Firefox 3.6 has recorded over 100 million downloads during the past 50 days, according to a new post  by Melissa Shapiro on Mozilla's official blog. Now, Mozilla wants Firefox loyalists still holding onto older versions of the browser to make the leap to the latest version. To this end, people running older versions will begin seeing a pop-up message to inform them about the latest version and urge them to update.

They will have to pick either one of the three options available to them: Ask Later, No Thanks, or Get the New Version. Mozilla also tried to address a widespread apprehension that already installed Firefox add-ons and Firefox 3.6 may prove to be incongruous. “It’s fast, stable, compatible with over 90% of the thousands of Firefox Add-ons, and contains new features such as lightweight themes and plugin version checking,” Shapiro wrote in a clear bid to allay such fears.

 Image Credit: Mozilla

It’s a challenge trying to parse what a company might be up to. It’s obvious, for example, that Amazon will need to respond to recent events in the tablet PC market to keep its Kindle competitive. But what exact path it might take for this endeavor isn’t necessarily obvious. Unless, of course, you happen to be a keen observer of the want ads.

Michael Calore, at webmonkey, thinks Amazon is working to improve the browser engine of the Kindle, which he likens to “taking a step backwards in time.” According to Calore, a job posting for a “browser engineer” at “Lab126” is a dead giveaway that an upgrade is in the works. Lab126 is the Amazon division that develops the Kindle, and it is on the hunt for a person to “develop “an innovative embedded web browser” for a consumer product.”

Calore suggests that once the iPad hits the market, allowing for a fuller web browsing experience (and the HP Slate not too far behind it), the Kindle will look pretty lame. Looking lame is no way to hang onto market share.

Amazon is also looking to broaden the Kindle experience with a recently launched beta program for third-party app developers. And there’s the persistent rumor that Amazon is jonesing for a color Kindle as well. From all this it would seem clear that, at the very least, Amazon is rising up to meet this new challenge.

Image Credit: Amazon

The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) introduced a bunch of new SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) peripherals with more to come. With USB 3.0 promising performance as much as ten times faster than USB 2.0, you'll want to add USB 3.0's digital goodness to your system as soon as you can. So, what do you need to know to make it work? Whether you have a desktop or mobile PC, we survey your options and help you zero in on your best choices.

Who’s Who in USB 3.0 Controllers

At some point in the next year or so, we'll probably see Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA begin to include USB 3.0 support in their motherboard chipsets for both desktop and mobile systems. In the meantime, it's up to third-party developers to make USB 3.0 a reality.

NEC's The One - at Least for Now 

The leading player in the USB 3.0 controller game is currently NEC, whose μPD720200 controller chip was the first to be certified by the Universal Serial Bus Implementer's Forum (USB-IF) (PDF link) back in September 2009. NEC’s USB 3.0 controller chip has been incorporated in all of the motherboards and systems that currently include USB 3.0 support, as well as add-on cards that include USB 3.0 support.

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Is VIA in Your PC's USB 3.0 Future?

A possible future rival to NEC is VIA Technology, which has released two new products that demonstrate its USB 3.0 prowess: VL810 SuperSpeed Hub Controller and VL700 USB 3.0-SATA controller. Although VIA Technology was once a major PC chipset vendor, its recent emphasis on embedded systems has made it less of a factor in PC silicon. Thus, for the immediate future, NEC is the vendor that makes USB 3.0 host adapters possible.

NEC and Marvell - Different Chips, Different Jobs

Marvell, another chip vendor, is often mentioned in the same breath as NEC, which might lead to confusion over who was responsible for USB 3.0 controller logic. Marvell is the company responsible for creating SATA 6Mbps controller chips found in the new motherboards and add-on cards, such as this ASUS U3S6 add-on card:

Consequently, current motherboards and add-on cards with USB 3.0 and SATA 6Mbps host adapters use controllers from both companies.

