I wish they would just focus on fixing the memory leaks first. FF2 is much worse than FF1.5 (default installs without extensions), after about 2-3 days of running FF2 it will be using 1GB of RAM -- this is a complete joke. I wish for a day when we can get a modern browser which is resource efficent. Unfortuantely Opera 9 is too unstable.
Try running the alpha (but just in case use another profile). Some of the improvements to gecko will make things more reliable, less memory leaks, etc. However, as it's an alpha you may run into other problems that's why you should separate the profiles.
It's not really a Firefox alpha
on
Firefox 3 In Alpha
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· Score: 5, Informative
It's more of an alpha of Gecko than of Firefox. There's no front end changes in this release, all the changes are to the backend which are shared with all Gecko browsers (Camino, Seamonkey and other Gecko apps like Thunderbird).
Development has been going on the trunk since the Gecko 1.8 was branched (sometime in 2005) - Gecko 1.8 was the basis of Firefox 2 and 1.5. So there's a lot of backend work been going on that's not been tested by a wider audience. While lots of frontend changes were made on the branch for Firefox 2, most of the backend work was restricted to the trunk.
Future alphas and betas will have more UI changes in them so can more accurately be called Firefox alphas.
I have no doubt whatsoever that one of the reasons for this move was to help push Virtual PC, although VirtualPC has been free for a while you've always needed to pay for an OS for it. This time limited XP image is also a good way to give people a chance to try out the potential of Virtual PC. However, whatever Microsoft's motives are, it's still a good news for Windows web devs particularly those on Win2k as long as MS haven't done anything to stop this image working on that platform.
Of course if the main purpose was to ensure as many people could test IE7 as possible they'd also make a VMWare compatible image so Mac and Linux users could test. However, ultimately that probably is too much to ask as it'd give Linux and Mac users a free time limited licence for XP, they ultimately want people to develop primarily on Windows so that'd never happen.
A few people have asked me if Firefox needs to be run in a virtual machine to test different versions. The answer to that is no, so I wrote a quick guide to how I run multiple versions of Firefox on the same machine.
Prior to the release by Microsoft of this VM image I got round the legal requirement to buy an extra XP licence by running XP with IE6 and running the free to download (at the time) betas of Vista in a virtual machine for IE7 testing.
And I know that everyone here hates it, but the Microsoft Zune has wireless networking built in, thus allowing you access to unlimited video, right now. And all for a few dollars from Movielink and Cinemanow or free from the web.Well Zune doen't support video sharing yet, and if it did then it'd probably be with the awful 3 plays or 3 days restriction. So basically the Zune is no advantage here, also with no 80GB model then it can store less than the top iPod.
What's REALLY interesting about this article is a Senior Google person mentioning their fellow Silicon Valley neighbors with $50+ BIL in cash, Apple Computer. The AppleGooTube, Gapple, Gooooople anybody chime in here at any timeThat's not news: Google CEO Dr. Eric Schmidt Joins Apple's Board of Directors (Aug 2006)
In the future it's not just the iPod improving, here's my Zune predictions - in 15 years Microsoft releases their 80GB model which is lighter than an eighties cellphone. Microsoft fans will say how much the new puke coloured model looks better in real life than it does in photograhs and Ballmer will be telling us how the new model can squirt even further and can squirt multiple people at the same time.
I do think the iPod will be facing some serious challengers in the next few years which is what we need to keep the flow of innovations but the Zune is not going to be it. Once storage gets smaller expect cellphones to be a credible solution, UI on most cellphones suck (particularly Motorola, Nokia is probably the best but not perfect), that I think will mean apple doesn't have to worry for a little while longer.
Back to the topic, the most capacity I'd really need out of a device is enough space to keep enough music and videos to keep me entertained during a vacation so I don't need to bring a laptop if I don't want to. Everything else can be stored on my home computer, it'd be great if it was possible to have enough storage cheap enough to store the worlds video collection (YouTube's hardware costs would be minimal then - Google would love that) but in reality do we really need our own personal YouTube mirror?
Oh wait, it's satire:)That's what they want you to believe! Actually the MPAA only chooses ideas that the satire sites have rejected due to the idea being too crazy to be believed.
99% posts that in one way or another pick Microsoft apart
0.5% intressting reads
0.5% dupes of above
Sad place this have become.
Become? Slashdot has never been pro-Microsoft, except now, there's a lot more MS fanboys reading the site making posts that keep claiming that 99% of the comments are anti-MS.
So what's so bad about picking Microsoft apart anyway? Are we supposed to hype up something that's not particularly good but because it's Microsoft we have to like it? If we don't fell 100% affection for MS we're being unfair?
Microsoft have screwed many people in the past, why be lenient on them. They have to go the extra mile to prove themselves to us because we've had so many bad experiences from them. Things like
Ballmer making threats about Linux IP without going into specifics
Microsoft's treatment of Plays for Sure customers
Delayed, buggy software that drops all the promised features (Vista)
No commitment to the customer (IE6 stagnant until competition appeared, paying royalties to record companies per zune sale because they think we're music theives, etc)
So why shouldn't we be critical of them? Why do they deserve special treatment?
