Snow Leopard Versus Windows 7 (Part 2)

The Dock and Stacks: A Rough Equivalent to Pinning


Snow Leopard has no features directly comparable to the jump list's pinning feature. Instead, Mac users can use stacks in the Dock to provide quick access to folders and files (drag any folder to the Dock to create a stack). In Snow Leopard, Apple refreshes stacks: You can view unlimited items in a stack by using Grid view (thanks to the addition of scrollbars), and you can drill down into folders without having to open any Finder windows. In addition, you can drag and drop any file into the Dock for quick access.

Bolstered OS X Inline Previews

To augment the preview features (Quick Look, Cover Flow, basic icon previews) present in Leopard, Apple adds an enhanced inline preview to the Finder’s icon view in Snow Leopard. When you view a folder that uses icons of 64 by 64 pixels or larger, mousing over your files will display preview/playback controls. If you mouse over an audio or video file, you’ll have access to a play button. If you mouse over a Word doc, a PowerPoint presentation, or a PDF (among other common file formats), you’ll get forward and back arrows for paging through a document.

Windows 7 's Preview Pane


Windows 7 has an optional preview pane for use in any Explorer window. Select a file, and the preview will appear in the preview pane. Compared to Snow Leopard’s preview feature, Windows 7’s seems pretty basic (text loses all formatting, for example), but it’s better than nothing. Also, as was the case with Vista, folder icons in Windows 7 give you a peek at the folder's contents.

Improved Windows Management

Exposé, a part of Mac OS X since 2003, learns some new tricks in Snow Leopard. Most notably, you can now click and hold the Dock icon for any open app in order to view all open windows for that app. This feature now extends to minimized windows--whereas in previous versions of OS X, Exposé ignored any windows that you sent to the Dock. In Snow Leopard, a thumbnail in Exposé represents each of these windows.

Also, Snow Leopard now arranges windows in a grid when you view them in Exposé. Previously, windows seemed to scale down in a haphazard fashion. I actually prefer the old method of handling Exposé: With the new Exposé arrangement, I find that all of the windows end up about the same size, which makes finding what I’m looking for more difficult, but this issue is very much a matter of personal preference.

Aero Peek

Windows 7 brings a new window management tool to the table, too. Called Aero Peek, this feature helps you see the window you want to jump to next. To use Aero Peek, click the taskbar icon for the app associated with the window you’re looking for, and then mouse over the thumbnails. All other windows will go transparent, leaving only the window you mouse over visible.

Clearing the Desktop

The most useful aspect of Aero Peek is its desktop peek feature. If you want to take a quick look at the desktop without hiding all of your windows, simply move your mouse pointer to the lower-right corner of the taskbar; at once, all windows will turn transparent. Click the lower-right corner of the taskbar to hide all open windows and see the desktop; click again to get back to work. This option is roughly equivalent to the Show Desktop feature in OS X's Exposé, which moves all windows off your screen with a keystroke (or with a flick of the mouse, if you have set a hot-corner for Exposé).

Both Windows 7 and Snow Leopard are solid updates to their respective operating systems, but I can't say that either one will persuade many users of the competing OS to cross to the other side. If you're perfectly happy with Windows, Snow Leopard probably won't make you lust for a Mac. Likewise, if you're a Mac user and weren't considering switching to Windows before, Windows 7 is unlikely to change your mind.

Snow Leopard Versus Windows 7 (Part 1)

Compared: Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Windows 7

This is shaping up to be the autumn of new operating systems. The latest version of Mac OS X, Snow Leopard, ships to customers this Friday. Windows 7, the follow-up to the much-maligned Windows Vista, hits store shelves in late October. Neither operating system will drastically change the way you work.

Windows 7 builds on Windows Vista, smoothing out Vista’s rough spots and bringing a number of new end-user features (such as the reworked taskbar) to the table. Meanwhile, with Snow Leopard, Apple focuses on new under-the-hood technologies that offer subtle refinements and fixes. Still, there is plenty to say about how Apple’s next big cat and Microsoft’s lucky number stack up against each other.

Managing Your Files

Snow Leopard’s Finder and Windows 7’s Explorer have strikingly similar interfaces, with quick-search fields in the upper-right corner, path bars (OS X’s is optional and can be switched on in the View menu), and sidebars that provide easy access to various common locations on your computer.

Smart Folders

Nothing in Snow Leopard directly compares with Windows' libraries. The closest OS X feature is saved searches (known as Smart Folders), but a saved search pulls together files based on search criteria, not location. You can’t, for example, create a smart folder that contains all of the photos from two particular folders. On the other hand, you can't combine Windows 7 libraries with saved search results.

