Windows/Mac - Setting the Default Browser The default browser is the web browser that is automatically used when opening a web page or clicking on a web link. This document explains how to choose the default browser for both Windows and OS X. How to Choose an Internet Browser. In this Article: Choosing a Browser Installing a Browser (Mac and Windows) Installing a Browser (iPhone) Installing a Browser (Android) Community Q&A This wikiHow teaches you how to choose and install an Internet browser that is compatible with your desktop or mobile device. To make your life easier, you need to install a browser selection tool. In my my book, Mac OS X Snow Leopard for Power Users, I explained it this way: I keep several web browsers on my Mac at all times, and I like to switch back and forth between them.
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According to the latest figures from W3Techs, 53.7 percent of all content on the Internet is written in English.
That’s lightyears ahead of the rest of the top five (6.3 percent Russian, 5.7 percent German, 5.0 percent Japanese, and 4.9 percent Spanish) – but it still means that almost half of all the Internet is inaccessible unless you’re fluent in multiple languagesHow I Finally Learned a Different Language. And You Can Too.How I Finally Learned a Different Language. And You Can Too.No single language learning app is the magic wand. The secret to learning a new language is a blended solution. With desire and motivation you too can learn any foreign language.Read More.
There are any number of reasons you might want to read content in another language, from understanding local news stories to researching places to visit50 Places Based In Fiction You Can Actually Visit50 Places Based In Fiction You Can Actually VisitHave you ever wanted to visit some of the locations you see in movies, TV, video games, and other media?Read More while on vacation.
So what are the best tools for translating web pages? MakeUseOf investigates…
Google Translate
![Mac Mac](https://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/techtreats/Photopea.jpg)
With more than 90 supported languages, 200 million daily users, and versions for multiple browsers and operating systems, Google Translate remains the undisputed king of translation.
It first went live on 28th April 2006 and has consistently added more features. It can now understand and translate the spoken word, offers downloadable dictionaries for offline use on mobile, and provides real-time photographic translationTravelling With Google Translate? 4 Tips To Improve Your ExperienceTravelling With Google Translate? 4 Tips To Improve Your ExperienceIf you plan on travelling to a foreign country anytime soon, Google Translate can really help you, but it has its limitations. Here's how to best make use of this wonderful app.Read More.
It is also not without its drawbacks. For example, it does not apply grammatical rules because its algorithms are based on a statistical machine analysis rather than a more traditional rule-based approach, in non-European Union languages errors are frequently seen (Google uses perfectly-translated EU Parliament notes as the basis for all its translations), and certain tenses (such as the Spanish subjunctive) are almost impossible for it to recognize.
With all that said – let’s take a look at how it works on various browsers.
Google Chrome
Predictably, Google Chrome provides the best Google Translate experience.
The official Google Translate extension in the Chrome Web Store places a button on your browser’s toolbar, but also adds a lot more functionality to the browser itself.
The extension can:
- Provide instant translation of any selected text within a web page
- Translate any typed phrase in the same way as the main Google Translate web page
- Translate entire web pages at the click of a button
It also recognizes when a part of a website is not in your main language and provides a pop-up button next to it. Clicking this will show you the translation in a box on the screen.
Firefox
Google does not offer an officially supported Firefox translation add-on, but there are plenty of tools that use the service’s API to provide the same functionality.
The three best are arguably Google Translator for Firefox, S3.Google Translator, and Google™ Translator. They all offer a slightly different user experience, but at their core they are providing the same service.
- Adds a translate option to the right-click context menu
- Adds a clickable toolbar icon
- Allows you to set up a “translation hotkey”
S3.Google Translator [No Longer Available]
- Automatically translates subtitles on YouTube
- Provides text-to-speech functionality
- Includes a language learning mode
It is the language learning modeLearn a New Language Just by Browsing the Web in ChromeLearn a New Language Just by Browsing the Web in ChromeThis extension makes it easy to pick up new language vocabulary without any effort on your part.Read More that makes this tool stand out. Just head to Settings > Learning Language and set up the languages and number of phrases that you want to use. Thereafter any site will automatically replace phrases with the selected language’s equivalent.
Google™ Translator [NO LONGER AVAILABLE]
- Translate long articles by holding ALT while selecting text
- Double-click translation of individual words
- Menu bar pop-up for quick translation
Opera
Like Firefox, there is no official version of Google Translate on Opera.
The most widely used unofficial version is Google™ Translator by Sarahavilov – this is the same add-on and developer as the Firefox add-on listed above.
