Google Chromium OS has been on everyone’s lips for a few weeks, and is finally available for download – only as source code, though. The new operating system developed by Google is intended to dramatically change the way we use our computers today, and definitely move on to the Cloud.

I’ve tested this very first version of Chromium OS on VMware, and I have to say that my first impression has been one of disappointment. After reading so much about it I expected something else… at least something more than a web browser! Because that’s exactly what Chromium OS looks like: a simple, standard web browser.

After the initial shock, the truth is that having a web browser as operating system – or viceversa – is quite a revolutionary idea, with a few positive sides to it. First, everything’s done online: you use online apps, you store files online, you work with online documents. Everything is available anytime, anywhere. Second, it makes the system much faster and lighter on resources. Chromium OS hardly takes 10 seconds to boot up, and has been developed with netbooks in mind. Third, the web browser interface saves you the pain of having to learn how to use a new operating system. You’ve probably been using web browsers for a few years now, so you know how they work. Read the rest of this entry »

Today Google are going to show off their in-development operating system Chrome OS, and possibly even release a beta version. There are already three major OS choices, so what can Google do differently?

The Cloud: It’s expected that the main feature of Chrome OS will be its reliance on being online. Instead of loading your PC with tons of software, as much as possible will be accessible via cloud computing. Most computing is done while online now anyway, so this may make a lot of sense. As Google itself offers an increasingly powerful array of online tools, such an approach meshes perfectly. Perhaps it will somehow make Google’s Wave useful, instead of being the coolest web app no-one is using that it is today!

However, there has to be more to it than that, as you can already use Google’s applications from your browser, and while a stripped down OS will save disk space and CPU usage are there really so many machines out there that struggle with what’s already available? Apple’s OSX has the unique selling point of sleek sexy usability, Linux can be endlessly tinkered with by tech-heads, and Windows 7 is a lighter, better version of the dominant OS around the world. I don’t think being small and lightweight can really be enough for Chrome OS.

Security: It is rumored that Chrome OS users won’t have to deal with viruses, malware and their associated security updates due to a completely rethought approach to security architecture. This would be a godsend for everyone except Symantec and the other security software companies - but to be honest I just can’t see how you can create risk free computing, as hackers have been around forever.

Design: In the same way there is an assumption that a Google branded phone will be the best thing since the iPhone due to Google inherent good design sense, people are assuming the same from Chrome OS. Personally, I think they’ll struggle to out design Apple. Their mobile Android OS is eminently functional, flexible and really neat, but when it comes down to pick up and play design, Apple are the masters.

Maybe Google will prove me wrong. The essence of Chrome OS design is supposed to be minimalism, which I completely approve of, but if it just works like a minimal Windows or Linux like interface - that will be boring. I know it’s a tall order to reinvent the wheel, but that’s still what I want!

We’ll know all this within hours, and will update with our impressions soon.

PC users often argue that one of the big selling-points of PCs is price and choice. They claim that they have a huge amount of models and price ranges to choose from for computers which offer the same or better specifications than Apple products.

Well Miami based manufacturers Psystar recently decided it was time to change Apple’s monopoly on things.

Back in April 2008, they decided to sell what they called “Open Computers” in the USA which came pre-installed with Mac OS X Leopard. Prices started at just $399. Apple were obviously furious about this and after a lengthy legal battle, US courts ruled today that Psystar had broken copyright infringement and would have to cease trading. The court ruled that Psystar had broken the law on 3 grounds - reproduction, distribution and the creation of derivative works.

Psystar put up no defense to the first charge, but the second and third were more interesting battle grounds as they may well have set the boundaries of what is and is not acceptable for computer manufacturers that try to emulate Apple hardware and software.

ITWire report:

Psystar replaced the OS X bootloader, disabled and removed Apple kernel extensions, and added its own kernel extensions. Psystar acknowledged that it made those modifications. But Psystar claimed that didn’t make its copies of OS X “derivative works,” because it didn’t actually modify Apple’s source code. It merely replaced some of it with its own.

The court decided this argument was “unavailing” but only because Psystar failed to prove any supporting evidence of such a “derivative work”. Whether this is because there aren’t any, I’m not legally qualified enough to say but it may certainly give hope to those manufacturers who can work out a way round this. Read the rest of this entry »

Every now and then, you come across a piece of software that genuinely surprises. Normally, the thing that surprises us about such pieces of software is what it does: features and functionalities. QQ doesn’t really do anything new. It doesn’t contain any particularly ground breaking features. It’s an instant messaging client. What’s surprising about QQ is that its network has over 1 billion registered accounts… and unless you’re in contact with China, you probably never heard of it.