Windows 7, of course, has a smart folder feature as well.

Ridicuously Big Icons

Both Snow Leopard and Windows 7 permit a large icon view. Windows 7 supports icons in sizes up to 256 by 256 pixels. Snow Leopard one-ups Windows 7, though: The Finder can display icons in sizes up to a seemingly absurd 512 by 512 pixels (512-pixel icons were around in 10.5, but the Finder couldn't take advantage of them outside the Quick Look and Cover Flow views).

Quick Access via the Dock or Taskbar

Some OS X apps can use the Dock’s pop-up menus to display application-specific information and to provide easy access to frequently used commands. For example, if you right-click iTunes’ Dock icon in Snow Leopard, you’ll get a menu that you can use to see what’s playing, to play or pause your music, to assign a rating to the current song, and to control other simple iTunes commands.

With Windows 7’s retooled taskbar, Microsoft introduces a similar feature called jump lists. Jump lists not only provide access to common commands (Windows Media Player‘s jump list has a Play command, for example), they also let you “pin” items to a specific list. For example, you can pin commonly used folders to the Windows Explorer jump list and important documents to the WordPad jump list.

(To be continued..)

Master Your Own Internet Domain

Seinfeld episodes notwithstanding, buying a domain name may be easy, but managing the domain and making smart technology decisions is another story. Let's take a look at the steps and decisions involved in setting up Web and e-mail hosting accounts for your a domain.

First some basics. Getting a new domain is the purview of a domain registrar, someone like GoDaddy.com, Register.com, or even Network Solutions. The registrar handles the paperwork details and bills you once a year for taking care of them. Each registrar handles the various Domain Name System records that tell everyone on the Internet where to find your Web, e-mail, and other servers. The screen shot at right shows a listing of the records for my domain WebInformant.tv.

As the entries on the list indicate, I have set up a separate mailing list server called 'list', Google hosts my e-mail (that's what the MX records are for), and my Web site is located at the IP address of 97.74.144.98.

You can use your registrar's hosting services for both Web and e-mail services if you wish. This approach is quite convenient, but what happens if you become dissatisfied with your registrar's service and want to switch to a new provider? Relocating your site is easier if your registrar isn't also youre host.

The Web hosting part of the equation presents you with three basic options: using a Web-based public site provider (free or nearly so); using a virtual private server as your host, running some Windows or Linux Web server software ($50 to $500 a year); or using a managed services provider ($200 a month or more). Cost isn't the only factor: The free public providers, such as Typepad.com, Wordpress.com, Blogger.com, and Livejournal.com, are easy to set up and maintain but don't offer much flexibility with page templates and designs. On the positive side, is these providers simplify the tasks of updating your site and drawing traffic to it. With one of them, you won't require the services of a graphic Web designer to build a fairly attractive site.

If you're interested in extremely low-cost hosting, check out my blog post "Cheap choices for Web hosting," which compares the services offered by Microsoft's Office Live Small Business and by Weebly. Obviously, you forfeit some control over your site's final appearance; but if you want to launch a Web presence quickly, these are both good places to start.

Another option is to use WordPress.com as your main Web site. If you go this route, you must perform an additional step: Have your registrar forward your domain to your Wordpress.com site, or have WordPress perform "domain mapping" for you (under this arrangement, WordPress takes control over the domain and redirects traffic accordingly). I have used both methods. Forwarding your domain from your registrar doesn't cost anything, but the domain mapping method is perhaps more professional; WordPress charges $10 (technically, $9.97) a year for the latter service. On its site, WordPress provides lots of additional detailed information on domain mapping.

WordPress has an active community of developers and thousands of plug-ins designed to extend the service's functionality. To deploy them, however, you need to run WordPress's software on your own virtual server at a separate hosting provider. The downside to self-hosted WordPress sites is that their support for streaming video is less capable than is the support at WordPress.com-hosted sites. That difference becomes especially significant if you intend for your site to house lots of video content.

Your next decision involves selecting a virtual private or managed server for your site. Many companies offer server space; for help in sorting them out, visit Hosting Review, a site that lets you easily compare plans and prices. Factors to consider (besides how much the service costs) include how much storage you can buy for your plan, whether you have to pay extra for e-mail and applications such as databases, and whether telephone support is included and available during off-hours or limited to workdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Should you run your Web site on Windows or on Linux? The differences aren't huge; and if you're running self-hosted WordPress, I recommend using Linux because you'll never have to deal with the raw Linux command line. But if you want to work with Microsoft tools in building and managing your site, use Windows.

