Slashdot Mirror
Chrome 62 Released With OpenType Variable Fonts, HTTP Warnings In Incognito Mode (bleepingcomputer.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Earlier today, Google released version 62 of its Chrome browser that comes with quite a few new features but also fixes for 35 security issues. The most interesting new features are support for OpenType variable fonts, the Network Quality Estimator API, the ability to capture and stream DOM elements, and HTTP warnings for the browser's Normal and Incognito mode. The most interesting of the new features is variable fonts. Until now, web developers had to load multiple font families whenever they wanted variations on a font family. For example, if a developer was using the Open Sans font family on a site, if he wanted a font variation such as Regular, Bold, Black, Normal, Condensed, Expanded, Highlight, Slab, Heavy, Dashed, or another, he'd have to load a different font file for each. OpenType variable fonts allow font makers to merge all these font family variations in one file that developers can use on their site and control via CSS. This results in fewer files loaded on a website, saving bandwidth and improving page load times. Two other features that will interest mostly developers are the Network Quality Estimator and the Media Capture from DOM Elements APIs. As the name hints, the first grants developers access to network speed and performance metrics, information that some websites may use to adapt video streams, audio quality, or deliver low-fi versions of their sites. Developers can use the second API -- the Media Capture from DOM Elements -- to record videos of how page sections behave during interaction and stream the content over WebRTC. This latter API could be useful for developers debugging a page, but also support teams that want to see what's happening on the user's side.
This is exactly the problem. Unless this has user opt-in required for each site, this is a gaping potential security hole.
What's the point of that? The address bar belongs to the tab you're in. Putting it above the tab makes very little sense in conveying this information to the user.
The font changes are interesting but...... until other browsers support it, who in their right mind is going to design a chrome-only website? Maybe some kind of feature test could support this optimization, but then you'd have divergent code paths and that gets messy too. This is why it's better to work on updating STANDARDS instead of just adding one-off features... else it's internet explorer all over again.
After reading your first sentence, my first thought was "the same sort of people who used to design IE-only websites."
I got stuck using a Chrome-only website for a "training course" for work a couple days ago. Since Chrome now has a share of about 60%, this sort of thing is going to keep happening.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
What is this, FUD?
I installed Firefox 57, headed over to /., and the render speed was jarring. I gave Firefox Sync a round of testing and found it wildly superior to Chrome's sync strategy (FSync actually keeps track of changes, whereas Chrome merely does a set union on your current running instance and the remote server - meaning that any sort of deletion action requires interesting gymnastics). The dark bar took a moment to get use to, but in the end feels great (too many websites shoot for the pure-white-elegance look and having the browser do that as well just hurts the eyes by the end of the day).
Servo failed? Servo is a testbed for Firefox, and ported chunks of it are what makes Firefox 57 so fast.
Rust failed? People are having serious discussions on how a kernel written in Rust would play out.
Firefox has no say? I mean...in what regard? UI? User tracking? Sure. In other fields, such as cryptography policies, Mozilla plays the flute.
Come on, now. Don't be so dramatic.