It'd be more successful if they didn't make such obvious mistakes. For the moment Apple and its other competitors have time to ensure they keep in the lead. The xbox is a loss leader, perhaps they make losses on the zune too, they can't keep running unprofitable ventures.
To say that poor sales are not disappointing is just trying to spin a bad situation. You should get a job working for Tony Blair:)
Simply put, a poor launch can do bad things for the Zune name. Look how Netscape's reputation was permanently damaged after the release of Netscape 6.0. The people who were holding out from IE finally made the switch and never looked back until Firefox.
Microsoft needs to fix its mistakes quickly and get this thing selling and getting positive reviews that don't sound like they're paid for by MS.
A lot of the positive reviews look like paid postings and seem to follow a similar format:
- assuming anyone who does not like the zune is a mac zealot
- how brown looks really good when you see it for yourself
- how cool it is to send music to your friends
- how the video screen makes things look better (that I do agree with - although a higher resolution would be better)
- It *will* be even better with firmware updates (I'd rather compare it to what's there now rather than what may or may not happen in the future)
Me, me. An American friend sent me one as they thought I'd be interested in it (I'd have preferred a PS3;)). Of course over in the UK the social networking is even more useless as the chance of finding someone else to peer with is very low.
So it's not going to displace my iPod, but in some ways it's good to have a device that's not even launched in your own country yet. I may keep it for the odd time I want to use the video screen or I may just pass it on to someone with no MP3 player already
The problem with the Zune was it was rushed. The product feels unfinished, particularly on the software front. This has tarred the Zune with a bad impression. In this market first impressions count.
It's important Apple doesn't make the same mistakes and rush the product out
It's going to be a year before the launch in the EU (if they even bother now), here's a list of lessons they need to learn before they launch over here.
Isn't this similiar to what they tried to do with the USS Eldridge in 1943 (philadelphia experiment). By distorting light around the ship using powerful magnetic forces, they attempted to make it look like it had disappeared.
The reason Propellerheads are giving away rebirth for free is that it has been superseeded by better simulations on the TB303. I never found rebirth that good at simulating the 303. The distortion was crap. Bassline gives a much better sound than rebirth. I respect Propellerheads as much as everyone else, but, I've never been such a big fan of rebirth. As soon as I found Bassline, I never looked back...
A much loved member of the Starship Enterprise is no longer with us.
Seems to be the beginning of the end of an era to me.
James Doohan was probably my favourite actor from Star Trek. I remember when I was young, I used to ridicule his very fake sounding Scottish accent:)
Scotty in an imaginary episode of Star Trek TOS
As Scotty looks down at the now dead Ensign, he looks at Kirk, takes a swig of his Tennents Super and says.
'Ach Aye the noo, he's deid Jimmy'
RIP!
Yahoo have apparently denied that it is trying to beat Google at it's own game but said that it reflected the way subscribers are using email...umm, sure...we believe you..
Slashdot Mirror
Try running the alpha (but just in case use another profile). Some of the improvements to gecko will make things more reliable, less memory leaks, etc. However, as it's an alpha you may run into other problems that's why you should separate the profiles.
Development has been going on the trunk since the Gecko 1.8 was branched (sometime in 2005) - Gecko 1.8 was the basis of Firefox 2 and 1.5. So there's a lot of backend work been going on that's not been tested by a wider audience. While lots of frontend changes were made on the branch for Firefox 2, most of the backend work was restricted to the trunk.
Future alphas and betas will have more UI changes in them so can more accurately be called Firefox alphas.
Of course if the main purpose was to ensure as many people could test IE7 as possible they'd also make a VMWare compatible image so Mac and Linux users could test. However, ultimately that probably is too much to ask as it'd give Linux and Mac users a free time limited licence for XP, they ultimately want people to develop primarily on Windows so that'd never happen.
Prior to the release by Microsoft of this VM image I got round the legal requirement to buy an extra XP licence by running XP with IE6 and running the free to download (at the time) betas of Vista in a virtual machine for IE7 testing.
And I know that everyone here hates it, but the Microsoft Zune has wireless networking built in, thus allowing you access to unlimited video, right now. And all for a few dollars from Movielink and Cinemanow or free from the web.Well Zune doen't support video sharing yet, and if it did then it'd probably be with the awful 3 plays or 3 days restriction. So basically the Zune is no advantage here, also with no 80GB model then it can store less than the top iPod. What's REALLY interesting about this article is a Senior Google person mentioning their fellow Silicon Valley neighbors with $50+ BIL in cash, Apple Computer. The AppleGooTube, Gapple, Gooooople anybody chime in here at any timeThat's not news: Google CEO Dr. Eric Schmidt Joins Apple's Board of Directors (Aug 2006)
I do think the iPod will be facing some serious challengers in the next few years which is what we need to keep the flow of innovations but the Zune is not going to be it. Once storage gets smaller expect cellphones to be a credible solution, UI on most cellphones suck (particularly Motorola, Nokia is probably the best but not perfect), that I think will mean apple doesn't have to worry for a little while longer.