Whichever provider you choose, you'll end up using its Web-based control panel to manage the server and any related programs running on it. The screenshot at left shows what GoDaddy's control panel look like.

The GoDaddy control panel includes some simple buttons for transferring files to your server, managing common tasks and applications, logging in via a secure terminal session (SSH), and setting up e-mail accounts. Each hosting provider uses a slightly different layout for these icons and tasks, and unfortunately you can't evaluate them in any depth before purchasing your hosting contract.

Next, you must decide where to host your e-mail program for your domain. You can use your registrar to host your e-mail--but if you do and you want to switch registrars down the road, you'll run into the same same complications that arise if with regard to Web hosting. Another option is to use the same provider that runs your Web site; providers usually offer special deals to make this affordable.

Or you can use Google for your e-mail domain, as I do. Google's e-mail hosting uses the same Webmail interface as Gmail, or you can set it up to work with your Outlook or other desktop e-mail client.

Google has two different plans: a free one (called Google Apps Standard Edition) that's good for up to 50 users and provides up to 7 GB of storage each, and a high-end version (called Google Apps Premier Edition) that costs $50 per user per year and sets aside up to 25GB of storage per user. Nonprofit and educational institutions can get Google Apps Premier Edition for free. The page where you sign up for the standard edition is easy to overlook. The process for subscribing to the premier edition starts on a different page.

As part of this process, you'll need to set up the Cname (aliases) DNS record at your registrar, instructing the registrar to start sending e-mail to Google to handle. The Google Apps Help page has more information about this process. If you decide to use Wordpress.com domain mapping and Google Apps e-mail hosting, consult WordPress Support's discussion of "Custom Email with Google Apps."

Finally, what should you do about e-mail lists? I talk about this issue in my article "Do E-mail Marketing Right." Overall, I prefer to have a specialized provider--one that runs the Linux software Mailman--host my list, rather than relying on the general e-mail hosting provider; Mailman has better tools for managing list traffic than the general e-mail providers can offer. If you're interested in finding a Mailman provider, check the Mailman Hosting Services directory.

That's it. If you followed all of the steps discussed above, you are in a position to be the master of your Internet domain, with a Web site and an e-mail server set up and running.

Pimp My Browser: How to Get the Most Out of Firefox

Thanks to online video, Web apps, social networking, and so on, the humble Web browser is being pushed to do more and to do it faster. With a few simple tweaks and tools, you can improve your browsing experience and save yourself some time in the process.

Mozilla's popular Firefox browser has always been a haven for tweakers thanks to its built-in support for a wide range of extensions. But getting more out of this open source browser goes beyond installing a plug-in or two. Follow these tips and tricks to really set that fox on fire!

Note: Some of the following tips are applied via the detailed 'about:config' interface. But be careful, as a few false moves could cause Firefox to act up.

Speeding Up Your Browser

It's easy to speed up Firefox, and there are numerous approaches you can take. Simple things to get you started include removing unused search engines and deleting old, broken, or duplicate bookmarks that you may have saved. Doing these simple actions regularly will give you a slight speed increase, and will decrease Firefox's shutdown time.

Faster Flash

This advanced tip can allow for a generally faster experience, and makes watching Flash videos within Firefox a whole lot swifter.

Firefox automatically takes a snapshot of your browsing session every ten seconds. It does this so if Firefox crashes, you'll be able to get back to where you were quickly and easily. But when you view Flash content, this default snapshot feature can make your video pause and buffer, spoiling your viewing experience.

To fix this issue all you have to do is adjust how frequently Firefox creates session restore save points. Doing this will mean that if the browser does crash, a recently opened tab or two may get left behind, if you watch a lot of Flash video, this tweak may be a perfect compromise.

1. Type ‘about:config’ in to the address bar and press the return key to access Firefox’s more detailed settings.
2. Use the filter box to find the following command (minus quotes): "browser.sessionstore.interval"
   
3. Once you find the commans, edit the value of 10000 (10 seconds in milliseconds) to something more suitable such as 180000, which is 3 minutes.

Remove the Add-on Installation Delay

When you install a new add-on within Firefox, you'll usually be greeted by a pop-up asking you to confirm whether or not you really want to install the add-on.

This usually takes a few seconds longer than you might like due to the built-in installation countdown. You can remove this potential annoyance by making the following edit:

• security.dialog_enable_delay - Find the following entry in the 'about:config' interface, and edit the value to 0 to start the installation immediately.

With this change made, your add-ons will install without any delay.

Various other tips and tricks on how to speed up Firefox can be found all over the web, including this tip which claims to make your browser up to 40% faster.

