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Filed under: Microsoft, Mozilla, Browsers

Firefox 3.6 has juicy Superbar integration with Windows 7 (and you can disable it)



Yesterday I told you about the new Firefox 3.6 Beta -- and today, I can show you a neat bit of Windows 7 integration. Windows 7 uses Microsoft's Aero window manager and theme -- you've probably heard about it, or learnt to hate it in Vista -- and in it there's a cool technology called 'Aero Peek'. As you can see in the screenshot above, in Firefox 3.6 Beta, Aero Peek is now fully enabled, and smoother than its implementation in 3.6b1pre.

Aero Peek lets you see what's going on in a particular program without having to actually click anything -- you can just mouse-over it on the alt-tab running-programs menu or on the Superbar. In Firefox 3.5 this works for the Firefox window itself, but not the tabs within. Now, in 3.6 Beta, you can see what's going on in any tab by hovering your mouse over the thumbnail. I do wonder if this requires massive disk-swapping though, or if it takes snapshots -- but I'm pretty sure Aero shows you the window contents in real-time. Either way, it's cool, and beats the hell out of tabbing through 20 different tabs to find what you're looking for.

Those of you that are already using 3.6 might have noticed another neat thing: when you have a bunch of tabs (10+ in our testing) open, you get a "buttonized" list of favicons and page titles, instead of thumbnails. You can still jump straight to a tab or see a preview from the Superbar.

Don't like the Aero Peek integration? You can easily disable it -- if you're worried about the potential performance hit -- just whack about:config into your Firefox address bar and set browser.taskbar.previews.enable to false.

[Download Firefox 3.6 Beta here]

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Analysis

The many colors of Vista's windows

Windows Colors
How many times have you wanted a way to change Windows XP's color scheme? Blue is nice, olive and silver are also good for a change when you get sick of blue, but what if orange, purple, or black is your favorite color, and you want your computer's desktop scheme to reflect that? Do you revert back to that Windows 95 goodness in putrid grey because there aren't so many choices in XP? I hate to say it, but Windows doesn't have a clue when it comes to color. You're not a cave-dwelling ancient, so we've got to find a better way. Stop the devolving!

Windows Vista has soundly answered this unrequited need for beautiful and colorful Windows. The key word here is "customizable." To check out the customizable color options, visit your Vista control panel and click on Personalization (or right click your desktop and choose Personalization). This option used to be "Properties" when right-clicking on the Windows XP desktop, if you chose to block that out. You will see a bunch of new options you didn't have before to customize the look and feel of Windows.

The first option is Window Color and Appearance which will let you change the color of windows with a slider for light to dark blue for example. These options are just one of the things that make Vista a bit more flexible to use and a little more fun. Check out the gallery below for some nice shots of what you can expect to see in Vista's color options screen and the results.

Vista sucks/doesn't suck: The Top 10

Windows Vista Flip 3DOh, how we love the Top 10 lists. TechWeb's Alexander Wolfe has written a Top 10 list that's actually one Top 6 list and one Bottom 4 list: Top 10 Windows Vista Hits & Misses, i.e. what's awesome in Vista and what ain't so great. Here's your basic spoiler:

Hits:
  1. Sidebar and gadgets
  2. Pretty Aero interface
  3. Media Center integration
  4. Windows Media Player 11
  5. Non-intrusive DRM
  6. Flip 3D task switcher
Misses:
  1. Installation problems
  2. Lousy performance
  3. Bad Search and security behaviors
  4. Steep memory requirements for Aero
Wolfe concludes that "Vista is very strong on its consumer presentation skills, but has made less of a business case for corporations to upgrade from Windows XP," and that he would be willing to pay the OEM price of about $85, but not the $199 or $299 that we've been hearing for a retail copy.

Filed under: Windows, Microsoft

Windows Vista screencasts

Windows VistaFor those of you who don't want to (or can't) install the Windows Vista beta but want to see it in action, blogger Long Zheng has recorded a series of seven screencasts highlighting some of Vista's flashier new features, in particular the new Aero Glass UI, its new Media Center and search functionality, the much-touted Sidebar with its "gadgets," and the tablet PC experience. Oh, and you also get a peek at Solitaire. One thing's for certain: It's awful pretty.

Filed under: Windows, Microsoft, Commercial

Windows Vista pirates won't get fancy graphics

Windows Vista with AeroHere's an interesting tidbit: Microsoft says that Windows Vista will check to make sure users have properly purchased the software before allowing them to use the flashy, much-hyped Aero interface. How they intend to do this remains a mystery, though CNet hints that it will be through the Microsoft's Genuine Advantage program. Considering that every anti-piracy measure put in place by Microsoft has been defeated by pirates within weeks, if not hours, I can't imagine Microsoft actually hopes that this is going to be effective in deterring pirates. Anybody who knows how to use BitTorrent will be able to have a fully-working Vista install, Aero included, within days of its release, and Microsoft knows that, so I'm not sure what this little bout of anti-piracy hand-waving is all about.

Featured Time Waster

Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

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