Selecting a USB 3.0-Compatible Motherboard

If you're already planning on a motherboard upgrade and you want to be ready for the future, you should strongly consider motherboards with USB 3.0 ports. Whether you prefer Intel or AMD processors, major vendors offer a variety of choices:

ASUS

These motherboards use Intel chipsets in the ATX form factor:

P7P55D-E Premium * (pictured below)
P7P55D-E EVO *
P7P55D-E PRO *

These motherboards use Intel chipsets in the Micro ATX form factor: 

P7H57D-V EVO *
P7H55D-M EVO

Motherboards marked with * use a unique ASUS bridge chip that provides full USB 3.0 / SATA 6Gbps performance

ASUS is expected to support AMD platforms lwith USB 3.0-based motherboards ater in 2010.

Gigabyte

These motherboards use Intel chipsets in the ATX form factor:

GA-X58A-UD7 **
GA-P55A-UD7 **
GA-P55A-UD6
GA-P55A-UD4P
GA-P55A-UD3P
GA-P55A-UD3 (pictured below)

These motherboards use Intel chipsets in the micro ATX form factor:

GA-H57M-USB3
GA-H55M-USB3

These motherboards use AMD chipsets in the ATX form factor:

GA-790FXTA-UD5
GA-790XTA-UD4
GA-770TA-UD3

Motherboards marked ** use Gigabyte's PLX PCI Express switch chip to provide maximum USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps performance

With so many choices, how can you choose the best motherboard for your purposes? In addition to the obvious factors such as platform (Intel or AMD), memory support, and form factor, take a look at the following issues:

USB 3.0 Power Per Port

USB 3.0 specifies 900mA of continuous power for bus-powered devices, up from 500mA in USB 2.0. However, just as with USB 2.0, some USB 3.0 devices, notably hard disks, might need additional power to start properly. If you plan to use bus-powered hard disks or other bus-powered devices, look for motherboards that offer additional power to USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports (a feature of all Gigabyte models)

USB 3.0 Maximum Performance

Although all current USB 3.0 motherboards use the same NEC controller chip, many motherboards run USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps traffic to the peripheral controller hub (PCH) using a single 2.5 gigatranfer PCI Express lane that provides only half the maximum speed possible with these ports. Some ASUS models use a bridge chip to put USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps traffic on a dedicated PCI Express 2.0 connection to enable both interfaces to provide maximum performance, and Gigabyte uses a PLX bridge chip to accomplish a similar performance boost on its top-of-the-line UD7 series motherboards.

Selecting a USB 3.0-Compatible Card for Desktops

Although PCI Express cards for desktop PCs use the same NEC SuperSpeed controller as motherboards, there are several differences in implementation in the initial offerings:

USB 3.0/eSATA 6Gbps Combo Card

ASUS's U3S6 provides two of each port in a card that plugs into a PCI Express x4 expansion slot. It includes the same bridge chip used in some ASUS USB 3.0 motherboards to provide maximum speed to both interfaces when installed in a system that supports PCI Express 2.0.

USB 3.0 – PCI Express x4

The PCI Express x4 interface is also used by several vendors for USB 3.0-only cards,including Active Media Products' Atomix PX and StarTech's PEXUSB3S2. By using PCI Express x4, these cards help assure maximum performance for both USB 3.0 ports.

USB 3.0 – PCI Express x1

For users with motherboards that don't include PCI Express x4 slots, some vendors offer PCI Express x1-based USB 3.0 cards. These include SIIG's DP SuperSpeed USB 2-Port PCIe and Gigabyte's Ultra Durable USB 3.0 PCI Express Card. While these cards can't support the maximum throughput available with USB 3.0 when two USB 3.0 devices are connected, they still provide a big speed boost over USB 2.0 devices and ports.

Gigabyte's card offers a unique feature that provides up to 3x standard power for power-hungry USB 3.0 or 2.0 devices. However, there's no free lunch: to enable the board to provide extra power, you must plug two spare Molex 4-pin hard disk/fan power connectors to the card.

Selecting the Card

First, make sure you have an appropriate open slot for the card. If all you have are PCI Express x1 slots, your choices are limited. If you have PCI Express x4 slots, decide whether you want to add USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps support, or only USB 3.0 support.

Next, make sure you have appropriate power. Some cards draw power only from the expansion slot, but most use one or more Molex power connectors.

You will need to install driver software after you install the card.

