Firefox 3 beta 4

Today I have tested the all new Firefox 3 browser. It is still in beta version but as I can see the full official release will come out soon and real soon.

The Gui is almost the same except for the new icons in the navigation toolbar. Some extra features has been added to the search bar, now Wikipedia, IMDB and BBC News are integrated. Another great add-on to accessibility is the integrated bookmark icon at the right side of the url bar, with only one click you can add the page to your bookmarks aka Favorites for those still using IE, wake up guys. Back to the bookmarks feature, just click the star icon next to you url and a pop up will appear to easily manage you bookmark.


The New Welcome Page is awesome!!.


Another good upgrade is the url history feature, now you don't just see the page url when you type the first few letters, you get the page title as well, this is a great feature as it gives the user an easy and faster way to access his favorite pages instead of browsing through all the same site urls to find the ONE.

Because its still a beta, most of your previous add-ons wont work with Firefox 3. For me only Yahoo Toolbar, Grease Monkey, Download Helper and Download Status Bar worked. The other twenty add-ons I have didn't, including the Google Toolbar. I guess new add-on versions should be developed and maybe they are being upgraded now.

Here is a List of some of the issues that Mozilla acknowledges:

Windows Live Mail will not work; users must use Hotmail Classic Mail.

GMail (new version) conversation labels appear on their own row in the
message list, and names don't show in the contacts manager.

The "Report Web Forgery" menu item doesn't work.

Firefox will not ask users if they wish to change a stored password.

MathML does not render properly in Firefox 3 Beta 4.

The new Location Bar, Add Bookmark dialog, and Download Manager information popup
behave inconsistently with Window-Eyes. JAWS 8.0 or better is recommended
for this beta.

Web feeds served as text/html won't load properly.

After installing some add-ons, the "Restart" button will not appear.

Some add-ons that depend on deprecated code may not install properly.

Privacy > History > Remember visited pages to "0" has no effect.

The DOM Inspector has been removed.

Firefox 3 looks almost the same as the previous versions yet it somewhat feels faster, maybe its just me or just my retarded internet service finally worked properly. Mozilla said that the new Firefox has some extra features that prevents pop-ups and spyware, I haven't seen any of these yet coz a window just popped-up as I was browsing my usual everyday sites, and I'm not really sure about the Spyware thingy.

All in all, Firefox is great. Whether its version 1, 2 or even a 3 beta, its fast, easy, and the unlimited amount of add-ons that one might install is just well unlimited. Its like everyday there is a new add-on in the Mozilla database and they are all great, yet add-ons means memory and lots of memory usage means a slower PC/Mac so always use the add-ons that you actually need.

Mozilla Firefox 3 beta 4 can be downloaded Here.
Mozilla Firefox 2 Final can be downloaded Here.

*Check the Mozilla Add-on Database Here.

7-zip

7-Zip is an open source compression tool that lets you compress your files quickly and efficiently with the all new .7z extension. This application will go to extremes in order to compress your files yet it comes short when it comes to types.

7-Zip lets you compress your files in 7z, zip, tar, Bzip2 and Gzip. This sounds nice but an addition to the mighty RAR archive is still required, 7-zip lets you extract rar archives but it fails when it comes to saving. It also support other extensions CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, MSI, WIM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS, yet it only unpack those and does not give you the privilege of saving your files in those famous formats.



As shown the GUI is quite simple to work with, actually there is nothing you might need from it if your a basic extractor. The menu integrated function has most of the features that 7-zip provides from packing to unpacking and a somewhat useless test archive function.

When it comes to simplicity, 7-zip is very simple, and one might even say very primitive. But its an open source application so one might expect it to be very basic. Well it gets the job done so one mustn't whine when everything works smooth and fast.

7-zip is free to download and it has almost all the functions that a file compressing tool should have, yet the format support is a fork in the ass. Well they intrduced a new format to the market but is that what we need?!.

Download 7-zip from Here.

Revo Uninstaller

Revo Uninstaller is the ultimate replacement for Windows "Add/Remove Programs" tool. Its main function is similar yet its features are enormous. Revo lets you uninstall any application removing it and any unwanted leftovers. This is simply because Revo tracks all installed objects with all their files.

Revo is not for beginners, or people that think that its some sort of a game, thus be advised not to use it if your computer knowledge is similar to that of a chimp. Revo will uninstall everything, of course it will ask for your permission but after uninstalling the program it will show you all the services, threads and leftover files that remain after removing the application. You have to be really cautious of the selections you make otherwise you'll end up with a retarded windows.

