Google has hoped on to the web browser bandwagon. Google Chrome is an open source web browser developed by Google using the WebKit rendering engine.

• An address bar with auto-completion features called “omnibox.”
• The V8 JavaScript Virtual Machine.
• A privacy mode.
• Web applications can be launched in their own browser window without an address bar and toolbar.
• Chrome includes an automatically updated phishing and malware blacklist using the Google Safe Browsing API.
• Uses the WebKit Rendering Engine.
• Puts individual tabs and plug-ins into separate processes.
• Integration of Gears.

The beta should be available tomorrow (Singapore time). Wonder how well it will stand against Mozilla Firefox.

Source: Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser
Taken From: Wikipedia: Google Chrome
More Information: Google Chrome, Google’s Browser Project

PHP 4.4.9 had been released and that is the last PHP4 update we will ever see as PHP4 has reached the End-of-life (EOL) as on 8th August 2008.

PHP 5.3 will be due somewhere between mid September and mid October of 2008.

So for goodness sake, bug your lazy server administrator to upgrade to PHP5!

If your host refuses to upgrade to PHP4, ditch them and come over to FRRO. Here at FRRO, we always try our very best to keep our software as up to date as possible.

It is Friday, 11th July 2008 in Singapore (GMT+8). The iPhone 3G has been released in New Zealand as well as Australia and more countries are coming up next due to different time zone.

While in Singapore, there are rumors that the iPhone 3G will be released later instead of in September 2008. I highly doubt this rumor is true. If you read the whole thread, there is also another rumor saying that iPhone 3G will be released on 11th August 2008, exactly 1 month after the iPhone 3G is released in the US.

There is now an iTunes store in Singapore but there are only apps for you to purchase, no music or videos are seen in the store. You can choose Singapore under “My Country” which is located right at the bottom of the iTunes Store page. I have just created my iTunes Singapore account, you need a credit card and a Singapore address.

Now I am waiting for the iPod Touch Firmware 2.0 which I have to pay USD$9.90 for it. Apple seriously always screws early adopters and a perfect example of it is those iPod Touch users who paid USD$19.90 for the January 2008 App Pack and now they will have to pay USD$9.90 for the 2.0 firmware. And to make matter worst, the January 2008 App Pack is included in the firmware 2.0.

I have been using Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit for more than a month and I must say I am pretty comfortable with it. Even though not much changes from Windows XP besides the GUI, it supports DirectX 10 which is a must have for all gamers.

Till now, I have gotten only 1 Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) when I am upgrading to the Windows Vista 64-bit service pack 1. Since then, I have not gotten a single crash *TOUCH WOOD*.

Most of the applications out there that works for 32-bit WILL WORK WELL with 64-bit. The only exception I can think of is anti-virus software like NOD32 where it specifically requires a 64-bit version of it.

As for games, the only complain I have is with Steam. Regardless whether I do a proper exit or an improper one for any Steam games, once the game exits, Windows Vista will gave me the stopped working message, “hl2.exe has stopped working”. Apparently after doing some Googling, it is a known problem and there is a fix for it. I am still waiting for Valve to resolve this issue.

The only thing you need to take note is peripherals drivers. If you are using 64-bit OS, you NEED to be using a 64-bit version of your peripheral driver and not a 32-bit one. If your peripheral don’t support 64-bit OS, I think it is time for you to dump it and get a new one.

Somehow I feel safer when using Windows Vista 64-Bit as compared to Windows XP 32-bit as I know there are lesser viruses for Windows Vista and even lesser for the Windows Vista 64-bit as compared to Windows XP. I am keeping my fingers cross.

PS: I am NOT paid by Microsoft to promote Windows Vista, what have been mentioned are my personal views.

Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 is due to be out tomorrow (29th April 2008), but apparently the file it is already on the Windows Update server. If you are suspicious of the authenticity of Windows XP Service Pack 3 file posted by 3rd party sites, this is the link for you as it is directly from Microsoft.

Here is the direct link (Right Click -> Save Link As). The file size is 316.43MB (331,805,736 bytes).

The official hashes for the Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 posted on TechNet are as follows:

• CRC32: C411A9DA
• MD5: BB25707C919DD835A9D9706B5725AF58
• SHA-1: C81472F7EEEA2ECA421E116CD4C03E2300EBFDE4

You can verify the hashes by using FileVerifier++, it is a freeware.

Source: Neowin: Windows XP SP3 Now on Windows Update

*UPDATE* Just downloaded the file and verify the checksum with FileVerifier++ and all the 3 hashes (CRC32, MD5 and SHA-1) matches exactly. Now I am going to install it.

*UPDATE 2* Installed WinXP SP3 and everything works normally at the moment. Firefox 3 Beta 5 loads MUCH FASTER.

Adobe Creative Suite 4 will support 64bit OSes running Windows, whereas for Mac, it will still be 32bit only. When Adobe Creative Suite 5 comes, it will support both 64bit OSes in Windows and Mac.

What’s Adobe doing with Photoshop? In the interest of giving customers guidance as early as possible, we have some news to share on this point: in addition to offering 32-bit-native versions for Mac OS X and 32-bit Windows, just as we do today, we plan to ship the next version of Photoshop as 64-bit-native for Windows 64-bit OSes only.

The development is frankly bittersweet for us: On the one hand we’re delighted to be breaking new ground with Photoshop, and when processing very large files on a suitably equipped machine, Photoshop x64 realizes some big performance gains. (For example, opening a 3.75 gigapixel image on a 4-core machine with 32GB RAM is about 10x faster.) On the other hand, we work very hard at maintaining parity across platforms, and it’s a drag that the Mac x64 revision will take longer to deliver. We will get there, but not in CS4. (Our goal is to ship a 64-bit Mac version with Photoshop CS5, but well be better able to assess that goal as we get farther along in the development process.)

