RSSGoogle Chrome gets updates, pretends to be Safari
By Tim Conneally | Published January 30, 2009, 3:20 PM
Remember Google Chrome? The new browser that was one of Betanews' Top 20 Stories of 2008, and certainly across the Internet as a whole? Well, after the initial hype that Chrome (and its subsequent first vulnerabilities) caused, the browser quietly broke the 1 percent mark of browser share this month. Google this week released updates addressing one moderate, and one severe security threat, and provides fixes for Yahoo Mail and Windows Live Hotmail.
The Moderate security update addresses a cross-site scripting vulnerability linked to the Adobe Reader plugin, and the severe update is for a bug in the V8 JavaScript engine that could allow malicious users to "clickjack" sensitive information by bypassing same-origin checks.
Previously, the ability to send an email would break Yahoo's Webmail, this issue has been fixed. The Hotmail bug is actually being worked on by Microsoft's team, as it is not so much a problem with Chrome as it is with Hotmail's recognition of Chrome. Google has deployed a workaround that changes the user agent string that Google Chrome sends when requesting URLs that end with "mail.live.com." The result is that Chrome reportedly changes its user agent string to tell Hotmail that it's Safari.
Give the "hotmail" devs time, I'm sure they'll
have a workaround for Chrome saying it's
Safari, and will have it broken again.
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|Let me get this right, is a thumbs down denoted by the minus sign a good thing, or a bad thing ? I know in ancient times when Nero gave a thumbs down it was a good thing, it meant the guy went free. Hollywood changed it to a thumbs up the guy went free, a thumbs down he was unemployed and sent home. Will we be using the Hollywood ruling at Betanews, or the historical one ? I'd prefer to go with the historical and accurate interpretation myself, as I believe would those who kindly voted for me today.
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|Well there can be no better browser to emulate than Safari 3. It's lightweight, fast, pure coca with a clean and intuitive layout. It also uses the best rendering engine of any browser. Apple Safari all the way baby.
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|no.
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|I hope that's sarcasm.
I use Safari when I must but it's not that wonderful.
Chrome doesn't appear to be a whole lot of anything at 1.x but it has promise to support Google's web applications like no other browser.
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|Nortons....... :~~shudddderrrr~~~ ;)
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|Well how long it takes for Google to fix bugs that are Opera related? It took them forever to add GMail support for Opera...
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|I say this is a bad move by Google. A browser should never spoof its user agent by design. Google needs to tell MS to fix it. It's THEIR problem.
If Google simply can't wait and has that many hotmail users using Chrome (seriously?), they should provide this work-around as an *option*.
I don't like my software deciding what's best for me without at least consulting me first.
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|"Remember Google Chrome? The new browser that was one of Betanews' Top 20 Stories" I certainly do Tim, I've been using it ever since I read about it here. Best browser available by a country mile. Those who talk it down have never tried it, in fact most who talk things down at Betanews have never tried the stuff they love to savage. Quick example, mention "Norton" and the baying mob descend, most never ever used it, and if they did it was in the dim and distant past. They all accuse Google of spying, and give that as a reason for still using some pathetic bit of software that only survives because of a very vocal fan club. Mention Opera and the usual gang will praise it to high heaven, the fact that only a few dozen folk still use it makes them think they're a bit special. The Firefox devotees are no different, they ramble on about how many tabs they can open before their machines explode, like we give a rats. Now we have the latest craze, it's a let's praise IE8 phase, the usual rabble were quick to call it rubbish, certainly having never tried it first, and then a gaggle arrived to start heaping praise on it having used it for a couple of minutes tops, it's unbelievable. But the Chrome users, well we're a more gentle breed, happy in the knowledge that we know best, and that's an end to it.
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|Let's be fair, you have to include a knock at Konqueror users as well!
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|@ sturgess
"But the Chrome users, well we're a more gentle breed, happy in the knowledge that we know best, and that's an end to it."
Gentle? You just tore into every other browser on the market *and* their users.
At least you didn't claim to be humble...I'd likely have spit soda everywhere...
@TIM
I think he was limiting himself to "Windows" browsers or we'd likely have gone into "page overflow" with that comment.... ;)
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|I'm certainly not one of the rabble, and I've used all the browsers you mention. They all have good points, even if the points are only in the minds of their creators. For the record, I use Opera. I like it, and find no need to belittle those who don't. I do wonder, however, why others don't, as the purpose of a browser is to display the asked for pages correctly, and since Opera does a better job than any other browser, it should be number one. Oh well. Not everyone thinks logically, or has the same needs.
While I don't think IE 8 is great, it is clearly the best MS has done thus far. Chrome is fast, but ugly, and doesn't have the usability features I desire. To me it is trying to do a mail merge using EDLIN - perhaps it may work, but you won't be happy once it's done.
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|But the Chrome users, well we're a more gentle breed, happy in the knowledge that we know best, and that's an end to it.
"We"!? Chrome hasn't existed long enough to have fanboys. Yes Chrome is great, but it has a long way to go before it can be called the "best browser available by a country mile." For one: there needs to be some way to install addons, etc. Chrome will never be better than Firefox IMHO until I can install Firebug (Chromebug?) in it.
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|Funny, that's exactly how I feel about Opera. Ugly, non-standard, non-intuitive and with an illogical user interface in nearly every respect. It also has more trouble rendering pages than any browser I've used. I'm glad its on its last legs. Now, Opera Mini, on the other hand, is the saving grace of mobile devices. I won't buy a smartphone unless it will run Mini or has a good browser included (which, on AT&T phones, limits you to the iFruit).
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|LOL, I've used that trick a hundred times with b1tchy sites!
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