There’s a growing number of web users who turn to Mozilla’s Firefox browser for their surfing needs.  Each year, Firefox gains little bits of market share on Internet Explorer (Microsoft’s King of Browsers).

There are four of us here in the Keystone office that are total Firefox disciples (and three more who, sadly, insist on sticking with IE).  Firefox has built its niche on being a faster, more secure browsing experience–oh, and they invented the whole “tabbed browsing” thing that IE and Safari and everyone else has since copied.

Well, last week saw the release of Firefox 3, the newest release, and I’m pretty pleased to tell you that it’s the best Firefox yet.  There are, according to Mozilla, over 15,000 improvements in this new version.  Many of the things you’ll notice are aesthetic:  the back button is a bit bigger, the tabs scroll and animate during browsing in a very slick manner, etc.  There’s also a new address bar that Firefox calls the Awesome Bar.  It’s supposedly better at predicting what you’re trying to type so you can get to your preferred destination even more quickly.  And, as usual, there have been some security updates that make Firefox’s already safe experience even safer.

But here’s the real reason you should go download and install Firefox 3:  It is fast!  Lightning fast.  Noticeably faster than Firefox 2, and light years faster than IE.  For me… that alone was reason to upgrade.

So if you’re a Firefox user, but you either hadn’t heard there was a new version, or you were holding out until it was verified as a quality version… wait no more.  Head over to Mozilla’s site and grab a copy of Firefox 3 for yourself today. You won’t regret it.

We’ve sort of been following the saga of Windows XP for some time now.  Clearly Microsoft would prefer all users to move on up to Windows Vista.  But for various reasons (mostly bad reviews and XP loyalty), a lot of users have resisted.

The availability of XP on new computer purchases has been reluctantly extended by Microsoft a few times already, and they were set to shutter it this month.  And whether it was due to user petitions or simply basic business math… Microsoft has decided to extend XP’s life yet again with a last minute stay of execution from Governor Gates.

Actually, they’re extending its availability through 2010–when the next Operating System from Microsoft (currently called Windows 7) will be released.

That’s right.  They’re going to let you buy XP all the way up to when Vista’s new baby brother arrives.

But… there is a catch (isn’t there always a catch?).  You can only get XP on new machines if you’re buying the lower-end computers.

From the article:

The extension Microsoft granted to XP for these low cost laptops, or netbooks, covered machines that have no more than 1GB of RAM; a hard drive up to 80GB in size; a processor running no faster than 1GHz; a screen no larger than 10.2in (25cm) and no touch screen.

So far Microsoft has laid down no specifications for the low cost desktops, called nettops, but it said it was working with 20 PC makers on these machines.

So, basically, if you want to buy a really slow computer that might have been top of the line 8 years ago, you can still get XP.  Sweet! It’s really kind of a bittersweet victory, though, isn’t it?

But seriously, if all you use your computer for is surfing websites and checking email, then you’re probably the target market here.  If you want to watch DVDs or play video games or do much in the way of multi-media… you’re stuck having to upgrade to Vista–which really isn’t as bad a thing as you might think.

Microsoft will pay you to use their Live Search.  Well… sort of.

Today Microsoft unveiled a new incentive to use their Live Search for your online shopping search needs:  cash back.

The big M will pay you cash back from purchases you make after searching for the products on their search engine.  So… you want a pair of shoes, you search for shoes at Live Search, click through to a product you find in the listings, and make a purchase… then you’ll get cash back.

From the article:

Products found during a search eligible for a rebate are denoted with a gold coin icon with a U.S. dollar sign in the center. The rebate is based on a percentage of the purchase price and is determined by the advertiser.

So it’s the advertiser paying the cash back, not Microsoft.  And looks like the amount you get back will vary from product to product and advertiser to advertiser.

But it’s still an interesting idea.  What Microsoft has done, really, is turn themselves into one huge affiliate network.  They don’t lose any money out of pocket for the rebates, and the system will theoretically bring them more search traffic.  Win win for Gates and Co.