Improve Overall Software Performance

There are a number of more advanced adjustments you can make to improve Firefox's overall performance:

1. browser.download.manager.openDelay - Find and edit this value to 3000 (3 seconds) so that the downloads window does not open for those super small downloads.
2. browser.search.openintab - This setting by default is set to False, By changing its value to True, when you use the built in browser search, your results will now open in a new tab.

More advanced tips and tricks like these can be found here.

Give Your Browser A Makeover

Firefox makes it easy to change the way your browser looks; you can instantly give it a complete makeover.

Get the 4.0 Look

Shortly after the release of Firefox 3.5, the Mozilla Foundation released some mockups of the interface changes proposed for Firefox 4.0. If you can’t wait for Firefox 4, you can just install a theme to rock the new look. Theme creator and DeviantArt user SpewBoy has also included a handy guide on how to achieve that futuristic browser style. In fact, you can find a wide variety of Firefox themes on DeviantArt.

Icon Appeal

Changing your theme is one thing, but more often than not you will want a desktop icon to match. Thankfully there are plenty of resources online that offer countless icon choices.

But Wait, There's More

These suggestions will set you on your way to getting more out of Firefox. There are thousands of available add-ons and extensions for everything from getting more done, or just making your browser look cooler.

Make the browser your own and be sure to share your own cool Firefox hacks, mods, tips, or tricks in the comments.

Apple's Sept. 9 Event: 5 Hot Bets

Now that Apple has confirmed it’s planning an invitation-only bash September 9 in San Francisco, our time to speculate is running short. What new stuff is coming?

First, let’s scratch the much-anticipated Apple tablet off the list. While there’s little doubt that Cupertino is cooking up some sort of iPod touch-on-steroids device -- or perhaps something more sophisticated -- the latest rumors say the device won’t debut before next year.

Besides, the caption on Apple’s September invite reads: “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it.” A clue?

“I think that’s a bit of a hint that it’s not going to be a tablet,” says Michael Gartenberg, an analyst for market researcher Interpret. “This is a music event, not a tablet introduction.”

Which means an iPod-themed event. “It is September. The leaves start to turn, and that’s typically when Apple refreshes a new bumper crop of iPods,” Gartenberg adds.

So what’s coming? “I expect the iPod line up to get fully refreshed,” says IDC analyst Danielle Levitas. “I'm leaning toward an iPod Touch with a camera.”

Five possibilities to consider:

1. iPod touch with a video camera: The iPhone 3GS captures video, so why shouldn’t the iPod touch? Recent photos rounding the Web purportedly show an iPod touch prototype with a rear-facing camera. This rumor sounds very feasible.

2. iPod Nano with a still-image camera: This upgrade could be a good way to breathe new life into the standalone MP3 player market, which is on the decline and ultimately will go the way of the PDA. The Nano may lack the power and storage to handle video, but it’s a strong candidate for a simple digital cam.

3. Major upgrade of iTunes: “There will almost certainly be a new version, depending on what features Apple adds to the new crop of devices,” Gartenberg says. The question is whether the upgrade will be major or minor. Some industry watchers expect Apple to add social networking features to iTunes.

4. Apple TV update: The black sheep of Cupertino’s home entertainment ecosphere, Apple TV hasn’t exactly caught on with the masses. Levitas believes it’s time for a “refreshed home system,” which could mean an overhauled Apple TV. Might the device evolve into a gaming console? Perhaps, but one thing’s for certain: Apple needs to do a better job of explaining to consumers what the video-streaming box does—and why they should care.

5. Steve Jobs: He’s back at work and reportedly making life miserable for Apple engineers working on the tablet. So why not a few words from the CEO to rally the troops?

Any other possibilities? Let us know.

Viliv S7 Premium

"Damn, that's small!"--my exact words after first laying eyes upon the Viliv S7. This tablet netbook is tiny. I'm talking more miniscule than the original Asus Eee PC 4G netbooks. It's practically coat-pocket size, like the Sony Vaio P. (In inches, the S7 measures 8.3 by 4.6 by 1, and it weighs 1.76 pounds.)

The S7 has a surprisingly solid design with enough going for it that I'd actually consider buying one--except for the projected $800 asking price. Keep in mind that what you're about to read is an extremely opinionated hands-on. Though Viliv provided us with a production-level unit, it explains that all specs haven't been finalized yet, and that units won't be available stateside until sometime in October (Viliv is based in South Korea). Is it worth the wait?

