Anyone tried Google Pack?

Google Pack is:
- Software specifically selected by Google
- Always free – no trial versions or spyware
- Ready to use in just a few clicks

It includes Google Softwares and other softwares recommended by Google as essential software to make your PC safe, secure and ready to go. Below are the softwares ready for use included in the Google Pack.

Google Chrome Web Browser
* Make browsing the web faster, safer, and easier
* Experience fewer browser crashes

Google Earth
* Zoom from space to street level — tour the world
* Find maps, driving directions, hotels, restaurants, and more

Google Toolbar
* Search from any web page and autofill forms
* Block annoying pop-ups

Google Desktop
* Find all your email, files, web history, and more
* Get all your personalized info in one place with Sidebar

Google Photos Screensaver
* Display photos from your PC and photo sharing sites
* Watch cinematic slideshows

Google Talk
* Connect with your friends via IM or free voice calls
* Send and receive files and voice messages easily and quickly

Norton Security Scan
* Detects and eliminates viruses and internet worms
* Free detection updates and scheduled scanning

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition
* Detects and removes spyware, adware, trojans and keyloggers
* Includes Smart Updates and scheduling to protect your PC

Picasa
* Find, edit, and share your photos in seconds
* Easily remove red eye and fix photos

Adobe Reader
* View, print, and search PDF files via a redesigned interface
* Secure your documents and collaborate via online, real-time meetings

Skype
* Make free voice and video calls to anyone else on Skype
* Call landlines and mobile phones at pretty low rates

RealPlayer
* Play popular media formats, organize music and videos
* Transfer music to iPod and other portable media players

Firefox with Google Toolbar
* Browse the web quickly and securely
* Switch between pages quickly with tabbed browsing

Download Google Pack at http://pack.google.com

Download now!

Google’s new browser has been upgraded with a hardy coat of security armor to protect it for the tough fight ahead as it comes out of beta

The browser market is, according to some analysts, saturated.  Firefox is making slow gains and leader Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has waned slightly, but the pair holds the vast majority of the market.  Opera also holds a small market share, continuing to eke out gains, as does Apple’s Safari browser, buoyed by the increased in MacBook and iPhone shipments.

Coming into this market, Google faced a tough battle with its first browser offering, Chrome.  And while many lauded Google fortrying new things with the browser, others criticized it for crashes and lack of certain features found in Firefox.  While Chrome was expected to “kill” smaller browsers like Opera, while stealing market share from the big guys like Microsoft, the opposite actually happened — Chrome slid from its initial market share, while Opera climbed.

Now at last Google’s Chrome browser is out of beta and is a full-fledged product.  However, for a giant used to dominating every field it tries its hand in, the prospect of lack of adoption is a strange one for Google.

In order to try to prevent such an outcome, Google has outfitted the final version of its browser with arguably the toughest security foundation found on the market today.

Firefox and Microsoft’s internet explorer, as well as Safari and Opera, invest vast resources in making browsing a secure experience.  However, on a base level these browsers give the browser and its scripts some level of access to the user’s computer, putting its file system and hardware at risk.

Google’s Chrome takes a different approach, giving each tab and the javascripts in it, its own “sandbox”.  By “sandboxing” Google makes sure that scripts and plug-ins are cut off from your computer, essentially negating many common attacks that foil other browsers.

Ian Fette, security product manager for Google describes, “I think Google was very proactive in terms of what we’ve been doing around trying to help prevent users from being infected with malware.  On the Web browser, we’re trying to do everything we can to make sure that users are not becoming affected with malware, and a big part of that is the sandboxing technology.”

The mechanism is a second layer of defense, he says, that will prevent the system from harm even if the browser is hijacked.  He states, “It’s designed to prevent malware from getting installed on the system, from being able to start again when you close the browser and restart the computer; it’s designed to help prevent malware from being able to read files on your file system … it’s really a defense-in-depth mechanism.”

While ambitious, the armor does have some admitted Achilles’ heels.  First, it depends on Windows APIs for its sandbox approach, so if these could be circumvented, access to the system-at-large might be obtained.  Some legacy systems — which use file systems like FAT32 that do not have security descriptors — will not be able to receive the same level of protection from the system.  Other potential gaps are also noted.

Google’s Chrome has also been outfitted with other security perks like an Incognito mode, essentially the same as Microsoft’s InPrivate mode, nicknamed the “porn mode”, featured on Microsoft’s upcoming Internet Explorer 8.  The mode, while not fail-safe, makes it so far less cookies and other information is allowed to be stored on your computer.

Google’s SafeBrowsing API is used to blacklist known malicious sites.

Mr. Fette feels Google has the edge when it comes to security.  He states, “I think the biggest advantage that we have is that Chrome is the first browser built from scratch after bad guys started exploiting other browsers.  We’ve had the luxury of looking at the security problems other browser vendors have had, and designing around those from the very beginning.”

While Google Chrome may indeed be more secure, the real question is — will customers bite?

source: DailyTech

Many Browser users can’t help deny that in terms of flexibility and extendability Firefox is the king of the hill. Recently, Google released their browser application Google Chrome early September and gained an audience share in the browser market. Many users liked Google Chrome because of it’s unique design and great security &  features, but most of them switch back to using to their old browsers, mainly because the browser, does not support third party addons/plugins just like Firefox. This kind of feature that is lacking from Google Chrome arsenals, made it lost it’s luster after a few months of it’s release. Though still in the beta stage, many loyal Google Chrome users are hoping that this could be addressed by the developers of the browser.

Well, it just did,  the word is out that Google wants to add plug-in support to their browser Google Chrome, in the hope of increasing their user base from the Browser Market, which still is being held by Microsoft Internet Explorer. Though this may sound a good news for Google Chrome fanatics, this however is still in the drawing board. Now this would be a cool feature for Google Chrome if this could be implemented. I’m seeing a pattern of 3rd party support just like Firefox Addons, but we know Google, they have many tricks in their sleeves, so in the meantime let’s just wait for Google Chrome developers magic tricks to unfold.

See the Source Article below:

Google wants to add plug-in support to browser in hopes to gain market share

Microsoft may hold the lion’s share of the web browser market with its Internet Explorer browser, but alternative browsers are drawing a cadre of followers. A couple of the alternative web browsers that are available include Mozilla Firefox and Google’s Chrome browser.

Google’s Chrome browser is still in beta and has less than 1% of the browser market at this time according to InformationWeek. Google and its developers are looking for ways to make the browser more useful and appealing to internet surfers. One of the ways it hopes to improve the browser is via an extension system that allows users to install third-party plug-ins to do things that Google didn’t integrate into the browser.

The ability to add third party extensions is one of the main reasons for the popularity of Mozilla Firefox, which currently holds the record for most downloads in a day and about 20% of the web browser market.

A developer working for Google announced this weekend that Google was looking into enabling third-party browser plug-ins for Chrome. A design document was released that outlined what had to happen to make the ability to add plug-ins available.

According to Google, types of plug-ins it would like to support include ad and flash blockers, two of the most popular extension types in Firefox. An extension system is reportedly the top of the wish list for Chrome users.

Google has not set a time frame for designing and implementing an add-on system for its beta browser. However, fans of the browser or those looking for an alternative to Internet Explorer and Firefox may be glad to hear that Google plans to offer extension support.

Source: DailyTech