Desktop software

Google, trying step by step to rebuild everything in the computing industry from Internet protocols to cloud-computing services, began a new project called WebM on Wednesday that seeks to begin a new chapter in Web video.

Even after Google's high-profile WebM announcement at its Google I/O conference, there's plenty of confusion, and some questions concerning the technology can't be answered yet. Here, however, is our attempt to demystify WebM and its effects.

WebM is a codec--but what's a codec? A codec is technology to encode and decode video or audio data. They're used … Read more

Here's my second take on the iPad: Prospective buyers be warned; it's not a solution to any burning computing problem I know of. At least not yet.

As I wrote last week, with the glaring exception of no Adobe Flash support, I like the iPad's design. At the risk of repeating what many others have said: It's gorgeous, sleek, very portable, and easy to use.

Now the bad news. Though I've tried to use the iPad as much as possible, that's getting harder and harder to do. In addition to porting it around the … Read more

Browser synchronization has been available to Firefox users for more than a year from Mozilla's Weave add-on. The latest version, still in beta, promises to emphasize its ties to the browser with a new name and better features.

When the final version is released, Firefox Sync 1.3 will include Firefox Mobile (Fennec) support, the ability to synchronize more Firefox preferences, bookmark backup that initiates before the first sync to prevent data loss, and major interface and performance improvements. Account creation should be easier, with a revamped "wizard," and the changelog for the beta indicates that many … Read more

Survey results released Thursday show that iPad owners overall are satisfied with the device, but there is some discontent with its lack of support for the Adobe Flash player.

A survey by ChangeWave Research showed that the top dislike reported by new owners of the Apple tablet was "lack of Adobe Flash" (11 percent), followed by "Internet connectivity issues" (9 percent), and "poor screen visibility/keeping it clean" (9 percent).

As to what features respondents like about the iPad, 21 percent said "screen size and quality," followed by "ease of use" at 15 percent, the "overall size and weight" at 12 percent, and "portability" at 10 percent.

… Read more

In an attempt to move beyond drab typography on the Web, Google on Wednesday released 18 freely usable fonts and an open-source tool designed to smooth over browser issues in displaying downloaded fonts.

A number of Web designers--if not all readers--are excited that newer browsers support downloadable fonts so sites can use more than the handful that it's safe to assume are installed already on people's computers. For every eyeball-searing grunge font and blood-pressure-raising instance of Comic Sans, there's a tasteful use of an artful logo or distinctive text.

But font licensing rules mean a Web designer … Read more

In a modest boost for a brand-new Google effort to overhaul Web video, Microsoft said Wednesday it will "support" the open-source, royalty-free WebM technology--as long as Windows users install software on their own.

Google launched the WebM project Wednesday at Google I/O, drawing support from Mozilla and Opera for the video technology based on its VP8 video encoding technology. Microsoft offered a lukewarm statement on the matter:

"When it comes to video and HTML5, we're all in. In its HTML5 support, IE9 will support playback of H.264 video as well as VP8 video when … Read more

EMC's Mozy online backup service just got a lot more compelling--because it's not just online anymore.

Version 2.0 of the cloud backup service, released late Monday, adds a very useful option to store your data on an external hard drive, too. Storing data remotely is well and good, but a local backup is easier if you need to restore files, and setting it up was as easy as plugging in a drive and telling the software to use it. External USB drives are economical these days--less than $100 for 1TB--and it's nice not having to configure … Read more

Unlike its predecessor, which didn't really offer much in the way of new features but overhauled its look, Photoshop CS5 (Windows | Mac) leaves the interface practically untouched to focus on major feature improvements.

The big changes include automatic lens correction, better high dynamic range processing, content-aware filling, "intelligent selection", and enhanced tools for 3D image creation in Photoshop Extended (Windows | Mac). More than three dozen minor tweaks were also made, small improvements--such as building a "straighten" function into the Ruler tool and pumping up Raw image noise management--that nevertheless dramatically cut down time-consuming procedures.

Take … Read more

In an Australian marketing campaign, Microsoft is urging those using Internet Explorer 6 to upgrade already.

"You wouldn't drink nine-year-old milk, so why use a nine-year-old browser?" asks the Web site urging IE6 users to upgrade to something closer to the front of the fridge.

The shelf life of software and dairy products is not often considered to be in the same range, but leaving that aside, Microsoft does offer a good reason to upgrade: better security.

"When Internet Explorer 6 was launched in 2001, it offered cutting-edge security--for the time. Since then, the Internet has … Read more