Hasta La Gadget!

This article was written on March 28, 2007 by CyberNet.

A new release of Opera is inching closer, and right now early adopters can get their hands on the official Opera 9.2 Beta. This version actually contains a compilation of features that I have mentioned as they were in development:

• Opera Speed Dial (pictured below) that makes it easy to keep track of your favorite sites.
• New developer tools.
• Anonymous usage of the browser is now being collected, but it can be turned off.
• By default the Start Bar is disabled. This was the toolbar that would pop down when you would click in the Address Bar, and typically contained a shortcut to your homepage as well as your bookmarks.
• …and even more

I like when Opera throws nice new features into minor releases like this. Speed Dial is something no other browser has, and with it you can keep tabs (no pun intended) on websites you frequently visit. I can’t wait to hear what Opera 10 is going to bring!

Download Opera 9.2 Beta
Source: Opera Watch

Here is what Opera’s Speed Dial looks like:

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This article was written on November 27, 2012 by CyberNet.

When you’re using the desktop view in Windows 8 things won’t feel all that much different than they do in Windows 7. Something I thought Microsoft might change in Windows 8 was the size of the thumbnails displayed when you hover over running apps in the Taskbar, but unfortunately they are just as small as they always were.

Luckily you can change that just like you could in Windows 7 by using a third party app. The one that I would recommend this time around is Taskbar Thumbnails Tuner. This free app gives you all kinds of control over the Taskbar thumbnails including the size, margins, spacing, delay, and more. You can even use it to disable the thumbnails all together if you don’t like using them. Change take effect immediately without needing to reboot your machine.

I’ve always been a big fan of increasing the size of the thumbnails so that I’m able to see more clearly what each window contains. If you, for example, have multiple instances of Windows Explorer open it can help immensely to be able to see the contents of each window before switching to it.

There is one downside to increasing the thumbnail size though. The larger you make the thumbnails the further your mouse will have to travel to select the one you want to switch to. So you’ll probably want to keep that in mind as you determine the right size for your needs. Initially I started with them as large as I could make them, but eventually lowered it down so that they ended up being about 50% larger than what the default is.

Taskbar Thumbnails Tuner Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on July 20, 2007 by CyberNet.

Yesterday Opera Watch “tagged” me so that I would write about 5 things that could make Opera better. This is kind of like a game, and since I can normally come up with a list of improvements for nearly any application, I thought it would be kind of fun. The key is that I have to tag 5 people at the end of this article so that the cycle continues.

The problem that I had was coming up with just five. Now don’t get me wrong, Opera is a great browser and I use it on a daily basis, but that doesn’t mean I can’t point out the areas they could improve on or excel in. Since the Opera team is so willing to listen to user suggestions I thought that I would give my top 5 recommendations, as well as all of the other things that I think they can do to make their browser stand out even more.

Here are my top 5:

1. Inline spell checking – Firefox has it, IE has it (with IE7Pro installed), and it is the first complaint that I always hear when people try Opera…”where’s the spell checking?” Opera has to get this feature soon because it is something power-users have become addicted to because of Firefox. Come on…this is the hottest thing since sliced bread!
2. Online bookmark syncing – Let’s face it, the web is a social place these days. Bookmark management is frequently done online with services like Google Bookmarks, Del.icio.us, and many others but, Opera doesn’t offer support for any of those. They need to develop some sort of bookmarks API so that users can create bookmark add-ons that work with the various services.
3. Better looking default theme – You know, I have yet to see a truly amazing browser theme that knocks my socks off. I think Opera can do it, and if I had to say which theme I think is the best out of all the browsers I think I would give that to Internet Explorer 7…especially running under Vista with the sweet transparency. Opera needs to rework their current theme, and maybe even throw in some Vista pizzazz by adding some of the cool transparent effects. You only have one chance to make a first impression!
4. New notifier – I actually think there should be a toolbar item available that is dedicated purely to notifications. That way users can choose where they want it to appear (since Opera does a great job of letting you customize the positioning and appearance of toolbars and toolbar items). Instead of having sliders, you could have notification balloons. It would be like having a System Tray for your browser…how cool would that be?
5. Toolbar/sidebar for widgets – Opera does support widgets but to use them right now isn’t really convenient. What they need to do is create some sort of sidebar or toolbar where people can dock their widgets. A good example of where this would be useful is with the weather. The docked widget could show the current weather, and then it will expand to the fullsize version if you hover over it or click on it…kinda like how the Vista sidebar works for some of the gadgets.

