Yesterday, August 17, 2021, officially marked the end of support for Microsoft 365 applications and services on Internet Explorer 11 (IE11). Anyone who tries to use Microsoft 365 apps and services on an outdated browser may have a degraded experience or be unable to sign in. We’ve known about the end of support for these apps on IE11 for months, but the deadline has now passed.
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Microsoft updated a tech community article with the following on July 23, 2021:
As of August 17, 2021, Microsoft 365 apps and services will no longer support Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) and users may have a degraded experience or be unable to sign in to these apps and services. These apps and services will be phased out over weeks and months to ensure a smooth end of support, with each app and service phased out on independent schedules.
If you have issues accessing Microsoft 365 apps and services from IE11 after August 17, 2021, support will not be available. Additionally, you shouldn’t expect any new features and your daily use experience to gradually worsen over time until apps and services go offline.
Microsoft also describes the specific experiences that will be affected by the change that took place on August 17, 2021:
Outlook Web App: Users signing in with AAD accounts will still get the full OWA experience, but will not receive new features as of August 17, 2021, while users signing in with Microsoft (MSA) accounts will be redirected to the Outlook Web App Light experience.
Open with Explorer / View in File Explorer (SharePoint): We understand that some customers may continue to use Open with Explorer and View in File Explorer (only accessible in IE11) to access the libraries of documents. To avoid disruption, these clients will be able to use these features for the time being when they access a document library in IE11. These features remain in maintenance mode and are not the subject of further development. We encourage all customers to upgrade to a modern browser and OneDrive sync for a better user experience and easier access to files. For more information on preparing your SharePoint environment for end of support on IE11, please read this Docs article.
All other apps and services will be phased out over weeks and months to ensure a smooth end of support, with each app and service phased out on independent schedules.
Fortunately, there is no shortage of modern browsers on Windows 10. Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and many other browsers support Microsoft 365 applications and services.
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Google faces a US $ 5 billion class action lawsuit for tracking Chrome users even in Incognito fashion. Now Google has been working to destroy this $ 5 billion lawsuit for some time, believing that it should be common sense among Chrome users that “Incognito does not mean invisible”. However, in response to the lawsuit, Google is redesigning the Incognito tab on Google chrome and it will henceforth clearly indicate “what the incognito does” and “what the incognito does not do”. According to a TechDows report, the Canary version of Chrome on Android comes with a new Incognito Chrome fashion design. Google is making it clear that Incognito does not make you invisible online and that websites know when you visit them. It also mentions that employers or schools can track browsing activity and Internet service providers can monitor web traffic. Comparing the new design with the existing one, Google seems to have removed the toggle option to block third-party cookies. Google is expected to roll out this redesigned incognito mode to all platforms soon, not just Android. The lawsuit accuses Google of “ubiquitous data tracking activity” and U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh previously noted that “Google failed to notify users that Google was engaging in alleged data collection while the user was in private browsing mode “. Explaining what incognito mode does, Google said that “incognito mode” simply allows users to browse Chrome without their Internet browsing activity being recorded on their browser or devices. As for online advertising, we already know that the incognito mode has nothing to do with blocking advertising trackers. Even if you are browsing the internet in incognito mode, online ads and trackers still follow you.
In the new version of Mozilla Firefox web browser, there is a new feature called Firefox Suggests which presents a promoted search suggestion every time you type something in the address bar.
The company claims that the feature tries to deliver relevant content based on what you enter by using advertising partners who “meet Mozilla’s privacy requirements.” The browser first presents you with the suggestions of your search engine, then, in a dedicated section, displays the sponsored publications that correspond to your request.
If you’re not happy with this new feature and want to turn off Firefox’s suggestion on your browser, here’s a step-by-step guide for the same.
How to turn off Firefox’s suggestion feature
Step 1: Open the Firefox web browser on your computer.
2nd step: Now click on the menu button at the top right corner.
Step 3: Now from the drop-down menu select the “Settings” option.
Step 4: In the Settings screen, navigate to the “Search” section or type “about: preferences # search” in the address bar.
Step 5: Scroll down to the search suggestion and uncheck the “Show Firefox suggestion in search bar” option.
That’s it. Once you have followed the steps mentioned above, the Firefox suggestion feature will be disabled on your browser. Along with this, Mozilla is also running a few additional experiences for the web browser, some of which are user-focused while others are aimed at developers.
Firefox, which was updated this week, will by default start blocking the download of files deemed suspicious when the transfer attempt occurs in “mixed content environments”. As reported by Ghacks this Friday (13), the news will likely be available in the next version of Mozilla’s browser.
According to the site, the term “mixed content environments” refers to pages that offer a secure connection over HTTPS but provide downloads stored over HTTP, which is considered an insecure protocol. In this environment, there is the possibility that files are violated, causing risks for the Internet user.