Depending on who you believe, QQ is either the #1 or the #3 most popular instant messaging client on the internet. It’s published by QQ.com, which in turn has an Alexa rank of 11. And yes, the fact that this is such a popular app is what makes it so important.

Apart from the fairly generic functions that you’d expect in any IM client, QQ does pack a few features which you won’t find in either Yahoo’s or Microsoft’s offerings. For example: QQ allows you to resume an interrupted download when you’re sharing files with friends. That may not sound particularly exciting but if you consider the stability of networks in parts of China and plenty of other countries, you’ll see that it’s actually essential. Another cool feature included with QQ is a nifty little screen grab tool which you can use while chatting. It even lets you make small screencasts: great for anyone who’s constantly helping friends out with their PCs.

But does that make QQ an MSN killer? Well the answer is: possibly. QQ is already a better designed and more up-to-date client than MSN. What QQ needs is a way to convince Messenger users to jump ship. One way this could be done would be by interacting with the MSN network: I don’t think that would work. But some promotion on American and European websites could well have a major impact.

You can download QQ Messenger from Softonic here, and don’t forget to check out our QQ review, too!

Lets leave the ‘why would you read a book on your PC?’ question to one side for a moment, and take a look at Amazon’s new free eBook reader:

What you can see is everything Kindle for PC can do. You can insert bookmarks, but not annotations or highlights (like you can on the Kindle device). The library system is basic, although clear and there’s an amazon button that takes you to the shop via your browser. The presentation of text - the important bit - is minimal. You can’t alter font, but can change size and the width of pages. There’s no option to mess around with color or background at all. I was pretty unimpressed with the text, as there are tiny apps like Gargoyle (unfortunately not an ebook reader) that present text in a much more readable form. This just looks like text in MS Word! You can use out-of-copyright eBooks from the Gutenberg project, though, which is good.

Dedicated desktop readers aren’t very common, but there are other options. Check them out after the break - I’ll start at the bottom!

Read the rest of this entry »

As you may have read elsewhere, today marks the 5th anniversary of the release of Mozilla Firefox 1.0. The browser, intended as a direct attack on the market dominance (and abysmal build quality) of Internet Explorer, has gone from strength to strength in those five years, proving that the software we use to view the web can be as important as the content we’re viewing.

But this story didn’t really begin on November 9th, 2004. Firefox had already been around for a couple of years, under the name of Phoenix (and, briefly, Firebird). That was when many internet users, including myself, first had a chance to get to grips with what was to become a revolutionary piece of software. I was still using a 56k dialup connection when I first used Phoenix, so load times really mattered!

You can still download Phoenix 0.5 (from 2002) and, apart from gaping security holes it’s riddled with, the program itself is eminently usable and very reminiscent of Firefox 3.5.5. Some page elements display incorrectly on newer websites, but the most notable difference is how much faster ‘bloated’ Firefox 3.5.5 is. Also, Firefox uses a heck of a lot more memory than Phoenix ever did, but that seems OK because computers have so much more memory available.

Many of the keyboard shortcuts and features in Firefox were already available in Phoenix. Tabbed browsing, for example, works well in the older browser, though you couldn’t carry out advanced tab operations like dragging tabs to reorder them. Phoenix 0.5 also fails the Acid3 browser test, with a score of 39/100 - still strikingly better than ’standards be damned’ Internet Explorer 7 (12/100).

Taking another look at Phoenix 0.5 today has brought back a lot of memories… like how the default theme was ugly but the favorites manager was streets ahead of IE’s offering (which it still is). Phoenix was an important piece of software that restored hope to web users like me who’d grown up with Netscape, only to see it die from lack of development. So yes, today is Firefox’s birthday. But I’m remembering Phoenix.

Google are taking over the world! We’re entrusting our data with a faceless corporation!

Some people worry about that, anyway, though I’m not one of them. I think Google offer a great range of free services that greatly enhance my online life - even if sometimes I feel left out as a European.

Today Google announced on their blog a great new service that should help make people much more comfortable with using Google - Google Dashboard. This can also be found through your Google account settings. What it gives you is a single page summarizing all the Google products you use, and what is kept on them.

So, I can see how many conversations I have stored in my Gmail, how many albums in Picasa, what’s in my Google Docs and so on. It covers over 20 products, including the aforementioned, Calendar, Web History, Orkut, YouTube, Talk, Reader, Alerts, Latitude and more. From here you can control all of that data too.

