MS Office to Become Available as a Subscription Service

Category: Software
Posted: July 2, 2008 12:55PM
Author: Dale Shuck

Microsoft and Circuit City are partnering together to offer consumers a subscription-based service that includes MS Office, Windows Live One Care, Photo Gallery and Messenger. Marketed under the name Equipt, the $69.99 annual subscription will be available only through Circuit City and will include free upgrades. Microsoft already offers subscription services to its commercial clients. MS Office includes the Word, Excel and PowerPoint applications. By using a subscription service, consumers would be able to get the latest versions of te software as they become available. For those users that rarely use all of the latest and greatest features though, the $70 annual fee could prove unattractive as MS Office Home can be had for around $112.

Firefox Market Share Hits 19%

Category: Software
Posted: July 2, 2008 12:41PM
Author: Dale Shuck

Mozilla Corp. released its updated browser, Firefox 3.0, last month with a push to set a new world record for most number of downloads of a new release in a 24 hour period. Now results show that Firefox posted a 0.6% market share increase in June to 19% of the overall browser market. Safari and Opera also eked out small gains in June as well. These increases come at the expense of Microsoft's Internet Explorer which fell to 73%. The bulk of Firefox's increase came following the June 17 release of Firefox 3.0. All three alternative browsers hit all time highs with IE hitting a corresponding record low. If these trends continue, Firefox is expected to break 20% market share this month.

Firefox 3 Shows Quick Adoption Rates

Category: Software
Posted: June 18, 2008 09:10AM
Author: Ben Grantham

It looks like the Firefox 3 download day, which was setup to try and break a download record, has spurred the adoption of the new browser. Less than 24 hours after it was made available, FF3 now lays claim to an impressive share of over 4% of browser usage figures. Mozilla servers have been under pressure to provide all those downloads (which now clock in at over 7 million), with them struggling under the shear weight of requests at times. Download rates peaked at 14,000 copies of FF per minute (which is in the region of 13 gigabits per second). FF3 market share already surpasses that of competing browser Opera, and is quickly catching Safari's 6.25% (May).

Firefox 3 Download Day Today

Category: Software
Posted: June 17, 2008 03:24AM
Author: Ben Grantham

As we have reported previously, Firefox 3 will launch today and is aiming to break a download record in the process. Over 1.5 million people have pledged to download Firefox 3 on release day, with downloading set to go live at 10 a.m. PDT. For a breakdown of when exactly that will be in your local area, you can check here. You'll be able to find out if a new download record has been set in around a week, so remember to get downloading and make it happen!

Wine Version 1.0 almost ready

Category: Software
Posted: June 12, 2008 10:58PM
Author: Andrew Robinson

Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) is a program loader which allows user of Unix based operating systems to use Microsoft Windows based applications. Wine runs those programs natively without the inherent loss of performance from using a program to emulate Windows in a virtual console. After 15 years of grueling work the WINE developers have finally stated a release date for version 1.0.

Firefox 3.0 To Be Released Tuesday

Category: Internet, Software
Posted: June 12, 2008 09:09AM
Author: ClayMeow

As reported here yesterday, Mozilla released a third Release Candidate and gave no indication on how long testing would take and whether it would meet its mid-June deadline.  Well apparently the hiccup didn't last long.  As Firefox is the browser of choice by most OCCers, I'm sure most of you will be glad to hear that Mozilla will be officially launching Firefox 3.0 on Tuesday. If you want to help set a new world record, be sure to download it on Tuesday along with over a million other people.

Firefox 3.0 to Go to Third Release Candidate

Category: Software
Posted: June 11, 2008 01:36PM
Author: Dale Shuck

If you pledged to download Firefox 3.0 and help set a new world download record you'll have to wait a couple more days as Mozilla have decided to go to a third release candidate for its upcoming Firefox 3.0 browser. After Mozilla decided to go to the second release candidate to fix some issues instead of patching them later, testing on Windows and Linux machines with RC2 showed everything was looking stable. Now it's problems with Mac OS X that's holding up the final release. After Apple came out with its 10.5.3 upgrade, testing on that platform showed problems with Firefox plug-ins that caused the browser to crash. Even with the recent delay, Mozilla has given no indication this will cause it to miss its mid-June target release date.