Well, before I tell you why I'm digging this little fella, I'm going to try and talk you out of buying the S7. Bear with me. The keyboard and mouse-button layout is, in a word, insane. As one might expect, the keyboard is small. Human adult males will find it a little difficult to use without setting the machine down on a flat surface to carefully peck away. And in order to squeeze in as many keys as possible, the company has put an odd cluster of punctuation buttons in the lower right part of the keyboard in such a way that comma, colon, and quote marks aren't where you'd expect.

The temptingly small size makes you wish Viliv could trim an inch off the width. If it did, you could probably thumb-type. I have the same issue with Fujitsu's LifeBook U820 micro-size Tablet PCs. Maybe with a smaller next-gen model we can get that. But my keyboard complaints faded compared with those for the touchpad.

The mousing strike zone is parked above the keyboard. You could place two standard postage stamps side-by-side and cover up the whole area. And the left and right mouse buttons are on either side of that, making it about as comfortable as taking a stretch on the rack. In short, HP and Acer, for all those times I mocked you for the touchpads on the Mini 1000 and the original Aspire One, respectively--I take it all back. The S7 has the worst mousing area I've ever seen, hands down (or, more accurately, hands on the screen). You see, the S7's saved by a single-point 7-inch touchscreen. If it weren't for that screen, I'd have likely just chucked this thing back in the box and called it a day. (Friendly tip for the next S7: Ditch the touchpad altogether or stick with a Lenovo-like touchpoint.)

The 1024-by-600-pixel backlit screen has reasonably good viewing angles, and when you don't like the angle, you can fully swing the screen around and fold it back into a tablet. And the S7 has a good hinge: It firmly holds position. But it should lock into place at, say, a 45-degree angle. A locking position snaps the screen at 180 degrees: handy for keeping in a flat tablet mode, not so handy if you're trying to type and look at the screen during a bumpy flight. (The screen has two useful buttons near it: "Pivot" rotates the desktop and "Menu" launches the start button--perfect when you're in tablet mode.)

As for the on-screen image, the color reproduction is pretty sharp. On still images, bright blues and indigos pop out over seas of green in sample landscape shots. But that doesn't mean the on-screen text is legible; that's what you get for having a relatively "high" resolution on a 7-inch screen (go into Control Panel to change font sizes). The S7 easily handled 480-by-320 iPhone videos and Hulu standard-definition content without a hint of a stutter. So far, a surprisingly decent performer.

I say "surprisingly decent" because it packs only a 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520 CPU and 1GB of RAM, so it's not exactly speedy even by netbook standards. Unfortunately, we can't give you a full comparative rundown of how well the S7 compares with other netbooks. The S7 that we received had only a 32GB solid-state drive on board. Our lab needs at least twice that much space just to install WorldBench 6 tests on a computer. We're waiting to find out what drive or drives will be in the final production units, but I can at least give results from a couple basic tests. Over several cold boots, the machine loads Windows XP Home in 43 seconds. When parked in standby, the machine is up and running within 5.3 seconds. Firefox boots in 3 seconds. In short, not bad for a tiny portable.

As for battery life, that's another question we can't fully answer just yet. Initial tests (running video and intermittent Word document manipulation) bought me a little under 5 hours of computing time. Spokespeople promise 9.5 hours, or 7 hours with just video playback.

What we can discuss are some of the more tangible features: Lining the machine, a 1.3-megapixel Webcam, plus headphone and mic jacks for all you Skypers out there. Two panel speakers alongside the screen project some seriously loud and impressive sound--from a netbook, no less. The only drawback: a slightly tinny, hollow feel to the audio. On the video side of the equation, a VGA-out comes built into the machine. Next to it, a dongle-reliant port for component video-out.

The S7 provides typical 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities. Want to embrace wireless broadband? It supports optional wireless broadband (the SIM card slot hides behind the battery) and WiMax. A spokesperson says that AT&T, Verizon, and Clearwire are "future partners in the U.S."

An SDHC slot lets you jack up storage if you want more than the standard 32GB. Now, while I was about to bash the S7 for having only two USB 2.0 ports, it does have something that makes up for any complaints on that score: A mini-USB jack. Plug in the cable between your home PC and the S7, and the netbook automatically runs a simple file manager program to transfer data between machines. It took 1 minute, 40 seconds to copy 1.1GB of video files between two computers. No speed demon, but it sure is easy enough. That small software gem is as good a reason as any to mention the rest of the stuff crammed on board the 32GB hard drive.

Besides Microsoft Office 2007 bloat, Viliv drops down the Windows Live Essentials freeware suite and a host of little bits of software you'll rarely use. A bare-bones browser and an odd-looking desktop shell are both better suited for tablet-mode browsing and use. Though a little rough around the edges, these tools tie into each other well.