Selecting a USB 3.0-compatible Card for Mobile PCs

If you have a mobile PC with an ExpressCard 34 or 54 slot, you have a variety of add-on cards available to move up to USB 3.0. These include:

Active Media Products' Atomix EC, StarTech's ExpressCard USB 3.0, and SIIG SuperSpeed USB 2-Port ExpressCard/34, with more likely to follow. Note that ExpressCard-based USB 3.0 ports cannot provide full 900mA current to both ports. If you need to run two bus-powered devices that require 900mA current, buy the optional AC adapter available from the vendor.

Your Choice – Upgrade or Add-On?

If you have a desktop computer, you have two distinct paths to the future: upgrade your motherboard or drop in a USB 3.0 card. Which way should you go?

Time and Expense

If you're on a budget (either time or money), an add-on card is the way to go. At prices ranging from less than $30 to around $60 and installation times under a half-hour, an add-on card is faster and cheaper than upgrading your entire system.

Features

If you're looking to upgrade more than just ports, a new USB 3.0-based motherboard can put you into DDR3 memory, SATA 6Gbps, better overclocking, and other new features. However, don't assume that a new motherboard is always better than your old one, especially in terms of overclocking.

For example, the ASUS Republic of Gamers Maximum III Formula (USB 2.0) has an Intel P55 chipset, just as ASUS’s new  P7P55D-E PRO (USB 3.0) does, but the older board includes better overclocking software and features. If you overclock your systems, be sure to compare your existing motherboard’s overclocking features (BIOS and software) and stability with any potential replacement.

Conclusion

USB 3.0 ports and devices are still in their infancy, but even now, making the move to the new USB standard opens up new worlds of performance and flexibility. It's you're choice, so choose wisely.
 

It's a new year, a new decade, with bigger hard disks than ever and new technologies like SATA 6Gbps, USB 3.0, and bigger solid-state drives to choose from. So, what do you do with the drives you've replaced (or will replace this year)? There are plenty of choices, so let's get started.

Capacity Cutoffs

If you're staring at a pile of conventional hard disks with less than 250GB capacity (desktop) or 160GB (portable or mobile), stop staring at them, put them through a disk overwriting program to safeguard any remaining information, and recycle them. See "Safe Drive Recycling and Disposal" for details.

Performance Considerations

So, you've culled out the tiny drives from your collection. What's the next consideration? Performance. If you have drives with the same capacity, but some have larger buffers, faster spin rates, or higher areal density (fewer platters for a given storage capacity), use them for high-performance jobs such as RAID 0 arrays or media streaming.

If the drive has already been pulled, check the label for the model number. However, if the drive is currently installed, open Windows Device Manager, expand the Disk Drives branch, and see the name and model number of each installed hard disk.

Once you have the model number, check the manufacturer's website for the information you're looking for. Here's how two of the 500GB hard disks in my inventory compare (note, you'll probably need to look up reviews to determine the number of platters):

Western Digital WD5000AAKS (Caviar Blue series)

Form factor 3.5-inch Internal

Capacity 500GB

Interface SATA 3Gbps

Spin rate 7200 RPM

Number of platters 3

Capacity per platter 166GB

Cache 16MB

Seagate ST3500320AS Barracuda 7200.11

Form factor 3.5-inch Internal

Capacity 500GB

Interface SATA 3Gbps

Spin rate 7200 RPM

Number of platters 2

Capacity per platter 250GB

Cache 32MB

This comparison suggests that the Seagate should have faster real-world performance than the WD because of its larger cache and higher areal density, and a review at TechTree.com bears out this hypothesis.

Drive Condition and Operational Time

If you're looking to recycle a drive that you've been using for some time, you might also want to consider the age of the drive in terms of operating hours and surface condition. This information is captured by the built-in S.M.A.R.T. (SMART) self-diagnostic feature in ATA/IDE and SATA hard disks.

To view this information, you can use a utility provided by the drive vendor, such as Western Digital's Data Lifeguard Diagnostics or Seagate's SeaTools, or a third-party utility such as PassMark’s DiskCheckup. PassMark’s utility (free for personal use) not only displays this information but also defines (in understandable terms) what each SMART attribute means and can calculate possible future failures based on drive condition.