Adobe Acrobat to Get Flashy

Category: Internet, Software
Posted: June 4, 2008 05:31PM
Author: ClayMeow

On Monday, Adobe plans on unveiling the next iteration of one of the most popular applications in the world, Adobe Acrobat. It wouldn't be a new version if it didn't come with a new feature or two, and the big one coming to Adobe Acrobat 9 is Flash support. That's right...soon, people will be able to embed Flash multimedia right into a PDF file. Adobe Acrobat has had some interactivity for a few years now, such as hyperlinking to websites, but this will be the first time Acrobat will support any form of animated content. However, this begs the question on whether Acrobat is moving away from its original intention of being, well, a "Portable Document Format."  How portable is something you'll no longer be able to view on some mobile devices, or no longer be able to print out with everything intact? I for one often print out PDF files of manuals and guides and such.

Pandora Desktop Music Application Becomes a Reality

Category: Software
Posted: June 4, 2008 11:32AM
Author: Carl Dunham

Internet radio adds entertainment and relaxation to the home life while making the working mans every day grind just a little more bearable (if the boss isn’t around). One of the more popular internet radio publishers is a Music Genome Project known as Pandora which allows you to shape your own custom stations on the genre, artist or songs you like. Pandora is looking to update and expand its online radio onto your desktop through an application that resides in your system tray or dock depending if you have Windows or a Mac. Although this is a huge step forward for Pandora be warned that this is not a completed app just yet as it is still in its beta phase, but that doesn’t mean you can’t jump in and test it out! The downside is that you will have to put up with some ads, as this is how the online version of Pandora is funded it would make sense that the desktop app would follow suit.

iPhone Applications Coming Soon

Category: Software
Posted: June 3, 2008 12:03PM
Author: Carl Dunham

iPhone users will get a nice addition this coming Monday with the ability to finally use third-party applications on that slick little device. Steve Jobs is expected to unveil Apple’s App Store at the Worldwide Developers Conference, App Store will be the only way to get and install applications on your iPhone. Developers have to submit their applications to Apple for product testing and verification before they will be allowed to enter Apple's App Store. Apple isn’t doing this out of the kindness however as they will be making 30 percent off of every application sold for the iPhone. The iPhone applications will be compatible with current versions of the iPhone as well as the new 3G version which is expected out later this month so upgrading to the newer model isn't necessary at this time.

Mozilla Wants to Set World Record with Firefox 3.0

Category: Software
Posted: May 29, 2008 10:50AM
Author: Dale Shuck

It may sound crazy, but Mozilla wants to set a world record with the upcoming release of Firefox 3.0. Mozilla is asking users to join in a pledge campaign promising to download the latest version of its Firefox browser on release day in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for the most number of software downloads in 24 hours. While the official release date has not been announced, you can follow the link above to the pledge site for more information. Mozilla expects the release to happen in June. According to the site, no record of this nature has ever been attempted so their goal is to beat the 1.6 million downloads recorded by Firefox 2 on its release day and hopefully hit 5 million downloads. Mozilla is asking everyone to play nice and not download multiple copies and is taking pains to not count incomplete or duplicate downloads.

Mozilla to Issue Firefox 3.0 Second Release Candidate

Category: Software
Posted: May 27, 2008 06:16PM
Author: Dale Shuck

Last week we reported on several bugs uncovered in Firefox 3.0 RC1. At the time, Mozilla was wrestling with the decision on whether to release Firefox 3.0 as is and patch the bugs in a later update or delay the final release and issue a second release candidate. Today Mozilla announced it has decided to go with the second release candidate which will push the final release date back by about five days. That means the final product should be available by mid-June. There were about 40 bugs total, most of which had already been patched. Of the 40, approximately a quarter of them related to localized versions of Firefox. If all proceeds according to plan, RC2 should be released just after June 5.

