Microsoft has done well this month now that news are out that the IE 8 has increased its market share and continues to be one of the stronger players in the browser market.  Another good news is that Windows 7 is gaining ground after exceeding the market share of its predecessor, Windows Vista.  Some are not surprised at all with this outcome and have even cited the some of the reasons that propelled Windows 7 to its recent success.

Why you might want to switch to Windows 7

1.  Windows 7 has great Troubleshooting Packs that can easily be managed by users.

Troubleshooting problems are fairly common.  Oftentimes, IT experts are bogged down with problems of this sort.  They can be very challenging, especially for remote troubleshooting, and may take a lot of time to resolve such issues. Affecting the system performance, it can also affect others network tasks.

Thankfully, the Troubleshooting Packs of Windows 7 make it easier for users to perform troubleshooting on their own.  IT technicians can even customize these packs to resolve issues with internal applications and recurring problems with the system.

The Problem Steps Recorder is another great feature for remote troubleshooting.  This provides a point-by-point guide to users, complete with screenshots to illustrate the steps that might be causing problems.  It can easily be replayed, helping IT technicians solve the issue by identifying the real source of the problem.

2.  Windows 7 boasts of more security controls that can't be found in Windows XP.

The security controls of Windows 7 include the DEP, or data execution prevention, UAC, user account control, ASLR, or address space layout randomization, and PMIE, or protected mode IE.  The AppLocker is also very useful for setting restrictions on apps and scripts.  With better control over the programs that run on the PC, users are assured of enhanced security and an easier way to manage system.  Other good security features of Windows 7 are the BitLocker and BitLocker to Go, which protect highly sensitive data through encryption.

3.  Windows 7 provides a good management system.

Windows 7 boasts of PowerShell 2.0 integrated support.  It offers a good infrastructure for IT professionals, enabling them to set common tasks automatically.  Desktop management is also made more efficient with this system.  Creation of powerful scripts is possible with PowerShell 2.0, making it one of the best features for IT admins, especially with the inclusion of WMI, or Windows Management Interface and the availability of command-line tools.

Windows 7 and its success

Its predecessor, Windows Vista, didn't gain much success in the market.  Compared to Windows XP, the Vista is hurled with a lot of issues, though most of them zero in on misunderstood features.  With poor marketing, the Vista suffered from its bad rep.  But now that Windows 7 is out, many are hopeful that previous issues with the Vista are addressed with this new version, combining this with the benefits of the more popular XP.  Windows 7 offers updated sofware and hardware technologies that Windows XP users can conveniently switch into.

Time and again, you've probably heard people talking about Google's quest for world domination, with the release of Android, which is giving Apple's iPhone a run for its money, and other successful ventures through their open source projects.  Now that the Google Chrome is out, it is quickly becoming more popular than others.  Pitted against the Mozilla Firefox, you might wonder which of these two browsers would probably take over the lion's share among Linux users.

The truth is that there's no such thing as the perfect browser, but compared to other players in the web search market, Chrome is quickly becoming the place to be for your browsing needs.  Though it hasn't won the browser war yet, it shows a lot of promise with its quick response time and easy installation.  Give it a few more years, and experts say that it might lead the pack or at least raise the standards for many of its counterparts, including Mozilla Firefox.

Mozilla Firefox

Firefox users consider its add-ons or extensions as the best features of this browser.  While this is probably true in most cases, the problem with Firefox is that if you come across a site with a new web feature not supported by the browser, the add-ons might affect the others extensions, especially during installation.  Some also find it more practical if the extensions would be integrated into the system as default so there won't be trouble with frequently downloading or installing extensions for PDF, Flash, and other applications.  This would surely raise the level of web experience you can have with Firefox.

Other common problems include having to restart the browser when updating and later figuring out the the update on the extension actually broke the browser.  During startup, the browser may inform you of several updates for the extensions, but in some instances, you might found none at all.  The process itself can take you a whole lot of time gaining access to web information.

Aside from extension problems, Firefox is also slower than others.  It takes a while for you to open or gain access to the browser and start your search.  You go on clicking the icon, thinking that it's not working.  The launch can be time-consuming, especially on older systems.  You might also encounter some troubles with installation when using some systems.