Honestly, I was surprised. I expected some tech torture with the S7, but I find myself flipping up the screen and using it in odd situations: on the bus (to a couple of interested stares), at the local watering holes....and yeah, even sitting next to me at my desk. Admittedly a little imperfect, the S7 has the potential to become my digital sidekick. Tighten up the girth a little bit, and this could make a fine thumb-typing computer.

I should also mention that a couple of office fashionistas cooed when seeing its matching leather clutch carrying case. But at $800, it's pricey as netbooks go--and this one doesn't have much in the way of storage space to work with. If storage isn't a big deal, you might consider the Samsung Mondi. About half the price of the S7, this touch tablet runs Windows Mobile 6, has WiMax support, and comes with a slew of useful apps. But, like the Viliv, the small QWERTY keyboard is a pain in the ASCII. My advice on both: If you can find either one and lay hands on it before you buy, I'd recommend it.

4 Facebook Apps to Watch

Although it got its start by enabling people to throw virtual pies at each other and turn themselves into vampires and werewolves, the Facebook ecosystem is growing up before our very eyes.

Last week, at Facebook's old offices in downtown Palo Alto, investors, media and bloggers saw what innovative startups have been building this summer on top of the Facebook platform, the main piece of technology that allows developers to program applications that work in tandem with the social network. These apps, sites and services signal a departure from the things that have typified the Facebook platform's early iteration.

These are a lot more than just games.

This summer, around 20 startups toiled away in Facebook's old offices in Palo Alto, tinkering with their products and trying to differentiate themselves from an already crowded marketplace of companies looking to build a business on the social network. The program is part of Facebook's fbFund Rev, a $10 million incubator program fueled by the social network and two venture capital firms. The goal is to breathe life into small startups to get up and going until they can obtain more seed funding from investors.

Unlike the first iteration of the Facebook platform, these next wave of apps are less reliant on running just on Facebook; they run as standalone sites or services. Many design their products to work with other social networks, too, such as Twitter.

To work with Facebook, however, they utilize Facebook Connect, a technology that enables users to log into third-party sites using their Facebook log-in and password.

Once there, the activities they perform on that site can be streamed back into Facebook and viewed by friends. As a result, in recent months, we've seen more traditional websites and services being able to tap into the Facebook platform.

While several of the startups were interesting, four stuck out for me during the presentations ( Inside Facebook listed all of them in its post from the event).

1. Thread wants to set you up on your next date. The concept, according to its founders, is simple: Friends of friends are the best people to date. Logging in with your Facebook credentials, you can see those friends and their friends, and send a message to your mutual friend to see if it might be a good fit. This startup was the darling of the lot, as it garnered $1.2 million in seed funding as a result of its work this summer.

2. Wildfire solves a problem that businesses large and small are already encountering. They have a feeling they should be running marketing campaigns on Facebook, Twitter and other large social networks, but what will that cost in terms of time, money and technological expertise?

Unlike early ventures of this sort that went for the big wins of Fortune 100 companies only, Wildfire gives companies tons of options that fits their budget. Small businesses can spend as little as $5 per campaign, while premium models range up to $250. The "white label" accounts, presumably for Coca-Cola- and McDonald's-size companies, will be much more. On Facebook in particular, the Wildfire app draws traffic to your company's pages and prompts users to share pieces of content they engaged with on your website. Using Facebook Connect, a lot of this information flows freely from Facebook and back to your original company site.

3. Sociable. Ever peruse a retail site and wonder what one of your friends would think about a product? If a site implements Sociable, you can do just that.

You can share the product with them on Facebook, and see what friends of yours think. For retailers, this represents a large opportunity to publish the buying actions of consumers back onto their friends News Feeds on Facebook. Users are prompted to "share on Facebook," however, so the question is: Will they elect to share? Time will tell, but for now, according to Nisan Gabbay, the company's CEO, Sociable expects to break even by the end of the year and is seeking $1 million in funding. Live Nation, the concert site, has begun using Sociable to help fans connect with each other before a show.

4. Run There. If nothing else, they get a mention because this type of app hits close to home for someone who runs a lot. But they deserve it on their own right for creating a better user experience from past sites with the same concept. Many sites, namely MapMyRun, have given runners, bikers and hikers the ability to map their routes on top of Google Maps or Map Quest. But MapMyRun has really failed users. If you wish to use the free version, it's loaded with ads that create horrible latency for plotting a run.

RunThere has a more stripped down, elegant design. It also features an amazing 3-D feature. With Google Earth plug-in, you can replay your run and see all the terrain you crossed. But it's not clear to me how they build a business off this idea. Ads would ruin it (like it did MapMyRun), and I'm not sure people would want to pay for this service when others will offer it for free.