When this happens, Firefox will not automatically start the download, showing a warning in the download panel with a red exclamation icon. The alert will state that the file was not downloaded due to the “potential security risk” presented in it, but will still offer the option to continue the process.
It should be noted that this does not necessarily indicate the presence of a virus or other malicious agent in the file you are trying to download. According to the post, the download will be blocked by the browser exclusively due to the insecure connection identified on this page.
User can deactivate blocking
The new security feature, similar to the one introduced a few months ago in Google Chrome, can be disabled by the user, if they wish. To do this, simply check this option in Firefox preferences menu, restoring the previous download behavior.
According to Mozilla, about 98.5% of downloads made in Firefox Nightly, the beta version of the browser, uses a secure connection. If the percentage remains in the update of the next stable version of the program, only 15 downloads out of 1000 will be blocked once the tool is activated.
This feature should be one of the new features present in Firefox 92, scheduled to launch on September 7.
Protect your privacy. Protect yourself from network monitoring and traffic analysis.
Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows individuals and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers from around the world: it prevents someone from monitoring your Internet connection and knowing which sites you are visiting, it prevents sites you visit to know your physical location, and it allows you to access sites that are blocked.
The Tor Browser Bundle allows you to use Tor on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux without the need to install any software. It can run on a USB stick, comes with a pre-configured web browser to protect your anonymity, and is stand-alone.
The full changelog from Tor 10.5.2 browser:
Windows + OS X + Linux
Update Firefox to 78.13.0esr
Update NoScript to 11.2.11
Bug 40041: Remove V2 deprecation banner on about: tor for desktop
Bug 40506: Saved connections are not available in version 10.5
Bug 40524: Update DuckDuckGo Onion Site URL in Search Preferences and Integration
Protect your privacy. Protect yourself from network monitoring and traffic analysis.
Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows individuals and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers from around the world: it prevents someone from monitoring your Internet connection and knowing which sites you are visiting, it prevents sites you visit to know your physical location, and it allows you to access sites that are blocked.
The Tor Browser Bundle allows you to use Tor on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux without the need to install any software. It can run on a USB stick, comes with a pre-configured web browser to protect your anonymity, and is stand-alone.
The full changelog from Tor 10.5.2 browser:
Windows + OS X + Linux
Update Firefox to 78.13.0esr
Update NoScript to 11.2.11
Bug 40041: Remove V2 deprecation banner on about: tor for desktop
Bug 40506: Saved connections are not available in version 10.5
Bug 40524: Update DuckDuckGo Onion Site URL in Search Preferences and Integration
The Tails Linux distribution, which is cut to preserve privacy and anonymity, and the anonymizing Tor browser are now available for download in versions that are protected against possible attacks.
As can be seen from a blog post, defines the current Tor Browser 10.5.4 as a substructure on Firefox ESR version 78.13. In it, Mozilla addressed several security vulnerabilities classified as “high”. If the attacks are successful, there is a high probability that the attackers can execute malicious code on the systems.
Additionally, the developers implemented NoScript in issue 11.2.11 and fixed some bugs. Among other things, there should no longer be problems with passwords stored in the browser.
Updated operating system
Tails also relies on the current edition of the Tor browser, write the developers in a post. In Tails 4.21 the Thunderbird 78.12 secure email client is preinstalled. The developers also fixed an issue that could cause persistent storage to be removed during upgrade. An upgrade is possible from Tails 4.19.
Mozilla Firefox was originally created to be a faster and safer alternative to popular late 90s browsers, like Internet Explorer. Today, Firefox is still revered for its performance and privacy.
When it comes to security, the benefit is obvious, and with Firefox very little data is collected about you. Plus, even if a hacker breaks into your browser, Firefox has built-in protection to keep you safe.
Mozilla is continuously adding new features to Firefox (Image credit: Mozilla)
Characteristics
Firefox shines when it comes to its security features, but when it comes to regular features, there isn’t much that breaks the line. While you wouldn’t choose Mozilla based on these, they’re certainly nice (and necessary) to have in a browser, and there are a couple of extras you probably won’t find elsewhere.
With Firefox, you can search the address bar, get smart search suggestions, and get bookmarks, history, or open tabs in your search results. There is also an automatic URL suggestion and you can change your search bar settings to have more control over your browsing experience.
Other features include blocking audio and video from autoplaying and showing pop-out picture-in-picture videos separately from your browser window to stream something while multitasking. There’s also a built-in screenshot tool, dark mode and custom themes, extensions, form autofill, pinned tabs, reader mode, and spell check.
Finally, Firefox is available in over 90 languages, is compatible with Google products (like Docs and Gmail) and will sync across all your devices.
