Special Edition – The New Firefox 3.5

Mozilla releases Firefox 3.5

Firefox 3.5 has a range of new features, including a new JavaScript engine for faster Web applications such as Google Docs; the ability to show video built into Web pages without plug-ins; a private browsing mode; fancy downloadable fonts; and geolocation technology that can let Web sites know where you are.

Firefox 3.5 - Full Review by PC Magazine

3.5 builds on everything you everything that made the previous versions of Firefox great, like the myriad extensions and themes and the "awesome" address bar for quickly getting where you're going on the Web. The result? An impressive piece of software gets even better.

Firefox add-ons: Which work in 3.5?

We've compiled what is by no means an exhaustive list of extensions that we find do and do not work in Firefox 3.5 at launch. Add your insights to the comments--we'll be updating this post throughout the day. Mozilla also has a compatibility report that takes the 95 percent most-used add-ons and matches them to their version numbers. A quick glance will tell you if your favorites are a go.

With 3.5 launch, Firefox faces new challengers

A funny thing to happened to Firefox on the way to vanquishing Internet Explorer: the Mozilla browser's success opened the door for a host of its other competitors.

Avast Home Edition - New Version

This is a brand new edition of Avast. If you are a user, you might wish to update.

Google Voice is Getting Close

Google Voice takes a step toward launch

Google hasn't yet launched Google Voice publicly, but it did take a step in that direction on Thursday by starting to extend invitations to those who signed up on a waiting list for the Net-augmented telephone service. Have you signed up yet for an invite? I sure did.

Facebook wants you to do it live

When Facebook launched its latest redesign, it became evident that the company was putting a lot of emphasis on real-time information--inspired, undoubtedly, by the runaway success of Twitter. Now the company's rolled out two small but crucial new features that put instant updates even more front and center.

10 things you should know about Windows XP's System Restore tool

If a crash makes your Windows XP system flaky or unbootable, you can use System Restore to return it to a previous working state. These pointers will show you how to effectively use this safety net.

Finjan offers free SecureTwitter browser plug-in

Finally, there's a tool that can help prevent people from clicking on URLs that appear to come from friends on Twitter and other social media sites but which lead to sites hosting malware.

ShareThis :: Add-ons for Firefox

ShareThis makes sharing any online content quick and easy. The ShareThis plugin allows you to share text, pictures and video to any contact via email, IM, text message, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, Twitter and many more services.

More New Windows 7 Information

Pre-order Windows 7: Find participating online retailers in the US

Microsoft's Windows 7 pre-order is up, and in addition to Amazon, there are a number of retailers offering Home Premium and Professional at significant discounts.

Thumbing Windows 7 onto Netbooks

Microsoft is considering offering Windows 7 on a thumb drive to allow Netbook owners to more easily upgrade their machines. The move, which is still under consideration, is one of several things Microsoft has looked at to try to make it convenient to upgrade machines that don't come with a CD or DVD drives.

Power-Management Changes in Windows 7

Microsoft has done much to make Windows 7 all the things that Vista should have been, but perhaps one of the least heralded improvements is in power management. Windows 7 includes a host of enhancements that change how the OS interacts with hardware to make the most of the power going to your home PC and of what you use when you're on the road with your laptop.

FTC Is Ready to Pounce on Dishonest Bloggers

Good news, the Federal Trade Commission has cleared its decks and now has time to address one of the most pressing issues in society: Bloggers who get free products, write about them and then fail to report that they got a free product. Thank goodness. We're all saved.

Monitor your Intel CPU temperature with Real Temp

Sure, you know that your CPU heats up when you ask too much of it. But do you know just how hot it gets? Real Temp can tell you.

Order Your Windows 7 Upgrade Starting Tomorrow at 1/2 Price

Microsoft unveils 'screaming deals' for Windows 7

The program kicks off tomorrow, June 26, in the United States, Canada, and Japan. It’s scheduled to end July 11 in the U.S. and Canada —”or while supplies last,” Microsoft notes. The discount is 50% or more over the normal estimated retail price (ERP) of the two mainstream consumer editions. In the United States, you’ll be able to buy a Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade for $50

Microsoft's Windows 7 pricing: Too high, too low, or just right?

