Google Chrome V5 goes final for Mac & Linux

"Google Chrome V5 - Get a fast new browser. For PC, Mac, and Linux" ( http://bit.ly/9NfTkM )

Web Browser Round Up

2009 Internet Browser Software Product Comparisons

Here's a great site that has reviews and ratings of the Top 10 Web Browsers for 2009 as you can see from the above preview Firefox #1, Google Chrome #2, MS Internet Explorer #3, Opera #4 & Safari #5.

Google Chrome

Google has released the final 1.0 version of Chrome for Windows with Linux & Mac versions to be released later this year. Each Tab in Google Chrome acts as an independent Browser, so if a page in the Tab crashes the Browser doesn't.

Apple Safari

Apple has released a Public Beta of Safari 4 for Mac & Windows, with 150 new features that improve the Web Browsing experience.

Both Google Chrome and Apple Safari used the WebKit rendering engine originally derived by Apple from the KHTML software library of Konqueror which is part of Linux and developed as open source.

Windows 7 Public Beta Released

Microsoft announced the release of a Public Beta of Windows 7 at the 2009 CES. The beta can be downloaded from Microsoft's official Windows 7 site, until January 24th. Windows 7 is available in 32 Bit (2.4Gb Download) and 64 Bit (3.2Gb Download) versions. The Beta period will end on August 1st, 2009.

Reports on the new operating system are positive. Windows 7 will come in three flavours Home, Enterprise (Pro) and a slimmed down Netbook version.

iWork '09

Apple has also updated it's iWork suite which includes iWork.com a method of sharing projects. Keynote | Pages | Numbers all have extra features including being able to work with Microsoft Office files.

iLife '09

Apple has updated it's iLife suite to iLife '09.  iPhoto | iMovie | GarageBand | iWeb | iDVD have all been updated. Apple has also posted a range of tutorials on each of the programs.

Apple 17" MacBook Pro

Apple 17" MacBook Pro was launched on Tuesday at MWSF 2009. It features a fixed battery with up to 8hrs of wireless use. Plus the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor. The design has also been brought into line with the other MacBook Pro Laptops which were updated late last year.

Browser Trends

The latest data on Browser trends shows Firefox, Safari and Chrome rising in their market share, this of course, is at the expense of Explorer, which is now at  just over 68%.

MWSF 2009

MacWorld San Francisco 2009 kicks off from Monday Jan 5th - Friday 9th, with all eyes watching for 9 am Tuesday when the Apple Keynote speech occurs. Expect to see updates to the iMac & Mac Mini computers, along with iLife & iWork 09 software. Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" will also feature with a possible mid February release. Unfortunately this will be the last time Apple attend this expo.

gOS Linux

gOS is a Linux Desktop Operating System based on the Ubuntu distribution. gOS 2.9 Space features Web Applications and Myspace apps on your desktop. 

gOS 3 Gadgets instantly launches Google Gadgets for Linux on startup, to the desktop. Google Documents, Calendar, and Mail launch in Mozilla Prism windows to closer resemble desktop applications. WINE 1.0 is included to support thousands of Windows software programs for advanced users. 

gOS Cloud is a browser operating system that combines beautiful design with sophisticated technologies to make the PC faster, safer, and easier. It's named "Cloud" as in "cloud computing" which is currently gaining momentum.

Nvidia Chipsets coming to iMac + Mac Mini

The next generation iMac and Mac Mini due for release at next month's Macworld San Francisco will feature similar Nvidia Graphics chipsets that were put in the MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. This will take advantage of the Open CL technologies that are a part of  OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Not  to mention make everything look stunning... 

Opera Browser Updates

Opera has recently updated it's current Browser to Version 9.63 which includes an improved rendering engine, search functions, speed dial and comes with a built in email client. It also has support for mouse gestures.

Opera 10 is also currently in development with a Alpha release available to download and try. It features an improved rendering engine that makes it 30% faster, scores 100/100 on the Acid 3 test for CSS and has lots of great new features for web developers.

Free Open Source Software for Mac OS X | iPhone

Here's a nice site with some free goodies for Mac OS X and the iPhone

Mac OS X

http://www.opensourcemac.org/

iPhone

http://opensourceiphonesoftware.com/

Microsoft goes to the Cloud with Azure

Microsoft Azure™ Services Platform (Azure) is an internet-scale cloud services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used individually or together. 

Azure’s flexible and interoperable platform can be used to build new applications to run from the cloud or enhance existing applications with cloud-based capabilities. Its open architecture gives developers the choice to build web applications, applications running on connected devices, PCs, servers, or hybrid solutions offering the best of online and on-premises.

Virtual Box

VirtualBox by Sun Microsystems Inc, runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh and OpenSolaris hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 + 2.6), Solaris, OpenSolaris, and OpenBSD.

Mozilla Songbird Media Player

Mozilla-based iTunes rival "Songbird" supports Intel-based Macs, Windows and Linux platforms. Songbird is an open-source customizable music player that's a non-proprietary, cross platform, extensible tool that will help you create new ways to play, manage, and discover your music.

Microsoft Office Web

Office Web/14 will be appearing as an online Web App, much like Google Docs and will work in IE, Firefox and Safari Web Browsers on Mac, Linux, and iPhone. Private previews of Office Web will begin later this year...

Aviary - Online Creative Tool Set

Aviary is a suite of powerful creative applications you can use in your web browser. They're on a mission to make creation accessible to artists of all genres, from graphic design to audio editing.

Phoenix - image editor that has layers, masks, effects and undo history.

Peacock - does wonderful and amazing things, call it a visual laboratory.

Toucan - color swatches and palettes tool to help you find colors.

They are also developing new members of the Aviary family : 

Raven - Vector editor

Woodpecker - Smart image resizer

Eagle - Pixel pattern recognition

Owl - Desktop publishing

Penguin - Word processor

Ibis - Font creator

Pigeon - Painting simulator

Hummingbird - 3D modeler

Tern - Terrain generator

Myna - Audio editor

Roc - Music generator

Starling - Video editor

Apple How to's

Apple has a great section on it's site called "Find Out How" with video tutorials on Mac basics, iLife, iWork and MobileMe. So if you're new to the Mac it's a great place to learn how things work using Apple's software.

Apple Updates Pro Apps

Apple has released an update for the Final Cut Studio Applications.

Pro Applications Updates improve reliability for Apple’s professional applications and are recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Server, and Logic Studio. Pro Applications Update 2008-04 addresses general performance issues and improves overall stability. 

Applications included in the update: 

Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 | Compressor 3.0.5 | Color 1.0.3 | Shake 4.1.1

Intel Core i7 Chips

Intel's Core i7 (Nehalem) processors officially launched on November 17th, 2008. The company has extensively tested the chips in an effort to avoid previous show stopping bugs.

It has been speculated that Apple will be migrating the Mac Pro to these Nehalem Xeon processors which are due to be updated at Macworld San Fransico in January 5th-9th 2009. 

Apple is also amongst several vendors awaiting the release of three new low-power desktop CPUs due in January. Intel will launch the Core 2 Quad Q8200s (2.33GHz/4MB L2), Core 2 Quad Q9400s (2.66GHz/6MB L2) and Core 2 Quad Q9550s (2.83GHz/12MB L2) Apple is reported to have decided to launch the new chips in it's iMac line which has been rumored for a revision at Macworld 2009.