Mozilla’s commitment to privacy is unmatched in the industry (Image credit: Mozilla)
Privacy
According to their website, the browser “collects so little data about you that we don’t even need your email address to download.” It’s true… sort of. Once you’ve downloaded Firefox, they’ll ask for your email to fill out your account settings, although it’s not necessary to use Mozilla’s browser. Hopefully, these other security features will wow you even after you’ve left a spot in your inbox:
Private browsing mode: Automatically erases your online information (cookies, history, passwords) from your computer when you close your browser.
Tracking protection: Blocks ads and websites that try to attach hidden trackers to you to collect your browsing information.
Ad blockers: Not only will trackers not know what you are doing online, ads will not slow down web page loading either.
Blocking cryptominers: If a cryptominer has accessed your browser, you may notice that your battery is draining much faster than before or that your computer is heating up. Firefox is helping stop this before it takes its toll.
DNS over HTTPS (DoH): Prevents Internet service providers from selling your data.
Master Password: This is how you access your password manager. You will set different master passwords for different devices.
Firefox also offers automatic updates, breached website alerts, a built-in password manager, encrypted data, fingerprint blocking, individual protection reports, and third-party cookie blocking.
User experience
Firefox is very minimalist, with a cool white background and easy-to-read black text that is larger than normal for much of the default font.
When you open a new tab, you’ll see your shortcuts and a list of the best items from Pocket. By clicking on the Settings gear at the top right of the page, you can customize this page as well. You can add more rows of shortcuts, enable or disable the display of sponsored content and Pocket Recommended Stories, and enable or disable your recent activity and snippets (which are Mozilla / Firefox tips and news).
The rest of the browser settings are also easy to navigate. There’s enough of it that you can play around with the browser’s behavior and appearance, but not so much that you feel like you’re missing out on something because you don’t want to read them all.
Google is the default search engine, which is fine, but you can switch to Amazon, Bing, eBay, or Wikipedia (and others you might have installed, like DuckDuckGo).
Search results are also provided in a clean and minimal manner (Image credit: Google)
There is nothing particularly special about the way search results are displayed, but like we said before, you go with Mozilla for a simple and safe experience, not a feature-rich experience. Some may find it perfectly zen.
You can use Firefox on your desktop and mobile devices (Image credit: Mozilla)
Platforms
Firefox is compatible with Mac, Linux, and Windows machines, and there are also mobile browsers for Android and iOS. You can sync Firefox – your bookmarks, history, and tabs – across all your devices, as long as you have a Firefox account. More details on system requirements are available here.
Mozilla has a comparison tool on its site that allows you to compare Firefox to other popular software (Image credit: Mozilla)
The competition
It’s hard to find some Firefox features in a single browser, like text-to-speech, read mode, and the ability to block cryptominers. Let’s go over the main comparisons between Firefox and other major browsers.
Compared to Safari, Firefox’s outstanding features are its in-browser screenshot tool and primary password requirement.
Compared to Google Chrome, Firefox blocks third-party tracking cookies and social trackers. (Chrome also doesn’t have a master password option.) And according to Mozilla, Firefox uses less RAM than Chrome.
Compared to Microsoft Edge, the main competitive feature of Firefox is to block autoplay.
Final verdict
While some people have a love-hate relationship with Firefox (or even a hate-hate relationship), we can’t help but find it endearing. It’s the simplest browser around while still being attractive – the bold black font that’s a bit larger than the standard makes it modern and minimalist, not boring or straightforward. You feel like you have a lot of protection on your side when using it as it goes too far (thankfully) with privacy and security features. And it does exactly what a browser should do: find what you’re looking for, and react quickly when you interact with it.
Although Internet Explorer 11 is officially retired next June, more and more online services are dropping support for Microsoft’s legacy browser, the latest being Google Meet.
As Google ended support for IE 11 in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and other Google Workspace apps in March of this year, the search giant postponed the end of browser support. in its videoconferencing software.
Now, however, in a new blog post, Google has announced that Google Meet users will no longer be able to access the service using IE 11 as of August 17.
End of support for IE11
To avoid disruption, Google recommends that all Meet users switch from IE11 to Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Microsoft Edge by August 17, which falls on a Tuesday.
It’s worth noting that support for Microsoft 365 apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel will also end on the same day, and just like Google, Microsoft recommends that users switch to a modern browser to continue using the service.
Despite Google and Microsoft ending support for IE11 in their most popular apps and services, the browser won’t be officially retired until June 22 of next year. Although there are many online services that you cannot use, including WordPress, the browser will still work technically but with limited access.
If you still need to access some Internet Explorer-based websites, don’t worry because you can do so using Edge’s built-in Internet Explorer mode.
For years, the clear winner of the browser wars was Google Chrome, especially compared to what Microsoft had to offer. Until 2015, Microsoft’s browser for Windows was the highly malicious Internet Explorer (IE), which was slow, bloated, and heavily affected.
