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upgrading posts

Filed under: Browsers, Humor

One big reason people didn't upgrade from Firefox 2 to 3? Hiding porn bookmarks.

Generally, improvements in software are a good thing. Improving something means making it better, right? In the case of Firefox 3's enhanced Awesome Bar, maybe not so much.

The Firefox security team has been analyzing data collected from users who declined to upgrade from version 2 to 3 back in May when Mozilla issued a friendly nudge. Those users were given the chance to fill out a questionnaire to explain their decision. One big sticking point: the suped-up address bar's ability to match text you enter with your bookmarks.

Here's how the Firefox crew describes a common scenario:
"In some cases users had intentionally hidden these bookmarks in deep hierarchies of folders, somewhat similar to how one might hide a physical object. Having something from your previous browsing displayed to someone else who is using your computer (or even worse) to a large audience of people as you are giving a presentation, is really one of the most embarrassing things that Firefox can do to you."
Translation: I hid all my bookmarks to NSFW cosplay sites in My Bookmarks\Harmless\Totally Harmless\No Really\Why are you still drilling down\Nothing to see here\Get out of my chair already\Sandwiches and I don't want them popping up accidentally when I start typing.

Having hot-girls-in-panda-costumes.org pop up when you start typing a URL during a demonstration could definitely make things slightly uncomfortable.

You could, of course, just upgrade and follow Digital Inspiration's tips for disabling this behavior. You'll also be able to use dirty old man private browsing mode in your new Firefox 3.5 install.

[via PC Pro]

Filed under: OS Updates, Features, Windows, Microsoft

Windows 7 upgraders guide: The simple version

Microsoft released a nice, big chart the other day which details the many possible ways of moving from your existing Windows OS to Windows 7. It's got a slight case of information overload, however, so let's simplify things a bit. After all, not everyone reading Download Squad is an IT director with years of experience.

First, let's spell out the important terms.

In-Place Upgrade: means one you can run from your current Windows desktop. If f you currently own a laptop or desktop with Windows Vista Home Premium you will be able to boot up your computer as normal, pop in your Windows 7 Home Premium disk, and upgrade Windows. Your existing data (music, pictures, etc.) and programs are automatically moved.

Custom Install: "Custom" here really means "new," "fresh," or "clean." When you finish installing Windows your new desktop will be pretty bare - none of your old programs of data will be there, so you'll need to back them up first. Custom installs can't be performed from your existing Windows desktop. You have to force your system to boot from the Windows 7 DVD instead.

We'll take a thorough look at doing just that in an upcoming DLS 101 post.

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Filed under: Business, Developer, Internet, Text, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Productivity, Web services, Microsoft, Commercial

ActiveWords - The most useful utility I'm no longer using

Migrating software needs to get easierTo be fair, up front I should warn you: this post is an opinion piece.

About two months ago I moved to a new laptop, and went through all of the nonsense that is involved with setting up a new machine. I've just noticed today that I haven't bothered to install many of the programs that I previously would have gone to the effort and jumped through the hoops necessary to get registered on my new machine. And not because the software isn't good.

I'm picking on ActiveWords in the title here, but this applies to many other programs too. In fact, it applies to any commercial software that requires some form of registration to validate it on a given PC. But since I've named ActiveWords in the title, I'll use it as my example.

ActiveWords is an insanely useful tool for power users on PCs. I've long said that it's the scripting or macro engine that Windows should have had built right in, and I still believe it. The power and simplicity in ActiveWords is virtually unparalleled.

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