Panasonic's Reply To Driver's

I have been reading some articles from Google regarding Chrome and from FF stating that it was very important that people update there driver's in order for there browser's to work properly. It's been a highly discussed topic on various sites.
I was just loading a new OS on my MK2 and it had caught my eye the date that Panasonic had last updated the drivers. It was 9/09 I believe on the CF-30MK2. So I sent an email to Panasonic asking them what we should do or what there opinion is of the statements from Google and FF. I received a response and it blew me away. He said to always install the latest drivers. He went on to state that unless Intel or any other company sends us a new driver that we will not do anything. That blew me away to say the least. They are always so emphatic about there drivers.

so, I guess I will go and update all my driver's and see what happens. Although I can promise you that some of these things are not going to work properly.

Thoughts??

 

Why would you need to update drivers for a friggin browser? I never heard of that. Toyo what sort of problems occur on those browsers? I am an Opera user and have never needed to upgrade any drivers.

update: okay I googled around a bit and it seems it is the video drivers. For get this gpu accelerated browsing. This is for Chrome, I assume some similar problem for FF. Damn that's one reason I gave up gaming on a PC always had to be updating the video drivers to latest version. Now my browser needs me to do that. Screw that! I'll stick with Opera. Never used Chrome as Google has enough of my info already it doesn't need anymore and Firefox has becoma bloated mess. It seems laptop users will get screwed as a lot of laptop video drivers are specialized and not updated as often if at all. Those FN keys (brightness, volume,etc) are tied into the video driver at least on the Toughbooks

 

That is exactly why I was amazed with Panasonics response is the video drivers being such an intregrated part.
This whole GPU Acceleration Rendering stuff is what started it all. Actually IE9 is the browser that 1st had it, I believe.

I use IE9 and Chrome. FF is too much of a mess in my opinion. Some people love it of course...If you have not tried IE9 yet, give it a try, it's not that bad and much better than 8.

 

Well if IE9 is doing it I expect it will start to become common to upgrade laptop video drivers. Thing is it won't be common for a couple of gens of laptop at least. Hell we are barely past the point where you could never upgrade the video driver what you got is what you got. Now you can upgrade direct from intel/nvidia/amd but it might not be supported by your laptop manufacturer. You will get video functionality but might lose some specialty functions.

 

Yep, pick your poison or what is more important to you.

 

Here is FF's info.
Mozilla Agrees, Update Your Graphics Drivers

Google pretty much says the same.

 

I knew there was a reason I quit using Chrome, I have to agree with eno801 about Opera, I use it on all of my computers with no problems. I have IE9 64 bit RC on my desktop but don't really use it that much.

 

I have no problems with using Chrome. It is by far the fastest of any that I have tried. I really like the Sync feature. Does Opera have that?

I was reading an article the other day as to where a competition was going on to see if these guys could hack the security of browsers. It was actually put on by the browser people themselves. This one guy broke Safari's security in less that 5 minutes. I believe FF was next, with Chrome being the only one they could not hack. I wish they would have tried the new IE9 but for some reason it was not included. I am going to have to try Opera and see what it's all about.

 

It's not necessary to test Internet Explorer, it always has been and will continue to be the least secure of browsers. In fairness, IE is the most hacked because it is the most used so you get the maximum bang for time invested. That said, Microsoft has never made a good browser IMHO. Just like their operating systems, as soon as they get it working pretty well, greed and stock market forces induce them to abandon the old and introduce the new bloatware.
CAP

 

Actually Safari is the least secure, with IE8 being the 2nd most difficult. Have you tried IE9? It's not that bad, a huge improvement over 8 IMHO.

You are correct that Microsoft products are the most widely used. It's a bigger target. I hate it when people say Mac does not have A/V problems. The hackers just don't after a smaller target. Apple pushes out a lot more security fixes than most people are aware of.

 

Color added for emphasis. What does it say about a browser when a user says "it's not that bad"? FireFox works for me, I don't love it, but I didn't like Chrome. I'm doomed anyway, the kids and the advertisers demand so much crap on a single screen no browser is going to be able to provide a decent experience without a quad core and 36GB ram as a minimum.
CAP

 

Firefox with ad blocker plus. With the element hiding helper addon.

 

browser wars

chrome is the best, its fastest and lightest and syncs everything from multiple PCs out of the box

ff beta 4 is not bad but still slower

google chrome os is not bad at all, has much limitation but its only meant for an internet based pc only

drivers obviously help and improve. but i have not had any issues with my cf 29 except for video chat, but everything else works fine.

 

Don't want to start a war... but in Ed Bott's column on ZDNet today he reports the test that gave Chrome 1st place in speed was flawed. When apples are compared to apples, IE9 wins imperically but not necessarily observably. Here's the link:
Internet Explorer 9 is released: should you switch? | ZDNet

 

I use IE9 and Chrome. FF is too much of a mess in my opinion. Some people love it of course...If you have not tried IE9 yet, give it a try, it's not that bad and much better than 8.[/QUOTE]

I totally concur. IE9 is FAST ! To see the performance difference between GPU rendering vs software rendering - in IE9 there is check box in Tools/Internet options/Advanced - which allows you to toggle between the two to experience the difference.
IE 9 is only for Vista and W7. Not sure whether proposed GPU rendering in FF, Chrome et al, will work with XP - might this finally convince XP diehards to abandon their much loved but now hopelessly outdated operating system ?

 

I got thhe IE9 update today to the final. It's even faster than the RC was!

 

...especially if you like Google tracking you. ;-)

 

yeah I never liked the fact that chrome collected so much data. I know their "do no evil" policy but I don't believe them. For me Opera has always been the lightest and fastest. I think it was on of the first ones to pass The Acid3 Test
it runs smoothly even on old hardware. Been using it since it was a pay version.

 

From ZDNet:

Five Reasons not to “Upgrade” to Windows’ Internet Explorer 9

1. Operating system incompatibilities (No XP! )
2. Performance
3. The 64-bit version of IE 9 is second-rate.
4. Lack of Security
5. Lack of Compatibility

 

From the article:
"So, do you want a great Web browser for your Windows machine, or any other system, I recommend Chrome 10. Firefox 4 also looks like its worth considering. But, IE 9? The best I can say is that if you absolutely insist on running a Microsoft browser, and you’re not running XP and you’re sure you’re running the 32-bit version then yes, it’s an acceptable choice."

Microsoft sure is lucky most people don't read these kind of articles. What boggles my mind is people, who do claim to be at least somewhat computer literate, fall for the old MS "we've got it right this time" BS

CAP
Who might take another look at Chrome, maybe.

 

Anyone get IE9 to work with XP?> thx

 

Not going to happen. Microsuck did all of the XP users a favor and made it not work with XP.
CAP

 

I upgrade to IE8 on my XP installations
Works fine

 

Most articles on IE9 rate it very favorably. Although I have the occasional bone to pick with Microsoft, I do not think they deserve the knee-jerk criticism they get, especially from people who in most cases have not even bothered to try their product, let alone give it a fair test.

 

Vista, I rest my case.
CAP

 

Windows Millennium
Better case

 

In the interest of attempting to provide a more balanced view, here is another article from ZDNet that wasn't linked to earlier: Internet Explorer 9 is released: should you switch?

 

Actually, it was; but in another thread: Internet Explorer 9 install issue.