browsers

Internet connection information

BitMeter II offers users a real-time look at their Internet connection. This in-depth tool may appeal to those who are obsessed with performance, but will remain a mystery to casual users.

This free program downloads in the form of a small box that gives a rolling reflection of your computer's connection. This comes in the form of a graph, looking much like a heart monitor or Richter Scale measuring tape and being about as difficult for laymen to read. However, if you have the knowledge, this is a great way to hold a magnifying glass to your Internet connection. … Read more

Easily measure bandwidth usage

BMExtreme is a great tool for computer users who enjoy hot-rodding their Internet connection. Much like a dashboard's gauges tell a driver everything they need to know, this program does the same for Internet-related system information.

This free unlimited trial downloads in the form of a medium-size box that allows a fully-customizable look at your system's bandwidth usage. The main screen measures the megabytes sent, received, and total for the session, day, and month. This is a great snapshot, but if you want something more particular, opening the configuration tab gives a world of variables. In addition, there … Read more

Comprehensive connection information

X-NetStat Professional cannot be called the Cadillac of Internet connection software. Instead, it's more like a hot rod. Pure performance with little attention to appearances. For users obsessed with the minute details of their connection, it might be the best test drive of their life.

This program gives users deep access to their computer's Internet connection. An easy-to-measure bandwidth gauge constantly runs, as does a list of all programs and Web sites in action and how much space they are taking. Digging deeper into the program's options, users will find an incredible amount of statistics detailing bytes, … Read more

Faulty key features

This free toolbar is supposed to bring online TV to your desktop while you browse the Web, but the only thing it brought to the table was a cluttered interface and faulty performance. While you can remove some of the clutter, there didn't seem to be a way to solve the functionality issues.

Online TV Toolbar fits snugly in your Internet Explorer browser. The tiny shortcut icons make the toolbar appear cluttered and hard to decipher. It is customizable, so you can remove the default buttons and add buttons for your favorite gadgets and applications. Like most toolbars, it … Read more

Links, links, and more links

Lively Browser Standard allows users to surf the Web and discover thousands of the most popular sites. While the browser does nothing to improve upon other systems, it certainly offers a number of ways to discover something new.

This program's best features are its clean display and user-friendly functionality. Modeling itself after popular browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox, the buttons and interaction feel instantly familiar. Users are free to surf to their favorites like any other browser. However, Lively Browser's big attractions are its lists. A series of drop-down menus across the top offer links to the … Read more

My painfully poky week with IE 8

In the interest of broadening my horizons, I promised Microsoft I'd give Internet Explorer 8 a fair shake by trying the browser as my default for a week.

And, boy, am I glad that week is over.

Microsoft's browser rules the roost with about two-thirds of the market, according to Net Applications, which collects a broad set of data on which browsers people use. There's nothing like being built into the dominant operating system for winning a popularity contest. Microsoft takes advantage of that position by building instrumentation into IE that illuminates what a typical Web user is doing.

There's typical, and then there's me. As somebody who spends dozens of hours a week in a Web browser, I'm sorry to say IE 8 is not for me. Although my Web-heavy lifestyle isn't average, I believe the challenges I face on the Web foreshadow what the rest of the world will experience as the Internet inexorably encompasses ever more of our work and personal lives. I prefer browsers that aim toward where the puck is heading, as the tired but useful cliche goes.

IE 8 (download link) catches up to where the puck is today. It's definitely a big improvement over its predecessors, with some commendable features including default support for Web standards. And I do hope people upgrade.

It's just that in my personal experience, IE 8 is not in the same league as my default browsers, Google's Chrome or Mozilla's Firefox.

There are competitive points from these rivals that one might have thought would weigh in to my antipathy for IE 8. Google makes a big fuss about Chrome's high-performance JavaScript engine, which lets it run Web-based applications with greater sophistication and alacrity. Firefox fans adore the wealth of extensions that can tailor the browser to innumerable specific needs without cluttering the interface for those who don't want such features. Microsoft counters with a study that shows its page-loading speed generally beats out rivals.

Slooooooow In reality, it was something more mundane that gave me a Pavlovian feeling of dread when I needed to use the browser: its interface is slow.

When it was time for basic interactions such as launching new tabs, switching tabs, closing tabs, commanding IE to open pages, and scrolling through pages, I found myself all too often waiting for the browser to respond to my mouse and keyboard. I did miss some Firefox extensions, even though I'm not a big user of them personally, and I did find Web applications like Gmail and Google Docs a bit slower. But those two gripes paled in comparison to performance.

Here's a sample diary entry from Tuesday, March 24: "31. Accidentally used Firefox for some browsing. What a relief!" I hadn't realized until that moment that I'd been inwardly cringing at IE 8 use.

The sluggishness problem got worse as my Lenovo dual-core laptop's 3GB memory was taxed by running the 10 or 12 programs I need to do my job. Most days, I shut down my Windows XP work machine once a day without thinking much about it. But during IE 8 week, I found myself craving a fresh start by mid-afternoon. IE 8 didn't bear the load as gracefully as rivals, especially as the tabs piled up.