Perhaps the data that’s most eye opening is your search history - searching while signed in is associated with your account, and it’s all there! There’s even a calendar that shows your levels of search activity. It’s fascinating, in a narcissistic way, but even better you are put in control of it all. If you want to delete it, that’s easy. You can delete bits, or everything and “pause” history collection.

I think this Google Dashboard really makes you feel in control of your online life, and I would love to see sites like Facebook and MySpace follow suit. Cynics and conspiracy theorists probably won’t be convinced, but it certainly takes some of the wind out of their sails.

*Apparently there are some issues with data collection for Google Apps for Domains.

The 12th Annual Independent Games Festival is almost upon us, and has a huge selection of submissions to check out. There’s a record 306 entries, covering a huge range of genres. Lewie Procter at SavvyGames has completed part one of a ‘Pretend you are an IGF judge‘ series, which usefully brings together all the publicly available submitted games, so you can check them out yourself.

The sheer volume of games is pretty intimidating, but there’s sure to be tons of great stuff. I’ve already reviewed AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! — A Reckless Disregard for Gravity, which I love and Terry Cavanagh’s excellent Don’t Look Back is also there, alongside his upcoming and highly anticipated VVVVVV (no demo for this yet, sniff!).

While publishing giant Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 will break barriers by allowing you to be a brutal terrorist, these indie developers are proving that you don’t need to shock or ask ridiculous moral non-choices of your players to do something revolutionary with video games or story telling. There’s also a wealth of humor, weirdness and creative enthusiasm that I feel is lacking from many of the season’s big upcoming releases - which unless I’m forgetting something are all sequels. While there is certainly lots of good stuff to play, like Hollywood before it, the games industry seems stuck in a blockbuster-sequel cycle, making it seem difficult for genuinely new games to make their mark.

One of the most widespread problems people had with Snow Leopard when it launched was a compatibility issue in Mail.app (aka Apple Mail) which prevented messages being sent and even crashed the program in some cases. Nick wrote a guide to fixing these issues, so this obvious failing in Apple’s QA testing needn’t be too much of a hindrance.

That said, my first thought when I read about people having problems with Mail.app was: why are these people even using Mail.app? I’ve had my current iMac for around two years and I’ve never even run the Mail program. Not once. That’s because I use Gmail, a mail application that renders Mail.app and all other desktop email clients more or less obsolete.

For those of you still toiling in the dark with an email client, I know there is sometimes a good reason for that. If you’re trying to handle lots of different accounts, or if you need to connect to an Exchange server, it’s difficult to live without a mail client. But for the average home user and even for most home office users, webmail solutions will always be a better idea than clients. Here’s why:

Security and stability

Desktop email clients are inherently less stable than Gmail or other equivalent webmail services. Storing your data on a local disk (even if you backup) will never be as safe as trusting Google’s datacenters (which are, themselves never 100% safe: nothing is).

But perhaps more importantly, email clients generally rely on downloading message files (and often attachments) to your computer before you filter out content you don’t want. This means that the potential for spam and even malware finding its way onto your computer is significantly higher if you use a mail client application. Read the rest of this entry »

In this brave new world of the internet, the planet, we have been told, has shrunk. Yet for Google, it seems old geographical realities still hold true.

Google Voice sounds wonderful, but I’ve heard so much about this amazing service I can’t use that I’m beginning to hate it. And Onebox music search - it sure is lucky no one in Europe listens to music, or we might be a bit annoyed at Google’s new search feature we don’t have. Thanks for making these tools available everywhere, except in Asia, Australasia, Antarctica and Europe. What’s this all about? When did the US become the world?

North America only accounts for 15% of internet users, so when are the majority going to get some of this stuff? Europe’s a bigger market, and just as developed as the US. I’m surprised that a music search service should need any local restrictions - with streaming services like Spotify there are licensing issues, but search?

With Google Voice, obviously there will be differing telecoms law, but Google has presence everywhere and there seems to be no movement at all. As we follow events around the world with complete ease, the idea of waiting months for something just doesn’t fit. So come on Google, there’s a whole world out there, and we don’t like being ignored! One day, you might wake up and find we’re all using Bing.

One thing you can usually guarantee with Apple’s OS releases is that they will work properly. That wasn’t the case with Snow Leopard - released exactly two months ago today - and the compatibility problems that have dogged it hark back to Microsoft’s disastrous release of Vista. I’m not for one minute arguing that the functionality of Snow Leopard is as bad as Vista and the incompatibility problems are far fewer. But the number of problems being discussed by users on this site alone suggest that for the first time in Apple OS releases, they got it badly wrong.

