Google and Firefox are offering tech addicts, like ourselves, the ability to download and use the most recent versions of their upcoming new browsers. Google started this by offering users the ability to choose which version of their browser they want to install. You can choose to install the "Stable" version, the "Beta" version of the "Developer" version. The stable and beta versions are relatively secure and stable. They have been tested and are pretty reliable. However, the Developer version is updated every few days and is more prone to crash and not work properly on certain website. Recently, Google gave users the option to also download the "Canary" build of their browser. The Canary build can be installed side by side with the other version of the Chrome browser and contains daily builds of the browser. It is updated daily and is unstable and prone to crash at any time. But it gives users the ability to see what Google is working on and what they are experimenting with. To download and install Canary, click here.
Not to be undone, Firefox is currently working on the next generation of their popular Firefox browser. Firefox 4.0 is currently in Beta. I have downloaded the most recent Beta version, Beta 6, and found it to be extremely stable and feature rich. However, Mozilla has made daily nightly builds of Beta 7 available for download. It's known as Minefield and users are warned to install and use at their own risk. Various versions of Minefield are available for download, Linus, Mac and Windows 32 bit and 64 bit. Minefield is very interesting. It contains the brand new Javascript engine which will power Firefox 4.0. Beta 6 does not have the new engine but Minefield does. There is a drastic increase in speed in Minefield. The speed increase is noticeable and feels as fast as Chrome. I download the latest nightly build every morning to keep up to date with the most recent version. Until a few days ago I was downloading the 64 bit version but started to experience problems with the browser crashing. For a couple of days I was unable to run Minefield. Yesterday I downloaded the 32 bit version and now Minefield is up and running on my computer. Computer geeks, like me, are urged to try Minefield to see how drastic the increase in speed in the next Firefox browser will be. To download Minefield, click here.
