
Yandex Browser - mmahemoff
http://browser.yandex.com/
======
ksec
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.

~~~
dchest
Yes, it has Flash, according to this picture: [http://img-
fotki.yandex.ru/get/6400/120186.3c/0_a7271_80287e...](http://img-
fotki.yandex.ru/get/6400/120186.3c/0_a7271_80287e4f_orig)

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

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augustl
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?

~~~
darklajid
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.

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hayksaakian
The Google of Russia introduces the Google chrome of Russia.

Coming soon: Yandex+

~~~
rainbowdash
Yandex+ is Ya.ru, works from 2007.

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

~~~
guard-of-terra
<http://my.ya.ru/> But it never actually took off.

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

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rainbowdash
>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.

~~~
guard-of-terra
<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.

~~~
spec_laconic
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

~~~
wapper
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...](http://src.chromium.org/viewvc/chrome/trunk/src/LICENSE?revision=125933&view=markup)
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...](http://code.google.com/p/chromium/wiki/ChromiumBrowserVsGoogleChrome)

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), ...

------
Nux
Yet another Webkit browser. Boring.

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

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

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

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

------
brackin
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.

~~~
mmahemoff
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).

------
dchest
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.

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

------
import
The Yandex browser has been developed based on Chromium open source code. ©
The Chromium Authors, 2006—2012. All rights reserved.

------
yandexbrowser
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.

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

~~~
yandexbrowser
Perhaps.

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martin1b
Sweet. There's also Yandex +, Yandex Drive, Yandex Maps, YMail, and iYandex
(expires on Nov 1, 2013)...

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

~~~
Nycto
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>

------
wolfhumble
Based on this Oslo Stock Exchange note, I was thinking it would be Opera based
. . . :
[http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/search.do?siteLanguage=en&...](http://www.newsweb.no/newsweb/search.do?siteLanguage=en&messageId=313081)

Edit: NO > EN URL

~~~
dchest
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.

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

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

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

------
k7n
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

~~~
guard-of-terra
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.

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

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cenanozen
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.

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

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brass9
How do you pronounce yandex? Is it ee-an-deks? or jandeks?

~~~
MortenK
yarn deks

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

------
yati
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.

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

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Gonzih
sed -i s/chromium/yandex browser/g _

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wmw
anyone spotted the language settings

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shaunpud
5 minutes and counting...

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dschiptsov
what for?

~~~
mmahemoff
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.

~~~
dschiptsov
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.

~~~
randomchars
How is Opera mini a scam?

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

~~~
Zirro
Never make such claims without providing sources.

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Toshio
The more, the merrier.

Make sure to post the HTML5 score [1] once you install it.

[1] <http://html5test.com/>

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

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

