Microsoft Windows - page 20

Mozilla’s Firefox 5 web browser officially launches today, “bringing together all kinds of awesomeness to make browsing better for you.” Here’s what’s new…

The SyncMate 3 program from Eltima Software has been providing Android users with a way of seamlessly syncing their phones with their Mac for some time, but the latest update integrates support for Android powered tablets as well.

Everyone who owns an Apple TV loves AirPlay – it’s a fantastic way of streaming your moves and music straight to your TV that was previously a luxury only iOS and iTunes users could enjoy. However, thanks to the doubleTwist software, users can now send content to the Apple TV from their Android smartphones.

The doubleTwist software for Mac & PC advertises itself as “the iTunes for Android” and allows you to wirelessly sync your iTunes playlists, photos and videos to your Android phone with the accompanying Android application. Its most recent update introduced the ability to stream all of this content to the Apple TV over AirPlay.

Microsoft’s latest attempt at persuading customers to buy a Windows PC rather than a Mac is an advertising campaign that compares the price of Apple machines with computers from Asus, Dell, HP, Sony, and others; and then asks buyers to “do the math” and look at the money they could save – which they could then spend on a trip to Hawaii.

For example, compare Apple’s MacBook Air with a selection of Windows netbooks and straight away you’ll notice the difference in price – with the MacBook Air listed at $1,049 compared to netbooks for as little as $299. We’ll ignore the fact that Microsoft has classed the MacBook Air as a netbook and move on to specifications.

Don’t trust your kids with open access to your credit card? I can’t blame you. In order to let your kids have an iTunes account though, you need to enter your credit card information, giving them free reign over your purchases, right? Wrong. While it may appear this way, there is a way to set up an iTunes account that involves absolutely no credit cards at all. This video will show you what to do.

ipswDownloader is a great new tool that makes the process of finding and downloading iOS firmware releases incredibly simple. Developed by Vitaly Parovishnik, and available for both Mac and Windows, the app supports every iOS device there is – including AppleTV – and features iOS firmware from version 1.0.1.

What’s great about ipswDownloader is that once you’ve selected your device and the firmware version you want to download, it provides additional details on the release that jailbreakers in particular will find incredibly valuable; such as the baseband version, whether the firmware can be jailbroken and unlocked, and the size of the download.

ipswDownloader is completely free to download and use. The full list of supported devices can be found after the break.

If you are a recent Mac switcher, there is a good chance that there are some Windows applications that you still may want to use. If so, Virtual Box is a great application to let you do this. In this video, you will se how to get virtual box, install an operating system, and run Windows apps side by side with your OS X apps.

Keyboard shortcuts are a handy thing to know when working on your Mac. They can save a ton of time and make your workflow much smoother. If you are used to using a PC and have recently switched to a Mac, you will have probably noticed that none of the keyboard shortcuts are the same. If you are confused, look no further. In this video, I show you the top Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts.

A couple weeks ago, one of my friends brought me a new MacBook Air from the States, and as he delivered it to me, he — a die-hard Windows user — eloquently endorsed Apple’s sexy new, razor thin ultraportable by noting that as far as was concerned, “using this laptop is what living in the future feels like” and that “I’ll definitely buy one, because this computer will get you laid.”

He’s not an exception: I’ve turned more Windows-loving heads with the new MacBook Air than any other laptop I’ve ever owned. It looks like makers of Windows PCs have noticed the same thing, because Acer, Asus and Lenovo are all set to ape the MacBook Air’s incredible design.

There’s already a few hacks out there to allow you to extend the admittedly rather limited AirPlay functionality of iOS 4.2 to run on non-iOS devices: last week, for example, TUAW’s Erica Sadun released AirPlayer, an app that tricks AirPlayer into think your Mac’s an AppleTV.

Now, though, plucky and ingenious hackers are figuring out how to do the same thing on non-Apple hardware, and the first fruit of those labors has now been released for Linux.

Wyse has just released a free version of PocketCloud for iOS, giving you wireless access to remote computers from your iPad or iPhone.

The free version carries adverts, and lacks some features (video streaming and external monitor support) that you’ll find in the paid version.