Bugs Identified in Firefox 3.0 RC1

Category: Software
Posted: May 23, 2008 02:14PM
Author: Dale Shuck

Mozilla posted the first Firefox 3.0 release candidate last week. Today Mozilla announced it has tagged ten high-priority bugs in release candidate 1, three of which were deemed critical. Since it is still gathering feedback from users, Mozilla has not reached a decision on whether to release 3.0 as is or go to a second release candidate. Of the ten, eight affect Firefox on all the major operating systems and two were specific to Linux only. Mozilla said testing on the bugs is ongoing so that fixes would be available in case a decision is made to go with RC2.

Climate Change Data Added To Google Earth

Category: Software
Posted: May 22, 2008 04:23PM
Author: Ben Grantham

Climate change. A worldwide and interesting topic for discussion, but one of the challenges associated with it is presenting research data in a way the the general public will understand. Google have teamed up with the British government to add new layers to Google Earth that highlight how climate change could potentially affect the planet. One layer, developed with the Met Office Hadley Centre illustrates temperature modelling data for the next hundred years, while the British Antarctic Survey have produced a layer which shows how they measure climate change in that region of the world. More detail, and a video of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown talking about the initiative (well, more about the global economy) can be found on Google's LatLong blog.

Next Adobe Creative Suite to Allow User-Created Widgets

Category: Software
Posted: May 20, 2008 10:24AM
Author: ClayMeow

According to Adobe, its next version of the extremely popular Photoshop and other applications within the Creative Suite may allow users to create their own widgets to easily add and share custom functionality.  How it will work hasn't been fully described just yet, but it would involve coding the widgets in Flash or Flex, and could allow cross-program compatibility within the Creative Suite.  In other words, create a general widget for Photoshop and Illustrator in one shot.  Personally I'm wary of such an open-ended structure since we don't yet know what the "base program" would include.  Everyone who has used Photoshop knows how resource intensive it can be.  I feel Adobe has made great strides in CS3 to improve performance, but I worry that allowing user-created widgets would risk the stability and performance of Creative Suite applications.  On the other hand, it should lower the cost of the applications, which is always a good thing.  Time will tell how this shapes up.

Firefox 3 RC1 Now Available

Category: Software
Posted: May 17, 2008 08:11PM
Author: Ben Grantham

The first release candidate of Firefox 3 is now available for download in 45 languages, not long after it was reported that the RC1 code had been completed. This part of the process is mainly aimed at getting user feedback before the browser enters the final release stage. Firefox 3 contains a number improvements over FF2, many of which we have reported on previously. If you want to get the low down on exactly what's new, then you should read the full release notes here. If you do decide to install RC1, you should note that add-on support is likely to be lacking and that unlike previous beta versions, it will overwrite your FF2 installation.

Firefox 3 RC1 Should Be Available Late May

Category: Software
Posted: May 13, 2008 09:43PM
Author: Ben Grantham

Firefox 3 will be the next big step in the successful browsers life cycle, adding support for new features as well as improvements to effeciency and coding. If you have been keeping apace with the development process of FF3 you will already know that the latest update was Beta 5 at the beginning of April. Anyone who has been using the beta versions will probably tell you that page rendering speed has been given a nice boost and that, along with other improvements this is shaping up to be a very decent final release. Word now comes that the RC1 code has been completed and will be entering the Quality Assurance process, with a planned late May launch date. Some add-ons still haven't been updated for compatibility with the version 3 beta (the only reason it's not this news editors primary browser), though hopefully those will start to roll in with RC1. You can keep up with Firefox 3 news at the Mozilla Developer Center.

Stanford to Announce Parallel Computing Lab

Category: Software
Posted: May 1, 2008 09:23AM
Author: Dale Shuck

Stanford University is partnering with some of the world's largest hardware and graphics processor manufacturers to research and develop new methods for parallel processing. Stanford is poised to announce the Pervasive Parallelism Lab with support from major companies such as Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems and IBM. With multi-core processors now the norm and chips with even more processor cores on the horizon, software that makes use of all the extra processing power has not kept pace. The latest processors, both CPUs and GPUs, have largely abandoned the megahertz race and have instead turned to adding additional processor cores to improve performance. All of the companies supporting the lab have a major stake in improving the ease with which programmers can develop software to take advantage of the extra cores. Parallel programming is more difficult than the serial programming approach most programs use today. Stanford intends to address this issue by developing new programming languages designed for parallel computing as well as creating hardware for multi-core processors. Stanford has already down significant work with the Brook programming language designed for parallel computing and has been able to apply this work to their Folding@Home project in the form of a GPU software client. In addition Stanford has also developed SMP Folding@Home clients for both Linux and Windows to make use of multiple processor machines.