Google Chrome

Compared to other browsers, Chrome offers a rich web experience.  It's easier to use and is known to be very responsive.  Another advantage of Google Chrome is that it works well with many open source projects and integrates many of Google's top offerings.  Installation is also a breeze most of the time.  It doesn't present the same problems some browsers have with updates and extensions.  It also works better than others on most systems.

Despite some issues users may have against Mozilla Firefox, it cannot be denied that it works well on Windows, even better than IE and other browsers.  With millions of downloads, Mozilla Firefox hasn't lost the browser war yet, but has to catch up if they want to keep their hold in the market.

For music lovers, a vast collection of music coming from various genres and artists is as important as breathing. These music enthusiasts may download or convert CD songs to mP3 audio files by the dozens. So, organizing can be a little difficult. Imagine having to edit the title, artist, genre and all the other descriptive tags. Having all the accurate information makes your collection easy to browse through. It also makes the collection more impressive than if everything else is in chaos. For the serious music collector, it is important to be able to point out the songs at a whim.

The Tag&Rename as a solution

It is already obvious that manual tagging is definitely virtually impossible especially if you have hundreds or even thousands of songs in your collection. You may be able to finish everything if you forget about doing anything else for days. Of course, you do have to attend to your social life or to your job. So, it can get really frustrating to keep on trying and failing to finish the tagging. It can also be frustrating to just let things be. Tag&Rename is a music organizer. It can read all the most popular music files out there. Using an online free database, you can automatically tag all your songs. The free database can be Freedb.com or Amazon.com.

Different methods of tagging

Tag&Rename can tag most of the songs in your collection, as long as these songs can be found through Freedb.com or Amazon.com. Amazon.com will also be able to provide your collection with album covers, which is really cool. Songs that are particularly rare may not be tagged through Tag&Rename. If you have only a few of these songs, you may have to devote some time in hand tagging them. It would help if you can remember the names of those songs or else you will have to browse through what could be a massive collection.

If the rare song does not exist in the free online databases, Tag&Rename may also make use of the information you have already provided. For example, you may have named the file with the song title and the artist. The music organizer will try to make sense of that.

Using Tag&Rename to tag your songs would be really easy if your song files are named accurately. All the organizer needs to do is to search for the title from the free online databases. Unfortunately, some of your files may not have accurate titles, especially those you named yourself, having ripped them from your CDs. The Tag&Rename software will still attempt to extract the title from the possibly misspelled or incomplete titles you have given your songs.

Software download

It is easy to get your hands on the software just download Tag&Rename. The software is easily available over the Internet. You can even get a 30 day free trial. The free trial should be able to show whether the software is right for you. If you are pleased with it, you can just continue enjoying the application. You may have to shell out 30 bucks. If you do not like it, on the other hand, you can cancel anytime within the trial period.

Tag&Rename is an automated way of organizing your music files. So, the next time you want to play music from the same genre or from the same artists, you do not have to pore through your collection to select each song manually. With the music organizer, you can get the organization part done in no time. All you need to do is to enjoy your music. The $30 price may be steep for some people, but it's definitely worth it, especially if you have a massive music collection that needs reorganizing.

Ask.com Social Networking with Q&A Service - Logo Courtesy of Ask.com

Ask.com is adding some human touch for processing search queries online.  It was confirmed just recently that Ask.com will tap into social networking capabilities to answer questions from their web browsers, so they can provide a more accurate and appropriate response based on the expertise of other Ask.com visitors.  Under the wing of IAC/InterActive Corp, the Internet search engine is clearly seeking ways to expand their market share.  Hopefully, this new service that's integrated into their flagship product will give browsers what they want and help Ask.com push its ratings as one of the more widely used search engines, alongside Google and Yahoo!  Currently, Ask.com is testing a Q&A service and has released a beta version, which is available through "invitation only."

The new service from Ask.com

The new service to be launched by Ask.com shows a lot of promise, considering the increasing popularity of social networking on the web.  This is a big project for a company that's been struggling to make a distinction among other search engines.  They have sought other ways to satisfy user queries aside from depending solely on computer algorithms.  With real people to answer user queries, it's bound to make some big changes in how people use Ask.com.