Geohot has released another jailbreak. This jailbreak doesn’t require tethering an iOS device to a computer every time you turn it on. The following iOS devices running iOS 4.0, 4.01 or higher (excluding beta versions of iOS) are supported: iPod touch 3rd and 4th generation, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPad.

The jailbreak is fairly new and considered to be a beta. It’s not as easy to use as jailbreaks in the past since this version doesn’t include one-click jailbreaking. You have to work a little harder to get this one to work for you.

There isn’t a Mac OS version yet — it only runs on Windows for the time being. So if you have access to a Windows computer and need this jailbreak now then go download it.

This jailbreak is said to be a bit unstable so you might consider waiting for Chronic’s greenpois0n. It’s due out tomorrow.

Linux fiends have a new operating system to hate in the OS wars, according to web traffic firm Net Application: iOS overtook Linux as the third biggest browsing browsing platform in uly of this year.

According to Net Applications’ data, iOS represented 1.06 percent of all web traffic in July, compared to the 0.93 percent share of Linux. Google’s Android operating system, which technically bests iOS’ numbers when it comes to installs, is only 0.18 oercent.

It gets worse. In July, iOS encompassed 1.13% of all web traffic, while Linux shrank even more to 0.85% and Google’s Android shot up to 0.20%.

iOS is now the third most popular web browsing platform in the world, behind only Windows and OS X. And it doesn’t have far to go before it knocks out Snow Leopard, which accounts for just 2.59 percent of all web traffic. Wow.

[via Apple Insider]

Amid all the new product news on Tuesday Apple quietly shipped a driver update titled: Magic Trackpad and Multi-Touch Update 1.0. I discovered the 78.6MB update last night via Software Update on my Macbook Pro and promptly installed it.

I highly recommend this update for most recent Macbook and Macbook Pro notebooks since it adds support of the new $69 Multi-Touch Trackpad as well as adding gestures for inertial scrolling and three-finger dragging. The three-fingered gesture is my favorite since it allows me to quickly drag windows around.

A complete list of notebooks that support the new gestures can be found in this Apple support document https://support.apple.com/kb/ht4254.

Also Tuesday, Apple released updates for Windows that add support for the Magic Trackpad hardware. A 6.62MB update is available for 32-bit versions of Windows and another for the 64-bit versions of Windows is 3.98MB. It works with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 as well as Macs running the operating system via Boot Camp.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oWWt_L-qeo

To help launch Windows 7, Microsoft is enlisting PC people to hold house parties to promote the new operating system.

For the October 22 launch date, Microsoft enthusiasts around the world just got selected to show off their new software at home with parties, sort of Tupperware style.

Naturally, the company has a few ideas of how these launch parties should go. A short sample party agenda, from the above talking heads: first, have a drink and mingle. Then shoot 20 or so photos. “Then when everyone was settled, I showed them my favorite features from the new Windows 7.”

“It only took like 10 minutes. Everyone just crowded around the computer in the kitchen.”

Andrew Coates, developer evangelist for Microsoft, told the Sydney Morning Herald the idea behind Windows 7 was to bring back the “sense of mastery” to software users.

“We have done a lot of work around why people weren’t feeling comfortable with software any more. People felt like they weren’t in control.”

Party hosts also have “a good chance” of winning a Windows PC worth $750, according to Microsoft.

“In a lot of ways, you’re just throwing a house party with Windows 7 as an honored guest,” says one of the actors in the video.  “Sounds easy and it is.”

Whatever they’re smoking in the Microsoft marketing department, I’ll have some.

Via Sidney Morning Herald, hat tip to CoM reader Brett McCurdy.

Having spent a day with the beta for Apple’s much-ballyhooed Safari browser for Windows XP, I’m ready to pronounce it the fastest browser for XP that I’ve used on a regular basis. On the other hand, it also is riddled with the kinds of bizarre bugs only a public beta could expose.

Sometimes, it’s both the fastest and the stupidest browser on all of Windows. If you’re on the fence, click through to hear whether your working style is ready for this not-quite-ready-for-prime-time browser contender while stranded in the Windows world.

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