Apple Mail in particular has caused a huge number of problems as the comments following a post I wrote addressing Snow Leopard incompatibility issues with it prove. Mike’s frustrations are typical of many:

Massive problems here. Mail crashes occasionally, Aperture crashes all the time, especially when trying to export. CS3 has crashed. I mainly see the crashing when going into the dialog boxes (i.e export etc). I am not going to go into work-arounds, that’s not my job, I paid a fortune for all of my apple gear to get away from this type of issue. Apple should have gotten this right before releasing it.

He’s absolutely right to be so angry. The least Apple users deserve is that Apple’s own software works with what was merely a revised version of Leopard. And as he found out, it’s wasn’t only Mail that caused problems. Adobe’s CS3 was a well publicized victim of Snow Leopard. Since we update programs on a regular basis here at Softonic, it’s been unavoidable for us to notice the large number of updates rushed-out by developers in the wake of Snow Leopard’s release and the volume of frustrated users finding that programs suddenly aren’t working anymore.

InformationWeek reported that at least 100 applications were incompatible with Snow Leopard on its release. Users at Wikidot are keeping track of those programs still incompatible including at the time of writing major packages such as Adobe After Effects and Adobe ColdFusion. And to complete the surreal Vista-esque scenario, there were even security issues on Snow Leopard’s release. We had the security hole created by Guest Accounts and a vulnerability in Java both of which put your Mac at risk of hijacking.

Don’t get me wrong. Snow Leopard was far less problematic than Vista on balance. Minor incompatibility problems are to be expected with completely new OS releases but Snow Leopard was hardly a revolution - it was merely a tweak of Leopard so it shouldn’t have been hard for Apple to get it right. That is, unless they rushed it out in advance of Windows 7 which seems like the most likely reason for the problems.

For many Apple users, the release of Snow Leopard will forever be remembered as the mark of the devil - 10.666. Let’s hope they get it right next time.

I’ve barely been able to think this week due to the Microsoft marketing machine going into overdrive. Mainstream, and even not-so mainstream media, have been singing the praises of the new operating system like it’s some kind of revelation.

In my humble opinion, it’s clearly not a revelation. It’s yet another blatant copy of Mac OS X by Microsoft and merely the final version of Vista that they messed-up so monumentally 3 years ago.

If you’re in two minds about whether to upgrade, here are 7 reasons not to believe the hype or make the switch:

1. Little difference to Vista

Yes, there are a few juicy new features such as the “Superbar”, Libraries and it’s quicker but it remains essentially Vista. As some people are already realizing, Windows 7 isn’t much more than a Vista Service Pack. If, Vista is Windows 6.0 then Seven is merely 6.1.

2. It’s expensive compared to other options

A cursory glance at other operating systems shows that Windows 7 is still very expensive. Ubuntu and other Linux releases are free, and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard costs only around $75 and just $45 for a version upgrade.

Windows 7, depending on the version chosen, costs between $119.99 and $219.99 for the upgrade and between $199.99 and $319.99 full version.

3. XP and Vista work fine

XP was released in 2001 and remains a good option thanks to the service pack. Even though it’s 8 years old, it still remains the world’s most widely used operating system and almost completely dominates the netbook market. As for Vista, despite an awful start, Microsoft updates have served to clean up many of it’s problems if not solved the bloatedness and speed issues which plague it. If you’re happy with your current Windows, why change?

4. It’s still built on the same old insecure infrastructure

Compared with previous versions, Windows 7 is more secure, yes. But at the end of the day, it’s still based on the same old vulnerable NT kernel that Windows 3.1x was based on 17 years ago. It’s still also necessary to activate the firewall and make sure antivirus updates have been kept up to date. Other systems are more secure where to install anything you need to be the Administrator.

5. Upgrading XP requires a clean install

While Vista users can choose a convenient “Upgrade” option which takes less than 30 minutes to install Windows 7, XP users  - which is the vast majority of Windows users out there - have to perform a clean install. Even a brief glance at the BBC’s guide to upgrading to Windows 7 tells you that there is no way offices and general home users are going to go to the trouble - or even feel confident - to perform a clean install of a new operating system.

6. Incompatible programs

Windows 7 will be compatible with far more programs than Vista was on release and most major developers have been updated their software for it. But there will inevitably be tools or small business applications designed for particular businesses which don’t work well with it. The only solution to this is the XP compatibility mode only available in the more expensive editions.