And then here’s my “not so important” wishlist:

1. An updater – I just don’t like having to re-download the entire browser for a simple update.
2. Better support for Greasemonkey scripts – People complain about Opera not supporting extensions, but I really don’t think that they need to. You can do a lot with Greasemonkey scripts, and Opera does a great job of supporting most of them. The ones that are really loaded up with features though seem to flop in Opera and don’t do a thing, so I think they could add some better Greasemonkey support or come up with an online converter to possibly fix (or point out) where the issues are.
3. Opera syncer – Synchronize my bookmarks, passwords, widgets, tabs, form data, and almost my entire Opera profile with a service that Opera sets up. That way I can keep all of my Opera profiles in sync.
4. Bookmark tagging – Folders are nice for bookmarks, but tagging support would also be pretty cool. Of course, I would still want the ability to structure my bookmarks into folders.
5. More site-specific settings – There are a lot of URL-specific and site-specific settings that you can adjust by pressing F12, but why can I not change the default font or zoom amount from that configuration screen?
6. Hide the Menu Bar – Internet Explorer 7 ditched the Menu Bar, and did it in a nice way. I think Opera can do the same (or offer it as an option) so that I don’t have to get an “Opera Button” to do it for me.
7. Duplicate bookmarks – If I’ve already bookmarked a site Opera should notify me. I’ve got hundreds of bookmarks and I’m sure that there are quite a few duplicates in the mix.
8. Select multiple tabs – It would be awesome if I could Ctrl+click or Shift+click on tabs to select multiple ones at the same time. Then I could rearrange the selected tabs all at once or even close them.
9. Right-click menu customizer – The only way to customize the right-click menu in Opera is to alter an INI file. There should be an easier interface for doing this. People probably wouldn’t use this often, but I’m sure they would use it.
10. Google gadget support – There are a lot of cool Google gadgets that I would like to use as widgets, such as the one for Google Talk.
11. Refresh bookmark favicons – The ability to refresh all of the favicons for my bookmarks with just a single click. It seems like a lot of my bookmarks don’t even have icons yet.
12. RSS reader support – Opera has the built-in RSS reader, but I don’t use it. They need to make it easy to subscribe to feeds using an external reader much like how Firefox does it.
13. Better developer tools – This is very much a lacking area for Opera…but I’ve heard that help is already on the way in an upcoming version.

It may seem like I’m picking on a lot of different areas that Opera is lacking, but there is one thing that you’ll notice isn’t on the list…performance! Opera brings down the house when it comes to performance even though it is already very feature-packed. I think that there are a few areas that they can improve on, and some unique features that they can throw in to lure some new users over from other browsers. After all, if users are willing to switch to the Firefox browser what’s to say they wouldn’t also be willing to switch to another browser like Opera?

–Who I’m Tagging–

So according to the rules I’m supposed to tag 5 people who will write about the top 5 things that they would like to see in Opera. Then they repeat the cycle, and it essentially becomes like one of those chain letters you receive in an email.

So who am I tagging? Well, one thing that Daniel really stressed in his article was that they want to hear some feedback from people who don’t use Opera as their default browser. I’m not exactly sure what browser everyone is using, but I do know some Firefox fans that I thought I would throw in. So without further ado here are the 5 people I am tagging:

1. Kyle from Kyle’s Cove – He’s an enthusiast when it comes to technology, and I’m sure he can come up with some good suggestions.
2. Firefox Extension Guru – He’s really on top of Mozilla-related browsers, so he would know some things Firefox users would like to see.
3. Percy Cabello from Mozilla Links – If Mozilla has done it, he has written about it. Maybe he wouldn’t mind throwing in his Opera feedback!
4. Brad Linder from Download Squad – He writes about all kinds of technology news and software, so this should be a natural thing for him.
5. Pieter De Decker from the Offtopic Blog – He’s written several Linux-related pieces here on CyberNet, and I’m sure Opera would love to hear what a dedicated Linux user thinks would make the browser better.

