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Do you use Google Chrome or IE 8 for browsing ? Which one is better in performance or speed ? Or, maybe you still unsure which one you should use. For your reference, here is the comparison review of Chrome vs IE 8 written by Suzanne Choney (msnbc.com).

On first glance, both browsers are speedy, but Chrome is faster

REVIEW

By Suzanne Choney

updated 1:07 p.m. ET Sept. 3, 2008

Google knows how to lure users with the seeming simplicity of its products, even though there’s a great deal of complexity going on behind the scenes. Microsoft often makes products that seem to create more work than they should for users.

That dichotomy is evident in the companies’ Web browsers — Google’s new Chrome and Microsoft’s Windows Internet Explorer 8, both out in beta, or test, versions. (Msnbc.com is a Microsoft-NBC Universal joint venture.)

Chrome shines in its simplicity, while IE 8 brings some better functionality to an existing product.

Both have lots to offer users. Whether either is a good fit for you will depend on your needs. Just as learning a new operating system can be time-consuming, if you’re already happy with the Web browser you use, whether it’s Internet Explorer 7, Mozilla’s Firefox, Apple’s Safari, or Opera, you don’t have to download either Chrome or IE 8, both of which are free.

However, if you like to use different Web browsers at different times, and some people do, you may want to experiment with both.

Visually, Chrome is basic, spare and efficient, an antidote to the busy, cluttered look of Internet Explorer, and the anxiety it can provoke once you get lost within its menus.

I asked Google to explain the meaning of its new browser’s name, and the explanation fit with what the product evinces.

Chrome refers to “the user interface of the browser that surrounds the Web page,” said Erin Fors of Google. “The 'chrome' is everything other than the site itself, including the address bar, toolbars, the window controls and the frame around the bottom.

“With Google Chrome, we've designed the 'chrome' to be minimal so that users are primarily experiencing the sites and Web applications they're visiting.

When you launch a Web application from a desktop shortcut in Google Chrome, the address bar and other browser controls is removed so the 'chrome' is further reduced to just the application frame.”

Chrome has almost a retro feel to it, as if this is how Web browsing should have been 10 years ago, during a (relatively) simpler time, when the Internet for the masses was still new and all about exploring interesting sites rather than having a knee-slapping night of entertainment finding the grossest videos available on YouTube.

Both are speedy; Chrome is faster
I did some initial testing of both Web browsers on a year-old ThinkPad running Windows Vista. Chrome is available for both Vista and XP; Google says versions of Chrome are in the works for the Mac and Linux operating systems.

I also use Safari on a Mac, and Firefox on both the Mac and the PC. Firefox remains my preferred browser for now on both operating systems, having proven itself as relatively stable.

I found both Chrome and Internet Explorer 8 to work quickly, although Chrome, less laden with add-ons, moves at lightning speed.

Its basic interface shows a Web address bar, back and forward buttons, a refresh button and two menus, one for tools and another to handle items such as creating new tabs, new windows and copying and pasting. (By way of comparison, to do those same functions in IE means using three different menus.)

In Internet Explorer, the Web site tabs remain located below the address bar, as they are in Firefox. Chrome puts the tabs above the address bar, giving a truer appearance of file folders in a cabinet.

I’ve never had good luck with having more than two tabs open at once in Internet Explorer before it hangs, in contrast to Firefox. Both Chrome and IE 8 seem to handle multiple tabs with no issues.

In IE 8, Microsoft has added “crash recovery” for tab crashes, so that when they do happen, the tab is restored and and the Web site reloaded as you had it. I’m happy to say I didn’t need to use crash recovery, and had six tabs open at once without incident, a record in my IE experiences.

Quick, visual snapshot
Chrome’s home page is worth the download experience alone. It gives you a visual snapshot of your nine most-visited Web sites, making it easy to go back to them at any time. It also displays a handy list of recent bookmarks, and recently closed tabs, within easy click range on the home page.

Chrome and Internet Explorer 8 both have Web address bars that try to anticipate what you want to search for, or where you want to go, as soon as you type in a word. Chrome calls its auto-completion feature “Omnibox,” and IE 8’s is “Smart Address Bar.” Both of these worked well.

Both also have stealth surfing modes, but odds are neither will let you escape the eyes of a forensic examiner if your computer is confiscated.