If you need to recondition a drive to replace bad sectors with spare sectors, use the software provided by the drive vendor after backing up the contents of the drive.

Firmware

If firmware upgrades are available for your drives, you should install them before continuing to use the drives. Drive vendors recommend that you back up your drives before installing firmware updates. Firmware updates are available for Maxtor Diamond Max 22, Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 and Seagate Barracuda ES.2 drives from Seagate's website.

Bidding Farewell to ATA/IDE Hard Disk Drives

With only one ATA/IDE 40-pin interface available in most recent desktop systems that's already busy taking care of a rewritable DVD or Blu-Ray drive, it's time to find new uses for ATA/IDE drives, even if they're larger than the 250GB/160GB capacity cutoff. While these drives (especially ATA100/ATA133 class drives) have about the same real-world performance as first-generation SATA (1.5Gbps) drives, newer SATA 3Gbps and the newest SATA 6Gbps drives outclass them in performance as well as capacity.

What about ATA/IDE optical drives? While SATA interfaces are now available for optical drives, there's little real-world difference in performance, so there's no reason to replace a late-model ATA/IDE-interface optical drive with an SATA model.

Planning Drive Upgrades to the Terabyte Class

If you haven't moved into the Terabyte class yet, think about backup and disk interface performance before making your move.

Your backup drive should be at least 50% larger than your system hard disk, especially if you plan to add a lot of data to your drive or anticipate a lot of application and data "churn."

To get the most performance for your storage buck, consider using the new SATA 6Gbps interface for your new internal hard disk, and don't skimp on backup speed, either. USB 2.0's 480Mbps isn't fast enough for big backups. Instead, look for external hard disks that support eSATA (you can turn spare SATA ports on your motherboard into eSATA ports with an inexpensive bracket) or the new USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed USB) standard.

Seagate and Western Digital both use licensed versions of Acronis True Image for disk cloning and setup, making it relatively simple to transfer your existing installation to a larger hard disk.

So, what are your options for your existing drives?

Salvaging Mobile Drives

You can connect mobile SATA drives to any SATA host adapter, as they use the same SATA power and data connectors as desktop SATA drives. And, they convert very nicely into bus-powered USB drives you can use for desktop or mobile storage or with media streamers by installing them in a mobile drive enclosure; for maximum versatility, choose a mobile drive enclosure that also includes an eSATA port.

Enclosures are also useful for recycling 160GB and larger ATA/IDE mobile drives, but keep in mind that the portable version of ATA/IDE requires an adapter if you want to use it in a desktop computer or an enclosure designed for desktop drives.

Safe Drive Recycling and Disposal

If you've decided that some of your drives would be better off out of  your hands, don't leave important data on them. For maximum security, use a Department of Defense (DoD)-compliant disk overwriting program, such as those included in some versions of Norton Utilities, McAfee, and other system protection suites. A theoretically less-secure method is to perform zero-fill writes across the entire disk. Most diagnostic programs provided by drive vendors offer this option for disk erasure or to swap bad sectors for spare sectors.

After overwriting your drives, what next? You can sell them (or give them away to friends and relatives on tight storage budgets) or send them to electronic recyclers (some of whom might overwrite the drives for you), or, if you're the paranoid sort, dismantle the drives yourself and break the platters with a hammer before dropping them off for recycling.

Salvaging Older Drives

If you have hard disks that are no longer big enough or fast enough for your primary storage needs, there are still plenty of ways to make them useful.

A Second Life with Drive Enclosures?

Until recently, I automatically went shopping for a drive enclosure for my old hard disk. However, it’s not the only way to find new life for old drives. If you decide to go the enclosure route, look for the following features:

Low cost. Don't spend more than $20-30 for an enclosure for an ATA/IDE drive. Newegg, for example, offers a number of ATA/IDE enclosures with USB 2.0 ports for around $20 each, including some with fans.  Spend much more, and you’re getting close to the cost of a 500GB 3.5-inch external drive. This enclosure from Coolmax converts ATA/IDE drives to run on USB/IEEE-1394/SATA (not eSATA):

Performance. If you're moving up to USB 3.0 and you're trying to recycle SATA 3Gbps hard disks, get a USB 3.0 enclosure (they're about $40 or so at Newegg).