Ask.com, formerly known as Ask Jeeves, gave further details to the new service that's currently being tested.  In a blog post, it is said that questions will be directed to other Ask.com visitors, so the queries can be answered "based on interests and expertise."  People who conceptualized the new service are hopeful that this new method will address a lot of issues encountered by browsers.  This new method will help satisfy time-sensitive queries and questions that are highly subjective.  In the past, computers have failed to address complex questions thrown at them, but with real people helping out, Ask.com aims to give their users the best possible answers.

Doug Leeds, President of Ask.com U.S, is happy to say that the "Ask the Community" feature can help satisfy a greater portion of search queries.  Apparently, the search engine would go beyond providing links to related web pages.  Routing the questions to Ask.com visitors who have the expertise to discuss different subject matters are highly useful, and hopefully this could change the way people search the web.

According to Ask.com, "From a product perspective, the new Ask.com is designed to fill some major holes left by search engines through a blend of technology and the strongest asset we have-- our users.

Expanding the market share

Based on the data presented by comScore (an analytics firm) last June, Ask.com only held a 3.6 percent web market share in the US.  This is a far-cry from Google, which is leading the pack with 62.6 percent web market share, followed by Yahoo with 18.9 percent and Microsoft with 12.7 percent.

The new service would hopefully attract more browsers to the search engine, as it integrates the social networking trend to its service.  Quora.com, a startup company, also has a similar pattern for the Q and A service, while Google acquired a social search service called Aardvark, which also taps into the user's social network contacts to provide answers to queries.  Though this is not an all-new service, Ask.com is a major search engine to present this relatively new feature.

Leeds was honest to say that the new service won't present the same profit-making opportunities they can get from computer-generated web searches.  However, he expects that the new feature will help them get a bigger cut of the market share as browsers take full advantage of this new service.

Mozilla Firefox Tab Candy - Alpa Prototype

What to expect from Firefox's Tab Candy

According to Aza Raskin, the Creative Lead for Mozilla, Tab Candy basically reimagines browsing features through a reorganization and regrouping of tabs. Raskin introduced Tab Candy through his blog, giving Firefox fans a glimpse of Tab Candy's awesome features. The following are some juicy details about how Tab Candy works:

- To launch Tab Candy, you simply have to click on a small button found at the right part of the tabs. - When you click on the Tab Candy button, you will be redirected to a page that provides you with an overview of all your tabs (Tab Candy overview page). You can scan through all of your opened tabs through this page.
- With Tab Candy, you can actually drop and drag tabs to reorganize them. To make things easier, this experimental feature from Firefox allows users to even name their tab groups for better tab management.
- The days of dealing with an overcluttered tab bar are over. When you click a certain tab, the Firefox browser will only open related tabs or tabs that are part of that tab's group.
- You can change your tab groups anytime by just going back to the tab overview page.
- You can fully customize your tab groups, especially if you want easier access to more important tabs such as email and calendar tabs.

Through these experimental features, Tab Candy users won't ever have to deal with missing or cluttered tabs. And because you can easily group your tabs according to your preferences, a customized tab management system will make your life easier.

As of today, the experimental Tab Candy feature only offer limited capabilities. However, Raskin states that "this is only the beginning." Other features that the Mozilla group is trying to develop include a save for later tab, advanced management of tab memory, customization of tab groups, multiple profile support, and automatic assignments of tab groups.

Existing issues and bugs

Take note that Tab Candy is not a Firefox extension, but is actually an "early alpha prototype" program that is open to users who wish to tryout Firefox's latest invention. Feedback from users will be used by Raskin and his group in developing and improving Tab Candy. According to Raskin, the project is in a stage wherein the research and development group is open for feedback and suggestions from users. And because this project is still in its early alpha prototype stage, users will probably encounter performance issues and other bugs. These bugs may cause you to lose some of your tab groups or might make the Firefox browser move slower than usual. However, Firefox is currently building a dedicated group that will tackle existing bugs.

Next steps for Firefox

Currenly, Raskin and his group are focused on start-up performance, refactoring, code documentation, and doing unit tests. For users who want to follow along with Raskin and his group as they add improvements to Tab Candy, they can simply check out Raskin's blog for updates.