There’s still plenty we don’t know about Windows 7 pricing, such as how much Microsoft is charging PC makers per copy of Windows 7, which may have an impact on what PC makers will charge for new Windows 7 PCs. Microsoft isn’t talking about whether it will offer a Family Pack for Windows 7 and how much that will cost.

Windows installs updates without permission, researchers say

Windows is installing "surprise updates" against the wishes of some users, who have expressly set up the operating system not to deploy patches without permission, researchers charge. Numerous readers of the popular Windows Secrets newsletter have reported that they have watched their PCs install updates from the June 9 set of security patches as they've rebooted or when they've turned on their machines

More good reasons to leave Office on the shelf

In his June 18 Top Story, WS contributing editor Scott Spanbauer presented several free and low-cost alternatives to Microsoft's ubiquitous productivity suite. If you need more reasons to shutter your Office apps, take a look at some of the suggestions that poured in from readers in response to the story.

Kinetikz - Time Waster Game

Kinetikz is a simple shooting physics game where the goal is to shoot discs at a ball and manage to move the ball into the goal tile. Getting the ball into the goal replenishes your limited supply of discs, while running out of discs ends the game.

Is Blu-Ray Dying?

Blu-ray buzzkill: the death-spiral

Will consumers upgrade to Blu-ray? The CEO & co-founder of fast growing Netflix believes mailed DVDs shall be replaced by web-sent movies. And a recent Harris Poll finds that people today are less likely to buy a Blu-ray player than they were last year.

Google's digital-book future hangs in the balance

Google, the company best equipped and most motivated to digitize the world's books, wants to offer the world an online Library of Alexandria. The decisions of the Justice Department, authors, book publishers, a federal judge, and Google itself likely will determine whether the company actually does.

Study: Netbook Buyers Clueless About Netbooks

According to a study by the NPD Group, 60-percent of consumers who purchased a netbook believed that their machines are the same as notebooks.

FriendFeed introduces file sharing

Sharing pictures on FriendFeed is nothing new, but now it's just as easy to share other file types on the popular social network.

Three approaches to free encrypted online storage

SpiderOak gives you up to 2GB of secure online storage for free but requires that you download a big client program, though you can access your data via a browser. The free storage offered by CryptoHeaven and SwissDisk top out at 50MB, but both of these services have more to offer, and SwissDisk doesn't even require a client download.

Bye Bye, Kodachrome

Jobs recovering from liver transplant

Apple CEO Steve Jobs had a liver transplant in Tennessee about two months ago and is said to be recovering well, according to a Wall Street Journal report that cites unnamed sources. Jobs still is expected to return to work later this month, as expected, though he may come back on a part time basis.

Kodak to end production of Kodachrome

It’s the end of an era. Kodak has just announced that its killing off its Kodachrome color film brand this year after 74 years. The cause? Stiff competition from digital cameras. Just not enough people are using film these days to keep products like Kodachrome profitable to produce.

Don't stop believing in the RIAA's capacity for evil

Another file-swapping lawsuit, another outrageous verdict. Something's deeply wrong with the laws controlling copyrights

How to Buy a D-SLR Camera

If you're feeling limited by what your point-and-shoot camera can do, it might be time to upgrade to a D-SLR. Here's how to choose the best shooter to fit your needs and your budget.

Atomic Clock Sync - Free software

Reference an atomic clock server to get the current time with the greatest accuracy available and update your PC's information. It can even be set to automatically check the time once a day to keep your PC's time accurate forever.

More Good Info on Browsers + Windows 7 Bargain Prices

Leaked Best Buy memo offers Windows 7 details

The memo also says that on June 26, Best Buy will start preselling upgrade versions of Windows 7 Home Premium for $49 and Windows 7 Professional for $99 via its Web site. It's not totally clear whether those are standard or promotional prices, although the memo says the pre-order program will run only for 16 days.

