Mozilla Firefox 3.5.6 Released, Download IT

Mozilla has updated Firefox to 3.5.6 version.

You can use "Help -> Check for Updates" option to update your browser or it'll automatically notify you about the update very soon.

You can download it using following direct download links:

Download

Mozilla Firefox 3.5.6 (Windows)

Mozilla Firefox 3.5.6 (Mac OSX)

Mozilla Firefox 3.5.6 (Linux)

You can read about all changes in this update at following link:

Firefox 3.5.6 Release Notes

Microsoft stops Windows XP SP2, 2000 support

Microsoft has announced that they will be ending the product life cycle for Windows 2000 client and server support next year. Windows XP SP2 support will also come to an end, and are encouraging users to upgrade to Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista or preferably upgrade to Windows 7.
Microsoft has announced that on July 13, 2010, both Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2000 server and client support will come to an end. Microsoft is offering migration guides for free online to help upgrade from Windows XP and Windows 2000 to Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.
Windows XP currently holds more than 69% of the operating system market, while Vista currently holds 18.55% and Windows 7 with just over 5% and growing.
Users looking to upgrade to Windows Vista should know that Microsoft is set to support it up until 2012, and have not revealed plans to extend support further. Windows XP users will be happy to know Microsoft will be supporting Windows XP SP3 until 2014.

Microsoft Office 2010 Released in June 2010

 

It has now been confirmed that the next version of Microsoft Office will indeed be launching in June next year.

It was expected that the shipping date announcement would have come during PDC 2009, however here it comes a couple of weeks later. The beta was made available for free for early testers -- much like what Microsoft did with Windows 7.

In an interview with Betanews, Janice Kapner a company communications senior director spilled some beans about what's to come with one of Microsoft's next most eagerly awaited products, Office Web Apps.

The Office Web Apps were never expected to carry the same functionality as the desktop applications, and from their conversation it seems that you might not get much more functionality than you get today with Google Docs and Zoho, being given just enough features so that you can write a "quick letter" and share it someone, rather than write a 50-page term paper.

Besides the free online edition of Microsoft Office, there is another free feature-limited version of Office for those on a budget. The new Starter edition of Office 2010 is to be a ad-supported version of Office which will be only come bundled with new computers.

Google now testing new search interface

Rumors have been circulating that Google is preparing to update its search results and images that show off the new look.

The new search interface appears to be tested on random people as the user who reported the image was never invited nor accepted a beta invitation from Google. The new interface brings it inline with Google Wave but still keeps the to traditional Google minimalism.
Don't be surprised to see Google Wave, Chrome, Gmail, Maps and other Google applications to be integrated further into Google search as they attempt to blur the line between search and their other products.

1. Go to Google.com.
2. Once it loads, enter this code into your web browser's URL address field:

javascript:void(document.cookie="PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/; domain=.google.com");

There shouldn't be any http://google.com in front of that. Just that code.

3. Hit enter.
4. Reload or open a new Google.com page and you will have a access to The New google interface

It's fast and sweet, although the changes don't affect all the available sections.

First Google Android netbook ships with Firefox, not Chrome!

The Acer Aspire AOD250 netbook running Google Android

A few days before the launch of Windows 7, Acer has released the first netbook to ship with the Google Android operating system. And a juicy tidbit has come out of an early review: Android comes with Mozilla Firefox for Web browsing, not Google’s own Chrome browser or the Android browser that comes on mobile phones.

 

Google has previously announced its intentions to get into the netbook game with Chrome OS, but with Android’s ready availability, it was always going to be first onto machines. Acer had said that it wanted to get Android onto its netbooks soon, and last week, the company launched the popular 10-inch AOD250 mini-laptop for this purpose. Full specifications and features can be found here.

 

However, the AOD250 isn’t solely an Android device. Acer has included the option of dual-booting into Windows XP – a much-needed option, according to a review of the new system by PC Mag.

 

“What looks like a peel-off tab on the top left corner gets you back into WindowsXP, in case frustration builds—and it will,” writes reviewer Cisco Cheng.

 

By all accounts of the review, Android for netbooks appears to be half-baked as of now. The home screen has four gadgets (Google Talk, FireFox, Webmail, and Calendar), while a further 20 are housed in a slide-out tab on the far right (including system settings, multimedia, Webcam, Gmail).

 

With no Android Marketplace available, there is no document editing program available. So even if send or receive emails with Word documents or spreadsheets, Android won’t recognise them.

 

And since Google has not yet come out with an official stable version of Chrome for Linux, the Android system still runs on Mozilla Firefox. Of course, using the default Android Web browser for cell phones would be quite inconvenient on a computer. The reviewer notes that while it handles most Web sites like any normal Windows version of Firefox would, sometimes, certain key commands wouldn't register in Google Search or Firefox.

