Solution for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac computer running Mac OS X Snow Leopard or Lion.

Finding why and how a browser freezes and crashes unexpectedly can be a tricky thing. There are several reasons why your Mozilla Firefox is paralyzed, and if this is your first time, there’s little you can do to fix it on your own.

On Mac, Force quit might not be an option to try every time to get rid of the constant freezing of your Firefox browser. On the other hand, if Firefox freezes even after giving it a much-needed restart, and you have no clue what to do next, then there are several options for you to try out.

Update Firefox to its Latest Version Fixes Firefox Freezing Issues

First, make sure you have an updated Firefox browser running on your Mac. More often than not, many of us never update our browser. If you are unsure of the Firefox version installed on your Mac, simply launch Firefox, click on About Firefox from the menu.

If you are using addons and plugins as a supplement to enhance your browsing functionality, you may want to check and update them regularly. A good place to find out if you are using outdated plugins is to visit this page. Also, uninstalling buggy addons has proved to fix the freezing issue.

Make Firefox Better by Deleting History

If the browser is not up-to-date, then you’d be better off updating it. Even after updating, if Firefox is freezing at regular intervals, then make sure to delete or turn off the browser’s history. If you are a regular Internet user, the browser history can account for a massive pileup of data, which can bring Firefox to its knees, ultimately leading to a crippled browser that leaves you with nothing but frustration.

To clear browsing and download history, click on Tools from the Firefox Menu, then navigate to Clear Recent History. A window like this appears, where you are free to select and clear information that is unnecessary for you.

Alternatively, you can also use the addon Form History Control to optimize your history. The addon can remove websites from the history index that are no longer used, thus creating enough room for Firefox to stop crashing every time you browse the web.

When Firefox Beta Freezes on Your Mac

Even the powerful browser can erode when you open tonnes of tabs while browsing, and there’s no exception with Firefox. In fact, Firefox on Mac is a beast — a memory hogger.  Also, whenever you have a beta version of Firefox installed, it tends to show signs of unstable behavior.

You can fix this problem by downloading Places Maintenance addon. Once you’ve this addon installed, type in about:addons in your Firefox address bar. Then open the Options dialog box. Select Expire operation, click Execute. [Source]

This poses as an easy solution to get rid of the constant freezing issues connected with your stable, nightly builds, or beta Firefox browser.

Update Your Flash Plugin to Avoid Firefox Crashing

Another reason for Firefox crashing relentlessly on your Mac is attributed to Flash plugin. Make sure that your browser has been updated to the latest version of Flash player.

Although this is a rare case, but for those who have third-party drivers installed, which is linked to Firefox automatically — printer drivers, for example — then make sure to update these drivers, too. Usually, drivers are bundled with Apple’s Software Update. You might want to click on Apple Menu and check if any update is available.

Alternatively, you can also use update checker tool to keep your Mac up-to-date.

You can read the original blog post here When Firefox Freezes on Your Mac.

Accessing Mac remotely is easier with Google’s new Chrome extension. When you have remote access, you can not only get the look and feel of the host computer but also access and transfer files with ease. Having a remote access is like a free pass to do anything, anytime, and from anywhere.

For example, if you have remote access, you can help fix your friend’s MacBook remotely. You can also run programs, troubleshoot, or share files. As a parent, you can monitor your kids.

How to Remotely Access iMac, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air

Chrome Remote Desktop is Google’s new cross-platform extension that seamlessly allows you to access Mac, Linux, Windows OS, etc. Pushing the boundaries of what browsers can really do, the new extension enables you to remotely connect to other computers over the Internet.

For example, Mac users can remotely access Windows PC. iMac users can remotely access MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air. Plus, after you’ve installed the extension, you can also connect and monitor multiple computers in each tab. Pretty cool, right? Google really nailed it with this extension.

To setup remote access, all you need is the Google Chrome browser and the Chrome Remote Desktop installed on both computers. Chrome Remote Desktop extension certainly isn’t the lightest one around, but the 19MB download is worth it.

