Yandex Browser | Hacker News Reader

Yandex Browser

browser.yandex.com

71 pointsmmahemoff81 comments

Using it for a few minutes, few things i really like.

1. Someone finally put the Refresh and Stop Button where it should be. Firefox actually had it during beta testing but they somehow decide to but it at the end of the Address bar instead.

2. The Graphics, Curve, Looks more like better then the comparatively toyish Chrome.

3. The Options have always belonged to the Tab Bar and not the address bar. To me i think that is the most logical place for it.

4. The New Tab drop page, I like it. But i am sure i have seen it somewhere else before. Opera? I cant remember.

5. Flash - Since Flash is only available in Chrome and not Chromium. I am not sure if Flash inside Yandex or any other Chromium derivative are using PPAPI or the old NPAPI. Anyone?

6. No, no tabs overflow...... So i am sticking with Firefox.

Yes, it has Flash, according to this picture: http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/6400/120186.3c/0_a7271_80287e...

Even the PDF is Foxit which means it is nearly the same as Chrome except for the UI.

One thing I find weird is that it doesn't display the full URL in the URL bar, only the domain and the page title.

Arh. True i didn't notice it. But Once you click on the address bar it does show back its address. Not a bad thing i guess. Will need to use it more before i can draw conclusion.

> Flash is only available in Chrome and not Chromium

Flash is available in Chromium. It plugs right in.

Here's what I see when I visit that page: http://imgur.com/bwf5N (Tl;dr: a blurb of text saying it's not available for Linux, that's it, no info about what it is etc.)

Non-Linux peeps: do you get an equally uninformative landing page?

Looks fine here (FF, Windows): http://screencast.com/t/LS2S6mMzi8

I get the same thing. I guess there is no love for Linux

Different, but similar.

It .. doesn't tell me _why_ I'd want that. The footer (in fine print) states that this is a browser based on Chromium.

The rest of the site is useless (Oh, it loads pages. And is quick?) or scary (it has Kaspersky integrated, somehow?).

I'm missing the standard 'About' page, introducing me to the project and _showing me what this is for_. Why no Chrome, no Chromium build, Firefox, Opera, IE but .. this?

It's very low on overall information.

The Google of Russia introduces the Google chrome of Russia.

Coming soon: Yandex+

Yandex+ is Ya.ru, works from 2007.

Le what? Ya.ru is the no-thrills stripped down version of yandex.ru

http://my.ya.ru/ But it never actually took off.

Its seems that they don't like to be perceived that way. It gets funny:

It's fluent in 9 languages including English, German, French and Ukrainian.

What, do I have to download it to see if its fluent in Russian? Come on, why do you hide it?

I just tested it with my own extension, you can install Chrome extension from the Chrome webstore onto Yandex Browser.

>4.1. Except when and if, and only to the extent expressly permitted by this License or by the applicable law of Russian Federation the User shall not be entitled to modify, decompile, disassemble, decrypt or perform other activities with the object code of this Software with the only purpose of obtaining information on how algorithms used in this Software are implemented, to create derivative products using the Software, and otherwise use, or allow other persons to do so, the Software without written consent of the Rights Holder. The User may make a modification of the Software solely for his or hers own use and reverse engineering for debugging such modifications. The User shall not be entitled to distribute, communicate, make the Software available for the general public or otherwise use such modifications, except as for his or hers own use. >4.2. The User shall not be entitled to reproduce, distribute, communicate, make the Software available for the general public or otherwise use the Software for commercial purposes (including for payment), including as part of software product collections without written consent of the Rightholder.

I hope Yandex die.

http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/eula_text.html

9.2 Subject to section 1.2, you may not (and you may not permit anyone else to) copy, modify, create a derivative work of, reverse engineer, decompile or otherwise attempt to extract the source code of the Software or any part thereof, unless this is expressly permitted or required by law, or unless you have been specifically told that you may do so by Google, in writing.

9.3 Subject to section 1.2, unless Google has given you specific written permission to do so, you may not assign (or grant a sub-license of) your rights to use the Software, grant a security interest in or over your rights to use the Software, or otherwise transfer any part of your rights to use the Software.

How so? It looks like Google Chrome license is in fact more restrictive and yet you don't hope Google die, do you?

And I think that Google is on the liberal side when it comes to EULAs, compared to copyright monsters like Microsoft or Adobe.

