With the release of Ubuntu 9.04 and developments like Moblin and HP's MIE creating quite stir, plenty of people were saying that 2009 would be 'the year of Linux on the desktop.' Not that the statement hasn't been made before, but there appeared to be some real momentum this time around.

Enter the Windows 7 RC. A quick look at StatCounter's most recent data shows Linux use at .71% and Microsoft's soon-to-be released OS right behind at .68%. StatCounter's chart only shows the top 5 OSes, so you'll need to take a look at the raw CSV data to get the numbers.

Things certainly look good for Windows 7, but let's keep in mind that it's still competitive with Linux on price at this point (read: free). Once people have to shell out their hard-earned money for the new OS, will things change or will Linux still struggle to make gains on Windows?

What are your thoughts?

A good backup routine is a must for anyone that has any important data on his or her computer. Your documents, photos, music - even your Photoshop brushes and settings - those things are all a real pain to recover when they go missing.

For home users running Windows, GFI Backup is an excellent option. Not only does it do traditional folder and files backups, but it also makes backing up your registry, email, and program settings a breeze. The program settings feature is especially handy, and comes with built-in support for apps like Skype, Putty, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Winamp, Firefox, IE, and Opera.

Backups can be saved to CD/DVD, removable drives, LAN folders, or remote FTP. Scheduling, compression, and AES encryption are also supported, and GFI can also run tasks before and after your backup job - say, a CCleaner /auto run to make sure you're not backing up useless files.

And since a number of users sync to external hard drives or NAS devices instead of backing up, GFI can also handle synchronization tasks, too. It's an excellent, free way to keep your data safe.

If you'd rather not register on the GFI site to get the download, you can also find it at Snapfiles.

Regular Download Squad readers already know that I've been testing Microsoft's new Security Essentials since it first appeared in the wild last week and that I've been quite impressed with it so far. Some commenters weren't impressed, however, waving the NOD32 flag even though SE removed threats from my machine that NOD had missed.

AV-Test Labs has now put SE through a slightly more grueling test than scanning my piddly PC. They threw 3,200 different bots, trojans, and viruses along with a slew of items designed to trigger false positives and Security Essentials was up for the task.

In an email to Computerworld, Andreas Marx of AV-Test reported "All files were properly detected and treated by the product," said Marx in an e-mail. "That's good, as several other [antivirus] scanners are still not able to detect and kill all of these critters yet. None of the clean files were noted as malicious." The program was also able to tackle rootkits, though AV-Test will put it through more comprehensive testing before making a verdict on that particular ability.

Marx also addressed the concerns that SE was using Microsoft's own servers for cloud-based scanning. "The scanner works with the locally-installed anti-virus and anti-spyware databases -- it doesn't appear to use 'in-the-cloud scanning' methods," he stated.

If you missed out on the original download from Microsoft, don't fret. The nice folks at Softpedia have mirrored the SE files for you.

Windows 7's jumplists have a lot of untapped potential. Very few applications are taking advantage of them yet, though that's sure to change once the RTM has dropped.

One slick use I discovered (thanks to Shell Extension City) is Hedgehog's Jumplist Launcher. The free program allows you to create a customized menu with links to your favorite applications and folders which you can access by right-clicking the launcher's icon. It's a Windows 7 take on adding a new toolbar to your taskbar and creating custom shortcut folders.

Launch the app and pin it to your taskbar, and start building your list. Now, it's a little rough around the edges, so don't expect a totally hassle-free experience. Create a group (games, apps, etc.) and then add shortcuts - I found it easiest to drag and drop them from an Explorer window. Folders can also be added, though you can already pin them to your Explorer icon.

Back to the "rough around the edges" bit. Sometimes when you add a new app, several of your icons will change. Also, its interface is still in a half-German, half-English state. If that's offputting to you, wait for the next release.

Icons aren't all that important to me and I was able to deal with the language mix with no real trouble, so I think I'll keep Jumplist Launcher around and play with it some more.

YouTube clip after the break, for those of you who want to see it in action!

I wrote about OperaTOR a while back as a portable option for simple TOR-enabled browsing on the go.

Maybe you'd prefer a single EXE that packages Firefox, TOR, Privoxy, and Vidalia? You're in luck - Paul O'Brien has combined those ingredients into a tasty privacy-enhancing stew.

He's created the package using Xenocode (and yes, it's a licensed copy) to help users avoid bothersome Internet roadblocks which prevent users in some countries from accessing websites that have been deemed inappropriate.

Unzip the archive, double-click the EXE to launch, and click the TOR button once Firefox has loaded. Your settings are saved into the sandbox subfolder on your launch drive so no data will be left behind on the host machine.

While the original version had some trouble with x64 Windows, Paul has already uploaded a new package that should work just fine for 64-bit users. It's available for download from his site and mirrored on RapidShare as well.

Hawkscope is an interesting app. It's got some good features (especially if you install the GMail or Twitter plugins), but I really don't like the fact that it kills Aero Glass on my Windows 7 machine. The same is likely true for Vista, but it's been so long since I tested the app that I can't quite recall.

At any rate, one of the key features of Hawkscope is that it allows you to "access all your partitions from the system tray." Wait a tic - haven't we been able to do that as far back as Windows 98 (possibly even 95, but again, memory fails me)?

Right click your taskbar, choose toolbars -> new toolbar and browse to My Computer. Press select folder, and you're done. Even your removable drives will show up when they're plugged in since the toolbar updates the same way the My Computer window does.

Now you've got the best of both worlds - fast access to your drives and Aero Glass!