While we know a lot of folks like to pan Windows Vista's new graphics as useless eye candy, there are a few aspects of the Aero interface that are actually pretty useful. For example, in Windows Vista you can get a real-time thumbnail preview of running applications by scrolling over the Windows taskbar. But you can get this feature without switching operating systems, thanks to Visual ToolTip, a free application from Chris'n'Soft.
In order to run Visual ToolTip, just download and unzip the file and click on VisualToolTip.exe. The settings menu will open up, but you don't have to configure anything if you don't want to. You can just start scrolling your mouse over your taskbar to see previews of your running applications. You can click on the Visual ToolTip icon in your system tray if you do want to adjust the image size or animations.
Because Windows XP lacks some of the under the hood features included in Vista, Visual ToolTip doesn't show you real-time previews, but it will make a new snapshot every time you mouse over an icon. In other words, if you've got a video playing, you won't see a tiny video show up in the thumbnail. But you should see the frame that was playing when you moused over.
Visual ToolTip also packs a program launcher dock which you can use to replace the Windows taskbar. But there are far better dock applications out there, including RocketDock and ObjectDock if you're looking for a program launcher.
Microsoft has launched a technical preview of its new Live Mesh service, which is basically combines remote desktop, online storage, and file synchronization services. Right now the service is available for Windows XP and Vista, but eventually support will be added for OS X, mobile phones, and other devices. And when we say "available," we mean Microsoft allowed 10,000 people to sign up for the first round of testing. All of those slots are full, but you can sign up for the waiting list.
Live Mesh lets you choose folders and files on your computer that you want to synchronize with other computers, and with an online desktop called your Live Desktop. The system gives you a lot of control over which folders to share, and which computers and devices you can use to access those folders. You can also share folders with other Live Mesh users, see when those users are online, and even when they're accessing your files.
Right now there are basically two separate interfaces for Live Mesh: the desktop version and the web version. From either interface you can see a list of updates to your files and folders, access those documents, or initiate a remote desktop connection.
Ultimately, developers will be able to write applications for Live Mesh that you can also synchronize across platforms. In other words, you'll be able to sync more than files. Say you've developed a household budget tracking application. You can share access to the application with other members of your household, and every time someone makes buys groceries or pays a utility bill, they can enter the amount on their own computer and the updates will be available on everyone's system.
We've embedded a video from the Live Mesh blog explaining the service after the jump. You'll need to have Microsoft Silverlight installed to watch.
PreviewConfig is a utility that gives Vista users the power to add file type support to the Explorer preview pane, which can be activated via "Organize." Though the preview pane can be an interesting and useful feature of the OS, it really lacks in file support. It's possible to add support for more without a 3rd party program, but that requires some risky and time-consuming registry tweaking.
But fear not lazy and/or less-advanced Vista users! PreviewConfig makes it easy to add support for more file types. Simply open the application, choose the file type on the left and select how to preview it on the right. In the photo above, you can see the results of adding support for a multimedia file -- in this case an MP3 -- which is previewed through Windows Media Player.
Though it was easy to add support for MP3 files, adding more would require the user to go through the process again. This isn't a big deal if you're looking to add a few more, but adding support for 20, 30, or more file types could prove to be extra boring. Then again, it beats doing the registry hack over and over again.
It pains us to say it, but sometimes tabs are a waste of time. We hate when we're on a site, and see a story with an accompanying link that promises to be the epiphany we've been waiting for all our lives. We eagerly click the link, and feverishly switch to the new tab. Our hopes and dreams are tragically dashed to pieces when we find the link is to a parked domain that has nary a thing to do with the subject at hand.
Interclue is a Firefox extension that allows for previewing web pages before you click the link. It gets a little less buzz than the similar Cooliris extension, but we think it's just as worthy. Cooliris doesn't require clicking on the preview icon to pop up a preview window, a simple mouse over will do. It's amazing how often we mouse over the icon, not meaning to, and get the preview.
Interclue gives the option to click on the preview icon, which might give us carpal tunnel in the long run, but is much easier on our psyche than having preview windows seemingly appear at random. From the Interclue preview window, we see the contents of the page in question, as well as some optional vital stats for the site we're viewing (called metaclues). We can bookmark, email, open in tabs, and paste the site link to the clipboard. We can easily resize the preview window and change our settings to not recognize certain links or certain pages.