The web and browser experience has definitely changed, thanks to improvements offered by different browser giants such as IE, Firefox, Safari, and Google. However, tab browsing is still one area that needs a lot of improvement. With Firefox's Tab Candy, users can expect a more user-friendly and sweeter tabbed browsing experience.

When Hulu was first founded in March 2007, the team had visions of creating a commercially supported service for streaming movies and television shows over the Internet.  It was an ambitious goal.  But as anyone can see now, Hulu has achieved its goal and it has done an amazing job at giving users the opportunity to turn their computer into a television alternative.  If you aren't on board with Hulu yet, you may want to check out everything they have to offer.  Also, check out some of these tips and tricks that can help you get more value out of your Hulu subscription:

View your Hulu clips offline by downloading them.

First of all, it's important to note that the original intended use of Hulu is to stream video that you should watch online.  If ever you're in a pinch and you need to download a Hulu video clip so you can watch it offline, you can do so with StreamTransport.  Simple functionality makes up for what it lacks in appearance.  Use StreamTransport to download your Hulu clips into multiple FLV files that you can convert to other formats as needed.

Use Hulu from outside of the United States.

Currently, Hulu is primarily only used within the United States.  Hulu is working out some licensing, advertising, and broadcasting issues, so it can start providing streaming content to other countries.  If you want to access Hulu outside the US, however, you can make use of one of these easy workarounds:

1.  Use your Chrome or Firefox options to set up proxies to trick Hulu into thinking you're accessing the site from the US.
2.  Make use of a certain software or service that allows you to hide your IP from Hulu all together, giving you access to your Hulu account from virtually anywhere in the world

Preview Hulu clips without the hassle.

Usually, when you want to check out some videos on Hulu, you will have to sit through those 30-second ads that load up when you open the video.  This can get annoying, especially if you're scanning around because you aren't exactly sure if that's the exact video you're looking for.  A great way to get past this problem is to make use of Bing.  Bing has a cool feature that shows live previews of the videos in your search results.  Simply input "site:hulu" in the Bing search bar, followed by the search term, and you can start checking out live previews of Hulu content in no time.

Use Hulu Desktop Integration to access Hulu from Windows Media Center.

Okay, so Hulu offers its own Hulu Desktop, which is a type of software that allows you to watch Hulu on your HDTV, in a media center-like fashion.  One of the problems of this software is that it is limited in comparison with other media centers.  You can use Hulu Desktop Integration, which is a simple software that gives you a Hulu access menu on Windows Media Center.  When you access the Hulu menu, your WMC instance is closed, then Hulu is launched.  When you're done using Hulu, close it and WMC will be executed again so it's just like you launched Hulu straight from WMC.

Opera 10.6, The Hummingbird Experience - Courtesy of Opera

When the first Opera browser hit the market back in 1996, it was well-received by the public.  Over the years, Opera continued to update their browser, including various features, functions, and options.  One of the factors that drew consumers toward Opera was the fact that the browser was fast, secure, and had original features.  In fact, Opera has originated numerous features and functions that have now become industry standards for browsers.  On July 1st, just about a week ago, the newest member of the Opera web browser family just made its public debut.  In this article, we're going to cover some of the best things about Opera 10.6 and we'll also give you some of the browser's benchmark results.

What's so great about Opera 10.6?

Perhaps the best thing about Opera 10.6 is that it is one of the fastest (overall) web browsers currently available.  The symbol that Opera has chosen for its latest release is a hummingbird, the world's fastest animal on earth with a wingbeat rate ranging from an average of 10-15 beats per second to a record-setting 80 beats per second.  This is the kind of speed that Opera 10.6 seeks to emulate and, if you ask us, it does a great job.  Aside from its speed, which we will delve into, here are some of the other great features you can expect on Opera 10.6:

-  Integrated web search, allowing you to type your search term right into the address bar.
-  Opera Link is an easy-to-use feature that lets you back up and synchronize your data between various devices, like computers, laptops, and mobiles.
-  The Opera Turbo feature makes browsing even faster than ever before by compressing webpages before downloading and displaying them.
-  Mouse gesture support allows you to control your browser and navigate the web with simple movements with your mouse.
-  The tab system on Opera is very well-made, giving you visual previews and allowing you to lock tabs, or even privatize tabs for your own security.
-  The Speed Dial function is a customizable interface that allows you to view your favorite webpages at a glance and access them with a click.
-  Another awesome feature of Opera 10.6 is its content blocking feature that can be used to remove certain images, content, and animations depending on your settings and preferences.

