With Axis, Yahoo is trying to change the search game, while also trying to change its image as a troubled company.

Yahoo was forced to release a new version of its Axis extension for Google Chrome after the original one contained a private key that allowed anyone to digitally sign extensions in Yahoo's name.

Yahoo beefed up its search offerings on Wednesday when it launched Axis, an HTML5-based browser app that delivers search results as page previews rather than as links.

Malware writers have used Crossrider, a cross-browser extension development framework, to build a click-fraud worm that spreads on Facebook, security researchers from antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab said on Monday.

Regulators in Europe said Tuesday they will watch closely to make sure Microsoft complies with its commitments to ensure competition in the browser market, after Mozilla complained its Firefox browser is being excluded from Windows RT.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 officially launched late Monday and is ready for download here.

Read on if you've ever been frustrated by slow performance in Firefox.

Apple's new Safari extension gallery looks a lot like the iOS App Store, populated with colorful icons that hold strange and wonderful things. In case browsing the 100 extensions Apple offers for Safari 5.01 is too much effort, here are eight good ones to get you started:

Thanks to online video, Web apps, social networking, and so on, the humble Web browser is being pushed to do more and to do it faster. With a few simple tweaks and tools, you can improve your browsing experience and save yourself some time in the process.

One of the best ways to see what's changed with the ninth and newest version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer is to tune into beautyoftheweb.com and watch the words, images, and DIVs bounce around, luring the world into pretty images and information that can't sit still. "Tune in" is the appropriate verb because the experience is closer to consuming television than what the Web was once supposed to be, an endless library filled with serious knowledge that might come from an underground physics bunker in the mountains.

Google's patching of vulnerabilities in its open source Chrome Web browser last week wasn't so much notable in itself; Microsoft, to be sure, is forever issuing patches for the many bugs that afflict its products.

After four platform previews aimed at demonstrating the power of the underlying Internet Explorer 9 engine to developers, Microsoft is ready to unveil a public beta of the on September 15. Many organizations are still struggling with the decision to move from IE6 to IE8, so what should businesses expect from the new Microsoft browser?

If you're a regular PCWorld reader, you may have noticed the Browser Blowout story we posted last week. In it, I looked at various aspects of the major Web browsers, including features, interface, security, and performance.