Interclue 1.5.1.4896 was released January 2nd, and works in Firefox 1.5 and up. Despite its impossible version number, its simple interface and unobtrusive application is a breath of fresh air for those poor souls traumatized by dead end links and madly popping preview windows. We highly recommend it for those wanting link previews who have been less than happy with other applications' execution.
Let the 37signals hype machine begin again! After a few Basecamp updates and the release of their slick new Highrise contact management app, Backpack seemed all but lost to the depths of web app limbo. But wait! As if from a great fog, 37signals has published the first preview in a series that proves the revolutionary PIM web app is anything but lost! In this first post, the company has begun showing off some upcoming changes with a new 'items anywhere' feature. No more will your Backpack pages be laid out for you with lists at the top, followed by notes, files. etc. - you will be able to lay out your items in whatever way fits your workflow best. How this will affect other features like emailing items into your pages, and whether this could usher in the much sought-after ability to move items from one page to another, still remains to be seen. It's definitely good news that 37signals prefixed this post with 'Preview 1,' though there is still the down side of no ETA for the arrival of this much-welcomed update to Backpack. Guess we'll all have to stay tuned.
For about a month now, the kind folks at Plaxo have allowed us to play with the beta of Plaxo 3.0, a major update to their unique service that takes the 'management' out of desktop + online PIM. As if the present version's ability to synchronize your contact and calendar information between Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and some online services wasn't enough, Plaxo's ability to automatically update your address book whenever a fellow Plaxo user changes their information was a pretty unique feature that really let the company's vision shine. After playing with this new beta, however, we feel comfortable saying that Plaxo 3.0 could very well be nothing short of revolutionary to world of data management and synchronization.
While the Plaxo folk understandably won't allow us to spill too many details, we can at least give you a general overview of what all the fuss is about. The most significant change in this upcoming version is the addition of some major new 'sync points,' which are applications and web services Plaxo can synchronize with, impressively spanning the entire digital globe of OSes and web brands. In our screenshot above you see five points: Plaxo (of course), Google (yep: Gmail and, soon to come, Calendar), Windows Mail in Vista, Mac OS X's Address Book and iCal and even Yahoo!'s Address Book and (soon to come) calendar. Another major new sync point (requiring a paid Plaxo account) is LInkedIn, allowing users access the increasingly popular social network based on who has worked with who. Never before have we seen so much synchronizing power built in such a smart and streamlined tool. Amazingly, a lot of this new functionality will still apparently be provided for free, with a few select sync points and the rest of Plaxo's services (such as e-cards, Address Book recovery, storing more than 1000 contacts and 24-7 support) being made available to paid accounts.
Other new features in the Plaxo 3.0 beta reveal a new 'dashboard for your life' aspect to the service, which is also pulled off pretty well. Some of the online tools allow you to view basic things like the week's weather, while others allow you to easily watch RSS feeds for Flickr photos, friends' Amazon wishlists and blogs.
That's about all we should talk about for now, however, but stay tuned for a full review and screenshot gallery as soon as we can schmooze the Plaxo guys into greenlighting them. In the meantime, if you're already a current Plaxo user or we have just piqued your interest, we recommend cleaning up your address book and finally getting into the habit of actually jotting down your week's appointments and todos in Outlook, iCal, Google Calendar or any of the other services Plaxo will help you synchronize. This way, if you do it once, the new Plaxo should ensure you might never have to again.
Inquisitor, the free OS X app that adds "search as you type" functionality to Safari, has been updated. According to the official blog the app "provides an enhanced web searching experience by learning from your use of it over time and then tailoring the experience to suit you best. Websites that you've visited before are flagged and prioritized and search keywords you've used recently show up ahead of the rest. Best of all, your usage history is stored on your computer and yours alone, so unlike services like Google Personalized Search, you don't need to worry about some corporation watching and recording your every move." Since the last time we profiled Inquisitor a number of new features have been added. Your previously visited sites are now prominently displayed as such. Adding additional search engines is a snap, and over 30 have been included by default. There are also several updates to the Preferences [screenshot]
Curious where KDE is headed? KDE programmer Stephan Binner has posted a cool sneak preview screencast of "Kickoff", the brand new start menu that will be debuting in openSUSE 10.2. The redesigned menu looks pretty slick, incorporating a search box at the top and tabs at the bottom for flipping between your favorite programs, recent programs and documents, my computer and all programs (which have a hierarchical interface reminiscent of Apple's iPod and file dialogs). It looks like a pleasure to use, which is exactly what the Linux desktop needs.
