Posted 08/10/09 at 10:30:54 AM by Paul Lilly

With Firefox 3.5 not long out of the oven, Mozilla has already cooked up the first developer milestone of its next browser release, Firefox 3.6 Alpha 1, now available for download.

"Unlike the year that passed between Firefox 3 and Firefox 3.5, we expect that this 3.6 release will be released in a small number of months," Mozilla evangelist Chris Blizzard said in a blog post.

Code named Namoroka, the Alpha 1 release is built on the pre-release version of the Gecko 1.9.2 platform. According to Mozilla, speed improvements have been made to the TraceMonkey JavaScript engine. Other features include faster page renders, quicker startup and responsiveness, and several new CSS3 properties have been added.

Firefox 3.6 Alpha 1 Download Link

Read More

Posted 03/13/09 at 10:30:47 AM by Paul Lilly

Following its rapid release schedule, eager Ubuntu fans need only wait until April 23rd for the next release of the open-source Linux distro. In the meantime, if a little over a month is just too long to wait, you can take a sneak peek at Ubuntu 9.04, Jaunty Jackalope, currently in alpha form.

The just released Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 6 is the fifth alpha release of Ubuntu 9.04 and includes several new features, along with a handful of known bugs. Among the former is a new X.Org server, version 1.6, better font-size optimization tailored to your monitor rather than defaulting to 96 dpi, new style for notifications and notification preferences, a new Linux kernel (2.6.28-8.26), and support for the new ext4 file system.

Keep in mind that as an alpha release, you should expect instability. Known issues include the disabling of the "encrypted home directory" option, video driver problems with the XServer, mis-reporting of proper font sizes resulting in abnormally small or large fonts, CTRL-ALT-Backspace is disabled, and users of Intel's i846 or i865 video chipsets receive an error message stating "Fatal server error: Couldn't bind memory for BO front buffer."

Still interested? Grab your download here.

Read More

Posted 03/05/09 at 11:30:00 AM by Paul Lilly

Anyone who may have thought the death of Netscape would signal the end of the browser wars, boy were they mistaken. In fact, it could be argued that it was at that point it all began. It didn't take long for Mozilla's Firefox to emerge from Netscape Navigator's ashes, and over time, Firefox would win over enthusiasts with a potent combination of speed, security, and an unprecedented level of customization.

But what started as a two-man battle is quickly growing into all-out warfare. Prepare to be overwhelmed by an onslaught of new browser releases in the coming months as Microsoft, Mozilla, Apple, Opera Software, and Google all vie to provide your vehicle for navigating the web. Each one brings something new to the table, whether it be blazing fast performance or a unique feature-set. Don't worry if you haven't been paying attention - we jump in the trenches with whole lot of them and get to know each one on a personal basis.

Hit the jump to find out everything there is to know about the browsers of today and tomorrow!

Read More

Posted 01/16/09 at 04:37:39 PM by Mark Edward Soper

What will the next version of Microsoft Office look like? Leaked screenshots of an alpha version recently released to testers suggest that, in short, ribbon menus rule. However, the Office 14 ribbon menus seem to have been influenced by the ribbon menu used in some of Windows 7's accessories, rather than being simply a rehash of Office 2007's version.

How long before we'll have a release version? According to alpha testers cited at Neowin.net, Microsoft is looking at a 2009 release and - you guessed it - the suite might be called Office System 2009. However, with the Microsoft roadmap unearthed earlier this month showing "2009" and "12-31-2009" for release dates, maybe it's too early to worry about the name.

Read More

Posted 11/24/08 at 02:00:00 PM by Paul Lilly

Before the most recent version of Ubuntu (8.10, Intrepid Ibex) was even released, founder Mark Shuttleworth was already looking ahead by introducing The Jaunty Jackalope, or what will later be known as version 9.04. That was just over two months ago, and now eager Linux users can take a peek at what the upcoming release has in store by downloading the distro in Alpha 1 form.

In continuing to bring Linux to the mainstream, Shuttleworth listed some specific goals it hopes to meet with Jaunty. Chief among them is improving the distro's boot time, both in standard cases and "when it is being tailored to a specific device." But speed isn't the only improvement he hopes to make in 9.04. The new distro will also look to have tighter integration between web services and desktop applications.

Ubuntu users hoping to get a first look at Jaunty Jackalope can download the Alpha 1 release now, although developer Colin Watson warns that the pre-release isn't intended for anyone needing a stable system.

"This is the very first roughly working set of images off the production line, and they haven't all been tested, so you should expect some bugs," Watson wrote in the release announcement. "Prominent among these are that some of the images are oversized and can only be tested using a DVD or a virtual machine, and that the desktop CD isn't ready yet!"

The next major Alpha release is scheduled for December 18th, followed by additional pre-releases until the final version debuts on April 23.

Read More

Posted 11/17/08 at 11:26:34 AM by Paul Lilly

Linux has typically been at the front of the pack when it comes to 64-bit processor support, which made the lack of a compatible 64-bit Flash Player a glaring omission for the open-source platform. The no-show by Adobe has been particularly frustrating for Firefox fans, who by being limited to using the 32-bit Flash plug-in meant also being limited to the 32-bit version of Firefox. That all changes today. From Adobe Labs:

"Furthering Adobe's commitment to the Linux community and as part of ongoing efforts to ensure the cross-platform compatibility of Flash Player, an alpha version of 64-bit Adobe Flash Player 10 for Linux operating systems was released on 11/17/2008 and is available for download. This offers easier, native installation on 64-bit Linux distributions and removes the need for 32-bit emulation."

Windows and Mac users need not feel too bitter, as Adobe says native 64-support across all platforms is forthcoming, although no specific time frame has yet been announced, only that it will arrive "in an upcoming major release of Flash Player."

Read More

Posted 10/06/08 at 05:05:02 PM by Paul Lilly

Those expecting Mozilla to release its open-source email client Thunderbird 3.0 in Beta 1 form will have to wait a little longer than initially thought. Rather than attach the Beta moniker to the updated version, Mozilla instead is dubbing it Alpha 3.

"Calling something a beta is likely to trigger a bunch of extra press attention that we're not yet in a position to deal with," said Dan Mosedale, who works at Mozilla Messaging. "Some number [of] reviews will be inappropriately pre-judging based on its current state. In the best case, this would be a distraction."

Mosedale also cited a lack of landing several milestones (AutoConfig, GloDa with full-text search, STEEL) as another reason why he's more comfortable calling the lastest Thunderbird 3.0 release an Alpha build instead of a Beta.

No matter what you call it, the latest beta/alpha/unfinished release is available now for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Read More

Posted 09/08/08 at 11:08:00 AM by Paul Lilly

It's a good time to be a browser connoisseur. Last week Google unveiled it's beta Chrome browser to the public, and Mozilla has now made available for download Firefox 3.1 Alpha 2. Code named Shiretoko Alpha 2, the new browser is built on a pre-release version of the Gecko 1.9.1 platform. New features include:

• Support for the HTML 5 <video> element (makes it possible to natively embed video files in a web page and control playback with Javascript)
• Initial support for web worker threads (a new scripting capability that allows computationally intensive Javascript to be run in the background)
• Drag and drop tabs between browser windows
• New selector to create areas of Aero-style "glass" in XUL
• Support for some CSS 2.1 and CSS 3 properties
• Improved performance and new preference values for color managment profile support

If any of this sparks your interest, you can read more in the release notes and Firefox 3.1 for Developers article.

Read More