Filed under: Business, Internet, Microsoft, Mozilla, Browsers

Watch out, Microsoft, Firefox is continuing its quest to dominate all seven continents. While the news last month of Firefox achieving 100% share in Antarctica was more more than a little tongue-in-cheek, the announcement today from StatCounter is more on the serious side.

For the first time ever, Firefox 3 has surpassed Internet Explorer 7's European browser market share. Firefox pulled ahead by just over half a point, registering 35.05% to IE7's 34.54%.

The news is tempered by the Internet Explorer 8 RTM, though it's still a significant milestone for Mozilla. With its recent increase in popularity, Firefox is now just ten percentage points behind all Explorer versions in Europe.

Ten measly points and you're top dog on two continents, Mozilla.

[via Reuters]

Two continents down, 5 to go: Firefox 3 top browser in Europe originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Fun, Internet, Security, Ask DLS

Sophos Labs' Graham Clulely authored a blog post today asking users for the best Conficker headline they've read. Pretty much all the major antivirus providers have announced that 1) most users are safe because the required Windows patch has been available since October via Windows Update and 2) there's a good chance nothing at all will happen tomorrow.

Since it's April 1st, though, let's have a little fun with this one. Here are a few I'd like to see. Submit yours in the comments!

Conficker turns into the world's biggest RickRoll

Hey, it goes off on April 1, so why couldn't it be a colossal prank? The original is kind of tired, though, so maybe Conficker might opt for something more like Interior Crocodile Alligator - which isn't at all horrible, so you should definitely click the link.

Continue reading What Conficker headlines do you want to read tomorrow?

What Conficker headlines do you want to read tomorrow? originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Photo, Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Windows x64

ThetaWall is a highly customizable wallpaper changer originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Search, Web

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has announced plans to kill off the Wikia Search project. Wikia Search was built to be sort of the Wikipedia of search engines. While a computer generates initial search results, users can adjust the order of results and even alter descriptions. When I checked out Wikia Search last summer I was actually pretty impressed with its feature set. And then I forgot about it and never visited the page again. Because the truth is that the search engine didn't really do a better job of helping me find what I was looking for than Google, Yahoo!, or Live Search.

Wales says the decision to shutter the service is a financial one. In the current economy it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend the time and money developing the service at the expense of other Wikia projects.

Now that Wales is pulling out of the search business, I can't help but wonder whether Google will take the hint and pull out of the encyclopedia biz. Google is also dealing with a tough economy. This week the company laid off 200 people in its sales and marketing division. And in January Google closed the door on Jaiku, Google Notebook and Google Video.

But the company hasn't closed Google Knol, a service that many people see as Google's answer to Wikipedia. Knol isn't really an encylopedia. Rather, it's a spot for experts to publish pages about topics they're well versed in. But it doesn't have Wikipedia's user base, visibility, or influence. Perhaps in a better economy it would make sense to continue developing Knol, but right now I'm not sure it makes any more sense for Google to compete with Wikipedia than for Wikipedia to take on Google.

[via CNet]

Wikia kills its search engine, now can Google please kill Knol? originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, Utilities, Macintosh, Productivity, Adobe, Commercial, Freeware, Browser Tips, Imaging Tips

The Mac's built-in PDF support is pretty strong, which is nice because if there's one piece of software I have always despised for its unnecessary bloat, it would be Adobe Reader. To be honest, I've always liked the fact that when I come across a PDF online, clicking to open it results in it being downloaded and opened in the built-in Preview application. Opening PDFs in the browser was always slow and clunky using Adobe Reader, and always annoyed me.

But recently a friend convinced me to try Schubert|it PDF Browser Plugin, and I'm glad I did. PDF Browser Plugin does exactly what you'd expect, allowing you to view PDF files in the comfort of your favorite browser (provided your favorite browser is either Firefox or Safari). But what I found surprising was how fast PDF Browser Plugin is. If you happen to be viewing a small PDF, it will open almost instantly, with the only delay being how long it takes to download the actual PDF file. This speed is possible because PDF Browser Plugin is leveraging the Quartz technology built into the Mac that allows it to render PDF files in the same way the Finder or Preview does.