Top 10 Firefox 3.5 Features - Firefox 3.5

Firefox 3.5 is a pretty substantial update to the popular open-source browser, and it's just around the corner. See what features, fixes, and clever new tools are worth getting excited about in the next big release.

Microsoft's IE8 "Get the facts" campaign - heavy on propaganda, light on facts

I just saw the official Microsoft web page where users can "get the facts" on Internet Explorer 8, and boy, is it full of weasel words and misinformation!

That e-mail attachment is not a Twitter invite

Symantec is warning about a mass-mailing worm that comes in an attachment pretending to be a Twitter invite.

Protect Your Laptop With Seven Must-Have Firefox Add-Ons

When you're out and about with your laptop, you probably like to frequent spots where you know you can score easy access to the Internet via a hotspot. When you're outside your own home network, though, which you've probably secured with a password against strangers, you're often at your most vulnerable. You never know who you're sharing a network with.

Will the Web Get Even Better? You Bet!

Firefox 3.5 'Web upgrade' planned for end of June

Firefox 3.5 comes with a spate of new features--5,000 total, according to Mozilla. Among the major ones: built-in video; local storage to enable richer Web applications that can work even with no network connection; a private browsing mode; geolocation to aid Web pages that can benefit from knowing a user's location; and faster performance loading pages and executing Web-based JavaScript programs.

Will new browsers really upgrade the Web?

Mozilla is exhorting users to "upgrade the Web" with Firefox 3.5 and variations on that better-browsing theme can be found with Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari, and Opera. The hope is that the Web will evolve from a series of relatively static pages to a lively home for Web applications--everything from today's e-mail to tomorrow's spreadsheets. But it could take awhile for reality to catch up with the vision. Interesting article.

Learning from Iran's Twitter Revolution

How did we have revolutions before Twitter? It seems like democracy is an inevitable result of Internet access, something that officials in Iran and China are now both fumbling with at their peril. As we watch both nations' ham-handed efforts at cramming the Internet genie back into the bottle, it's obvious that connected people are empowered people.

iTunes ain't the only gig in town

MediaMonkey is an excellent free jukebox that handles large collections especially well. Just updated to version 3.1, its ID3 tags, CD and DVD, and full-featured encoder are just the beginning. A $20 upgrade gets you, among other things, on-the-fly file conversion to your personal media player of choice. Other alternatives, like the free, open-source Songbird and aTunes, are also definitely worth your time and attention. CNET Download.com Editor Seth Rosenblatt explains what differentiates them here.

How to Buy a Digital Photo Frame

LCD technology is finally becoming affordable enough for these frames to be had at reasonable prices. We've reviewed a bunch of digital photo frames and have found that you can land a great bargain on an excellent one; but you need to know what to look for. So here are our rules for picking the perfect digital picture frame.

New iPhone and Their Updated OS

iPhone 3G S hits stores Friday: Will the crowds follow?

Despite the intense amount of interest in Apple's third-generation iPhone, this Friday's launch of the device may not bring out the hordes of Apple fans like it has in years past.

First look: iPhone OS 3.0 is better for business, but IT won't be satisfied

The hype over the new iPhone 3.0 OS has matched Apple's previous frenzied heights. We've all been guilty of getting excited over a new version that added long-desired capabilities such as copy and paste and content searching, but now that the new OS is real (it became available yesterday), does it live up to our hopes and dreams?

Microsoft backtracks, extends XP availability to 2011

After being hammered over its downgrade plan, Microsoft gives OEMs more time to sell XP PCs

Microsoft Security Essentials Public Beta

Microsoft created MSE to address a very simple problem: Far too many PCs are unprotected with up-to-date anti-malware products. The company tells me there are a number of reasons for this. First, because many new PCs come with only time-limited security solutions, some users believe they're protected even though the initial subscription period may have ended. Some don't even activate the free, bundled solutions at all. Some--especially those in emerging markets--can't or won't pay for security suites, most of which need to be renewed every year.

Break from MS Office with free alternatives

If you're thinking of skipping the next expensive Microsoft Office upgrade, you can begin preparing today for the move to a free Office-like suite or Web service. It is not mentioned in the article, but I kind of like Lotus Symphony also.