The features are very similar:
- One-click translation of single words
- Pop-up bubble translator
- Context menu option
- Automatic spell-check function
Edge
Unfortunately, Edge does not yet have extensionsA Microsoft Edge Review From A Die-Hard Chrome UserA Microsoft Edge Review From A Die-Hard Chrome UserMake no mistake, I am a die-hard Chrome user. But my curiosity got the better of me, so I took the plunge and tried Microsoft Edge.Read More or add-ons, so Google Translate is not available.
If you stumble across a page you need to translate, there is a workaround. We’ll come back to it later.
Make a Keyword Search for Google Translate
Browser Selection Tool For Macromedia Flash
If you’d prefer to use the main Google Translate web page rather than extensions and add-ons, it’s really easy to make a keyword search11 Advanced Searches to Bookmark to Become a Google Power User11 Advanced Searches to Bookmark to Become a Google Power UserTurn yourself into a true Google power user with these 11 advanced searches and pro tips. This will make sure you never have to recall these searches and yet will always have them at your fingertips.Read More.
Google Chrome
Firstly, head to Menu > Settings > Search > Manage Search Engines. You’ll be presented with a list of all the search engines currently saved in your browser.
Paste the following link into the space where it prompts you to add a URL.
http://translate.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&client=tw-ob#auto/[language]/%s
Make sure you replace [language] with the two-letter code of the language you want to translate into. For example, Spanish is “es”, English is “en”, Italian is “it”, and so on.
Give the search an appropriate keyword. Now all you need to do is enter your keyword followed by the word you want to translate in Chrome’s omnibox.
Hint: if you frequently need to translate into multiple languages, set up a keyword search for each language.
Firefox
On Firefox, open your Bookmark Library by clicking on the bookmark icon in the toolbar and selecting Show All Bookmarks.
Choose Bookmark Menu from the panel on the left, right-click in the main window, and select New Bookmark.
Fill in the necessary details, pasting the same URL as listed above into the Location box and choosing an easy-to-use keyword. When you’re done, click Add.
Now you can enter your keyword into the address box followed by the word you want to translate. Google will take care of the rest!
Google Translate Alternatives
Google Translate remains the number one choice for most people, and the vast majority of third-party tools use its API to power their own product.
Nonetheless, there are non-Google products out there which are equally powerful.
IM Translate – Chrome, Safari, Opera
IM Translate uses a combination of Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, and Babylon Translator to give users a combination of statistical machine translations and rule-based machine translations, and thus more accurate results.
It has four main features:
- Inline translator
- Single word translator
- Pop-up bubble
- Web page translation
All your activity is stored in its translation history for easy recall, and it has a text-to-speech feature that supports 26 languages.
Bing Translator – Internet Explorer and Edge
Remember we mentioned that workaround for Microsoft Edge? It involves using Bing.
If you come across a page you need to translate on the latest Windows browser, just click on the three horizontal lines in the top right-hand corner and select Open With Internet Explorer.
Once the page fires up, right-click and choose Translate With Bing.
The Bing translation tool is actually an “accelerator”What's the Internet Explorer Gallery All About?What's the Internet Explorer Gallery All About?If Internet Explorer is your primary browser, at some point you're going to need to come into contact with the Internet Explorer Gallery.Read More, but comes pre-installed on all recent versions of Internet Explorer.
If yours has been disabled or deleted, head to Tools > Manage Add-Ons > Accelerators and find the Bing option to fiddle with its settings.
Translate Safari – Safari
The last tool we’ll cover is Translate Safari.
![Download tools for mac Download tools for mac](https://www.mactrast.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Pixelmator-Quick-Selection-Tool.jpg)
It adds a toolbar button and contextual menu item that will allow you to translate any web page by using either Google Translate or Bing Translate.
It is widely considered to be the best and most reliable translation tool for Apple’s browser.
Which Tool Do You Use to Translate?
Which of the above tools do you use for you own translation needs? Perhaps you’ve come across a little-known gem that your fellow readers are unlikely to be using?
Whatever your story we’d love to hear from you. You can leave us your opinions and thoughts in the comments section below.
Explore more about: Google Translate, Translation.
- This is a question not a comment.
I am located in Japan and all my windows PCs have the Japanese language kit.
My OS is set to 'American' English and all my pull down menus are automatically in English.