Chrome’s is called “Incognito” mode, which you can slip into at any time by clicking on the same menu you use for creating a new tab. Google is quite clear about Incognito’s features.

“Browsing in Incognito mode only keeps Google Chrome from storing information about the Web sites you’ve visited. The Web sites you visit may still have records of your visit,” Google let me know before I enabled Incognito. “Any files saved to your computer will still remain on your computer.”

IE 8’s program is “InPrivate Browsing,” located in the Tools menu. InPrivate Browsing “ensures that history, temporary Internet files and cookies are not recorded on user’s PC after browsing,” according to Microsoft.

Internet Explorer 8 probably holds more excitement and interest for Web developers and IT managers than everyday Web users. Microsoft has added a lot under the hood to make IE 8 beefier in terms of security and Web development tools.

But for those of us who want a fast, no-nonsense Web-browsing experience, Chrome is a terrific option. Its ease of use does take some getting used to — imagine that! — and it’s an appealing entry into the competitive Web browsing market.

© 2008 msnbc.com

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26519075/

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CDex is a CD-Ripper, extracting digital audio data from an Audio CD, which supporting many audio encoders such as MPEG (MP2, MP3), VQF, AAC encoders.

I use this application frequently to convert my CD music into mp3 format. For me, this is a good utility and also easy to use. And, most of all, free of charge.

If you want to explore more, here is the review from CNET Download.com :

While most commercial audio software leans toward all-in-one suites, freeware CDex focuses instead on performing one main task as efficiently as possible. Extracting digital music files from CDs becomes simple, quick, and painless. CDex also offers enough advanced options for converting between formats to satisfy the serious digital music fan.

The main interface is very clean, with a CD track listing, album information, and buttons that perform major functions such as ripping, converting, CDDB lookup, and configuration. CDex includes 12 different compressed file encoders, including MP3, AAC, WMA, APE, and OGG, and also supports any external encoders.

The Profile feature stores personal configuration settings, and a bare-bones media player is a welcome inclusion. Because the program has a lot of configuration options, new users may feel intimidated. Basic functions are easily mastered, however, and well-written help files will guide anyone through the more advanced options.

The installation includes support for English, Spanish, German, and Italian languages, and many more are available from the Web site. Indeed, by all rights, the free and easy CDex should go global.

For further explore and downloading from download.com, here is the link : CDex 1.51 (download.com). And, here is the link to its vendor website : CDex, Open Source Digital Audio CD Extractor with more than 32.000.000 downloads

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Nowadays, the using of  portable storage devices such as USB Flash Drive or portable hard drive become so popular, particularly for keeping office file or data. But, do you aware of the lack of security of your private and confidential data while keeping them with a portable storage device ? If you do, you should assure to secure it using a reliable tool, like TrueCrypt.

What is TrueCrypt ? TrueCrypt is a freeware application used for transparent real-time on the fly encryption. On-the-fly encryption means that data are automatically encrypted right before they are loaded or saved, without any user intervention. It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file, or a device-hosted encrypted volume on either an individual partition or an entire storage device.

Based on its official website (www.truecrypt.org), TrueCrypt is a free open-source disk encryption software for Windows Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux with the main features as follows :

• creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk
• encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive
• encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication)
• encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent
• provides two levels of plausible deniability, in case and adversary forces you to reveal the password : (1) Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system, and (2) No TrueCrypt volume can be identified (volume cannot be distinguished from random data)
• encryption algorithms : AES-256, Serpent and Twofish. Mode of operation : XTS.

This software is highly recommended for securing data on a portable storage device or laptop.

Read the PC World Editor's Review of this software :

The best things in life are free, and Truecrypt may be one of them. When you encrypt files on your hard disk, not only do you want to scramble the files, but sometimes you want to prevent others from discovering that the files even exist, a sleight-of-hand known as steganography. Not only does Truecrypt use strong encryption when it creates encrypted volumes (including 256-bit AES and 448-bit Blowfish), it also creates hidden volumes that are indistinguishable from random data.

If you take the time to learn how to use Truecrypt's steganographic features, the program will do a great job of protecting your data from snoops.

Note: This program is donationware. It is free to try, but the author accepts and encourages donations towards further development.

--Scott Spanbauer

And also CNET Download.com's review in here : Review of TrueCrypt 6.0 (CNET Download.com)

Download the latest stable version of this software in here : Download TrueCrypt v6.0a

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What is MojoPac ?