Once you’ve downloaded this extension, launch it from the Web Store page — you can also open a new tab on Chrome to find this extension. You can allow access to to your Google account.

You can share your computer for remote access, or choose to access a shared computer of your own or of your friends. You’ll get a 12 digit code, which when entered will establish a remote connection between the two computers.

You can wirelessly connect over 802.11n, or establish remote access through Ethernet.

When your Chrome Remote Desktop session ends, you can always start a new session once again. Chrome Remote Desktop is in beta, but you can download it for free.

Chrome Remote Desktop is an excellent substitute for commercial remote access programs. And given that it’s free, easy to setup, and delivers a pretty stable experience, Chrome Remote Desktop extension is a valuable addition for anyone in the look out for a convincing remote desktop experience.

You can read the original blog post here Get Remote Access to Mac Computer With Chrome Desktop Remote.

Sometimes, shifting to an updated version of a browser can only ensue trouble. And if you don’t want to scoot along with the latest Safari browser on your Mac, then it’d be a wise option to uninstall and replace Safari with an older version.

However, there are reasons why the latest Safari browser on Mac goes bonkers. Your browser doesn’t tune in well with the latest Mac OS. For example, the beta build of Mac OS was riddled with hundreds of bugs causing Safari to break loose.

On the other hand, plugins installed on your Safari browser — Adobe Flash Player, for example — can choke your browser to the degree that you’ll not be able to run Safari. Plugins can certainly cause a stir.

Safari Older Versions

If you’ve decided to revert to the older version of Safari browser, for you’ve your own reasons, then check out Multi Safari. This site offers Safari for Snow Leopard, Leopard, Tiger, Panther, and even Jacquar machines.

Download the .zip file that contains .dmg file, and setup Safari on your Mac machine, while making sure that you’ve already uninstalled the newer version of Safari.

You can also swing to Oldapps to find the older versions of Safari browser. Pick any version of Safari, download and install it on your Mac OS X machine as you’d normally install any application.

Note that, however, if you are using Mac OS X Lion, and still want to downgrade Safari, then these sites may not be of much use for you.

You can read the original blog post here Download Older Version of Safari browser for Mac.

A month after Google Chrome landed on the beta channel, the stable version of Google’s next-generation browser has emerged officially for the Mac users.

Now Google Chrome 14 can be updated on your Mac OS X Lion machine.

The stable version of Google Chrome not only supports Mac OS X Lion but also offers a new way to integrate native code into web apps. This means the apps written in C or C++ can run within the browser.

Chrome will allow programs to run within protected sandboxes to cut down the security threats. This Native Client technology works with web apps available in the Chrome Web Store.

Update Google Chrome on Mac 10.7 Lion

From the end user point of new, the update offers full-screen support on Mac OS X Lion which is a huge plus for power users. Also, Chrome is streamlined with Lion’s overlay scrollbars.

The update also includes Web Audio API that lets developers to add special audio effects without leaving the browser.

If you already have Google Chrome installed on your Mac computer, apply the update by clicking on Chrome from the menu bar and go to About Google Chrome.

To activate full-screen browsing on your Mac, use the hot-key combo of Ctrl+Shift+F.

You can read the original blog post here Latest Google Chrome Browser For Mac OS X Lion Available.

Usually tailored by the companies outside of Mozilla, plugins are an useful addition to the Firefox browser. QuickTime Plugin, for example, allows you to view multimedia content right from your Firefox browser; Powered by Adobe, the Shockwave Flash plugin allows you to view flash content on websites.

Similarly, there are plethora of useful third-party plugins available to enhance your browsing experience. However, these Firefox plugins aren’t updated automatically, and there is no easy way to find out from within the browser if the particular plugin has security vulnerabilities that can exploit your privacy.

Use Plugin Check to Update Plugins

Mozilla’s “Plugin Check” is a nifty way to find out the number of plugins linked with your Firefox browser. With the help of this tool, you can check the plugins, update vulnerable plugins and get to know the details of each plugin installed on your Firefox browser.

Visit Plugin Check from your Firefox browser to keep your plugins up-to-date.