The State Dept and Twitter

US State Department Reschedules Twitter Maintenance Due to Iran Primetime

Reuters are reporting that the US State Department stepped in and asked Twitter to postpone maintenance in order not to disrupt service during Iranian daytime.

Microsoft's Bing has a second good week

For the week of June 8 to 12, Microsoft's search engines were used by 16.7 percent of those doing searches and accounted for 12.1 percent of all queries, both up 3 percentage points from where Microsoft was at before Bing's launch. Personally, I think Bing is very good.

How well do Netbooks work with Web apps?

Netbooks are an incredibly exciting new product category, and one that's undergoing constant evolution. Designed to handle e-mail, Web browsing, and some basic software apps, they are somewhat limited when compared with most full-size laptops, but how limited? I wanted to find out.

More on 'Unite': Opera's new browser-server

Opera Unite, is a Web server housed within the Opera browser. With it, you'll be able to host a Web site, and share files, music, video, notes, and chats with others. The sharing process begins when you select the hard drive where your files are stored, and then select the individual files you'd like to share. You'll then set your sharing preferences--either public, private, or password-protected--and Opera Unite will create a direct URL, which you can share with others. Guests can view the content from any browser, not just Opera's. This is very intriguing.

Picture and Sound Show

The Picture and Sound Show is a free 32-bit screensaver for Windows that enables you to create your own slide shows from pictures and sounds on your computer.

New Firefox and Opera Coming Soon.

Firefox 3.5 'Web upgrade' planned for end of June

Mozilla plans to issue a release candidate for Firefox 3.5 on Friday and the final version by the end of the month. The browser, code-named Shiretoko, began its life as a modest 3.1 upgrade. But as Mozilla's ambitions expanded and other browsers such as Google Chrome exerted competitive pressure, the new Firefox was promoted to version 3.5 and its planned ship date slid back several months.

Opera 10 with Unite Turns PCs Into Servers for Content

Norwegian browser company Opera Software has released an alpha version of Unite, software that turns a computer into both a client and a server, allowing it to distribute content to other computers directly across the Web, without the need for traditional Web servers.  This one could be quite interesting!

Google's censorship struggles continue in China

Google was going to help democratize data in China. Instead, about three years after entering the Middle Kingdom, the search company still finds itself in an uncomfortable working relationship with government censors.

The Perfect Mobile Phone Is (Nearly) Here

As the world begins to adjust to the mobile phone as a computing platform, we have to recognize the fact that for many people the device is bound to become the complete substitute for all computing needs.  By John C. Dvorak.

Why enterprises are moving to Google Apps, Gmail

Businesses are finding they can simplify IT and reduce the number of in-house servers while maintaining key functionality by moving to Google's hosted applications.  Maybe their conversion might be useful for you to know about.

Editors Note: This note is for those of you who get my blogs via e-mail. One of my faithful readers notified me yesterday that he was receiving junk e-mail from someone who was using my GoogleGroups account, the one I use to distribute both my blogs to subscribers via e-mail.  I too had received the same junk mail, but hadn’t noticed its source.  I scoured my GoogleGroups membership list and found the person responsible and immediately banned them for life.  So, you should not be receiving any more junk mail from some slimeball named Rachael.  My apologies for not catching this sooner.

Get Your Firefox Fix Today

Mozilla slaps band-aid on 11 Firefox flaws

Mozilla has joined this week’s patchapalooza with the release of a Firefox update to fix 11 documented security vulnerabilities. Six of the 11 issues are in advisories rated “critical” because of the risk of code execution attacks that could allow hackers to take complete control of a compromised machine.

Need to Know: Google Wave

Google Wave is an important new web platform, and it presents a credible threat to Microsoft's online efforts. Here's what you need to know about Google Wave.

Look Ma, I created a botnet!

The abstract concepts of "botnet" and "Trojan" just became a lot more concrete for me. In less than an hour on Thursday, I was able to use programs readily available on the Internet underground for as little as $300 to infect several Windows clients and take complete control of them in a test environment.