Opera 10.6 benchmark results

Here are some of the results from benchmarks run on Opera 10.6 using a MacBookPro with a 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 processor and 4GB of RAM:

-  Off of a cold start, Opera 10.6 has an average load time that takes longer than Safari 5, but still faster compared to Firefox 3.6.6.
-  Opera 10.6 fared worse on warm starts, falling into last place with its average warm start time.
-  Opera 10.6's average time for a 9-tab load is much slower than the other browsers, especially Chrome 6, which came out first in this test.
-  The main benchmark test in which Opera 10.6 blew the competition away is Java Script loading.  It is much faster than the second-placer Chrome 6.

Do you remember your young teenage days?  Ahh, yes.  Those magical years when it seemed the only worry in the world was how to get home before mom and dad's curfew.  Times when you would have friends sleep over and you'd spend hours just making prank calls.  Well, whatever the case is, if you've ever been on the receiving end of a prank call, then chances are that it wasn't too fun for you.  This is one of the reasons why a lot of homes started installing caller ID services in their homes.  These reverse phone lookup services would trace the number of the caller and show the name of the person and company that made the call.  However, one of the problems with these reverse phone lookup services is that they have never been too good at tracing mobile numbers.  Now, however, you can easily perform reverse phone lookups through the Internet.  This is great news for anyone who wants to look up who called them last, whether it be for serious business or just another punk prank caller.

Option #1 -  Cell Revealer

Cell Revealer is a tool to lookup cell phone numbers.  Head to the site and you will find that it is an extremely simple website.  The main feature of the website is smack-dab in the middle of the homepage, it is a tool that allows you to input a cell phone number then reveal the name of the holder of that phone line.  The tools work pretty well, although there have been a number of complaints among those who have tried the site.  First of all, the site is able to reveal some numbers, but it also often shows various other ambiguous results and errors, such as "UNKNOWN", "CELL PHONE IL", "TOLL FREE NUMBER", "WIRELESS CALLER", or "NEW YORK NY".  Furthermore, while the service is generally free to try, you may have to pay for a premium account to continue using the service.  Still, this is a great tool to use if you only have to look up a number every once in a while.

Option #2 - Phone Lookup

Another similar service on the Internet is Phone Lookup.  This website offers the exact same service as Cell Revealer.  Essentially, the main advantage of Phone Lookup is that it is completely free and you won't have to pay for anything, no matter how many times you use the service.  Furthermore, Phone Lookup seems to have more accurate results when performing reverse phone lookups.  It is definitely a site that is worth bookmarking, even if it's just to use the service during emergencies, once in a blue moon, or when you're trying to catch a persistent prank caller.  Mobile prank callers beware!

For those who want to trace a certain cellphone number through the Internet, these tools are worth checking out. However, some users have complained that both these sites gave inaccurate info, although some have claimed that these sites did work.

When using any sort of electronic interface, you are likely to come across certain visual or navigational issues that you wish you could change or tweak.  Some like their taskbars up top, others like it down below, some want widgets down the sides of their screen, while others may want a minimalist look with hardly anything at all.  It all comes down to personal preference.  It's probably impossible to create a single electronic interface and user experience that everyone is going to love.  Still, there are loads of great programs out there that can help you achieve the perfect look and feel for you and your gadget.  These pieces of software are often called shell replacements and some of the most popular ones available now include RocketDock, Rainmeter, Rainlendar, and Fences.  Aside from these, however, there is another shell replacement program that is causing a stir among desktop customization enthusiasts all over the Internet.  This program is called SharpEnviro, short for Sharp Environment.  Read on to learn more about SharpEnviro, what it does, and how it just may be the perfect shell replacement for your system.

