization features it introduces may seem minor, to those who don’t like working in different environments, getting used to someone else’s browser setup won’t be an issue. As the post indicates, the Chrome sign in allows users to “take your Chrome stuff with you, so you can always have your personal Chrome experience on all of your devices.”

The concept is simple, with a Google Chrome account activated on one device and you change something on the current device’s setup — that is, add a bookmark — the change is reflected on all other Chrome-enabled devices, provided the user is signed in when the change was made.

The Chrome sign in works if there’s a shared computer involved as well. Google’s post explains:

With today’s Stable channel release, you can now add new users to Chrome. Adding new users lets you each have your own personal Chrome experience, and lets you each sign in to Chrome to sync your stuff. To add a new user to Chrome, go to Options (Preferences on a Mac), click “Personal Stuff,” and click “Add new user.” Check out our latest Beta blog post for a few quick tips.

The steps for adding a new user are as follows:

1. Click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar.
2. Select Options (Preferences on Mac and Linux).
3. Click Personal Stuff.
4. In the “Users” section, click Add new user.
5. A new window for the user appears, with a special icon for the user in the top corner. Here, you can sign in to Chrome with a Google Account to associate the account with the user. Once signed in, all the bookmarks, apps, extensions, theme, and browser settings for the user will be synced to the account.

There’s also a video of the Sign in to Chrome in action:

Does this level of personalization apply to you? Is it a feature you could see yourself using? Let us know what you think.

Does this mean the end of IE as we know it? Not exactly. As indicated, even with it falling under the halfway point in terms of usage, at 49.58 percent of the market share, Internet Explorer still has more users than the rest of the listed browsers combined. According to the report from NetMarketShare, via FavBrowser.com, Internet Explorer’s two biggest competitors, Firefox and Chrome, have a combined market share of 37.8 percent. It’s only when you add in the reach of Safari, Opera and the ubiquitous “other” browser (8.54%, 1.49%, and 2.59%), does the total number eclipse IE’s share.

Have a look:

W3Schools is a website for people with an interest for web technologies. These people are more interested in using alternative browsers than the average user. The average user tends to the browser that comes preinstalled with their computer, and do not seek out other browser alternatives.[Emphasis added]

The bold section of the previous blockquote helps explain Internet Explorer’s still sizable market share quite well. Of course, as more and more people move away from the traditional methods of browsing in favor of mobile devices and tablet computers, expect these numbers to continue their adjustment.

Besides Internet Explorer’s drop in usage, another thing that stands out is Google Chrome’s increase, which was by more than one percentage point. In September, Chrome’s share was 15.17 percent, and for October, its share increased to 16.59 percent. Google’s browser was the the largest gaining in terms of market share. In fact, it was the only browser to increase by a full point.

Safari experienced gains as well, but not as much as Chrome. Apple’s browser saw its market share increase by .51 percentage points, making it the second highest browser in terms of gains.

“Now Firefox users who are Bing enthusiasts can use Firefox with Bing to use the Web the way they want without having to take extra steps to navigate or customize their settings to Bing,” says Bing’s Tor Steiner.

I’d be curious to know what percentage of Firefox users are “Bing enthusiasts,” or for that matter, what percentage of Bing users prefer Firefox to Microsoft’s own Internet Explorer.

Still, any increase in default search experiences powered by Bing should help Bing to some extent. Firefox does control about 20% of the browser market (StatOwl).

“Firefox with Bing offers the latest version of Firefox with Bing set as your home page and the default setting in the search box and AwesomeBar (where you can also type in queries as well as Web addresses),” says Steiner. “If you already have the latest version of Firefox, then you just need to download the Bing Search for Firefox Add-on to set the same preferences.”

Firefox with Bing itself can be downloaded here.

First and foremost, Google has redesigned the New Tab page in a way the company thinks will make it easier for users to access and organize apps. This involves multiple screens and a new trash can. The video below illustrates:

Google also redesigned the Chrome Web Store.

“Apps and extensions are now presented in a wall of images that’s updated every time you visit the store,” explains product manager Shannon Guymon. “We hope this will help you quickly scan the store and find interesting things to try out. In addition, apps and extensions are easier to install—just hover over an image on the grid and click ‘Add to Chrome.’”

“Getting additional information about an app or an extension is just a click away,” Guymon adds. “When you click on an app, extension or theme, you’ll see a panel featuring screenshots, videos and other relevant information neatly organized into separate tabs. The store also includes a brand new reviews interface that links to the Google+ profile of each reviewer. (To protect your privacy, we made sure to anonymize any reviews that you previously submitted.)”

Finally, there are some new apps in the store that Google is promoting, including: My Robot Nation, The Godfather: Five Families, Fieldrunners and a new eBay shopping app.