Release: Firefox 1.5

My favorite browser got updated to version 1.5. Mozilla released the new version today with the following new features:

• Automated update to streamline product upgrades. Notification of an update is more prominent, and updates to Firefox may now be half a megabyte or smaller. Updating extensions has also improved.
• Faster browser navigation with improvements to back and forward button performance.
• Drag and drop reordering for browser tabs.
• Improvements to popup blocking.
• Clear Private Data feature provides an easy way to quickly remove personal data through a menu item or keyboard shortcut.
• Answers.com is added to the search engine list.
• Improvements to product usability including descriptive error pages, redesigned options menu, RSS discovery, and “Safe Mode” experience.
• Better accessibility including support for DHTML accessibility and assistive technologies such as the Window-Eyes 5.5 beta screen reader for Microsoft Windows. Screen readers read aloud all available information in applications and documents or show the information on a Braille display, enabling blind and visually impaired users to use equivalent software functionality as their sighted peers.
• Report a broken Web site wizard to report Web sites that are not working in Firefox.
• Better support for Mac OS X (10.2 and greater) including profile migration from Safari and Mac Internet Explorer.
• New support for Web Standards including SVG, CSS 2 and CSS 3, and JavaScript 1.6.
• Many security enhancements.

If you already liked Firefox 1.07, you will also love this version. You can download the latest version here.

Mozilla also took the change to change the URL to mozilla.com. Will they go commercial…?

Update: Firefox really takes off. Over one and a half million downloads the first day.

Release: RES PowerFuse Edition 2005

Today Real Enterprise Solutions released RES PowerFuse Edition 2005. This version is the successor of 7.01c with some pretty nice new features.

The new features are:

• Enhanced Building Blocks: allows you to export/import all RES PowerFuse settings
• Profile folder maintenance addional to home folder maintenance
• Calendar applet in RES PowerFuse shell
• Improved Citrix integration: add/remove servers and Concent Publishing
• Partly Managed Workstations: allow specific workstations and/or users to install applications
• Read-Only Blanketing: prevent users from accidentally modifying content on system drives
• Removable Disk Security: control read/write to CD/DVD, floppy and USB memory sticks
• Microsoft SQL Server 2005 support: all editions, including Express Edition
• Webtop: web-based start menu

A Powerpack allows the administrator to upgrade an existing installation.

I had to re-enter the original .OSD path for each SoftGrid application in Real Enterprise Manager due to incorrect .OSD files after the Powerpack, so backup and test before you go live!

VLC Media Player

Recently I was pointed out VLC Media Player. VLC (initially VideoLAN Client) is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, …) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.

The media player is open source and available for mant platforms such as Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, BeOS, Zaurus and Pocket PC.

But still… Media Player Classic is my number one. A single executable that supports most formats including DVD.

Release: VMware Workstation 5.5

VMware released an upgrade to VMware Workstation 5 with version 5.5  build 18463. This new version adds some nice features to stay ahead of Microsoft’s Virtual PC.

Key new features and capabilities in VMware Workstation 5.5:

• Support for 64-bit guest operating systems
• Experimental support for 2-way Virtual SMP
• New support for select host and guest operating systems and hardware - 32 and 64 bit
• Ability to open and convert Microsoft VMs or Symantec LiveState Recovery images
• Toolbar customization capabilities
• New wireless networking capabilities for Linux hosts
• Improved autodetect makes it easier to configure devices for virtual machines
• Enhancements to the command line interface

This upgrade is free for existing 5.0 users.

Microsoft .NET Frameworks

Recently I installed Visual Studio 2005 with .NET Framework 2.0. I wondered if .NET Framework 1.1 was still necessary. You should think, that a version 2.0 is downwards compatible, because two frameworks is a bit weird. After deinstalling version 1.1, I was still able to run some 1.1 applications, but installation was no longer possible. Also the 1.1 applications ran much slower on version 2.0.

Currently I have version 1.1 SP1 and 2.0 installed on my system, because this gives the best results.

Release: Microsoft ActiveSync 4.1

After an official 3.8 and an interim 4.0 (with some bugs), Microsoft released ActiveSync 4.1 today. This version supports Windows Mobile 2003 and Windows Mobile 5.

Get your copy here.

DEAMON Tools 4: !@$^%!$

Recently I tried to install DAEMON Tools version 4 on my AMD64 laptop and quess what… it did not work. The installation did not finish correctly, but the SPTD.SYS driver already screwed my system after the first reboot. Various attempts to remove this driver resulted in a corrupt file system :-(.

The cause is probably the low level SPTD driver in combination with harddisk encryption.

My advise to you: Do not install DAEMON Tools version 4 and stick to version 3.47.

Windows Desktop Search - enabled for the enterprise

Today, Microsoft release a Windows Desktop Search without the MSN Toolbar integrated, especially for the enterprise. The tool provides enhanced search capabities and even enterprise management through a Windows Group Policy.

I should say, give it a try and start your download here.

Switched to WordPress.com

Recently I was invited to WordPress.com for blogging. I already used WordPress on my own server, but a maintained server is better.

Please modify your bookmark and/or RSS feed:

• Bookmark: http://bobkous.wordpress.com/
• RSS feed: http://bobkous.wordpress.com/feed/

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 out of beta

Today I received an email, that the Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 Sp1/R2 beta program has ended. This means that the RTM will be available in the next couple of weeks. The email also states that beta participants will receive a free copy of the product. Cool.

Virtual Server 2005 R2 includes the following new capabilities:

• Virtual Server host clustering. Support for host-to-host connectivity lets you cluster all virtual machines running on a host;
• iSCSI support. iSCSI clustering enables guest-to-guest connectivity across physical machines;
• x64 support. Virtual Server runs natively within a 64-bit Windows host operating system, providing increased performance and memory headroom;
• Enhanced PXE booting. Virtual Server now includes improved hyperthreading, support for F6 Disk (SCSI driver), and virtual disk pre-compactor functionality;
• Performance improvements.

For more information about what Virtual Server can do, get the Reviewer’s Guide.