Let me give some credit to Microsoft on the performance front, though. On my home machine, a Windows Vista 64-bit quad-core model with 6GB of memory, IE 8 was much more competitive with Chrome and Firefox, especially when compared with IE 7. … Read more

Complex site-monitoring tool

WebSite-Watcher ensures you never miss an update on a favorite Web site. While this software does what it promises, we found some serious hurdles that many may find troublesome.

This program stars working right after you download. The first screen you will see asks you to input which sites to watch. The rest of the program, however, is not nearly as intuitive as this first step. Once you see your Web pages listed, you are basically left to fend for yourself. While the program is fairly simple to comprehend after experimenting with different buttons, there are still several icons that … Read more

Microsoft has more to fear than a $1,000 Mac

Microsoft has a new advertising campaign and, as Gordon Haff of the CNET Blog Network argues, this one has the potential to nail Apple to the wall.

Even as Microsoft tells the open-source world to stop competing with it on price and instead focus on value, Microsoft is blitzing Apple with a new advertisement suggesting that your next laptop purchase should be all about cost.

Microsoft needs something. As recent data from Net Applications suggests, Apple is eating into Microsoft's market share in the operating-system market, even as Firefox chews into Microsoft in the browser market.

The more market … Read more

Find the right Firefox add-ons

If you're a Firefox user, chances are you've been using add-ons to extend its functionality. But if you haven't, or if you're looking for new add-ons, I've found 20 for you to try. But since installing all 20 will probably slow your browser to a crawl, I've broken them into four categories. I have grouped the add-ons into "packs" for business professionals, shoppers, social-network fanatics, and students.

The business professional

Xmarks (download): If you're running a business and want everyone in the office to have the same resources available to them, Xmarks is the way to do it. Simply download it into your browser, create an account, and install it on all the browsers in the office. Once configured, every Xmarks instance connected to that account will be automatically updated whenever a user adds a bookmark. In other words, if one employee adds Webware to their bookmarks, every other person in the office who's running Xmarks will have it installed, as well.

Jigsaw Contact and Company Search: Most business professionals need to have easy access to a company's contact information. If you're one of those people, consider using the Jigsaw Contact and Company Search. Jigsaw, a global online business directory, features millions of contacts and company profiles that can be searched by title, geography, and business.

Stock Pilot (download): Sometimes going to Google Finance is too time consuming to get quick public company info. Try using Stock Pilot instead. The add-on allows you to switch between financial sites to research a particular stock. It also boasts RSS alerts to update you when news breaks about a company you're tracking. Ready access to SEC filings makes it a handy tool for anyone who wants to see a company's quarterly or annual financial data.

TripSync: Once you install the TripSync travel manager add-on, you'll be blown away by its functionality. You can book and hold reservations to places across the world, receive travel alerts, and place your itineraries on Outlook and Google Calendar. TripSync is designed specifically for the business professional, so it's a bit more useful than using a site like Expedia.

WOT (download): WOT, short for Web of Trust, is designed to ensure security and privacy are maintained while you're browsing. Once installed, the add-on warns you about risky Web sites. It also alerts you to sites that deliver malware or send spam. The add-on shows you safety ratings on over 21 million sites.

The shopper

1 Stop travel and retail shopping engine: If you want to find the best deals across the U.S., Europe, or Canada, the 1 Stop travel and retail shopping engine add-on is a good place to start. While you're browsing, it allows you to search for flights on more than 40 airlines. It also lets you search for deals on more than 20 sites, including Amazon, eBay, and Wal-Mart. Once you start searching in the add-on, it finds the desired page and automatically opens it in a separate tab.

Buy it online (download): If you've ever been on a Web site and found a product you'd like to buy, but were forced to go to Amazon.com to search for it, you'll be happy to know that there's an add-on designed specifically for you. Dubbed "Buy it online," the add-on adds another option when you right-click on a product title on any Web page. If you click the "Buy it online!" button, you'll be shown a listing of all the stores on the Web that are currently selling the product. All the retailers listed are well-known and trustworthy.

eBayBuddy (download): If you're obsessed with eBay, there's a great add-on you might want to consider. Dubbed eBayBuddy, the tool is available in the right-click menu in Firefox and allows you to have full access to eBay's site map, search, and more. It's a great way to quickly and easily find products on eBay without being forced to deal with the site itself.

KeepCash Coupon Notifier (download): As someone who frequents coupon sites and goes to a retailer's page with the discount ready to be used, I found KeepCash Coupon Notifier to be an extremely useful add-on. Whenever you go to a retail site, it automatically searches its database to find any coupons currently available for the site you're on. If there are, it will list them for you to be used while you're shopping.

PriceAdvance (download): When you run PriceAdvance and surf to a retail site to research a product, the add-on will tell you its price on a handful of other prominent sites across the Web. For instance, if you're on Amazon looking to buy an Xbox 360, the site will automatically search for other retailers selling the console and display their pricing, so you can be sure that you're getting the best price.… Read more