I do not read Japanese kanji. More and more searches and web sites are coming up in Kanj. I have trouble opening some applications which come up in Japanese. In most of these situations the default of either the web site or application is English but the stupid application writers always seem to pre-set the software to only check where the PC is located and open up in the language of that location. Some few give me a language choice with 'English' written in English but most do not.
Is there any convenient way to set my PCs so , if the page or application has an English language setting, that it comes up automatically (defaults to English)? - Tranlate.google.com
I used this for translate my texts but now I want to get a translator for my firefox browser - gtranslate in FireFox
OS X already offers a means of capturing screenshots with a few keyboard shortcuts, but if you want to do a little more you have to grab a third-party tool. Of the many available, Skitch is our favorite for its many annotation tools and instant-sharing options.
If you're not familiar with screenshots, read our beginner's guide.
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Skitch
Platform: OS X, Windows, iOS, Android
Price: Free (or $10 for Pro)
Download Page
Price: Free (or $10 for Pro)
Download Page
Features
- Take screenshots of specific areas or the entire screen.
- Annotate your screenshots/images.
- Draw on your screenshots/images.
- Resize, crop, flip, and rotate screenshots/images.
- Automatic archival of your screenshots/images for later use.
- Take photos with your built-in webcam.
- Open and save images in many different formats.
- Easily share screenshots/images to Facebook and Twitter.
- Automatically upload your screenshots to the skitch.com web site or to a location of your choice (e.g. Flickr, an FTP server, etc.).
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Where It Excels
Skitch is pretty great. We take a lot of screenshots at Lifehacker, so a good screen capture tool can be invaluable to us. To others it might be less relevant, but seeing as Skitch is free it's a good app to have around even if you only share what's on your screen from time to time. If you need to show tech support a problem on your screen, or your mother where to look for a certain feature in an app, you can take a quick screenshot with Skitch, annotate if necessary, have it automatically upload that screenshot, and leave you with a URL in your clipboard. It's also really handy for designers, because you can make quick notes on images without actually making any destructive edits to that image. You can also use Skitch to mock up changes to live web sites. There are plenty of great uses for the app, and seeing as it costs you nothing it's worth having around even if it is only a semi-regular convenience.
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Where It Falls Short
Skitch initially had issues with a somewhat confusing interface due to the many tools it offered, but recent updates have mostly solved that problem. Sharing tools have improved as well. While we appreciate the changes, some users do not. Reviews on the Mac App Store criticize Skitch for becoming too bloated like it's big brother Evernote. Because Evernote owns Skitch, the it favors the notebook app over everything else. While you can export your creations, Skitch makes it easier to work with the Evernote and that can be a little annoying if you don't want to use them together.
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The Competition
Grab, the built-in Mac OS X service that captures screenshots, might be sufficient for most people. If you're looking to pair an upload service to it, you can just add the great and free Cloud App. It can automatically upload your screenshots after you taking them. You won't get to annotate, draw on, or do anything fancy to them, but you it's a quick and easy way to share everything on your screen without any features you (potentially) don't need.
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Captur (Free) isn't really a full-fledge screenshot tool but adds some extra functionality to the one built-in to Mac OS X. Instead of relying on keyboard shortcuts, you can use Captur to initiate common screenshot tasks from the menubar.
Snagit ($50) was initially only for Windows, and a Lifehacker reader favorite, but now it is available for Mac. It offers a lot of the same functionality as Skitch, yet it costs $50. Why would you pay $50 when you've got an app that does the same thing for free? I don't know.
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ReadJing (Free) comes from the same people who make Snagit. It's similar, but with fewer features, and focuses on the online and social aspects of sharing your screen. One big advantage it offers is video capture. If you want images and video and don't want to pay for them, plus some pretty good online sharing options, you'll want to give Jing a look.
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LittleSnapper ($40) is a favorite among some, but I've never been able to see how anyone can justify paying $40 for a screenshot tool. To Little Snapper's advantage, it offers a very nice image management tool and integrated web site clipping option. It used to include use of the web app Ember, allowing you to upload anything you snapped or stored in LittleSnapper, but the developers sold Ember to the developers of Cloud App in early 2011. What LittleSnapper offers is, essentially, a pretty good app for organization. Why you'd want to pay $40 to better-organize your screenshots, however, is something I don't entirely understand. (And I say this having used the app for about a month.) Nonetheless, some people do and some people love it. It is a good app, and definitely more attractive. Skitch is just better at the important stuff.
Lifehacker's App Directory is a new and growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools in a number of given categories.
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