Some other things to be aware of:

Shoppers must set up a Microsoft cashback account, where the rebate money is held. When the amount reaches $5, Microsoft will either mail a check or transfer the money to a PayPal account or bank account.

So, you have to sign up for an account… no biggie, I guess.  Other than that… you just shop online as usual, only using Microsoft as your shopping search portal.  It’s all going to hinge on whether or not people can find what they’re looking for with Live Search.

There may be other engines out there that handle shopping queries better–I really don’t know.  Of course, if none of the products I want to buy are being offered as part of the CashBack program by advertisers, then it won’t do me any good.

Hmmm, I wonder what happens if I search for operating systems like Vista… will Microsoft be a partner advertiser in their own cash back scheme?

Interesting concept here–definitely a move to try and grab some of Google’s traffic.  We’ll keep an eye on it and let you know how it performs.

New reports today suggest that, having walked away from their proposed purchase of Yahoo, Microsoft has turned its affections toward Facebook.

But wait–there are also reports that they’re trying to buy AOL.

Or not. Some reports are suggesting they’re still after Yahoo.

Man, does Bill Gates have some money burning a hole in his pocket or what?

Am I the only one starting to see Microsoft as the high school senior who just got $1000 in graduation money and can’t decide on what unnecessary & useless thing he wants to buy first? I mean, Yahoo, AOL, and Facebook are three very different companies… with three very different customer bases.

But they’re also very large companies.

Maybe Microsoft just wants to make a big splash. Maybe they’re more like the school bully who reigned for years until a new bully (Google) moved to town and starting stealing his press. So the first bully starts beating people up with vigor, left and right, just to make sure no one forgets that he was there first.

I’m not sure why anyone would be interested in buying AOL–I don’t even know what they do anymore.

I half expect to see headlines this afternoon like “Microsoft Submits Bid to Purchase NFL” or “Microsoft in Talks to Buy China.”  Personally, I’d rather see Microsoft take the billions of dollars they’re dying to throw away on some huge merger and instead spend it on, oh, maybe making Vista run faster.

But that’s just me.

XP users are a passionate bunch. 

While not yet at the discipleship level of, say, Apple fans, the XP-loving crowd is getting more vocal and organized by the day. 

You see, Microsoft is set to discontinue the 6-year-old OS in June of this year, and it will then no longer be available for purchase (off the shelf or pre-installed on new PCs).  For those not yet ready to embrace Vista, the looming retirement for XP is cause for concern. 

Vista has been plagued by bad reviews, from experts and users.  The biggest complaints are about Vista’s steep hardware requirements (it’s got more bells and whistles, so it needs bigger and faster hardware to run), incompatibility issues with some common software (such as the occasional crash of IE when trying to open an Adobe PDF file), and the annoyingly frequent security warnings. 

For some XP fans, those adjustments are just not worth the switch.  After all, they say, XP has been one of the most reliable and secure operating systems Microsoft has ever produced.  It’s the old “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” argument. 

Of course, once XP goes away, so will a lot of the official Microsoft support for it, such as security patches and system updates–but Microsoft has already said that support and updates will continue for XP through April of 2009. 

The movement’s unofficial leader is Galen Gruman, who started the website SaveXP.com.  The site has an online petition that asks Microsoft to extend the life of XP (something the software giant has already done before).  So far, over 140,000 people have signed the petition.

But Microsoft, so far, has no comment on the issue, except to issue a standard-sounding quote that says they:

“…will continue to be guided by feedback we hear from partners and customers about what makes sense based on their needs.”

The SaveXP folks make a decent point about the majority of Windows users still running XP.  From the article:

Al Gillen, an IDC analyst, estimated that at the end of 2008 nearly 60 percent of consumer PCs and almost 70 percent of business PCs worldwide will still run XP.

Gillen said efforts like Gruman’s grass-roots petition may not influence the software maker, but business customers’ demands should carry more clout.