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on March 29, 2007 by CyberNet.

Mozilla is preparing for an official test day tomorrow for Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0. As of right now they are sitting quite comfortably with zero bugs in the queue, which is remarkable for any application about to be released. That could, of course, mean that it hasn’t been tested enough which is why they need your help squashing any remaining problems before they send it out the door!

The first Release Candidate is available on their FTP which is what will be tested tomorrow. They also have multiple languages available so to make downloading it a little easier I have gone ahead and put together this downloader. All you have to do is select the language you are looking for and it should begin downloading almost immediately:

I’ve mentioned previously everything that is new in Thunderbird 2, which does include quite a few improvements. Here’s the list once more for all of you trying it out for the first time around:

• Message Tags: Create your own tags for organizing email. Messages can be assigned any number of tags. Tags can be combined with saved searches and mail views to make it easier to organize email.
• Visual Theme: Thunderbird 2’s theme and user interface have been updated to improve usability.
• Session History Navigation: Back and Forward buttons allow navigation through message history.
• Folder Views: Customize the folder pane to show favorite, unread or recent folders.
• Easy Access to Popular Web Mail Services: Gmail and .Mac users can access their accounts in Thunderbird by simply providing their user names and passwords.
• Improved Support For Extensions: Extensions can now add custom columns to the message list pane in addition to storing custom message data in the mail database.
• Improved New Mail Notification Alerts: New mail alerts include information such as the subject, sender and message preview text.
• Folder Summary Popups: Mouse over a folder with new messages to see a summary of the new messages in that folder.
• Saved Search Folder Performance: Search results for saved search folders are now cached, improving folder loading performance.
• Find As You Type
• Improved Filing Tools: Recent folder menu items for moving and copying messages to recently used folders. Move / Copy again functionality.
• Updates to the extension system: The extension system has been updated to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions.
• New Windows installer: Based on Nullsoft Scriptable Install System, the new Windows installer resolves many long-standing issues.
• Windows Vista Support
• MacOS X Universal Binaries

One thing that everyone was hoping for was a tab system for Thunderbird so that it was easier to keep multiple messages open, but it looks as though that feature didn’t make the cut this time around. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that tabs will be in Thunderbird 3 though!

Copyright © 2014 CyberNetNews.com

This article was written on September 05, 2007 by CyberNet.

Process Explorer is one of the must-have apps for any Windows power user. It doesn’t require any installation for you to use it, and it can show you things like which application has a specific file or folder open. Honestly this is something that I’ve always hoped would ship with Windows as an “advanced” mode option, but I’m just grateful that Microsoft has continued to keep this project alive.

Today marked another milestone for the application with the introduction of Process Explorer 11. There’s several improvements for Vista users, and here’s the more complete list:

• New treelist control for better UI responsiveness
• Asynchronous thread symbol resolution on threads tab of process properties
• More flags on groups in security tab and SID display
• Thread IDs on threads tab
• On-line search uses default web browser and search engine
• Vista ASLR column for processes and DLLs
• Vista Process and thread I/O and memory priorities in process and thread properties
• Vista Process and thread I/O and memory columns
• PROCESS_QUERY_LIMITED_INFORMATION support on process permissions on Vista
• Run as limited user runs with low IL on Vista
• Reports information for all object types on Vista
• Show details for all processes elevation menu item on Vista
• Supports replacement of task manager on Vista
• /e to launch elevated
• /s switch to select a process at startup
• Compiled w/ASLR, DEP
• Faster startup
• Miscellaneous bug fixes and minor improvements

If you’ve decided that you want to replace the Task Manager with the Process Explorer it’s just two-clicks away. After you have Process Explorer open just go to the Options Menu, and choose “Replace Task Manager” from the list:

You can undo that operation at anytime by using the same item in the Options Menu, but I have a feeling that you’ll grow accustomed to the sea of details that Process Explorer provides you with. So go ahead and try it out…there’s no installation required and it runs on nearly all versions of Windows.

Process Explorer 11 (only for Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista)

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