6 multiclient IM apps to chat about

A variety of multiclient instant-messaging services have cropped up that allow users to communicate with each other over the Web. Some can be downloaded onto your desktop, while others can be accessed on the Internet. In either case, they're worth trying out, if you want to enjoy a fine experience communicating with your friends.

A users' guide to personalizing your Facebook URL

It really shouldn't be this much of a media sensation, but let's face it: Everybody's talking about how Facebook is finally letting members reserve vanity URLs, letting them customize the Web addresses that lead to their profiles. The feature goes live at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Saturday (9:01 p.m. PDT on Friday) and already, the pundits are going mad.

More Windows 7 Controversy

Windows 7 to push up netbook prices

Anyone putting off purchasing a netbook until the next-generation Atom processor, the N450, arrives in October, should expect to pay a premium thanks to the extra cost of Windows 7.

Windows 7 Won't Include Explorer In EU

Prompted by antitrust concerns, Microsoft said Thursday that it plans to ship a version of its Windows 7 operating system in Europe that does not come bundled with the Internet Explorer Web browser.

Cisco Network Magic Pro 5.5 - At A Glance

Cisco's Network Magic is a software Swiss Army knife for your network. Network Magic's Network Activity and Intruder Tracking are the big blades that slice away your networking confusion and provide information on all connected devices, while other features like File Sharing and Wireless Protection are the cool corkscrew and toothpick extras you'd find on a Victorinox knife.

The many ways to access Wolfram Alpha

Say what you will about Wolfram Alpha, the creators are hard at work trying to drum up interest in the site. On Tuesday, the WA crew launched a number of updates to its service, some of which I tested. Now the team's Thursday blog points you to the many "cool tools" you can use to access the site--buttons, widgets, gadgets, and more. You can grab them from the Wolfram Alpha download page, where you'll find the tools organized by operating system and browser. I took them all for a spin to see how they fared.

MAME - Free software downloads

MAME, short for Multi Arcade Machine Emulator, lets you relive the golden age of the video arcade right on your PC. Instead of playing copies or clones of arcade games, MAME lets you play the actual arcade game. A variety of games is available for demo evaluation downloads, including Crystal Castles, Burger Time, Joust, Xevious, Donkey Kong, Tempest, and of course, Space Invaders.

Your Favorite Web Site May Infect your Computer

Big-name sites spread latest malware infections

Going by such names as Gumblar, JSRedir-R, Martuz, and Beladin, a new generation of malware has managed to surreptitiously place malicious JavaScript code on tens of thousands of popular Web sites. The hacker scripts try to infect site visitors and then attempt to use their compromised PCs to spread the infection to yet other sites.

NoScript - A Free Firefox Add-on that Stops Scripts from Running

Malware spread by Websites use scripts to infect your computer.  The NoScript Firefox extension provides extra protection for Firefox, Flock, Seamonkey and other mozilla-based browsers: this free, open source add-on allows JavaScript, Java and Flash and other plugins to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice (e.g. your online bank), and provides the most powerful Anti-XSS protection available in a browser. This can prevent the kind of infections listed in the previous story.

What You Need to Know About Digital Television - News and Analysis by PC Magazine

Time's Up: The DTV Transition Happens Tomorrow. I know that all of you reading this understand what's going to happen tomorrow, but I bet you know an aunt, uncle, grandparent or elderly neighbor who just isn't ready. Read up on the facts and then get out there and help them with their analog TVs before it's too late.

Lifehacker - Lifehacker Speed Tests: Safari 4, Chrome 2, and More

Safari, Chrome, and Internet Explorer all reached new final versions of recently, while Firefox and Opera pushed their own web browsers into almost-there betas. We pulled out the digital stopwatch and testing kits to see how they measured up.

Microsoft will soon unveil free virus software

Microsoft Corp is getting ready to unveil a long-anticipated free anti-virus service for PCs that will compete with products sold by Symantec Corp and McAfee Inc.

Apple and Microsoft Making News

Apple Announces iPhone 3G S, New Macbooks - News and Analysis by PC Magazine

Apple kicked off its annual World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco Monday by announcing refreshes across various product lines, including the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, OS X, Safari--and most hotly anticipated, the iPhone.