You can read the original blog post here Check and Update Vulnerable Plugins of Firefox Browser.

Opera has released the Opera 11.01, the newest version of its popular web browser. This updated version of Opera browser adds stability improvements and closes the critical security holes–especially the vulnerability that was reported in the Opera community last week.

Opera has listed the changelogs included with the Opera 11.01 update, which includes numerous fixes including the fix for mouse gesture sensitivity. The support for the Javascript URLs has been eliminated while the recognition issues and the site specific issues have been taken care of in this update.

As Opera points out, this is a recommended update for every Opera user. All you have to do to download Opera 11.01 is to head over to the official website and download the appropriate version for Mac, Windows or Linux. You can also update Opera from your browser by clicking on Menu –> Help –> Check for Updates.

You can read the original blog post here Download Opera 11.01 Update–Provides Security Fixes And Stability Improvements.

After months of speculations and sneak peeks, the latest Internet Explorer 9 has just been launched officially. The first beta of the Microsoft’s IE9 browser can now be downloaded and this is your chance to take a look at the new interface which has had a series of developer previews in the past few weeks.

At first look you should notice the change quite easily. There is now a single bar for entering the URL and managing tabs. Moreover the browser is integrated closely with Windows 7.

This is a snappy browser- make no mistake about it! If you have always been disappointed with how poorly the Internet Explorer fares against the Firefox and Chrome, you may be in for a pleasant surprise, finally. The much talked-up hardware acceleration and new JavaScript engine seems to have made the difference in this browser.

Does the latest Internet Explorer 9 actually match up to the Google Chrome and Firefox browser?

Well, benchmark tests are yet to be done, but when you use it- the hands on feel is almost the same.

The unification of the URL and search box and the appearance of dialog boxes on the bottom of the screen, are some steps that have been taken to give the websites more screen real estate. Microsoft deserves an applaud for this new approach to enhancing the user’s browsing experience. You can also pin websites to the taskbar now.

One more thing: No IE9 for Windows XP

It a slight dampener that the IE9 is not supported on Windows XP right now and it is highly unlikely that the final version will either. So, you must upgrade to Windows 7 if you plan to use this browser.

Download IE9 Browser

You can read the original blog post here The Internet Explorer 9 Browser: Out Now, Officially! Download IE9 Beta Browser..

As Microsoft prepares to launch the beta version of the Internet Explorer 9 two days from now, the marketing pitch is already reaching a crescendo. Both Microsoft and Intel are harping on the hardware accelerated graphics capabilities of the IE9, which will give you a web browsing experience like never before.

When the browser is finally unveiled, it will serve as competition to the Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari. It is also notable that Intel is introducing the new Sandy Bridge chip now at an Intel Developer Forum. So, you can guess that the two of them are trying to make some sweet music over here!

Microsoft has recently made it clear how full hardware acceleration outscores partial acceleration, when it comes to browsing. At the same time Intel has just launched a video showing IE9 hardware acceleration on the Sandy Bridge powered Core-i series chips.

Microsoft IE9 Brings the best out of Your GPU

The fact, that the IE9 will utilize your computer’s graphics chip, means that the main processor or CPU will not be too heavily burdened, even if you have multiple tabs or windows opened at a time. Microsoft is trying to get the best out of your GPU or graphics unit, which though not as strong as the CPU, can complete certain tasks faster than the CPU.

Nowadays most GPU’s pack a lot of processing power, but the new Sandy Bridge architecture will take GPU capability to a whole new level. It brings the fastest graphics engine on any CPU thus far.

Microsoft explains that the full hardware acceleration will affect every element of a web-page, be it text, images, vector graphics, video or audio. The IE9 also has a hardware accelerated HTML5 canvas.

Because the hardware acceleration here is achieved in three separate steps leading to the final display on screen, performance is not affected even for the sake of cross-platform compatibility. There are no abstraction layers which usually cause the trade off between cross platform compatibility and performance.

The demos and leaks have been encouraging, with the IE9 playing 720p videos without burdening the CPU or dropping frames.

