Macintosh users updating to OS X 10.3.9 are said to be having Web browsing trouble, while Opera has launched a new and more easy-to-use version of its Internet browser.
Just a fortnight before its next-generation Tiger operating system was set to launch, Apple’s OS X 10.3.9 is said to have a glitch in which Mac users surfing the Web with Safari find the browser quitting when they reach Java-enabled websites, according to geekBlue.com.
“Apple says the problem can be fixed by reinstalling two earlier security patches—Java 1.4.2 update 2 and security update 2005-002,” geekBlue said April 19. “Apple offers a simple test to determine if you need to update.” Apple said the likely message if the glitch affects a Mac user is “Segmentation fault.”
Mac news website Macworld.com said Apple has suggested it might be necessary for a Mac user to install or reinstall Java 1.4.2 Update 2 and Security Update 2005-002 to solve the problem.
A Mac user can test for the problem by launching the Terminal application in the Utilities folder and typing “java-version” without quotation marks and pressing return, Macworld said, and if “Segmentation fault” appears during this test, the flaw is affecting the user.
Meanwhile, Opera has launched version 8 of its Web browser, promising not so much a radical remake of the browser as a simpler user interface default with fewer toolbars and menu options showing after a user installs it, which Norway-based Opera hopes will make it easier for the new user.
"A lot of people told us we had a good browser, but it was daunting for a new user,” Opera chief executive Jon von Tetzchner told ZDNet UK. “In Opera 8 we've focused on having a basic browser, but with a difference.”
The new version’s features include support for the so-called Scalable Vector Graphics small-screen rendering technology and voice browsing tools, with the interface staying user-customizable and letting the experienced Opera surfer get to features fast once they configure the new version, Opera said.
The company is also hoping to catch a Mozilla Firefox wave by presenting itself as another alternative to Microsoft Internet Explorer, as Firefox has done successfully since its full-version launch late last year. “Mozilla deserves the users they’ve got,” von Tetzchner told ZDNet. “It’s a good product but ours is better.”
Opera said in a formal announcement launching the new version that it also takes aim at Internet hazards with a new security-information field showing, as best as possible, the “trustworthiness” of banking and shopping websites. The tool launches automatically when you visit a secure website, showing security levels scaled one to three and who owns the security certificate.
"This,” said the company announcement, “allows users to better evaluate a site's trustworthiness and minimize the risk of being subjected to online fraud, such as phishing attacks."