Getting to know SharpEnviro

Before you get all excited to download and start using this shell replacement, it's important to know that SharpEnviro is currently still in its beta stages.  Since its introduction, SharpEnviro has grown not only with regard to its features and functions, but also in popularity.  The basic idea behind this software is to give users a beautiful and friendly user experience on their computers by changing their default operating system shell and replacing it with the customizable SharpEnviro shell.  The latest version of the program is 0.8, but this is still reserved for private testers.  The 0.7 version is available for anyone to download and use for free.

Great features of SharpEnviro

-  The program doesn't replace your Windows File Explorer, which means you have the choice to keep using File Explorer or you can customize it to use a different file manager of your liking.
-  By default, SharpEnviro places the software's main toolbar at the top of your screen.  The "SharpE" toolbar has shortcuts that allow you to access the Start Menu replacement called the "SharpE" launcher, the SharpE configuration tool, command window launcher, sticky note launcher, "Run" dialog, and system monitors.
-  SharpE also makes use of a "Next Page" menu for times when your screen gets filled up and can no longer display all of your open programs.
-  Right click on the desktop and you can access the SharpE menu at an instant.
-  At the top right of your screen, you will find useful system tools, like your volume, calculator, Task Manager, and multimedia player controls.  You can even use a quick button that allows you to open or switch between media players.
-  The lower left corner of the screen has a widget to configure your toolbar, as well as a number of virtual desktop options, a notepad launcher, and a file explorer launcher.  The bottom toolbar also acts as your main taskbar, displaying each of your open programs with both an icon and text.  The taskbar also has live preview functionality.
-  By default, your system tray icons will all be showed and you will have a small pop-up menu button that can give you easy access to all of your running system tray processes.
-  Finally, the best part of it all, practically everything about SharpEnviro is customizable and free.

If you're one of those Farmville fans who recently experienced bugs when using Mozilla's Firefox, this is definitely a bit of good news. Just recently, Farmville gamers using Mozilla's Firefox as their browser experienced an annoying occurrence because of Firefox's way of dealing with hung plug-ins in the swiftest way possible. But fret not. Mozilla has recently released an update to deal with this issue, so fans of one of the most popular games in Facebook can breathe a little easier.

Details on the issue

In accordance to Mozilla's plan to provide its Firefox users a better way to surf the net, it has recently updated its crash protection features. However, this quick crash protection feature interfered with a lot of Farmville users accessing the net through Firefox. With this recent update, Firefox has the means to kill a plug-in if it becomes unresponsive for more than 10 seconds. This means that if any net-based program running on Microsoft's Silverlight, Apple's QuickTime, or Adobe's Flash Player becomes unresponsive or crashes for more than 10 seconds, Firefox will automatically kill it. Users will then be prompted with a message informing them that Firefox "has killed the plug-in."

However, this fast-acting feature of Firefox has prevented some Farmville users from playing the game, leading to complaints from plenty of users. Because Firefox knows that plenty of Farmville fans are also Firefox users, they have come up with an update to fix the bug. As a response to the overwhelming number of complaints received, Mozilla quickly came up with a solution, which is to extend the 10-second waiting time to 45 seconds. Because plenty of users complained that their Firefox browsers have been shutting down their Farmville games, the people at Mozilla opted for a longer waiting time in terms of hung up plug-ins.

According to Mozilla developer Justin Dolske in response to the Farmville bug experienced by Firefox users, ""Let's hit this with a big hammer and make it 45 (seconds)." Mozilla's head of engineering Mike Shaver agreed with Dolske. This resulted in a release of a new Firefox update.

The Farmville bug as the main factor behind Firefox update

Although it was the Farmville bug that prompted Mozilla to update the Firefox, this wasn't the only incident wherein Firefox's anti-crash software interfered with hung plug-ins. However, because of the number of complaints and the possibility that a lot of Firefox users could be affected by the Farmville bug, Mozilla quickly acted on the issue and developed a fix.

In order for users to use the updated Firefox version, they can simply click on "check for updates" found on the browser's help menu, or download the new edition. Mozilla also suggests a workaround when dealing with the Farmville bug. According to Mozilla, users can simply turn off or disable the OOPP (Out Of Process Plug-ins). The OOPP is a feature that allows Firefox to keep on running despite plug-in crashes. For complete instructions on how to turn off or disable this Firefox feature, users can access a support document online.