Flexibility. If you're moving an SATA hard disk to an enclosure, get an enclosure that supports both USB 2.0 and eSATA, so you can plug it into a wide variety of systems. Once USB 3.0/eSATA enclosures hit the market, they’ll be a good choice for your SATA 3Gbps drives. This Antec enclosure features active cooling:

Already have enough external drives for the foreseeable future? Consider these other ways to give old storage new life.

RAID Your Collection for Faster, Safer Storage

If you have a couple of identical SATA or late-model ATA/IDE drives and a motherboard with RAID support, you can create a RAID array to make two drives a single logical unit. Use RAID 0 for a system/apps drive that cranks up performance thanks to data striping, a RAID 1 mirrored array that automatically mimics the contents of one drive with another, or, if you use a system with a late-model Intel chipset with RAID support, look at Matrix Storage, which gives you the speed of RAID 0 and the data protection of RAID 1 with two drives, or the speed of RAID 0 and enhanced data protection of RAID 5 with a four-drive array. Keep in mind that if you create an array with two drives of different sizes, your array is 2x the size of the smaller drive (RAID 0) or the size of the smaller drive (RAID 1).

Windows Home Server and Data Storage Appliances

Windows Home Server is an excellent choice for recycling old computers and slightly-past-their-freshness-date storage devices, both internal and external. When you connect additional drives to a system running WHS, it automatically adds them to the storage pool. Microsoft also offers trial CDs so you can give WHS a spin.

WHS isn't the only game in town, though. There are a number of easy-to-use freeware network servers apps based on Linux or FreeBSD  that we've covered previously, so look them over.

If you don't want to add another computer to your home or small business, but want extra storage, don't overlook data storage appliances such as Drobo, PogoPlug, Promise Technology's SmartStor Zero NS2600 and others. Most of these are designed to work as network storage appliances (Drobe requires an add-on), so you'll get better performance by connecting them to a Gigabit Ethernet network switch in a wireless router.

Media Streamers

Another good home for old PC storage is a media streamer. We reviewed the new Digital Entertainer Elite EVA9150 from Netgear recently and noted its ability to support external USB storage devices.

Some of the other players in the field include Popcorn Hour (supports SATA and USB drives), Patriot Memory's Box Office Media Player (supports 2.5-inch SATA SSD and HDDs and USB drives), and Iomega's Multimedia ScreenPlay TV Link  (supports USB drives, flash drives and Iomega REV drives).

Ready to take the first step in an IT technology career? Prepare for the newest version of the CompTIA A+ Certification exams with Mark's newest book, CompTIA A+ 220-701 and 220-702 Cert Guide.

A nutless monkey could do your upgrade.

Read more: 
ATI Shows Monkey Upgrading PC With New GPU

It can’t come as a big surprise that the upgrade process to Windows 7 from Windows XP is going to be slow and potentially painful. Especially given that XP still makes up the bulk of Windows installations. (Estimates range from 58% to 69% of all Windows users are still in XP.) Given that it’s not surprising to learn that the top three problems with Windows 7 are upgrade related.

iYogi, a Windows technical support company, recently conducted a survey of 100,000 of its customers. It is reporting that the top three problems with Windows 7 are: (1) problems with installation (31%); (2) missing applets or components (26%); and (3) Aero not working properly (14%).

XP users moving up to Windows 7 in the same hardware (rather than buying something new), are bound to struggle with the transition. Windows 7 doesn’t mesh well with XP in the upgrade process, placing more demands on users to save then transfer their information (or lose it if they misstep). Given the peril inherent in the process, a 30% figure is probably better than expected.

As for missing programs: Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery, and Windows Movie Maker, they’ve been stripped from Windows 7 and integrated into Windows Live Essentials--which is where users upgrading are told to go look for them. (The download link: “Go online to get Windows Live Essentials”, however, is not as informative as it might be--coming across more like an effort to dump on a lot of unnecessary software rather than retrieve something essential.)