But in the wake of this marketing hype by Microsoft, Mozilla has chosen to speak up. The company claims that their Firefox browser has all three levels of hardware acceleration that Microsoft is talking of. And thus Mozilla is trying to disprove the idea that Microsoft is the first to bring in hardware accelerated browsing. The truth will be revealed as soon as you get your hands on the IE9 beta!

You can read the original blog post here Internet Explorer 9: Primed With Hardware Accelerated Browsing [And Ready For the Browser Battle].

Firefox and Chrome beware, the Internet Explorer 9 is almost here. Microsoft has announced that the latest and completely revamped IE9 browser will be launched at a tech event on September 15, 2010. So, will the IE9 actually reshape the browser landscape completely? Well, that’s what remains to be seen!

In September you will get to see the IE9 in its full glory, for the first time after months of speculation surrounding what it will be all about. And the fact is that this browser will be nothing like the IE8 or any of its predecessors.

This is the first time a browser will be equipped with advanced hardware acceleration. DirectX resources will be utilized to enhance graphics and AJAX rendering. So the bulky websites will now utilize the Graphics Processing Unit in your PC or notebook while opening up. And this is supposedly its USP too. But then again this is not all you can get from the bulked up IE9.

Here’s a look at some of the other goodies with Internet Explorer 9 browser:

• The browser may support HTML5, but it is not clear whether it will support all of the standards of the next generation of HTML. Microsoft has kept relatively quite on this front.

• Advanced JavaScript support which will increase the overall speed and performance of the browser. Will this finally help IE9 to match up to the Firefox or the Chrome browser? Well, let’s hope for that!

• CSS support should also improve particularly for rounded corners. But this is really nothing special because the other browsers have had CSS support for years now.

Will this be enough for IE9? Microsoft certainly hopes so, because you can be sure that competitors such as Firefox, Chrome, Safari and others are not sitting quietly either. With Windows 7 Microsoft have found a major success, but making it two in a row with the IE9 may be more difficult than it seems. And this will be really important in stemming the loss of market share, chiefly due to the rise and rise of Google Chrome.

The recovery has already been started by the IE 8 bundled with Windows 7. Now for IE9 to carry the movement forward.

You can read the original blog post here Latest IE9 Beta Browser: Available From September 15.

BlackBerry users are expecting a lot from the new Blackberry OS 6, but the web browser should easily be on top of an ‘improvement wish-list’. And now that the new web browser with WebKit rendering is here, the question is whether it is good enough to be called an improvement.

Well, compared to the earlier browser it is indeed a marked improvement and makes browsing a much more enjoyable experience on Blackberry smartphones. But you will surely agree that comparing it with the best in the business would be a sure-fire way of finding out its real worth.

As its primary competitors the BlackBerry browser will have the Apple iOS4 Safari and the Android 2.1 Chrome, both of which are established operating systems even outside the mobile arena. And tests have been conducted to find out how the BlackBerry browser fares against these two.

And what these comparisons reveal may not sound too good for the ardent BlackBerry fans. The new web browser does not outperform the tow other browsers on any count, whether on 3G or while browsing on a Wi-Fi network. But on the brighter side, as far as overall speed, refresh rates, and multi-tabbed browsing is concerned the browser does not lag behind a lot.

The few seconds by which it is beaten by the Safari and the Chrome reflect the improvement that has been achieved. Okay, so it’s not a world beater yet, but nobody expected it to be one!

One more reason behind the fact that the other browsers seemed better in head to head comparisons is that the new BlackBerry Torch (the device which comes pre-loaded with the new browser) has got a 624 MHz processor. Both the iPhone 4 and the Android Captivate have faster and more powerful processors powering them.

And because hardware acceleration does influence the speed of browsing, therefore the playing field was not exactly even, you may say. But since this is what you get with the BlackBerry you’ve got to stick with it!

The final word: this browser will give you a lot of joy if earlier BlackBerry browsers have caused you to fret and fume frequently.

You can read the original blog post here How does the New BlackBerry Webkit Browser Fare on Blackberry OS 6?.