“You really can’t make 69 percent of your installed base unhappy with you,” he said.

Well, that’s all well and good… but if 69% of PC users are still on XP… then where are their digital signatures on the petition?  69% of Windows users would come out to a number in the tens of millions–140,000 signatures then represents a sad minority. 

So are XP users simply not aware that their favorite operating system is about to become extinct?  Have they not heard about this petition?  Or could it be that they are maybe just… ambivalent?  Unconcerned? 

The current target for the release of Microsoft’s next OS (Vista’s successor) is 2010, so this battle over XP and Vista is likely to end soon enough either way. 

But plenty of XP fans are fired up right now… hoping to keep it around for those next two years until Microsoft can release another–hopefully better-received–OS. 

My two cents?  I recently bought a new Dell laptop, and chose to get one with Vista pre-installed.  So far… no complaints. 

I learned how to turn off the nagging security warnings (and yes, they are annoying… until you turn them off).  I haven’t had any crashes of any programs or files.  Sure, I bought a machine that can handle the hardware requirements (and then some), so maybe I would have more issues with a tinier processor or a lot less RAM.  But I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed Vista. 

The visual bells and whistles that the added hardware makes possible are quite slick (preview images on task bar mouse-overs, sweet transparency graphic effects, etc.). 

I think Vista was a bit more of a mess when it launched last year, for certain.  But now that we’ve passed the Service Pack 1 landmark, the Windows updates and patches will only make it more secure and more efficient. 

So while I may be in the minority, I’m not ready to call Vista a waste of time.  I would even go so far as to recommend it.  And I loved XP–loved it!  But after six years, and with Vista improving by the day… maybe this is a case of people just not wanting to change. 

I would love to know what some of our readers think… those still using XP and those who have made the switch to Vista.  Please feel free to let us know what you think below.  And if you’re still an XP devotee, then by all means… go let your voice be heard. 

Photoshop has been the gold standard of professional photography software.  Several years back, they expanded their brand’s reach by releasing a scaled down version (for a much cheaper price tag) called Photoshop Elements. 

Now Adobe is gunning for even more by releasing Photoshop Express, a free online version of Photoshop. 

Aimed squarely at the core audience for already-established free photo-editing software like Google’s Picasa, Photoshop Express is a web-based application that uses Flash as a platform. 

You create an account and upload your photos.  From there, you have some basic editing tools at your fingertips such as cropping, color adjustment, red-eye reduction, and much more. 

You can also then create a gallery and export your edited pictures to that gallery for all the world to see.  In this way, Express is a lot like Flickr or PhotoBucket or any other photo-sharing website. 

It’s a crowded marketplace, so Adobe has their work cut out for them.  After all, any Windows user can already perform most of the same kinds of basic picture edits using Microsoft Office Picture Manager, which comes with the Microsoft Office suite of programs. 

But Adobe has their brand name going for them.  Everyone knows of Photoshop.  And now, what was once an expensive and complicated software for the elite has a new younger brother that is trim and simple and, best of all, free. 

So I tested it out for you.  I created my account, and uploaded a few photos.  The main photo on this post is one of the results of my edits.  I tried to use as many Photoshop Express features as I could on that picture, but if I’m honest… a lot of them weren’t terribly useful.  The main feature to rave about is the “color pop” control.  You can see that I’ve made everything in the photo black and white except for the jellyfish.  That’s a nice touch, I think, and not something I can do easily with some of the other basic photo-editing suites. 

I did feel like the Flash interface really slowed things down for me.  There’s a lot of wasted time spent waiting around for sections of the site to load, and that was aggravating.  Maybe I just have a slow connection today… but I doubt it.  Flash elements are notorious for slowing down a site’s performance. 

Overall, though… for something that’s free, you can’t beat it.  And since the project is still in beta (testing mode), you can be sure that customer feedback will help fine-tune things quite a bit.  So the end product will likely be even better. 

Check it out yourself here. 