 

“As with past Linux operating systems, the advantages of having one are for quicker boot times and better battery savings than Windows XP. Otherwise, Android for netbooks has a long way to go before it can work alone,” the review concludes.

Chrome OS browser leaks First Time On Net

Just days away from an event at Google where the company will reveal more about one of their rumored and now confirmed projects - Chrome OS, package files and pictures have leaked showing the operating system (or at least the browser part of it) running on top of a Ubuntu install with themes and a new logo.
The files that leaked were hosted on a public Google server, and were found by Living in a Google World earlier this week. The Operating System which is very unstable (as expected) was leaked for only a few hours, and then taken down - but not before some users got copies of the files.
The part of the Operating System we can see here, at this point, looks like the Linux variant of Chrome, but with new universal themes and a new logo - that when clicked sends you to Google Short Links (which we don't know about either) - but this requires a Google.com account, which are reserved for Google Employees. At this point the "Chrome OS" is actually running on top of Ubuntu.
In addition to this, on Thursday night Google is hosting an event to reveal more about the Operating System and other emerging Google technologies. This recent invite was sent out to some bloggers:
"Join us for an evening at Google featuring presentations by Paul Rademacher on Google Maps and Ben Goodger on Chrome OS. Presentations will be followed by a short Q&A. Once the formalities have finished there will be further opportunity to meet and mingle with other attendees as well as Googlers from Chrome/ChromeOS, Maps, GMail and Search. Oh, and of course there will be plenty of food and beverages for everyone. We hope to see you there!"
Not much else is known about the Operating System at the moment, but Chrome OS is expected to be a very bare-bones OS, relying on the cloud for most of it's operations (for obvious reasons).

Screenshots:

How to preview Google Docs in Gmail

Ideally you will need to toggle, got back and forward to see contents of Google Docs file received as attachment in Gmail. Using new Google Labs feature “Google Docs previews in mail”, you can preview and read contents on Google Docs file (including document, spreadsheet, presentation) directly in Gmail.

How to preview Google Docs in Gmail

1. Goto Gmail.com & login into your account.
2. Click Settings link at top right.
3. Then click the Labs tab option.
4. Select enable next to “Google Docs previews in mail”.
5. Click Save changes button.

 

After you enable this Labs feature, you can preview Google Doc files directly in Gmail inbox, just like previously launched feature to preview Youtube videos, Picasa and Flickr Photos.

source: GmailBlog

Firefox 3.6 beta to be released next week

Mozilla's popular web browser, Firefox, is quite a big name in the realm of the Internet. It's multi-platform, easy to use, and packs a extremely vast amount of add-ons to improve the user experience. In addition to this, it's about to get a new version.
The newest version of the browser, currently in development, is 3.6; it's not a huge upgrade, as Mozilla plans to save the bigger changes for version 4.0, but it's still packing some nice improvements. According to The Register, the new version will come with tweaks which improve the TraceMonkey javascript engine, an 'optimized session restore', plus additions to the CSS technology in the browser and improved page rendering speed. There is a discussion about the new version here, with official Firefox developers putting together the following schedule:
Oct 5: Code freeze late evening PDT.
Oct 6: Start build1 of the beta assuming trees are green.
Oct 7: Begin QA testing (or earlier as builds become available).
Oct 13: Complete QA testing by AM, ship beta in late day PDT.
Indeed, that means that the beta of the new version will be hopefully available October 13, less than a week from now. However, in the previously posted discussion, Mozilla's Mike Beltzner stated that there's no shame in missing the deadline. Understandably, this is just a beta, so people shouldn't be rushing to upgrade.

Google Chrome 30% Faster Than Firefox

Back in 2004 when Firefox 1.0 was launched, I loved having a browser that was different to what everyone else was using that was also so much better than the norm.  I consider Firefox now to be a mainstream browser and hence no longer the cool kid on the block.

I’ve been using Google Chrome as my main browser now for around 9 months and not only do I love it, but it’s also in my opinion the best browser on the market.  It’s key selling point for many is it’s speed; according to Computerworld Chrome 3.0 is 30% faster than Firefox.  However, Chrome’s interface speed also sets it apart – I can open multiple Chrome tabs and start working before Firefox has even initialised.

I’m an Apple iPhone 3GS user now after 6 years of Symbian/Windows Mobile based devices.  However, I recently got the chance to play with an HTC Hero and for me Android is looking like it will eventually win the mobile OS battle, at least from a technical and functional superiority perspective, as getting users to ditch their iPhones will be a very hard thing to do.  I can’t wait to get my hands on Google OS to play with which will combine and extend the best bits of Google Android and Chrome.  Given that I spend most of my PC time online, an OS that tightly integrates my favourite browser Google Chrome would be a winner for me.