Microsoft to Drop All Zunes Except for HD Model

Microsoft plans to drop all of its Zune models except for a new high-definition (HD) version that is due out in two weeks, the company confirmed Wednesday.

Microsoft said it will continue to offer the flash Zune 4GB, 8GB and 16GB devices and the 80GB and 120GB hard-drive devices until they are sold out. However, the Zune HD device -- which will be available Sept. 15 and features a touch screen, HD radio, HD video-out capabilities and an Internet browser -- will be the sole Zune device the company manufactures going forward.

Microsoft also plans to launch updated Zune software and service when the Zune HD becomes available. Additionally, a Zune video service will be available on Xbox Live, Microsoft's marketplace for its Xbox game console and related products, later this year, the company said.

News that Microsoft was dropping all of its Zunes except for the HD version was reported Wednesday on longtime Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows blog.

The Zune HD, the first touch-screen version of Microsoft's multimedia player, is meant to bring the product on par with Apple's iPod Touch and give Microsoft a stronger competitor against other high-end MP3 and video players.

The Zune, introduced first nearly three years ago, has not fared particularly well against competitors. Microsoft dissolved its separate Zune division some time ago and the product now is part of its TV, video and music business, which Corporate Vice President Enrique Rodriguez oversees.

Microsoft's move to focus only on the Zune HD is to cut its losses at the low end of the market and prepare the way for next-generation Windows Mobile smartphones, which likely will have some of the features Zune has now, said Matt Rosoff, analyst with Directions on Microsoft.

"They still want to be in this business primarily as a way to keep the brand alive, keep the service going and maybe pave the way for the next generation of the Windows phone, which I assume will have similar form factors and have the Zune software integrated into them," he said.

Rosoff added that the Zune HD actually has some attractive features that go above and beyond what Apple's iPod Touch offers -- such as the ability to buy a monthly subscription to listen to an unlimited supply of music from the Zune Marketplace via a Wi-Fi connection. However, Microsoft was so late to market with a richly featured device that it lost consumer interest very quickly, he said.

"They launched weak," Rosoff said. "By the time they got it right nobody cared."

Zune HD faces other market challenges ahead of its launch Sept. 15. One is that Apple has scheduled a Sept. 9 press event at which many expect the company will move iTunes and the iPod products forward.

Another is that Microsoft's general manager of marketing for Zune, Chris Stephenson, recently resigned from the company and plans to leave on Sept. 4 before the Zune HD's launch, Microsoft confirmed Wednesday. Stephenson is leaving to become the chief marketing officer for Interscope Records in Los Angeles.

Through its public relations firm, Microsoft said it remains committed to its Zune strategy to provide a "great entertainment experience through software and services across multiple screens and devices," and Stephenson's departure won't deter the company's commitment to the Zune HD.

PC Tools File Recover Brings Back Your Files

With that $30 price tag in my mind's eye, I went into my PC Tools File Recover (limited free demo) hands-on thinking that it would be just another over-priced undelete utility. Ten minutes in, I was thinking "By Grabthar's hammer... what a savings!" Most recovery programs that will scan on the sector level, such as Active @ File Recovery and R-studio Data Recovery, will set you back more money.

PC Tools File Recover performs the same sector-level functions that more expensive recovery programs do.

PC Tools File Recover is easy to use, and it works. It recovered all of the deleted files I threw at it by bulk search, or by specific file name/file type. The program did crash once while attempting to recover a large MPG file, but I was unable to replicate the incident.

File Recover also easily recognized a USB-attached hard drive from a RAID 0/1 array that had been overwritten with two Mac OS partitions--and it found a number of files there. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the files were false positives that restored as zero length entries. To be fair, no program that I'm aware of would do any better, though some will bypass false positives.

My only real problem with PC Tools File Recover came during the recovery stage. There's a button to select all and a button to deselect all, as well as selection by folder and type, however beyond that you're stuck selecting or deselecting files one at a time. You can't hold down the shift or control key and select/deselect groups or batches. Selecting files one at a time could get annoying when you have a lot of them in single directory. Also, although you may pause a scan, there's no way to save it so that you can continue or take action on a scan after closing the program.

PC Tools File Recover looks to be a bargain in my book. As is typical for this sort of program, the demo will find files but not restore them.

Five Reasons to Download the Windows 7 Trial Right Now

Microsoft announced the availability of a 90-day free trial of the final RTM (release to manufacturing) version of Windows 7 Enterprise edition. Whether you are anxiously awaiting the new operating system, or skeptical of the hype around Windows 7, here are five reasons you should jump on the free trial.