Apple today previewed the next major update to Mac OS X, version 10.5 (aka: Leopard), at their annual World Wide Developer Conference in California today. Our sister sites Engadget and TUAW covered the event well, but there are some great new features in this next version that are definitely worth a look here at DLS.
The big 10 new features (with more secret ones promised) can be previewed at Apple's new Leopard preview site, complete with video tutorials. If you're not down for watching all those videos though, I'll summarize some of the big ones for your shortcut pleasure.
Microsoft's new home page preview proves they don't like Firefox, since only IE users can view the page. It seems to be all over the news for no apparent reason. I thought this was common knowledge. Microsoft has pretty much never liked Firefox. Anyway, how about a solution for users and Microsoft to this epic problem of gigantic proportions. The Deli Llama once said "Everything can be fixed with a download." He's right, so either pick up the IEtab plugin for Firefox, or download the new IE7 Beta 3 from Microsoft if you really must view the new preview page right now. It'll do you good. Then you can fall asleep tonight listening to the tape you made yourself, "Microsoft has no power over me, Microsoft has no power over me, I am a strong, confident Firefox user!"
Need to test some web design on a Mac - sans the Mac? How about making sure your CSS is down up to IE7's standards? Daniel Vine has produced a couple of handy solutions for you: iCapture and ieCapture, for testing how a URL looks in Safari and IE7, respectively. You submit a URL for capturing and, depending on the queue (hey, he's paying for this out of pocket), can then search for a screenshot of the site you requested. The system is a little clunky, and it offers screenshots as opposed to full-blown interactivity, but this could be pretty handy for making sure a few pages at least look the way they should. Daniel is also accepting donations for his work on these utilities, so if you start banking your web design work on them, why not pass the guy a few bucks?
Genuine Windows enthusiast Paul Thurrott keeps us constantly supplied with new info and screenshots
from Redmond, and this week over at his Windows SuperSite he's posted his review and screenshot gallery of the most recent
build of Windows Vista, 5365. This is the last build of Vista before Beta 2, and Thurrott says, "Windows Vista is,
overall, a huge improvement over Windows XP," which has been his opinion all along. However, he expresses a bit of
frustration, saying, "in many ways, the Windows Vista we're going to
get late 2006 fails to match the excitement Microsoft generated," and that "the reality of Windows Vista,
like most things in life, is that there's good and bad. It's not perfect. But it's not a complete dog either." The
screenshots are nothing too different from what we've been seeing, but you can get a peek at a few of Vista's desktop
background and screensavers.
By now you've probably seen a few screenshots of the new "ribbon"
interface that will replace the menubar and toolbars in Microsoft Office 2007. It doesn't seem so mysterious to me,
but then I'm not really Office's average use case. If you want a better idea of what using Office's new interface is
really like, I recommend this streaming preview
video (direct link to WMV stream) that Microsoft has put together. It's a 13-minute marketing piece so be prepared
for some awkward scripted dialogue from Real Microsoft Employees (Dear Product Manager Julie Larson-Green: The camera
is over here. Please look at it.), and unless you're a corporate executive you'll probably get the gist of it in the
first five minutes. Personally I'm excited about the new interface, but then I only use Office a couple times a month
and am used to picking up new interfaces at the drop of a hat. For the average cube-dweller, I'm not yet convinced that
it wouldn't cost companies a bundle in time spent relearning.
In case you were having a hard time trying
to think of PC games you ought to be looking forward to in the next nine months, head over to the GameSpot forums where
user AdrianWerner posted (albeit a couple months ago) an enormous list of "promising" games due
in 2006. "Promising" is by his own reckoning, taking into account their developers' previous
games.There's something like 200 games on his list, with a screenshot for each (but unfortunately no links—you'll
have to Google them yourself). Of course, not all of these will see the light of day this year as planned, but you're
bound to find something there to get excited about. Especially if you really, really like war games.
Starting this week, Opera
Software is releasing to the public weekly builds of its eponymous web
browser. The builds are intended to open up Opera's development process to the users and allow them "to be
more involved at an earlier stage than when we ship the next public beta." Today saw the first such release in the form of Windows build 8219
and Mac build 3224.
