Articles by ElGuru

Firefox & Spybot 1.5.2 Load Times

I just downloaded and applied the Spybot 1.5.2 update, which of course required me to restart the computer. After rebooting I launched Spybot and noticed and a huge difference in the load time. As mentioned prior, the old 1.5.1 version would take up to a minute or even longer for the application to launch from the time you clicked the icon. Now the new 1.5.2 version loaded in a matter of few seconds. Speaking of load times, I timed how long Firefox took to launch. Much to my surprise it was up and running in about 4 seconds from when…

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Fx 2.0.0.12 Issues & Preloader

I noticed a couple comments on the Firefox 2.0.0.12 Released post about issues with add-ons when upgrading to this new release. I did upgrade to the released version of Fx 2.0.0.12 even though I should not have (more on this later). I did not have any issues with my add-ons no longer working or causing the browser to crash. While, I know two different readers have had this issue, I don’t know what add-ons they had installed or what OS they were using and for that matter if this involved the en-US version of Firefox. Without getting more specific details…

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The Future of Yahoo!

Last week Microsoft made an unsolicited offer to acquire Yahoo! with an initial asking price of $31/per share which was about 62% higher than the January 31st closing price. On Wednesday, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang sent an internal e-mail seeking to keep the company’s employees focused on its strategy despite the uncertainty created by Microsoft’s unsolicited acquisition bid. Also on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that a merger involving Yahoo! and Google would be unlikely due to anti-trust (only Microsoft can get away with anti-trust, at least in the US) and regulatory concerns. To add even more mystery to…

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Firefox 2.0.0.12 Released

Firefox 2.0.0.12 was released earlier today. Must users will get the automatic update notification in the next 24-48 hours. However you can manually download and install the new version by going to getfirefox.com or simply selecting “Check for Updates…” from the Help menu. Several bug and security fixes are included in this version, see the complete Firefox 2.0.0.12 Release Notes Attention Firefox 1.5 Users: In case you haven’t noticed Mozilla has ended support for this version of Firefox back in May 2007 and you really should be using the newer Firefox 2.0 builds. News Source: Mozilla Developers News

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Week Update 2008-02-04

Reminder: Due to the scheduled meeting time and my work schedule, I am not be able to get the meeting notes posted until the following Tuesday. Here’s an overview of this week’s Update Meeting: Fx 2.0.0.12 Release Schedule Updated: QA Testing: Tuesday, January 29 Code Freeze: Friday, January 25 Beta Channel Release (RC4): Monday, February 4 Scheduled to Release: No later than Friday, February 8 Gecko 1.9 Beta 3 – No Report Firefox 3 Beta 3 Spent the past week polishing up beta 3 over 1100 bugs closed between beta 2 and beta 3 — way to go, team! new…

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FoxyTunes Acquired

And No, It Was Not By Google! It was announced earlier today FoxyTunes, the very popular media player toolbar/extension for Firefox & Thunderbird and music service has been acquired by Yahoo! Music. From the FoxyTunes Blog:  “We’ve been talking to the Yahoo! Music team about deepening our cooperation, and we quickly discovered that not only do they understand and appreciate what we’ve done with FoxyTunes, but they also share our vision of Universality and Openness” Not really too sure what this is going to mean for future development of the extension.  Further seems kinda odd that Yahoo! would acquire a…

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600-Million Add-Ons Downloaded

Add-ons have proven to be a major benefit of Firefox (and Thunderbird). The download counter at addons.nozilla.org (AMO) recently hit the 600-Million mark. Keep in mind the actual number of add-ons downloaded is likely much higher being this figure does not represent those add-ons downloaded from developers’ or third-party sites. The chart on the right breaks down the percentage of these 600-million downloads by application (Firefox 1.x, Firefox 2.x, Firefox 3.x or Thunderbird). I am kinda mixed on the figure for Thunderbird, as I would hope it would be higher but then again 4% is pretty good given the significant…

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“We Remove Vista…”

A reader on Todd Bishops Microsoft Blog sent in this photo taken back in October at A&D Computer in Milford, NH. This photo was in response to Bishop’s article Vista at one year: Progress and pain. Full Story

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Thunderbird 3 Plans for 2008

David Ascher head of the newly formed MailCo has posted plans for Thunderbird 3. The main plan is to increase the already sizable user base (millions) by including with Thunderbird 3 built-in calendar integration (based off of Lighting) much like Microsoft Outlook.  Also to introduce a better search function such as those found in Gmail or Mail.app. In addition to these plans is the goal is to have a final release of Thunderbird 3 by the end of 2008. Here is an overview of David’s plans for Thunderbird 3 in 2008: Goal: To have at public milestone build of Thunderbird…

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Week Update 2008-01-28

Reminder: Due to the scheduled meeting time and my work schedule, I am not be able to get the meeting notes posted until the following Tuesday. Here’s an overview of this week’s Update Meeting: Fx 2.0.0.12 Release Schedule Updated: Code Freeze: Friday, January 25 QA Testing: Tuesday, January29 Beta Channel Release: Tuesday, February 5 Scheduled to Release: Tuesday, February 12 Gecko 1.9 Beta 3 Status of Beta 3: 55 P1s 168 P2s 186 P3s Firefox 3 Beta 3 < 20 P1s, getting close to b3-ready, freeze is tomorrow. Global frecency landed, even-more-awesomebar Proto for OS X landed last night, for…

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