The plugin's other claim to fame is a distinct respect for the Mac's look-and-feel. Schubert|it PDF Browser Plugin is free for personal or educational use, but requires a $69 site license for business users.

PDF Browser Plugin for Mac browsers originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: VoIP, iPhone, Mobile

As expected, Skype showed up in the iPhone App Store today. But iPhone users who have upgraded to the developer preview of the iPhone 3.0 software are noticing a special feature: They can make Skype calls over 3G wireless network connections.

Skype for the iPhone is only supposed to be able to make voice calls over WiFi connections. This has nothing to do with bandwidth and everything to do with AT&T not wanting customers to use its 3G network to make VoIP calls and avoid AT&T fees.

But for some reason, iPhone OS 3.0 users are able to get around this restriction. For now anyway. A word of caution for anyone who was thinking of downloading an illegal copy of iPhone OS 3.0 to try out this feature: it probably won't work. You need to be a registered developer to use the latest OS. And by the time it's available to the public I'm guessing this feature bug will be squashed.

You can check out a video of Skype for iPhone working over a 3G network from 9to5Mac after the break.

[via SlashGear]

Continue reading iPhone 3.0 allows you to make Skype calls over 3G - Video

iPhone 3.0 allows you to make Skype calls over 3G - Video originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Internet, Security, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Productivity, Mozilla, Freeware, Browser Tips, Web

My beloved Firefox seems to have gotten kind of bloated and slow lately, particularly when starting it up. If you've experienced a similar decrease in Firefox's startup performance, check out this quick tip from Mac Tricks and Tips. One of Firefox's default settings is to remember 90 days of history. This means that Firefox is maintaining a list of every site you've visited along with the date and time of the visit for every day from the last three months. If you're anything like me, this can be a pretty huge list.

The tip is to simply go into the Privacy tab of your Firefox preferences and lower the history setting from 90 days to something much smaller, like 5 days. To realize immediate gains, ensure your Clear Private Data settings are set to clear history, then have at it. It may take a few moments, but once your history is cleared, Firefox should start to feel like its sprightly self again.

While the tip originated at a site focusing on Macs, there's no reason to think it wouldn't also help when running Firefox on Windows or Linux.

[via Lifehacker]

Firefox slow? Limit history size for speed improvement originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Windows Mobile, Microsoft, Commercial, Mobile

Microsoft is unveiling more information about the Windows Mobile Marketplace, including a policy change. While the company had initially decided that developers would have to pay a $99 fee not only to list applications in Microsoft's answer to the iPhone App Store, but every time they wanted to issue an update. Now Microsoft has changed that policy. Developers can issue application updates for free.

The company has also put together a promotional video that gives a preview of what the Windows Marketplace for mobile phones will look like. Users will be able to browse or search for applications, read reviews and see ratings, purchase and download programs on their handsets. You can also use a desktop web browser to shop. Any items you purchase will be automatically sent to your linked Windows Mobile phone. And you can get a refund on applications you "return."

The image to the right shows a screengrab from the video, but you can watch the entire promo at I Started Something.

Microsoft previews Windows Mobile App store, alters developer fees originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Web services, Freeware, Social Software

Twitter has made a change to the way users can track when they are mentioned by other Twitterers. The Replies page is no longer, and instead has been replaced by Mentions. To be more accurate, the Replies page has been changed into a Mentions page, though the URL twitter.com/replies remains the same.

What does this mean? In the sidebar of your Twitter page, rather than the word Replies, you'll see your @name, in my case @jasonclarke. That page now shows not only tweets where other people mention you at the beginning of the tweet (a regular reply), but also in any tweet that contains your @name. Fortunately, the setting that allows you to ignore @replies to Twitter users that you do not also follow still acts as you would expect.

It's an obvious move to give users the ability to see any time they are mentioned in a tweet, but it's a bit odd that Twitter chose to replace the Replies page rather than simply add a new Mentions one. It seems like it would be valuable to some users to be able to focus in on replies as opposed to any mention, particularly for heavy Twitter users.

Twitter Replies rebranded as "Mentions" originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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