And Aero themes? Most likely inadequate video hardware or out-of-date drivers. Aero is not for the faint of heart. And certainly not for a hardware set-up from the 90s. It isn't, however, catastrophic.

Emil Protalinski of Ars Technica adds some useful caveats to these results: These are only iYogi customers; and only those who sought help with Windows 7. The percentages sound big, but in the entire scheme of things they could well represent a small proportion of the Windows 7 user base.

Image Credit: xgray/Flickr

Windows users are creatures of habit. Once in a groove, it rapidly becomes a rut from which they seem unwilling to escape. Even in the face of upgraded hardware and software, they cling to the ‘tried and true.’ What’s Microsoft got to do to get it’s users to move on?

While Vista wasn’t a given for upgrading, Windows 7 is, yet 69 percent of Windows users are still hunkered down in XP. And the most widely used version of Internet Explorer, at 23.3 percent, is version 6, which uses a crayon as a rendering engine.

Microsoft has decided that something’s got to give. It will be running a campaign between now and June 2010 to convince IE6 users that change can be good. According to Ryan Servatius, senior product manager for Internet Explorer: “What we’re doing with the outreach is help users understand how to protect themselves against social engineering threats that exist and to help people understand how Internet Explorer 8 puts people in control of their own privacy online.” Microsoft, in effect, plans to scare people into upgrading. (And what’s scarier than the threat IE6 poses to children?)

How well this will work is a matter for debate. Marcus Yam, at Tom’s Hardware, suspects it won’t have a big impact, because browsers are tied to operating systems, and that the big challenge won’t be everyday users, but corporate users for whom upgrade costs, even for free software, can be substantial.

Image Credit: Microsoft

The Flip digital camcorder may be headed for an upgrade. So reports Pocket-lint, anyhow. According to the website, Cisco, which purchased Pure Digital, the creator of the Flip, is poised to integrate some new features, including its own networking technology.

Pocket-lint confesses “details are thin on the ground” but that the new Flip will have a large screen, which will slide to reveal the record and menu buttons. (It doesn’t seem that touchscreen, because of price, will be part of the upgrade package.) And that it will also have Wi-Fi, allowing users to record and upload with having to use an intermediary.

It’s expected the upgraded Flip will be available about the middle of 2010. No information on pricing was available.

Image Credit: Pure Digital

For individual users the decision to upgrade to Windows 7 is straightforward--there’s only a PC or two to deal with, and our time is our time. For businesses, however, the decision is a bit more complex. It’s not just having to update multiple machines, it’s having to update the entire information technology infrastructure as well--which can be a costly proposition. And as their time is money it is not a decision to be lightly made.

Dell is working to make the process of business migration to Windows 7. Dell has launched a service that walks businesses through the decision of whether to upgrade, and to make the upgrade process “worry-free.” One part of Dell’s support is a FAQ that walks business owners through the big questions about Windows 7: What hardware is required? Will my software still work under Windows 7? Are there drivers for my peripherals? Dell also helps business owners decide which of the three Windows 7 editions: Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate, will be suit their needs. There’s also advice on the hardware needed to upgrade from XP or Vista.

Windows 7 won’t be officially released until October 22, but Dell is currently taking pre-orders for businesses on its Latitude laptops, OptiPlex desktops, and Precision workstations with Windows 7 installed.

Image Credit: Dell Computers

The latest Flip MinoHD was announced today featuring a sizable memory upgrade, an aluminum shell and a half-inch on the screen.

With the new MinoHD, you can record up to 120 minutes of HD (720p) video onto the internal 8GB of memory, doubling its predecessor. It sports a 2-inch (diagonal) screen running at a resolution of 960x240. They wrapped it all in an aluminum shell. The folks at Gizmodo got their hands on one and said “The aluminum shell feels great: Much more solid and smaller in the hand than the previous plastic version.”

The newest Flip also supports the latest Flip Video Engine, which adds some onboard editing and clipping features.

Price only jumped 30 bucks to $229 over the $199, 60 minute/4GB version. It is probably worth checking out if you’re in the point-and-shoot video recorder market.