Thứ Hai, 20 tháng 6, 2016
Microsoft has been in the operating system game for decades, but now it's making a move in the web browser wars. Microsoft Edge, the first new browser interface and engine of this decade, comes with every shipping copy of Windows 10. Microsoft says it has "tens of millions of users," but it's barely a blip on most web browser market share reports. Even so, Microsoft has used the telemetry provided by those millions of users and an exhaustive battery of tests to prove that Microsoft Edge is actually a more battery-efficient browser than Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera. In a pair of blog posts published on Monday, Microsoft engineers outline how the current Edge browser can save up to 53 percent of your battery life on a Windows 10 system, as compared to other web browsers like Chrome and Firefox. The second, more technical post promises that the next Edge browser, which will ship with the upcoming Windows 10 Anniversary Update, will be even more energy efficient. Jason Weber, Microsoft's director of program management for Microsoft Edge, explained that different web browsers consume energy in very different ways, much like cars don't all consume gas in the same way. Some are more efficient than others. Some run like they're always in the city while others operate in a more efficient highway miles mode. Weber contends that Chrome is a city driver. "When you’re browsing the web with Chrome, like city miles, it wakes up, sprints to next stop light, stops and then sprints to next stop light. It's one way to get through city, but uses a lot of gas," he said. According to Weber, Chrome and Firefox are constantly talking to the operating system. He described it as waking up roughly 60 times a second (and sometimes up to 250 times a second). Edge takes advantage of its deeper integration with the operating system to wake less frequently, he claimed. "Edge never wakes itself up ... We tell the OS that. 'Hey, we have work to do and you [the OS] tell us when it’s most efficient to do that work," said Weber. For example, when you touch the screen of your Windows 10 touchscreen computer, the hardware wakes up, sends a message to the web browser on screen. If it's Chrome, Chrome then tells Windows 10 it needs to animate the screen to scroll up or down. With Edge, you can scroll the web page without, Weber said, waking it up. The OS is already there, ready to do the graphical work. Having hours of more battery life on your laptop because you chose Edge over Chrome sounds amazing. But why should we trust these claims? Testing technology battery life is notoriously difficult. You have to have multiple test beds, with vanilla set-ups, nothing extraneous running in the background that could impact battery consumption and perfectly repeatable test scripts. Compounding this is the challenge of testing web page battery consumption. Every page is different and most of what consumes power happens in the background. Microsoft had figured out a few ways to accurately test Web browser battery consumption Weber acknowledged the challenge, but told me Microsoft had figured out a few ways to accurately test Web browser battery consumption. The team combined lab tests, telemetry from millions of Edge users, and a run-down test that it captured on video. The lab tests were particularity impressive. They included 200 PCs, a mini, in-lab Internet, systems connected to voltage meters, and special computers with power-measurement chips built right onto the motherboard. The video showed particularly impressive power gains. At one point, the system running Microsoft Edge ran 70 percent longer than the one running Google Chrome. Whether or not you believe Microsoft, the company is already busy ramping up power efficiency for the next, big Microsoft Edge release, which will arrive as part of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update later this summer. According to a technical blog post by Microsoft Edge Program Manager Brandon Heenan, the Anniversary Update will address JavaScript access in background tabs. Instead of allowing JavaScript to continuously run in hidden tabs, it will slow it down to running once per second. They're also re-architecting how Edge handles animations by removing duplicate frames at the beginning and end of loops. However, no change may be more welcome that what the team plans to do with Flash. The Anniversary Update will make Flash a separate process and the system will pause any unnecessary Flash operations. It will also stop Flash if it becomes unstable, without impacting the rest of the browser session. No doubt Google will have something to say about all this. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.How do you know?
Next Level
Thứ Sáu, 29 tháng 4, 2016
Google Chrome notifications aren’t always the easiest thing to master. Some websites like Facebook will ask if you want to turn on notifications in Chrome, but it’s an easy window to miss or ignore if you aren’t sure what it is. See also: The 10 Chrome extensions you need most But there are other times when you turn on notifications for a site like Facebook only to regret the decision either because they're too much or you're already getting notifications in another way (via your computer's OS, your phone, your smartwatch, etc.). Here's how to take control of your Chrome notifications whether you're using a PC, Mac or mobile: The first thing you need to know is how to get to your notification settings in the browser, which are a bit hidden. Click on the "hamburger" menu in the top right of your Chrome window and click Settings. Find your Chrome settings in the browser's drop down menu. Scroll down the settings screen and click the link at the very bottom that says Show advanced settings… and then click the Content settings… button directly under the Privacy heading. Scroll down to the Notifications section to see your basic notification settings, which look like this: If you don’t want to see any notifications while browsing Chrome, the easiest thing to do is select the option Do not allow any site to show notifications. But if you want to be more selective, you can turn individual website notifications off when you click on the Manage exceptions… button. The "Manage exceptions..." button brings up a menu with every website that has asked your permission to send notifications. This section will show you which websites have asked for your permission to show notifications and whether or not you allowed it. With the exception of Google sites and apps like Mail, Docs and Drive, you can turn any website notifications on and off from here. In the bottom box, you can also block notifications from entire domains or specific IP addresses. To block entire domains, put [*.] before the web address and select block. For example, to block all Google domains from sending notifications, type [*.]google.com into the area to cover all Google sites. With this knowledge at your fingertips, you now have complete control over your Chrome notifications. Go forth and browse. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.Find your notification settings
Turning notifications off or on
BONUS: Inside Liam, Apple's super-secret, 29-armed robot that tears down your iPhone
Thứ Tư, 27 tháng 4, 2016
In the wake of mass shootings, the family and friends of many victims have advocated for the media to withhold names and photos of shooting suspects to keep the focus on those injured and killed, and to avoid giving shooters their 15 minutes of fame. Now, a new Chrome extension called Zero Minutes of Fame aims to do just that. When a user adds the extension to the Chrome browser, the first and last name of a shooter is replaced with the text "name withheld out of respect for the victims." The extension was launched Wednesday by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which estimates that 30% of mass shootings and 22% of school shootings are "copycat" acts inspired by previous gun violence events. “We’ve had #ENOUGH of seeing killers’ names and images plastered all over the media,” said Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign, in a statement. "Instead of rewarding killers and inspiring copycats, we should be lifting up the stories and the lives of victims, heroes, and survivors. The fact is, notoriety serves as a reward for these killers and as a call-to-action for others who would seek to do similar harm in the name of infamy." The extension works with all major news outlets, according to the Bradley Campaign's description, and also encourages users to sign a petition calling for the media to cease publishing the names and faces of shooters. "If the media continues to give these killers their 15 minutes of fame, then it's time to take matters into our own hands," the plugin's description states. "By simply downloading this plug-in, you can wipe away the killer's name and image from your screen, and replace it with something that truly deserves our attention —the victims." The Brady Campaign was founded by Sarah Brady and her husband Jim, who was shot in the head and permanently paralyzed during the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981. The couple worked to pass the Brady Bill in 1993, which requires federally licensed firearm retailers to conduct background checks for all handgun purchases. [H/T CNN Money] Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
