Chrome's outstanding features, like its download manager, incognito browsing mode and bookmark syncing, already make it a stand out app. In version 20, it adds a more new features, as well some tweaks that make it even more user-friendly.

New features

Being able to search directly from the address bar is one of the great things about Google Chrome. Now Omnibox, Google Chrome's address bar, will offer you various suggestions as you type. Depending on how accurate it thinks its results are, Chrome may even begin to pre-load a chosen page. Popular sites like Facebook and Twitter are now sure to load almost instantaneously.

You'll now also receive warnings when Google Chrome thinks a downloading file that might contain malware or something harmful to your PC. It does this by tracing the download's originating server and comparing it to sites on its blacklist. If you're concerned about privacy when it comes to Google looking at your downloads for potential malware, you can disable this feature within your browser preferences.

Updates and tweaks

Google Chrome introduces several smaller updates designed to improve the user experience. First, Google Chrome has improved page zooming to make it more consistent with other browsers - you can now zoom up to 500%. In addition, Print Preview no longer shows up in its own tab but rather appears in a highly-configurable modal window - this improves your workflow and makes printing even quicker. Google Chrome's History tab has also undergone a redesign. It now allows users to filter out or even remove specific domains you don't want showing up there.

There's also been an update to the V8 JavaScript engine and more than a dozen security fixes. In short, these changes make browsing even quicker - and using the internet even safer.

In addition, version 20 helps with vulnerability greatly, in that it covers patches for quite a few security-related bugs. Google Chrome's latest update will consequently help make your browsing experience even safer.

Chrome extensions

Last, but not least, there are also changes for extensions - not only can you now count on a range of Google Chrome extensions that rivals (and in many cases betters) Firefox's, but those of you with a more technical bent can take advantage of improved extension APIs, so if you've got an idea, it's even easier to make it into an extension yourself.

If you're considering making the switch from old favorites like Firefox or Internet Explorer, we'd wholeheartedly recommend Google Chrome as the browser of the future!

Google Chrome, Google's browser, mixes a clean, minimalist interface with a variety of powerful tools, making it a great browser.

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What new functionlity does IE 8 bring?

Internet Explorer 8 includes two main new tools: one is Accelerators (previously known as Activities), and the other is Web Slices. The first one gives you direct access to various online services just by right-clicking anywhere on the web page or on highlighted text. For instance, you can look up a word, map an address or perform a search with those marked words. The main drawback is that all these options use Microsoft's Windows Live services which means that you're stuck with them.

Regarding Internet Explorer's Web Slices, these are a kind of RSS-style tool that tracks changes and updates to selected websites and keeps you informed about them. It comes in really handy for tracking small changes that can't be followed by RSS, without having to visit the site: online auction bids, stock exchange values, weather information and more.

Besides these two tools, Internet Explorer 8 also includes many interesting new features. One of them, the 'Suggested sites' function, recommends new websites you may not know about, based on your browsing history.

The return of the menu bar

The interface of Internet Explorer 8 hasn't changed that much compared to older versions, except for one small detail; the menu bar is back and shows up by default again. Besides that, everything else is in place: the address bar is again on top of the interface, and Favorites are accessible via a drop-down menu.

Protecting your privacy and security

Internet Explorer 8 includes InPrivate Browsing, Internet Explorer's version of the popular Chrome Incognito mode. While InPrivate Browsing is on, the browser won't save data, including cookies, history and temporary Internet files. As for security, Internet Explorer 8 includes the so-called SmartScreen filter, which prevents you from entering fraudulent websites and protects you from online phishing scams.

The verdict

Internet Explorer 8 is truly a giant step forward, and proves that Microsoft is working hard to offer a more secure, compatible and customizable browser.

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