1. Judge for yourself. Some have said that Windows 7 is little more than Windows Vista SP3. Even those who feel Windows 7 is Microsoft's apology to the world for Windows Vista seem to admit that Windows 7 is a pretty good apology.

Whether you are still using Windows XP, made the switch to Windows Vista, or haven't been using Windows at all, now is your chance to take a look at the final release version of Windows 7 and decide for yourself.

2. Figure out what works. One of the headaches of upgrading operating systems is finding out that the applications and peripherals you rely on no longer work. When Windows Vista launched, a wide variety of issues with device drivers and incompatible software greatly contributed to the negative image it earned and tarnished its reputation.

The trial version will let you dip your toe in the proverbial water and see for yourself whether the products you rely on will play nicely with the new operating system. It's your free chance to either determine that this OS is not for you, or get a jumpstart on contacting product vendors for updates or finding alternative solutions that will work with Windows 7 if you choose.

3. See what you're missing. There are a variety of versions of Windows 7. The lower end Windows 7 Home versions and even the Windows 7 Professional version are lacking some of the features and functionality found in Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 7 Ultimate.

The free trial is for Windows 7 Enterprise. That gives you 90 days to tinker with the fully-loaded version of the operating system and determine whether or not you really want or need those additional features.

4. Is it worth it? Windows 7 has a lot of new features and functionality: Jump Lists, AeroPeek, AeroSnap, automatic driver installation, BitLocker-to-Go, and more. Critics will say that the Aero UI is useless eye candy, or perhaps that Microsoft just ‘borrowed' the interface from Mac OS X (while some think that egg came before the chicken).

But so what? What do those features mean to you, and are they worth the investment? You might think the features are cool, but are they $130 cool? Of course, you also have to wade through the version and pricing matrix to figure out what the new OS would cost you.

5. Supplies are Limited. Act Quickly. According to this blog announcement of the free trial from Microsoft "A limited number of licenses are available, so the download will only be available while supplies last."

Once you get the software downloaded and installed, act quickly to activate it as well. The blog also points out that "activation of Windows 7 Enterprise 90-Day Trial is required within 10 days after installation, or the product will shut down every hour."

Whether you are a Windows 7 fan or a Windows 7 skeptic, this free trial is your opportunity to look under the hood and see for yourself if the operating system meets your expectations and is worthy of your time and money.

Nokia Gets Social With Two New Touchscreen Phones

Nokia introduced on Wednesday two new touchscreen smartphones that aim to spice up your mobile life. The new N97 Mini and the X6 feature tight integration with Facebook and improved specs over their predecessors.

During the Nokia World conference in Stuttgart, Germany, Nokia presented two new touchscreen phones that will make your Twitter-using friends jealous. Both the N97 Mini and the X6 will ship in the fourth quarter, so read on to find out what to expect out of the two phones.

Nokia N97 Mini

The N97 Mini is the follow-up of Nokia's current flagship device, the N97, only in a smaller form. Featuring a 3.2-inch, 16:9 aspect ratio display, the 3G-enabled N97 Mini rocks a full kick-out QWERTY keyboard and a 5-megapixel camera with dual LED flash.

Around 0.3 inch smaller than the N97, the N97 Mini packs WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, and a GPS receiver next to the now standard 3.5mm headphone plug. Unlike its bigger sibling, the N97 comes with only 8GB of built-in storage (32GB on the N97) that can be expanded with another 16GB via microSD cards.

But the new selling point of the new N97Mini is what Nokia calls Lifecasting. The Finnish company partnered with Facebook, and the new phone can now share to Facebook your location, together with your status, directly from the N97 Mini's homescreen.

The Nokia N97 Mini is due out in October and will cost around $640 unlocked, and hopefully less if AT&T or T-Mobile decide to subsidize the phone. Also, for a quick look at how the Facebook location and status sharing work on the N97 Mini.

Nokia X6

The new X6 is Nokia's 5800 model follow-up, a music-centric device, hence the 32GB on built-in storage. The 5800 camera got an upgrade as well on the X6, up to 5-megapixel with dual LED flash, now on the par with the N97 Mini.

The Nokia X6 handles connectivity well, with WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and A-GPS, plus a 3.5mm headphone jack. The X6 integrates with Facebook as well, bringing a Facebook widget and 20 of your friends' activity on the homescreen.

The Nokia X6 will cost also around $640 unlocked, due out in the fourth quarter. Nokia will introduce a Comes With Music version of the X6 as well, but only in selected countries. Nokia announced on Monday that it is delaying the lunch of the Comes With Music service in the U.S. until 2010.