Larry Magido (Gary Reyes / Mercury News)
Bugs and security issues. But in Windows 10, Microsoft announced a new browser called Edge, based on its own technology. Its first version, Edge, was definitely better than IE, but not that much. Google Chrome had an advantage over Edge.
But in 2020 Microsoft did something unusual. Instead of competing with Chrome for its own technology, it took advantage of Google’s open source Chromium browser technology to create a whole new version of the Edge browser. Chromium is the underlying technology for Google Chrome, and Google allows other companies to use it as the basis for their browsers. By relying on Chromium, Microsoft was able not only to take advantage of Google’s advanced navigation technology, but also to create a browser different from Google Chrome but highly compatible. It’s so compatible that Chrome Extensions (small programs that enhance the capabilities of your browser) also work in Edge.
Edge is based on the same technology as Chrome, but it is not a clone. When it comes to performance, memory usage, power optimization, and privacy, there are some differences besides their unique looks and features.
Whether Edge is better than Chrome depends on who and when you ask for it. Both browsers have fans and critics. In this highly competitive world, both browsers are constantly updated. It’s entirely possible that one gets new features and performance improvements that the other doesn’t, and then gets one of the newer browser versions that may change the equation again.
privacy
Microsoft and Google both claim to protect your privacy, but Microsoft is doing more to put you in control of the tracking.
Edge offers three levels of tracking control. Basic, which allows most trackers on all sites, Balanced (default), which blocks trackers from sites you haven’t visited, and Strict, which blocks all trackers. Google, which makes most of its money from advertising, can block third-party cookies created and stored by sites other than the one you are visiting, but offers this level of control. Is not …
Synchronize with device
Both browsers work on most platforms including Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Chrome also supports Chromebooks. You can also sync your favorite sites, passwords, history, and extensions with either browser. Edge also syncs collections. Chrome is a bit more in sync with more settings, and it looks like it syncs a bit faster. The advantage of synchronization is that settings from one device are automatically transferred to another device. Therefore, if you create a favorite on your PC, that favorite will also be available on your smartphone and other devices.
Performance, energy, memory usage
Page rendering speed is important to the browser, but luckily Chrome and Edge perform well in this area. Some benchmarks nod to Chrome, but most to Edge. But the difference is negligible. I ran the two side by side and saw Chrome load some pages faster and Edge win on other pages, but this is due to other factors like the site’s server speed. There is a possibility. For all intents and purposes, these two browsers (which are based on the same site rendering technology) are linked together.
Performance may be similar, but Edge outperforms Chrome in memory and power consumption. Chrome is known to consume a lot of resources. You might not notice it in most situations, but if many tabs are open, the system may slow down or the battery may drain quickly if left unplugged. There are reports that Google is working on the development of Chrome. Memory and energy efficiency.
functionality
Despite the common technology, Chrome and Edge offer different capabilities. Again, Edge has an advantage.
One of my favorite Edge features is the Collection. It’s like a steroid bookmark, and you can create a series of separate collections where you can store links to your favorite websites. For example, you can create a collection of news sites, health sites, entertainment sites, etc. Creating and adding collections is easy. Just click on the + icon on the right side of your browser’s address bar[コレクション]The menu is displayed.
Another useful Edge feature allows Windows users to install websites like apps. When you do this, the site is accessible from the desktop or the taskbar as if it were a full-fledged application. Chrome has a similar feature called Create Shortcut, but the Edge solution is more robust. Go to menu (top right corner[…]Click on),[アプリ],[このサイトをアプリとしてインストール]Select to save the page as an application.
I’m not for sale, but a lot of people love Edge’s new vertical tab feature. This feature allows you to display open tabs at the far left rather than at the top of the browser. This allows you to open more tabs, but I generally prefer to limit the number of open tabs.
For families, Edge offers a kids mode with age-appropriate content and parental controls.
Google continues to be the king of online commerce, but Edge has a feature that some buyers may like, but others may find boring. When you buy an item, it can check to see if you are getting the best price and if you are taking advantage of the coupons and discounts available. Some don’t like the idea of the browser looking over my shoulder when shopping, while others appreciate the discounts I find when shopping.
Over the shoulder, Microsoft offers a free “editor” that monitors your entries and suggests improvements like the third-party Grammarly app. It is unlikely to automatically become a winner, but it is more robust than a spell checker. You don’t have to be an Edge user to take advantage of it. It is available as an extension for Edge and Chrome.
Changing landscape
As I said, things are constantly changing in the browser wars and, as of this writing, regarding new features in Edge and Chrome, including some that may give Chrome an edge. I am learning. Fortunately, both browsers are free, and depending on what features you need, there’s no reason you can’t come and go. The other good news is that a healthy little competition between browsers will bring further improvements over time.
Disclosure: Larry Magid is the CEO of Connect Safely, a nonprofit internet security organization backed by Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and other tech companies.
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