7. Windows remains a closed system

Years ago almost everyone had Windows installed so interoperability wasn’t an issue. Now there are many users sharing Windows with Mac OS X and Linux. While these two operating systems have endeavored to facilitate coexistence, Windows hasn’t. Thus while Mac and Linux can access Windows files and install the two operating systems together, this is not the case in Windows 7, which still reads HFS or EXT3/4 natively.

Will you be one of those that sticks with what you’ve got and doesn’t upgrade to Windows 7? Do you think that Windows 7 is worth upgrading to? Have your say.

Testing a new version of Windows is like getting the keys to your brand new car and ride it for the first time… all shiny outside and spotless inside, with that unmistakable new car scent that only stays for a few days. After the first impression, you make yourself comfortable in the driver’s seat and begin looking at all the buttons, lights and knobs on the dashboard. After adjusting the wheel and buckling up, it’s time to start the engine!

This is when Windows 7, our new car in this short story, leaves the garage and hits the track. That is, it leaves Microsoft’s labs and factories to become part of our daily lives. And it’s our turn, as users of this operating system, to pay attention to every single detail about it: any hardware problems? Is it difficult to get used to? How does it behave under the harshest conditions? An in-depth analysis with one main objective: to get to know an operating system that will become an essential tool in our work.

This post gathers our first impressions of Windows 7, the latest version of the Microsoft operating system. Just like each driver has a different driving style, each Softonic editor has also a different personal perspective when it comes to test a new operating system. And this is what Softonic editors from very diverse nationalities and backgrounds think about it.

Vista was not that bad, but Seven is not that good either”

I’m a positive person, so my first impression was kind of hopeful. But as soon as the system loads - much faster than in Vista, I must say - this initial hope vanishes. My dear old classic Start menu is gone and UAC is still up to its old tricks. These two things, together with the system’s overall design and behavior, make me think about Seven as Vista in disguise: a new appearance, but no really outstanding new features. Of course, there are also positive elements, like a seamless compatibility with software and drivers. In short, any improvement to Vista is more than welcome, but Windows 7 doesn’t seem to be a truly revolutionary new operating system. It’s just what Vista should have been from the very beginning.

Iván Ramírez ( Softonic ES)

I hope Seven doesn’t have as many bugs as Vista”

Windows 7 looks very similar to Vista: there are transparency effects everywhere! It doesn’t seem that different from its predecessor, but at the same time, you can tell usability and performance have been greatly improved. Windows Media Player 12 is very similar to version 11, but includes new functions: now it’s a complete multimedia suite with which you can not only listen to your favorite music, but also browse photos, watch videos, rip CDs, sync data with portable devices and much more. I hope Seven doesn’t have as many problems and bugs as Vista.

Felipe Pessoa ( Softonic BR)

Read the rest of this entry »

This week is only about one thing in the computer world - the release of the Microsoft’s new operating system Windows 7. With the ghosts of the Vista release fiasco still haunting them, some are also questioning whether its success or failure could also mark a historic moment in the evolution of Microsoft. Will it be the operating system that restores some pride to the much maligned company and gets it back on track in the operating system world or could it spell the beginning of the end of Microsoft’s domination of the PC market?

One thing we can say with certainty is that it can’t be worse than Windows Vista. The only way is up for Microsoft in terms of operating systems which isn’t a bad place to start from. Vista was not only delivered two years late but caused all manner of incompatibility problems with third party software and hardware (including even Micrsoft’s own Zune!) and had users flocking back to Windows XP. It says something that one of OnSoftware’s most popular posts ever was a simple list of Vista themes for XP proving that users liked the look of Vista but hated the bloated Aero engine and frustrating functionality.

The timing of the release is also probably better for Microsoft. Apple have recently proved that they’re not immune to new operating system cock-ups with basic incompatibility problems surrounding the release of their latest operating system edition, Snow Leopard. And Microsoft executives must have breathed a sigh of relief when Google announced that its new operating system Chrome OS won’t be launched until mid-2010. However, Google have announced that they will be releasing the code for it later this year which could yet throw a spanner in the works for Windows 7. Read the rest of this entry »

This week will see the release of Windows 7, Microsoft’s latest push for control of your PC. As the launch date approaches, we’ll be posting lots of helpful articles, reviews and videos all about the brand new edition of Windows. To kick things off, here’s our first ever OnSoftware poll. Yeah, I can’t believe it either! So how do you feel about the new OS’s imminent arrival?

Let us know by voting in the poll below - and leave a comment to let us know why!