Source: John Nack on Adobe: Photoshop, Lightroom, and Adobe’s 64-bit roadmap

Whats up with the Internet today? So many major news floating around the Internet.

• Microsoft releases the long awaited Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to Windows Update
• Apple releases Safari 3.1
• Intel officially announced new 6-core processor codenamed “Dunnington” and new Itanium processor codenamed “Tukwila”
• NVIDIA officially launched GeForce 9 - 9800 GX2
• Nokia officially announced N82 in Black
• Engadget played with iPhone Firmware 2.0
• WordPress releases the long awaited WordPress 2.5 Release Candidate 1

Did I missed out any technological news?

Some new features in IE8 Beta 1:

1. Activities - Activities are contextual services that provide quick access to external services from any webpage. Activities typically involve one of two types of actions.
2. WebSlices - Web sites can expose portions of their page as a WebSlice that users can subscribe to and bring that content with them on their links bar wherever they are on the web. Users receive update notifications when the content changes.
3. Choice of layout engine - Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 will ship in standards mode by default. However, three different rendering modes (Quirks mode, Strict mode and IE8 standards mode) that may be set using the X-UA-Compatible header.

Copy + Paste from IE8 Official Site:

Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 (Developer Preview)

Welcome to the website for Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1. Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1 is a developer preview for web designers and developers to help prepare their websites for the launch of Internet Explorer 8. Some of the new features designed for developers include a developer toolbar and improved interoperability and compatibility.

Internet Explorer 8 is designed to work in standard mode out of this box. However, Microsoft provides a way for users to browse the web in a way similar to Internet Explorer 7 by using the emulate Internet Explorer 7 button on the chrome. The web at your service

Internet Explorer 8 will take the web experience beyond the page. Internet Explorer 8 introduces a new way to seamlessly experience the best of the web whether you are a web developer writing to standards or a user discovering a new online service. Be one of the first developers to take advantage of improvements in Internet Explorer 8 for your websites and applications.

Official Site: Internet Explorer 8
Download: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1

Here are some post install details about Windows 7 (Seven) M1 originally posted by “Kenipnet” in Neowin’s Forums. Hopefully we can get some leaked screenshots soon.

Over the weekend I finally managed to play with the build¦. but disappointed.

One my primary machine, it asked for my SATA driver (never happened when installing Vista, as my drives were set as IDE in BIOS). After adding the driver from my USB thumb drive it would finally install. It didnt boot after first restart, however.

On my laptop it installed perfectly, but with no driver support for the video card. After numerous tries I gave up in the end, so Aero is now left in the dark.

Oh well, so theres nothing to show.

The build is 6.1.6519.

The GUI, as much of you have guessed, is very much like Vista. I dont know if once the right video card driver is in place whether there will be flashy stuffs to surprise me. The system is very responsive, using barely 480MB of memory after boot.

Gadgets are now integrated into explorer. You can right click on desktop and select œAdd Gadget or œHide Gadget. There is a new gadget called œWindows Media Center that displays now playing information from the WMC. On the same menu, œDisplay is added above œPersonalization which gives you direct access to display DPI settings. The page is much more polished than the one in Vista.

The start menu features a pin besides each item. Clicking on it toggles pinning/unpinning the item. Search in explorer is now states where you search within (usually being within the folder, as in Vista). You can now, however, adjust the size of the search box.

XAML fonts, called the œComposite Fonts are now added to the font folder. Perhaps WPF will be much more prominent in this release. Its disappointing that I dont have Aero running, or otherwise there might be some interesting stuffs to see.

A new application is added, dubbed the œXPS Viewer, no surprises, either.

Then finally, something interesting came up: the feedback tool. The feedback tool lists the œpillars of Win 7. You can see that Microsoft is aiming to fine tune this release as the case in XP rather than technological advancement as in 2K. highlights includenetwork aware, with improved connection tools and detections. It will have the ability to detect which network youre in and switch your settings and devices accordingly; With Live account, you can carry your IE settings and favorites with you; Gadget data caching; New Calculator, Paint, and Wordpad using WPF; install to desktop in 10 mins with only 1 reboot; instant streaming; better battery mileage, etc. All descriptions are scenario-based, so what will actually turn up is still yet to know.

Oh.. how could I miss this. A new boot screen does show up, finally. A full screen Vista-logon screen like boot screen with a beam scrolling across the whole screen near the bottom. Looks nice but reminds me of Win9x (well since XP weve been in the œdark, so surprised to see such a bright boot screen)!

Source: Neowin.net: Windows 7 (Seven) M1 post-install details leaked?

Sun Microsystems will plunk down $1 billion to buy MySQL, the maker of a popular open-source database.

Sun said Wednesday that it will pay about $800 million in cash for MySQL’s privately held stock and will assume about $200 million worth of options. MySQL CEO Marten Mickos will join Sun’s senior executive team after the transaction closes.

The acquisition is a bold move for Sun, which has embraced open-source software and development practices in an effort to garner more revenue from its software business. Until now, it has sold support services for a competing open-source database, PostgreSQL.

Company executives said they will continue to support PostgreSQL and continue to partner with database giant Oracle.

MySQL, founded in 1995, is one of the most successful open-source companies. It’s part of the popular combination of open-source development products referred to as LAMP, for Linux, Apache Web server, MySQL and the PHP development language, which is broadly used on the Internet and within companies.

Mickos had previously said that the company intended to go public rather than be acquired.

Full News @ CNET

NOOOO. I hate Sun because I hated Java too. Look at how slow Java is. Imagine MYSQL written in Java?