Wednesday, June 03, 2009 11:22 AM/EST
With the launch of Bing this week, a new search service arrived to take on Google. And, unlike other small challengers, since Bing is from Microsoft, it actually has the potential to stick around long enough to make some inroads on Google.
But how is Bing as a search engine. Since it launched on Monday, I've been using Bing heavily for nearly all of my Internet search needs. And so far, I like much of what Microsoft is doing here.
In general, Bing is more attractive than Google and has a lot of nice interactive touches. Once you've entered a search, the results page in Bing provides a variety of information.
Friday, March 27, 2009 12:14 PM/EST
Click here to see the slideshow
While the varying parties in the operating system wars like to tout the advantages that each OS holds over its rivals, all of them share one thing in common. Whether it's Linux, Mac OS X or Windows, none of them are particularly quick about booting up, especially if one is using older hardware.
In fact, along with size and price, one the main attractions of Linux-based netbooks is their ability to turn on and boot up fast, letting their users get to work checking mail and browsing the web in seconds. So an operating system option that provided close to instant-on capabilities for any laptop or desktop could be an attractive option for many people.
This is the idea behind Presto, a new beta product from Linux vendor Xandros. When installed on a system, Presto gives users the option to quickly boot into a lightweight netbook style operating system that provides access to core applications such as web browsers, chat tools, and productivity applications.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 12:15 PM/EST
Click here to see the slideshow
When looking at the current version of the Apple Safari Web browser, the description that comes to mind is "stripped down." The current Safari lacks many of the interface features found in competing browsers and seems to focus on simplicity and speed.
But based on tests of the recently released beta of Safari 4, stripped down won't be the main description of the next Apple browser.
With the beta of Safari 4, Apple has clearly focused on upgrading the interface of the Web browser, playing catch-up with other browsers in some areas and adding some unique and welcome capabilities of its own.
Friday, January 30, 2009 12:48 PM/EST
This week Google finally enabled offline capabilities for their popular Gmail service. For many of us this has been something we'd been waiting on for quite a while.
While many people rely on Gmail more and more for both their private and work communications, it really couldn't be considered a serious mail option until it could work on airplanes or other situations where an internet connection is unavailable or poor.
So when offline support became an option in Gmail Labs, I quickly enabled it for my Gmail account. And while I was happy with some of the offline functionality of Gmail, in many ways it was a big disappointment.
In fact, while the term beta is somewhat of joke when it comes to Google services (Gmail itself is still called beta), this offline capability should definitely be considered beta, if not alpha. In my tests the offline capability proved to be very flaky, when it worked at all.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 3:13 PM/EST
Click here to see screenshots of IE 8
With the release of Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1, we are finally in the home stretch of the long trip to the latest version of the Microsoft Web browser.
And since this is a release candidate, this means that, unless there is a major problem found, this version of Internet Explorer 8 is pretty much the version that will be officially released. So, how will IE 8 stack up?
Well, if compared solely with earlier versions of Internet Explorer, IE 8 is a massive improvement that boosts the usability, security and flexibility of the Microsoft browser.
However, this won't be the case. IE 8 will instead be compared with the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari and Opera. And based on these comparisons, IE 8 RC 1 only looks so-so.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 1:48 PM/EST
Click here to see screenshots of JavaFX
It was a little less than a year ago that rich Internet application technology finally matured enough to become a usable tool, although it was still very much in the early stages of development.
At the time, eWEEK Labs took a look at the RIA sector and reviewed four RIA platforms, coming to the conclusion that the technology had reached the point where it could be called RIA 1.0.
Now, I'm taking another look at RIAs, evaluating the maturation of the platforms reviewed last year and testing out a new--and old--player.
The RIA platforms I looked at last year were Adobe Systems' AIR, Microsoft's Silverlight, Mozilla's Prism, and Curl. The new/old player I'm reviewing in this package is Sun Microsystems' JavaFX 1.0.
Monday, January 12, 2009 3:31 PM/EST
Click here to see screenshots
Less than one month after Google released Version 1.0 of its Google Chrome Web browser, the company is providing an early peek at what Version 2.0 of Chrome will offer.
On. Jan. 8 a developer's release (which is basically pre-beta) of Chrome 2.0 became available from Google. Most of the new features and changes are fairly modest and in many cases simply add capabilities that are already found in other browsers. If this is all that the final version of Chrome 2.0 will offer, then it will be more in line with point releases from competing browsers rather than a big, full new version release. However, I expect that when Google Chrome 2.0 is eventually fully released there will be more new features and capabilities than are showcased in the current release.
Friday, January 09, 2009 12:00 PM/EST
One of the many side-effects of this bad economy is that there are now many people out there who are starting their own businesses as either their main source of income or to supplement their income. And whether you are now a computer help consultant to your local community or selling gear at flea markets, you are going to have customers who will want to pay you using a credit card.
For the small-time business this can be a significant hurdle, requiring lots of upfront and regular monthly fees. And if one wants to take credit card information for face to face transactions, it requires either bulky equipment that needs some kind of network connection or the risky use of credit card imprint gadgets.
However, online merchant account provider ProPay has another solution. Their recently released MicroSecure Card Reader is a very small handheld device that can capture and encrypt credit card information from the field and then securely transmit this information to the merchant's online account whenever they get back to their computer.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 2:15 PM/EST
Click here to see screenshots
Yesterday, Dec. 15, I posted my review of the new Google Chrome browser, which is no longer a beta. Without a doubt Google Chrome is a very impressive new entry in the Web browser market and will have a big impact on how browser interfaces are built in the future.
But Google Chrome isn't without its own shortcomings. As I point out in the review, Chrome is the least customizable browser out today. And it has more than a few of the weaknesses typical in a 1.0 release.
Since posting the review, I've already had a few questions and comments from readers about issues that weren't covered in the review.
Monday, December 08, 2008 4:54 PM/EST
Click here to see screenshots
The Opera web browser, while trailing behind Firefox and IE in market share, is well known for being innovative and often the first to have features that are later found in other browsers.
But if users are expecting to see lots of cool new features and capabilities in the recently released alpha of Opera 10, they may be disappointed. That's because, like most alpha releases, the alpha of Opera 10 is focused mainly on developers and, especially in the interface, has little or no new features.
That doesn't mean that when Opera 10 eventually releases that it won't have innovative new features. But for now, this alpha release is mainly about showcasing the new Presto 2.2 browser engine and implementing support for lots of cutting edge web standards.
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