Microsoft patches 31 Windows, IE, Office security holes

Microsoft’s batch of patches this month is a big one: 10 bulletins covering a total of 31 documented vulnerabilities affecting the Windows OS, the Internet Explorer browser and the Microsoft Office productivity suite (Word, Works and Excel).

Windows Live Essentials: Does it hit or miss the mark?

Windows 7 has moved many tools out of the OS and into a free download. How do they measure up?

Budget Shopping Tips: Software

Ask yourself how many features of that $30, $60, or $200 program you're really going to use. If the answer is less than half, you can probably make do with freeware or with a less expensive shareware application. If you're already comfortable finding, downloading, and using freeware alternatives to pricey, branded software, then congratulations.

Jing - Free software downloads and reviews

The always-ready program that instantly captures and shares images and video... from your computer to anywhere. The Jing sun sits nicely on your desktop, ready to capture at a moments notice. Select an area on your screen, capture it as an image or record as video. Make it your own by adding text, arrows, and other effects. Share instantly over the web, IM, and email.

Editor’s Note: I am currently on the road again for a few days so blogs may be fewer than usual.  Will be back on schedule next week. - Jim

CyberSecurity, Netbooks, Wave, and Bing

Experts: Obama cybersecurity plan short on details

U.S. President Barack Obama's new cybersecurity report is short on details and creates a federal coordinator position that may have limited power, some cybersecurity experts said Monday. The new cybersecurity coordinator will report both to the U.S. National Security Council and the National Economic Council, raising concerns that whoever Obama names will have split priorities.

Netbooks on verge of big shake-up

As the Netbook sector enters its third year, new chips and operating systems hold the potential for massive change

Digital TV conversion figures: 5 percent switch to cable, 8 percent buy new HDTV

As the transition to a 100-percent digital TV landscape officially comes at the end of the week, market research firm Knowledge Networks has crunched some numbers to find out that about a quarter of TV households were impacted by the switch.

Bing Beta Review, Part 1, The Making of a Decision Engine

According to Microsoft - "For general searches, you can use Google or whatever. But if you want to make a decision with more confidence--related to travel, health, shopping, and some other key scenarios--try us first. Because we can actually save you time and money." And they may be correct.

Hands-on with Wave: Weird and quite wonderful

Google just opened up to a limited audience its very interesting communications experiment called Wave (news stories). Our hands-on evaluation: there's a lot to like. It really is a more contemporary take on communications. But it will knock many e-mail users off-balance.

Microsoft Steals This Day

Microsoft to plug holes in Windows, IE, Word, Office and Excel

Microsoft will release 10 security updates on Patch Tuesday next week, including critical patches for holes in Windows, IE, Word, Office and Excel. The six critical vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to remotely execute code on a machine, according to the Microsoft security bulletin issued on Thursday.

Microsoft Outlook users targeted in phishing attempt

The phishing e-mail arrives in Outlook e-mail in-boxes and looks like it comes from Microsoft. It prompts recipients to reconfigure their Outlook by clicking on a link that leads to a Web site that asks for an account name and password, as well as mail server information,

Windows 7 Starter Edition limits netbook designs

Don't be fooled: Windows 7 Home Premium works very well on most netbooks — the machines don't need Starter Edition. Despite what you may have read, Microsoft didn't devise Starter Edition to run on smaller, less-well-endowed computers. Rather, the company needed something cheaper than Home Premium to sell to the ultra-low-cost crowd. Keep that fact in mind while you sift through the marketing hype.

Microsoft Bing - Full Review by PC Magazine

With Bing, Microsoft's goal is not only to finding Web pages for you, but also to help you make decisions, and to deliver useful information on the results page itself. And in many ways, it succeeds.

State of the Art - Palm Gets It Right With Pre, Its New Smartphone

The star of this summer blockbuster is Palm. Over the years, this once-great company lost its talent for everything but making business blunders. Pundits were predicting Palm’s passing — but then the new Palm Pre appeared. The Pre, which goes on sale Saturday, is an elegant, joyous, multitouch smartphone; it’s the iPhone remixed.