Here's an overview taken from its vendor website (MojoPac) :

MojoPac is a technology that transforms your iPod or USB Hard Drive or Flash drive into a portable and private PC. Just intall MojoPac on any USB 2.0 compliant storage device, upload your applications and files, modify your user settings and environment preferences, and take it with you everywhere.

Every time you plug your MojoPac-enabled device into any Windows XP PC, MojoPac automatically launches your environment on the host PC. Your communications, music, games, applications, and files are all local and accessible. And when you unplug the MojoPac device, no trace is left behind - your information is not cached on the host PC.

MojoPac software came with three version, MojoPac Entreprise Suite (paid version) , MojoPac Deluxe (paid version) and MojoPac Freedom (free version).

The difference between the paid version and free version in my opinion is not significant. With the paid version, you are able to configure auto-updates and email signatures (which always on for MojoPac Freedom) and also you got the technical support. That's all.

I use MojoPac Freedom and it works just find for me.

MojoPac also supports popular applications such and Firefox, Maxthon,Opera Browser, Microsoft Office, Photoshop and more. Which means that you can install such applications in MojoPac and bring it as a portable applications.

If you want to read more about this app, here is the link : MojoPac (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). And here is the link to download : Choose your MojoPac

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Yes, Maxthon browser is a good alternatif of IE. It built based on the IE core, with a multi-tabbed browser. Which mean that it can open multiple web-pages within one browser window, and uses little system resources.

Official wesbite : www.maxthon.com

Based on its offical website, Maxthon works the way you want it to :

• swap, add,move, remove and change Maxthon's tool bars, icons, menus, colors, skins, and layouts until it looks the way you would have designed it.
• Don't like menus ? Use hot keys. Don't like hot keys ? Use word aliases. Don't like aliases ? Use toolbars. Don't like toolbars ? Then use mouse gestures. It's all up to you
• Think we left something out ? Pick form more than 1,400 plug-ins that make Maxthon the do-all browsers
• Other companies sell remote conferencing, screen capture, electronic passports, and automatic password managers as separate program. With Max, they're free - just like Maxthon itself.

Maxthon is so secure, you can throw away the blanket.

• Maxthon is 100 % free of viruses, spyware, adware - any kind of malware.
• The built-in Ad Hunter blocks harmful, or just irritating ads, images and pages
• Filter packs screen out offensive and irritating Web pages, and you decide what's offensive and irritating.

CNET Download.com said that Maxthon comes with all the great features which will give you a comfortable, joyful and personal Web surfing experience. It has unique features, such as Advanced ADs blocker, support popup blocker and Web content filter and lots more features to improve your surfing experience.

Download.com ranked Maxthon in No. 3 of the Most Popular Web Browser downloads after Mozilla Firefox and Avant Browser.

Read the complete overview of this software in here : Maxthon Browser Overview

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Maybe every time you want to know what program is running in your computer, you will use windows task manager to do the job. Do you know that there is a much better application to do this job ?

It's Process Explorer, a freeware of course.

It's not merely a tool to view a running program in your computer memory, but actually it will be your best helper to see more thoroughly which application started a process and which resources that app is currently using.

Windows sysinternals (the vendor website of this software) stated that the unique capabilites of Process Explorer make it useful for tracking down DLL-version problems or handle leaks, and provide insight into the way Windows and applications work.

Download.com said that Process Explorer is an advanced process management utility that picks up where Task Manager leaves off. It will show you detailed information about a process including its icon, command-line, full image path, memory statistics, user account, security attributes, and more. When you zoom in on a particular process you can list the DLLs it has loaded or the operating system resource handles it has open. Read the rest in here : Process Explorer (Download.com)

Windows Task Manager may tells you what application and processes are running in your computer, but for a non-tech savvy (like me), some application and processes name really unclear and confusing.

Using Process Explorer, if you don't know exactly what kind of application that is running, just right click from the description column. When the menu appear just click 'search online (Ctrl+M)', it will bring you directly into Google online for several related references.

If you wish to download and try this app, here is the link to the source website (sysinternals.com) : Windows Sysinternals.

After downloaded, you need not to install this software. Just click 'procexp.exe' and go. You may also bring it everywhere you go, as a portable software.

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