Back to the topic, the most capacity I'd really need out of a device is enough space to keep enough music and videos to keep me entertained during a vacation so I don't need to bring a laptop if I don't want to. Everything else can be stored on my home computer, it'd be great if it was possible to have enough storage cheap enough to store the worlds video collection (YouTube's hardware costs would be minimal then - Google would love that) but in reality do we really need our own personal YouTube mirror?
Oh wait, it's satire :)That's what they want you to believe! Actually the MPAA only chooses ideas that the satire sites have rejected due to the idea being too crazy to be believed.
Become? Slashdot has never been pro-Microsoft, except now, there's a lot more MS fanboys reading the site making posts that keep claiming that 99% of the comments are anti-MS.
So what's so bad about picking Microsoft apart anyway? Are we supposed to hype up something that's not particularly good but because it's Microsoft we have to like it? If we don't fell 100% affection for MS we're being unfair?
Microsoft have screwed many people in the past, why be lenient on them. They have to go the extra mile to prove themselves to us because we've had so many bad experiences from them. Things like
- Ballmer making threats about Linux IP without going into specifics
- Microsoft's treatment of Plays for Sure customers
- Delayed, buggy software that drops all the promised features (Vista)
- No commitment to the customer (IE6 stagnant until competition appeared, paying royalties to record companies per zune sale because they think we're music theives, etc)
So why shouldn't we be critical of them? Why do they deserve special treatment?It'd be more successful if they didn't make such obvious mistakes. For the moment Apple and its other competitors have time to ensure they keep in the lead. The xbox is a loss leader, perhaps they make losses on the zune too, they can't keep running unprofitable ventures.
To say that poor sales are not disappointing is just trying to spin a bad situation. You should get a job working for Tony Blair :)
Simply put, a poor launch can do bad things for the Zune name. Look how Netscape's reputation was permanently damaged after the release of Netscape 6.0. The people who were holding out from IE finally made the switch and never looked back until Firefox.
Microsoft needs to fix its mistakes quickly and get this thing selling and getting positive reviews that don't sound like they're paid for by MS.
A lot of the positive reviews look like paid postings and seem to follow a similar format:
- assuming anyone who does not like the zune is a mac zealot
- how brown looks really good when you see it for yourself
- how cool it is to send music to your friends
- how the video screen makes things look better (that I do agree with - although a higher resolution would be better)
- It *will* be even better with firmware updates (I'd rather compare it to what's there now rather than what may or may not happen in the future)
Me, me. An American friend sent me one as they thought I'd be interested in it (I'd have preferred a PS3 ;)). Of course over in the UK the social networking is even more useless as the chance of finding someone else to peer with is very low.
So it's not going to displace my iPod, but in some ways it's good to have a device that's not even launched in your own country yet. I may keep it for the odd time I want to use the video screen or I may just pass it on to someone with no MP3 player already
The problem with the Zune was it was rushed. The product feels unfinished, particularly on the software front. This has tarred the Zune with a bad impression. In this market first impressions count. It's important Apple doesn't make the same mistakes and rush the product out
It's going to be a year before the launch in the EU (if they even bother now), here's a list of lessons they need to learn before they launch over here.
Could be an Aperture update. Or some new image/film manipulation software..
Just wondering, does the Zune come pre-installed with spyware, virii etc or do we have to wait for an update?
Isn't this similiar to what they tried to do with the USS Eldridge in 1943 (philadelphia experiment). By distorting light around the ship using powerful magnetic forces, they attempted to make it look like it had disappeared.
mole.station@gmail.com
The reason Propellerheads are giving away rebirth for free is that it has been superseeded by better simulations on the TB303. I never found rebirth that good at simulating the 303. The distortion was crap. Bassline gives a much better sound than rebirth. I respect Propellerheads as much as everyone else, but, I've never been such a big fan of rebirth. As soon as I found Bassline, I never looked back...
A much loved member of the Starship Enterprise is no longer with us. Seems to be the beginning of the end of an era to me. James Doohan was probably my favourite actor from Star Trek. I remember when I was young, I used to ridicule his very fake sounding Scottish accent :)
Scotty in an imaginary episode of Star Trek TOS
As Scotty looks down at the now dead Ensign, he looks at Kirk, takes a swig of his Tennents Super and says.
'Ach Aye the noo, he's deid Jimmy'
RIP!
I seen plans for this on the web years ago. There's nothing here that hasn't been posted on 100's of websites already.
It is now extinct again when scientists picked it and realised they couldn't keep it alive by putting into a glass of water.
Sounds like Dance Dance Revolution on steroids :)
Wonder if we'll see North Korea following on... Can't see North Korea paying outlandish licence fees to Microsoft :)
The Register states paid subscribers are getting upgraded to 2GB and can send attachments upto 20mb.
Yahoo have apparently denied that it is trying to beat Google at it's own game but said that it reflected the way subscribers are using email...umm, sure...we believe you..