Netbooks, SmartBooks, and Apple Haters

Intel Targets All-day Battery Life for Netbooks

The target, a sure-fire way to praise from road warriors, is more easily said than done. Most of today's laptops offer between three and five hours on a standard three-cell battery and close to double that on a six-cell battery. But the longer-life batteries are bulkier and heavier, and that negates a lot of the reason for having a slim and lightweight machine.

Update: Microsoft to leave SmartBooks to Google

Microsoft doesn't plan to offer a version of Windows for so-called "smartbooks," leaving the space open to Linux, Google's Android and other operating systems. Smartbooks are a new class of device built around ARM-based chips from companies like Qualcomm, Freescale, and Texas Instruments. A number of PC makers are working on smartbook designs, which are targeted at the space between smartphones and netbooks

Yahoo Mail Filters Your Inbox by Contacts and Connections

Yahoo's email service rolled out an interesting new feature today that filters your inbox to show only emails from contacts or "connections" to help you get to your most important emails first.

Apple Faithful: Arrogance Is Not a Virtue, and Why I Will Never Buy a Mac

People have often characterized me as an “Apple hater” but this is actually a simplistic assessment of what I feel about the company and its products, since arguably my entire history with personal computing began with Apple.

FileHamster - Free software download

FileHamster is a version tracking application designed with content creators in mind. It provides real-time backup and archiving of your files while you work. It enables you to monitor specific files on your hard drive and automatically create incremental backups whenever those files are modified.

Windows 7 Official Launch Date

Windows 7 to launch October 22

The official date on which Windows 7 will be available for general purchase is October 22, 2009. The RTM code will be delivered to partners at the end of July.

Facebook Remains Stubbornly Proud Of Position On Holocaust Denial

“Denying the holocaust is not a violation of our terms,” says Facebook spokesperson Barry Schnitt in a comment to our post yesterday. Meanwhile, Facebook’s ban on pictures showing nipples from breast feeding women remains. The pictures are pornography and a violation of Facebook’s terms of service. What?

Apple plugs gaping QuickTime security holes

Apple today released QuickTime 7.6.2 with fixes for a variety of security vulnerabilities, some of which could lead to arbitrary code execution attacks. The update, available for Mac OS X, Windows XP and Windows Vista, covers a total of 10 documented vulnerabilities that could be exploited via booby-trapped movie, video, image and audio files.

How to Buy a Cell Phone

These days, smartphones get all the buzz, but the vast majority of handsets sold in the U.S. are actually feature phones: camera phones, music phones, rugged phones, messaging phones, or just plain voice phones.

Bing :: Firefox Add-ons

Want to add Microsoft's New Search engine "Bing" to Firefox? Here is a simple free plugin that will do the job. I did it and I must admit I like Bing.

Latest Updates on Windows 7

Two Words about Windows 7: Higher Prices

Technically speaking, Windows 7 is exactly what Microsoft needs in order to recover from its Vista fiasco. Too bad the company seems to want to shoot itself in the foot.

Are you ready to ditch XP for Windows 7?

According to NetApplications, Windows XP is still the OS of choice for users out there in ComputerLand, with some two-thirds of users still making use of the aging OS. If you are an XP user, has what you’ve seen of Windows 7 made you willing to ditch XP?

Experts: Gumblar attack is alive, worse than Conficker

Gumblar, a new attack that compromises Web sites, has added new domain names that are downloading malware onto unsuspecting computers, stealing FTP credentials to compromise more sites, and tampering with Web traffic,

Skype 4.1 beta: Share your Windows screen

Skype's screen sharing feature is a clever addition to the VoIP communications application. In our tests it was engaging, especially when paired with Skype's voice calling and chatting capabilities.

CopyPasteTool 1.0 (Windows), from CopyPasteTool

Free small tool for pasting several pieces of text from clipboard without popup user-interface. It extends behavior of standard clipboard hotkeys CTRL+C and CTRL+V. When this tool is running user can press CTRL+V a several times (hold down CTRL) for accessing to previous clipboard values.