Another great feature is Hunting Mode, this shows a cross-hair on your screen that you can drag by mouse. This lets you check what file is associated with what program. This feature lets you delete all unwanted applications that may or may not show in the list, and even those that show up in a different name.

Revo comes with a bunch of tools like Autorun Manager, this shows you the startup applications and lets you disable the unwanted ones, its not as powerful as WinPatrol but for most users it gets the job done, you can consider this a shortcut to "msconfig".



Another tool is Junk Cleaner, this is similar to Disk Cleanup as it removes all temporary files, butI advise you to stick to disk cleanup as Junk Cleaner shows all files in a list and you have to select all the unwanted files which is both time consuming and ridiculous as we all know after 5 minutes of internet browsing your temporary internet files will increase tenfold.

All in all Revo is a great tool for those who have problems with Windows "Add/Remove Programs" tool and especially for geeks. Yes it has some powerful features yet its weak in its execution as no details and/or help is provided when uninstalling an application, but to be honest this isn't a tool for beginners.

Revo Uninstaller can be downloaded Here.

WinPatrol

Have you ever dreamed of getting a watch dog to guard your computer from malwares. Well maybe all you need is Scotty the computer user's best friend and is packaged as WinPatrol.

WinPatrol is not an anti-virus software yet it does what anti-viruses can not do. It protects your computer from softwares that try to work at computer startup. Whenever Scotty senses something has changed, it instantly alerts you of that change and asks for your approval, whether its a new startup program or if its a service that wants to run it self, Scotty doesn't let anything through without your permission.





WinPatrol is a great software and an addition that everybody should have, it's main purpose is to filter startup programs yet it doesn't stop there, actually when working with WinPatrol you'll discover some new functions that you might never even considered it existed. For example you can disable any startup program that you don't want. Some of you will say yeah I can do that by typing "msconfig" in the run window and can disable 'em from there, well Scotty lets you even remove those threads permanently, how about that.

There is a bunch of useful tools that comes with WinPatrol as you can view all the services that are currently running and disable them if you want to, but I'll have to advise against that if you don't know what your doing or if you have some doubts. Thats because Scotty takes your actions seriously just like a good ol' watch dog always at your command.

Another feature of WinPatrol is Delayed Start, this lets you delay a startup object by an amount of time making it start after the system in the specified amount of time. Lets say you want Yahoo Messenger as a startup program yet you have many startup objects and as they start all together they use a whole bunch of memory. You can add Yahoo Messenger! in the delayed start list and specify an amount of time for it to start lets say 3 minutes, this will make Yahoo Messenger starts 3 minutes after the computer has started making things a little easier for other startup applications.

WinPatrol has another useful tool called IE helper, this makes you manage all IE add-ons, you can modify, disable and even remove any unwanted add-on.

There are other tools and features that WinPatrol provides and they are all easy to use if you know what you are doing because if you don't then you might delete a necessary component in Windows or maybe removing a system service or application.

WinPatrol comes in two versions, Basic and Plus. To tell you the truth I haven't tried the Plus version but I've heard that it only gives certain details about applications that the Basic version does not offer. Yet this is Warez for Free meaning we are only concerned about the free version which is Basic and it can be downloaded Here.

RAM Def Xtreme

Have you ever wondered what happens to your RAM if you kept your computer on while you open and close applications like there is no tomorrow. Have you ever wondered why your computer sometimes freezes after working on multiple applications even after you have closed most of them and you just wanted to open a small IM application. RAM is just like HDD, after a while of copying and erasing files it needs to be defragmented, well not all the time since it resets after a good ol' restart or shutdown. But who wants to wait and watch those silly blue bars at the bottom of your screen while the "XP" logo grins at you and after that it tells you that one of your discs needs to be checked and to make things even worse its the system drive.

Here is a solution for all those problems, RAM Def is a yummy little program that lets you defragment your RAM after a long usage. RAM Def is small in size, yet bigger in its performance and ability. There is nothing to explain about RAM Def as all the settings are self explanatory, send RAM Def to tray and if your RAM reaches a dangerous zone that you have specified RAM Def will defragment your memory restoring all the extra free space you've lost. And if you want to do things manually just hit the start button and BAM!!.... And when it comes to speed it wont take much time to defragment your RAM as I have a 1 GB separated in two 512MB chips and RAM Def just takes about 15-20 secs to defragment them.



RAM Def is a must have for those who work long times in there office using multiple applications, it does not take a lot of space when it comes to HDD and even if you've planned to make RAM Def your companion at work and have sent it to the startup tray RAM Def wont take much memory resources. And now as I'm looking at the clip shot I've noticed that I need some of that juicy def, so I'll leave ya to download and enjoy.

