Last December we started this site with a little article about the Internet Browser and Operating System Wars , and their statistics as of that day. Apple was heating up the market with its launch of Safari as a multi platform browser. Even then they were entering a market dominated by Firefox, yet there are some more people looking to get in and flex their cult like following with more services. Since then, other browsers have entered into the mix. Google Chrome , was introduced a few short weeks ago... amidst the June 17th launch of Firefox 3 and the record downloads in a 24 hours period , and Microsoft finally coming to the table with something worthwhile; Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 .
We decided to put these browsers through and usual test and similate everyday experiences. We are going to install all four browsers into a Virtual machine using VM Ware on our Macbook Pro. The operating system of choice is Windows XP. Main reason for this is Google Chrome's incompatibility with Mac OS X fo the time being. |
The virtual machine will be running on a Macbook Pro with the following specs: VM Ware Virtual Machine Specs Please note: This virtual machine build has limited programs installed and will respond faster than home brew builds because this currently is only a test bed. The machine does not have the daily funk that everyday pc's are capable of. For example; bloated cache and applications lists, small swap file ratio, etc. Among them, a slew of security applications to "protect" it are not installed either, only AVG Free Anti-virus, and nothing more than standard Windows Security. |
This following screen is the istat statistics for this particular Mac with VM Ware ( Virtual Environment Software ) up and running XP along with a few Mac OS X apps. You can see the machine is under a load, but has more than enough room to work with the tools we are using as our test environment. Macbook Pro istat Specs Notice how nice and cool our Belkin Laptop-Cooling Pad keeps that machine while it is working the way it was intended to? |
Where To Download Each Browser: |
Statistically speaking, Firefox is dominating its competitors. Firefox has controlled the web browser market much like Google controls the search market, however not quite to the same extent. Firefox has jumped from 36.3% to a dominating 43.7%. The word dominating ensues they are the end all. They might as well be, since Firefox is not in the Operating System business, people have to go out of their way to download that product. The only time 43.7% of people do anything about something, is when it’s really worth their time.
Let's see what we found.... |
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Browser Wars Re-Ignited
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Ouch! Is My Laptop On Fire?
| Laptops generate significant heat; that’s not a secret. As they become more powerful and move to technologies that consume less power, this will change. However till then, there are items that help us cope with the heat. Recently we acquired a Belkin Laptop Cooling Pad . |
| The MacBook Pro that we use to write and produce some of the content you see here is so hot at times that it will literally burn up your finger if you hold it there long enough. My favorite was when I used to leave a palm print on the bezel. Now this is my everyday computer and I was skeptical of cooling fans/pads. We have owned some before that were literally a waste of the manufacturing space used to make them. However I think Belkin has done something worth at least 68% of people’s time, according to Newegg . |  |
| Comfort is something that changes from person to person, so building a product that suits all is hard sometimes. We can’t all make an iPod now can we. However Belkin has done something right. Check the print screens below for the difference this piece can really make. |
| Laptop on a wooden dining room table, running for one hour while running the following applications: iTunes, iPhoto, iChat, Cyberduck, Firefox, Photoshop, Illustrator, Word, and Preview. | 
Kinda hot in here isn’t it? |
Watch Out IE 7, Firefox 3 Ups The Standards For Bookmarking Management
| Mozilla Firefox did it again, staying ahead of Microsoft in the home user browser wars, in particuliar, enhancing the managment of bookmarks. Mozilla really looked outside of the box, as usual, as bookmarks are controlled and organized through its own integrated section of the browser called the "Library". At first glance all seems the same, however unlike the other browsers: Opera, Safari and Internet Explorer that still utilize the filesystem to manage and control bookmarks/favorites. Firefox utilizes the power of JSON(JavaScript Object Notation) and a local integrated database, SQLite. Using a DB and the light yet powerful JSON dataset, this enters undiscovered territories in the web browser world. Some of these new features can be seen and accessed within the Library. |
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| Not to go off topic, but Firefox received 8 million downloads in a 24 hour period, with this, it inserted itself into the Guiness Book of World Records for the most downloads in 1 day. However, Firefox is restricted by a protective patent held by Microsoft in utilizing Visual Basic in webpages. This restriction will continue to be a large issue for Firefox as corporations and businesses primarily develop in Microsoft languages. The example that corporations are setting to the general non technical population is that Microsoft products are better. This one hurdle is what "holds back" Firefox as being the most reputable web browser. |
| Enough talk on the only problem Firefox has, lets discuss on why it totally rocks. |
How to make an iTouch with
Some users have encountered a problem with their iTouch’s while trying to use ZiPhone’s jailbreaking application. We followed the video posted on their website, http://www.ziphone.org/2008/02/ziphone-works-on-itouch-too.html . If you were the fortunate one's that were able to get it to work on your iTouch here's how you delete Ziphone's Blog Icon: On 1.1.3 and above hold down on the icon and the black x comes up and click it and hit delete. If you need the 1.1.4 file. Upon following the instruction on the video that seemed easy enough, I now had an iTouch that would do nothing else but…
Here is an instructional video to guide you through what is written here.
There is a way to restore your iTouch to the original firmware.
First you must turn off your now useless iTouch by holding the power button and the home button at the same time. It should shut off in less than 10 seconds. Once off, wait for 5 seconds and press both buttons again. This time booting your iTouch into “Restore Mode”.
NOTE: you don't have to wait 5 seconds to press the buttons again, you can simply continue to hold them down and it will go directly into restore mode. Also, I never unplugged my iPod/iTouch from my computer.
Note from user Beau McG.: Beau powered down my iPod and my pc. Unplugged the ipod. Rebooted the pc, connected the iPod, turned it on in restore mode.
Once in restore mode, your iTunes may open automatically if your settings are set to do so when your iPod/iTouch is plugged into your pc/mac. If not just open iTunes and you should see the following.