And if you reason that true Open Source solutions like Firefox are the way to go, I may remind you of the IceWeasel scandal where Debian had to rebrand its build of Firefox because it could not distribute it with the required tweaks due to copyright issues on Mozilla part.

I thought chrome was open source: http://dev.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/get-the-code

It's weird to think that Google would tell you not to RE an open-source project, I must be missing something

You're missing the whole world of intensive lawyering (for the sake of it) we're living in.

Yes you can download Chromium source (which is the base for both Chrome and Yandex Browser), but actual Chrome has restrictive EULA which I linked.

Google Chrome includes a couple of closed-source components, including Flash.

It's easy : chromium (http://www.chromium.org/) is the open source project. It's licence is open source and can be found at http://src.chromium.org/viewvc/chrome/trunk/src/LICENSE?revi... it looks like a "BSD with attribution" licence. Chrome (google.com/chrome) is the "closed-source" distribution to loads of platforms (includes a few closed source components. E.g. it can play .mp3 files). It's got a standard closed source licence.

Comparison : http://code.google.com/p/chromium/wiki/ChromiumBrowserVsGoog...

There are other distributions, for example "fedora" chromium, that doesn't have any codec support. There are versions that are not release-engineered (ie. nightly builds, but still released by some distro), ...

Yet another Webkit browser. Boring.

I'll take boring over hours of debugging to shift a few pixels.

YAWB doesn't mean you won't have hours of debugging to shift a few pixels anyway.

Fair point, there are many Webkits, but IME deviations are an order of magnitude more likely when moving from Webkit to something else.

To be more specific, yet another Chromium fork.

I just lost like 5 minutes of my day just testing this boring Chrome copy with a different UI.

The question is, will this be another Rockmelt which was just Chrome with a social sharing and Facebook chat extension thrown in or have they taken Chromium/Webkit and re-engineered a faster/better browser and integrated their technology.

I think a comparison with other region-specific forks would be more accurate, like 360 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/360_Secure_Browser).

I really doubt Yandex is interested in competing against Chrome outside of their target market of Russia (and Russian neighbours, expats), so they don't need a faster or universally "better" browser. Just a better experience for their target users, or at least a comparable experience with better distribution (e.g. it's likely they'll partner with local device retailers to bundle it as default browser).

They are going to integrate Opera Turbo to make it faster over slow networks. Also they have some new caching technology currently used by their Maps.

chrome.yandex.ru redirects to this page.

For those who don't know, they had a Chromium fork called "Хром" (literally "Chrome"), which they advertized for anyone searching for "хром" or "chrome". Then they renamed it to Yandex.Internet.

Personally, i'm glad to see they are using Webkit. As long as it doesn't mean crazy incompatibilities - the more browsers the better!

Well I've just downloaded it now and it seems like a stripped down version of Chrome to me, nothing to exciting and doesn't seem very customisable.

Did you make an account and name it after this browser just to post this?

Perhaps.

Sweet. There's also Yandex +, Yandex Drive, Yandex Maps, YMail, and iYandex (expires on Nov 1, 2013)...

This is equivalent of 360 for Russia? ( 360 is a browser in China derived from Chromium as well )

Two things:

1) 360 is based on Trident

2) I really hope this browser is nothing like 360: http://www.digital-dd.com/qihoo-browser-war

Based on this Oslo Stock Exchange note, I was thinking it would be Opera based . . . : http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/search.do?siteLanguage=en&...

Edit: NO > EN URL

They indeed have partnership with Opera:

http://opera.yandex.ru/

Also with Mozilla:

http://fx.yandex.ru/

and Microsoft:

http://ie.yandex.ru/

:-)

But no, this one is based on Chromium: http://habrahabr.ru/company/yandex/blog/152905/ (in Russian)

EDIT: It says they are using Opera Turbo technology there.

We will see :-) Wondering what they would be using the Opera tech for: http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/search.do?messageId=312626

Indeed, Holmes. Opera Turbo in the next version of Yandex.Browser.

Also they licensed Opera Store (http://apps.opera.com ) for Yandex Store for Android (http://store.yandex.com ).

(Now that I re-read my comment, I think it can be interpreted in an offensive way. To make things clear, by saying "Holmes" I wanted to compliment you for discovering this information.)

tl;dr Don't bother...