3DMark Vantage Gets a Launch Date

Category: Software
Posted: April 24, 2008 02:35PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

Popular computer benchmark developer Futuremark has set April 28, 2008 as the release date for its newest PC punisher, 3DMark Vantage.  What's most interesting about Vantage's release is the decision to move to an exclusively DirectX 10 format, meaning that only Vista users will be able to compete for the newest 3DMark world record.  Considering that puzzling twist, also worthy of note are the stunningly realistic "Recommended Specs"; users need only a Core2Duo E6600 (equivalent or better) CPU-based system, with a DX10/Shader Model 4.0 compliant graphics card sporting 512 MB video RAM, and 2 GB system memory to properly run their rig through the ringer.  The curious are advised to check out some really awesome looking screenshots of 3DMark Vantage here.

New Screenshot of 3DMark Vantage!

Category: Software
Posted: April 15, 2008 01:58AM
Author: kingdingeling

Futuremark is at it again: The new 3DMark is in development! The last 3DMark from 2006 is now two years old, but although most computers still are getting very low Frames Per Second (FPS) in 3DMark06, here comes it's successor. With the release of PCMark Vantage, another benchmark by Futuremark, the enthusiast community has been debating when the new 3DMark would come out. It's called 3DMark Vantage and here is a screenshot of what it should look like, although it is not quite finished yet.

Newest iPhone Firmware Hacked

Category: Mobile, Software, Gadgets, Modding
Posted: March 31, 2008 02:37PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

It took less than 24 hours for the iPhone Dev Team to hack the iPhone's new 1.2.0 firmware, which fully unlocks the phone - allowing the iPhone owner to use any wireless carrier he/she pleases.  The hack also allows the owner to install any application on the phone, including the new "Contacts" app, which was previously available only on the iPod Touch.  The Dev Team claims that it will be extremely hard for Apple to patch this new hack.  Combining this news with the recent MacBook Air hack at CanSecWest, Apple's security team must be reeling.   At this point, it may be in Apple's best interest to just officially unlock the iPhone...

Google Docs Leaving Information Superhighway

Category: Internet, Software
Posted: March 31, 2008 02:15PM
Author: Carl Dunham

Google is taking its popular Google Docs word processor off the information superhighway and into the wild, if you want to look at it that way. Users of the word processor by Google will soon be able to read and edit files when no internet connection is present, however you will not be able to create new documents, at least not for awhile. Google's spreadsheet and presentation applications will soon follow when the update to its word processor is complete, in the meantime you will be able to view these files offline but not edit them. This is a wonderful alternative to Microsoft Word, however with the internet connection cut you will miss out on neat features like team modifying of a document, see if other users are modifying a document and so on. This is a neat feature and will surely have the support of the budget conscious public and college students who need more beer money.

Microsoft, Pretty in Pink?

Category: Operating Systems, Manufacturers, Software
Posted: March 28, 2008 03:47PM
Author: Carl Dunham

Ahhhh pink, you either look good in it or you look... well gay, but where does that leave Microsoft? In what must be a cry for attention, Microsoft is bundling (in Japan) Windows Vista Home Premium with Windows Live OneCare in a box that would make Barbie jealous, sorry Ken. Now I am afraid to ask if this box has anything to do with Microsoft's marketing staffs sexuality or if they are just pushing Vista on Hello Kitty fans, but I will never be comfortable buying a Microsoft product in a hot pink box.

Adobe Offers Free Photoshop Express

Category: Internet, Software
Posted: March 27, 2008 04:49PM
Author: Chris Benjamin

Free Photoshop?  You betcha - Adobe has launched the Photoshop Express (PE) Beta, and online version of their popular Photoshop sotfware.  PE allows you access to many of Photoshop's most often used tools - resize, tint, distort, sketch, and more.  PE is entirely web-based, and after the free registration allows users to upload, store, edit, and share 2GB of their own pics.  Users can access the software from any computer in the U.S., independent of operating system or browser.  Officially, Adobe does not guarantee access to citizens outside the U.S., but you're welcome to try.  Photoshop Express is compatible with Picasa, Facebook, and Photobucket.