Its powerful, its small, its pretty, its a revolution and it can be downloaded from Here.

Page Breeze

Page Breeze is a basic HTML editor that is free. This software works best for those who are beginners in the web world since almost no code manipulation is required. Page Breeze is a WYSIWYG application "What you see is what you get" and works brilliantly for creating web pages for educational, personal and small office use.

It does not offer much as all the functions are basic HTML function and does not support XML, PHP or CSS codes. So its not much if your planning to build a big interactive website and with the need of XML and CSS in the web market Page Breeze stand near the bottom of the web development applications list.

The GUI is similar to Front Page with some slightly unnoticed extra elements. And the absence of XML editing makes it even minor to Front Page.



Page Breeze offers a built-in viewer, meaning that you don't have to open a separate browser once you are trying to view your page, this is actually a handy tool that speeds things up a bit.

If you are new to the web development community and you are planning to start, Page Breeze should be your first application to work on before climbing the ladder to the mighty DreamWeaver. And of course since its a WYSIWYG function you can learn a lot by adding components to your page and then compare the code to see the changes made, this will provide you with something similar to a tutorial.

Page Breeze can be downloaded by clicking Here. And for free of course.

3D Analyze

Did you buy a new laptop and you're trying to play a top notch game and after a long installation you've discovered that it does not work? Now you are wondering what went wrong, you've checked the basic specifications and noticed that your hardware meets the minimum requirements and maybe even the recommended requirements. And after some Googling searching and browsing through games sites and pages you've discovered that your video card is not supported. Well yes this happens to lots of people and its not there fault since gaming companies does not provide a full system specification and I don't know why but it happened to me. Most of the technical specifications only tell you the amount of video memory needed to run the game, sometimes they forget to tell you that you'll require Hardware TnL, Pixel Shading and Vertex Shading. As some of you might know that Intel Chipsets does not offer these essential gaming technologies that are required to play your game. But rest assured that there is a solution to this issue.

3D Analyze is a free application that lets you emulate both pixel shading and Hw TnL if your graphics card does not support them, it also comes with tons of other tweeks that you can apply to your game and/or 3D application. It is basically the one and probably the only solution out there that lets you run 3D applications on your computer with out the need of upgrading.

The GUI is somewhat frightening at first run as you'll see dozens of options and radio buttons but after a while you'll get the hang of it.

Basically most games nowadays requires HW TnL and Pixel Shading and most Intel Chipsets comes with a basic 1.1 Pixel Shading and no Hw TnL so the most important option in running a 3D game is to activate "Emulate HW TnL" and sometimes "Emulate Pixel Shading" if you have an older version than the one required. You can also enter a device ID if your game or program only works on specific chipsets like Nvidia or ATI, but first you'll have to know the device ID. And if you can't 3D analyze provides you with some of these IDs for popular hardware.



3D Analyze consumes a lot of memory depending on the options activated which means that even after emulation your game might suffer some glitches and/or crashes since your RAM will be working on maximum capacity so a change of RAM might be required before playing. Another disadvantage of 3D Analyze is that it doesn't provide you with explanations about what the various options will do, you can find information online but still it should be provided with at least a help file.

So far I have tried Broken Sword: The Angel of Death, Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis, NWN2 and the mighty Oblivion and they all worked brilliantly except for NWN2 and I'm still trying to figure out the flaws there.

3D Analyze can be downloaded from Here.

Download Helper

Download Helper is a small yet effective add-on for Mozilla Firefox that enables you to download videos and photos from youtube, metacafe, megavideo, etc. Actually it works with all the websites that I've tried so far and everything downloads smoothly for no extra cost. The thing is with download helper that it doesn't actually downloads from the website its more likely to transfer the already downloaded file from your temporary internet files folder to a user specified folder. It actually grabs hold of the file, since most videos delete them selves once you navigate away from the page.

Download Helper is not a standalone program, therefore it doesn't offer much. As the name suggests it's only purpose is to download. No conversion is done to the files and you have to find another software to do the trick.

The main advantage of Download Helper is that it does not have restrictions, meaning that you can download any video from any web site around the globe. If you can see it you can get it. Plus it doesn't take much in regards of computer resources just a couple of KBs from your HDD and a similar amount from your RAM which makes it light and efficient. As the picture below shows Download Helper is only a small icon with a drop down menu.



Download Helper comes with a database of supported sites and when I say database I mean a real humongous database not just a couple of links and references.

You can download Download Helper from Here.

*Download Helper is only available for Firefox no version for IE is available yet.