Heh! It's funny how Yandex does (or tries to do) everything that Google does after X months/years/decades. It's just Chromium with their "Yandex Bar" which they have been promoting for ages, starting from IE and Firefox extensions. I also think it's rather silly to be based on the open source Chromium project and not support Linux-based systems.

* Yandex Search = Google Search

* Yandex Direct = Google AdSense/AdWords

* Yandex Metrika = Google Analytics

* Yandex Dengi = Google Checkout/Wallet

* Yandex Maps = Google Maps

* Yandex Mail = Google Mail

* Yandex News = Google News + Google Reader

* Yandex Market = Google Shopping

* Yandex Webmaster = Google Webmaster

They even made a conference like Google Developer Day and Google IO :)

What's next? Yandex mobile OS based on Android + Yandex Bar? Let's call it Yandroid :D

Yandex Search, Yandex Money, Yandex Mail and Yandex Market were there for a few months to a few years before Google launched their corresponding offerings.

"They even made a conference" - duh, everyone and their dog make a conference.

Yandex browser imported my Safari history and bookmarks without asking me. Looks weird!

The meta description says:

Download the new browser from Yandex. It's quick and secure, while the Smartbox will find anything you you need and Tableau take you straight to your favorite sites.

Somehow their logo reminds me irresistibly of Opera's logo.

How do you pronounce yandex? Is it ee-an-deks? or jandeks?

yarn deks

"yarn deks" is correct without pronouncing the 'r'

http://soundcloud.com/anonymfus/yandex

I'm sticking with Firefox because Mozilla respects the Linux community. And use Yandex from my Firefox? Why should I make a compromise when you don't take my platform seriously? Thanks, but no thanks.

They are not going to release it for Linux for now :(

sed -i s/chromium/yandex browser/g

anyone spotted the language settings

5 minutes and counting...

what for?

If they do nothing else but default the search engine to Yandex, that's what for.
Longer term, one of the benefits they might be able to offer users, over other browsers, is better compatibility with local sites, e.g. local banks. And maybe curated apps/extensions.

Have you ever tried to estimate how much it cost to maintain up-to-date browser, in terms of rapidly incorporating new standards, keeping high-quality, low-resource consumption and major-bug-free code, along with keeping it fairly secure?)
I think they grossly over-estimate their abilities to compete with completely different structures, like Mozilla, leave alone Google.)
Thinking that they are "Russian Google" is a self-delusion. Google is built out of talent, that they are collecting for a decade, and then by money and top-tier world-wide brand.
Yandex is mere a "company". Just compare the assets - data-centers, cables, commercial real estate, etc. Then take a look at amount of research Google's people do. This should be enough.
This browser, I guess, is something like Opera mini or Amazon Fire - the way to divert, scan and monetize user's traffic. Plain, banal scam.

How is Opera mini a scam?

Tracking and selling aggregated info. Every single page you visit.

Never make such claims without providing sources.

Source?

Well, local banks here seem to be compatible with everything plus Opera Mobile. Their web clients were developed not so long ago, when it was already unacceptable to have IE-only sites.

One possibility "Russian pride". That might be wrong guess but there lot of things Russian simply to have something "Made in Russia" (e.g. yandex search itself).

Yandex search launched in 1997, a year before Google. It was the only search engine that could understand Russian morphology.

do you remember altavista.digital.com?)

Yes, I remember that it was almost impossible to find anything with it in Russian.

Why it shall be otherwise, especially with 4 different Cyrillic encodings and size of .ru segment these days?

It was also very good! I much preferred its results to Rambler which was popular at the time (and the developer behind Rambler wrote ngnix, afair).

That's OK. There were many engines before Google that were forgotten. It is completely possible that Yandex search for average Russian is better than Google but my impression is that it is not (my impression might be wrong). I know that there are some services that Yandex does better than Google in Russia.

I don't get your point. Are you suggesting that they should had shut down the company once Google appeared, and the reason they didn't is "Russian pride"? WTF?

No. I'm saying that Russian market has chosen solution that's not necessary is the best one. Again, maybe I'm wrong.

The more, the merrier.
Make sure to post the HTML5 score [1] once you install it.
[1] http://html5test.com/

it uses webkit inside, results will be the same as for chrome

s/will/should/;
Fixed that for you.

437(chrome) vs 402(yandex) PS yandex detected as chrome 19

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