Microsoft to Release Windows Mobile 6.1

Category: Operating Systems, Mobile, Software
Posted: March 25, 2008 03:56PM
Author: Carl Dunham

If you have Windows Mobile on your phone, look forward to the new version being released next week Tuesday. This release will be to Windows Mobile 6.1, the last major update was Mobile 6.0 that was released last year. The new version is rumored to have a more organized and easier to use  interface than the 6.0. Also look forward to next year when Microsoft is rumored to be moving to a touch screen interface, I wonder where they got that idea?

Microsoft and Intel Fund Parallel Computing Research

Category: Operating Systems, Manufacturers, Software
Posted: March 20, 2008 04:13AM
Author: Ben Grantham

The CPU market is now a well and truly multi-core domain and only looks to go further in that direction. But what good are all those cores if you don't have the programming support to back it up? MS and Intel must be thinking the same thing, and have recently awarded two universities grants of $10m to set up Universal Parallel Computing Research Centers. The grants are going to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and the University of California, Berkeley and are backed up with further money sourced by the two institutions. Intel are saying that the centers should advance operating systems, parallel processing and architecture. Let's hope the research goes some way to ensuring our extra cores are kept busy.

Windows XP SP3 RTM In Second Half Of April

Category: Operating Systems, Software
Posted: March 20, 2008 04:02AM
Author: Ben Grantham

The guys over at TechARP are pretty good when it comes to calling out release schedules for Windows service packs, having predicted the recent release of Vista SP1 to the public. Windows XP SP3 contains all of the updates released since SP2 plus the addition of more CD keys (originally introduced with SP2c). SP3 hits RTM sometime in April and further language support will come about 21 days after that. Interestingly, you won't be able to get hold of Windows Media Center or Tablet PC edition on CD with SP3 integrated, but will be stuck with windows update only for these versions.

Vista Service Pack 1 Finally Released

Category: Operating Systems, Software
Posted: March 19, 2008 12:27PM
Author: Carl Dunham

Vista users stand up and applause as the first service pack to the new Microsoft OS was released to the public for download yesterday. This new service pack claims improved stability, security and performance, the downfall you ask? The newly released SP1 may have problems with certain drivers and software installed on your computer. The update can either be downloaded through Windows Update or from the Microsoft website with automatic updates getting it in mid-April. Drivers and software from RealTek, Intel, Symantec, Trend Micro and BitDefender are known to conflict with SP1. For now SP1 will only be released in five languages: English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese with more languages released in mid-April.

Apple releases Safari version 3.1

Category: Software, General News
Posted: March 18, 2008 03:45PM
Author: Andrew Robinson

Today Apple released version 3.1 of their Safari browser. The browser is touted to be almost 2 times faster than Firefox and Internet Explorer, they claim that it is up to six times faster at rendering Javascript as well. The new version supports HTML 5 audio and video tags along with CSS animation. The Safari browser is available for Windows and Macintosh computers.

XP With Eee PC Now Official

Category: Operating Systems, Mobile, Manufacturers, Software
Posted: March 6, 2008 05:48PM
Author: Ben Grantham

DailyTech -

The Eee PC has been a big hit, possibly bigger than even ASUS themselves had predicted. Since its launch, dedicated users have been installing versions of Windows XP onto the diminutive device. Well now you will be able to pick up a version of the Eee PC with a copy of XP pre-installed, along with some Windows Live programs such as Messenger, Mail and Photo Gallery as well as MS Works (though not in all regions). One would also assume that ASUS have done a little bit to cut down on the regular XP install so that it runs a little more smoothly on the Eee, though how much they may have tweaked can only be guessed at the moment. You can also expect a bit of a price premium for picking up an Eee-XP, probably something in the region of $30-$60 if previous predictions are anything to go by. Either way, it is good news for those who don't feel up to the task of getting Windows installed on an Eee themselves.