Every plugin or extension I’ve used for Chrome and Firefox to manage sessions means I have to make a few clicks to save each session and another bunch of clicks to open that session later into a separate browser window. Plus the latest window I close will get opened next time when I start that particular browser. So if I close last the windows with my daily tabs I loose the browsing session with the occasional tabs I need for a short period of time.

It’s a mess I reckon and even if I daily use Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Opera I can’t manage to browse the web the way I like and automatically keep separate browsing windows for the websites I visit.

The sollution

After thinking about this particular problem I’ve found a partial sollution to help me open special windows with the tabs I use the most. It’s partial because it doesn’t work exactly like I want and it works for Firefox and Chrome only, or at least I haven’t found how to use it on other browsers. The steps needed areas follows:

1 – In Windows Vista/7 open Start Menu and type the name of the browser. Drag the launch icon on desktop and rename it so that it will describe the session you will open once double clicked. In Windows XP you’ll have to browse to Start Menu – Programs and manually find the shortcut

Start menu search

2 – Right click on it and open Properties. Here browse to the Shortcut tab and edit the Target field by adding after the last “ the websites you wish to open (without http://) and separated by spaces. Remember that you can’t open 10-20 tabs as the target field has a limited char allowance.

Editing the shortcut parameters

3 – Repeat this step as many times as you like. It also applies to Chrome. In IE it doesn’t seem to work as the browser will try and open a single windows with the address consisting of the string (including spaces) that you enter in the target field after the last “. Or if you prefer, in IE this trick only works with one URL.

How to use it on a daily basis?

Always remember to open a new browser window for Firefox or Chrome and then double click the shortcut. If you don’t do this you’ll end up with the tabs being opened in the first browser window. If you know another trick to help me manage multiple sessions for the same browser please let me know in the comments below and I’ll try and update this article.

Similar stories you might enjoy

• Opera Mini 5 Beta is here and it’s hot
• Google Chrome 3.0 beta first look

What’s new in Opera Mini 5 Beta

Opera Mini Beta 5 on Blackberry Storm

There are a few things changed from the older version, new function and a big change in interface, that now looks more like 2009 and makes Opera Mini one of the best looking mobile browsers around. Practically, Opera just borrowed some of the top features of its bigger Mobile version and desktop client like tabbed browsing, customizable speed dial for preferred bookmarks, touch and keypad versions for both smartphones with or without touchscreen and password manager.

What seems to be missing in this version is the Opera Link feature that integrates with an Opera account which allows for bookmark synchronization between multiple Opera browser installations, no matter what version. Maybe this is only true for the Beta version or it’s just me unable to find it.

Opera Mini Beta 5 short video presentation

Note: I’ve installed Opera Mini 5 on my Symbian Nokia E71 and it seems that it works without issues. General feel is that the interface is a little more resource consuming and it’s more sluggish than the previous versions, but let’s not forget we’re talking about a Beta version here.

On the other hand pages load as fast as in previous Opera Mini’s and complex websites seem to look as neat as on desktop versions.

Similar stories you might enjoy

• How to manage multiple browser sessions easily
• Google Chrome 3.0 beta first look
• Opera Mini, solution to subscriptions without unlimited data plans

Google chrome beta 3

Don’t try and search for “google chrome” to find it as it will point you to the “regular” version. Go here if you want to install Google Chrome Beta 3. I’ve done so last night and now I can tell you from my point of view what it does that previous version didn’t and if it is worth downloading.

Google Chrome Beta 3 improvements

First thing you’ll notice is the New Tab page, where you can customize the position of most visited websites and even can pin a tab to a specific position. The recent activities window moved down and there’s a new mystery window that says: ‘What will we put here?‘.

The Address Bar is now called Omnibox and it’s more like Firefox’s combined search/history/address bar. It seems the logical step here, why don’t copy something that’s proven to be efficient.

Visual improvements were something Google Chrome lacked and Google addressed that with a themes gallery with a few dozen visual skins to choose from. It’s nice but I wouldn’t get too excited as the styles are not so inspired.

Speed was also improved by 30% (as stated by Google), but that wasn’t an issue with Chrome. And finally, Google Chrome Beta 3 brings HTML 5.0 capabilities, a thing to look for in future websites.

New tab page in Google Chrome 3 Beta

Is it worth installing?

I think it does as it seem stable enough, not less than any Google Beta program or service. The improvements are OK, but I’m still waiting for extensions support. Till then I’m gonna stick to Firefox as my main browser.

Similar stories you might enjoy

• Why I don’t like Google Buzz
• How to manage multiple browser sessions easily
• How to integrate Google Custom Search in Wordpress
• We all live in a Google world
• Google Analytics, a short introduction to web traffic analysis