Oh, and here’s the original photo for my example above… almost a shame I chose this picture, because the original is pretty darn good to begin with. 

If you’ve ever been to our offices, then you’ve certainly seen the two-monitors phenomenon in action.  All but one person in our office uses a two-monitor computer set up. 

I must admit, somewhat sheepishly, that I am that lone single-monitor user.   However, I do have a large wide-screen display that has greatly increased my on-screen “real estate.” 

A new study shows that two monitors do much more than just making you look cool… seems they help your productivity as well.  Sweet. In fact, they can help you complete tasks up to 52% faster than your one-monitor peers.  Actually, it’s not the adding of a second screen itself that increases productivity… but, rather, it is the increased size of your on-screen real estate.  So simply buying a bigger monitor would help. 

From the article:

“The study concluded that someone using a larger monitor could save 2.5 hours a day.”

Wow.  That’s a number that could easily justify the added cost of a new or bigger monitor.  Our employees find that the increased productivity comes from having multiple programs open and readily available at the same time.  Your Outlook inbox, for example, open on one screen… with Quickbooks or Internet Explorer open in the other.  Hopping back and forth between the two is beyond simple, and the time you save from not having to minimize and maximize program windows adds up quickly. 

Microsoft also has an excellent “how-to” article on setting up a dual-monitor work station. 

So the bottom line is this:  dual monitors–even just bigger monitors in general–are not just for power users anymore.  More and more companies are seeing employee productivity rise dramatically from the two monitor set up, and the trend is picking up serious steam. 

Obviously, if you are a Keystone customer, we would love to talk to you further about our own dual monitor set ups and help you place an order for the right monitor additions for you and your employees.  Let us know if we can help. 

AOLHoo?  YahooOL?  Let the next round of name-guessing begin. 

Seems as though Yahoo has told Microsoft to go take a hike.  Well, that’s not a terribly surprising move, but that doesn’t mean it’s a smart one. 

Rumors are now swirling that they’re back talking merger with AOL.  Yeah, right.  Because AOL is sooooo much better an option than Microsoft (show of hands:  is anyone else frankly surprised that AOL even still exists?). 

I think Yahoo telling Microsoft to get lost is really just a corporate version of the old salary-negotiation thing.  They’re trying to get Microsoft to up their bid, plain and simple.  I don’t think there’s really any benefit for Yahoo in merging with AOL…in fact, the only benefit appears to be that AOL isn’t Microsoft. 

I don’t think for a second that Yahoo is really going to merge with AOL.  This is just a bargaining tactic.  I think the AOL-merger is just as likely as a Yahoo/PizzaHut merger.  Mmmm.  Pizza. 

So now the world waits to see how Microsoft responds.  I’ve read about how Microsoft’s stock has dropped a bit since their offer went out to Yahoo–lowering Microsoft’s value an amount almost identical to what they offered Yahoo.  Ouch.  So… will they increase their offer even more?  Or will they hold the line?  Whatever they choose to do in response, it’s pretty clear that this is all going to get more interesting from here.  Seems obvious, too, that Yahoo as we know it–as a standalone company–is nearing its end. 

We’ll do our best to stay up on the news and keep you updated.  I think Microsoft is still going to be buying Yahoo, when all is said and done.  Exactly how and when and why and how much is what we’re waiting to see, but any other outcome would surprise me.  And yes, before you ask… I’m totally an expert in the area of $44 Billion mergers. 

Yahoo doesn’t really want to be owned by Microsoft.  And who can blame them?  I know I don’t want to be owned by Microsoft.  A Microsoft takeover of Yahoo will almost certainly mean a loss of a lot of jobs, as divisions get merged and rolled together.  And Yahoo has always seen Microsoft as competition, so there’s some underlying dislike there already. 

Yahoo’s CEO sent a memo out to his troops, detailing the current status.  He says:

“Our board is thoughtfully evaluating a wide range of potential strategic alternatives in what is a complex and evolving landscape.”

Translation:  “We’re desperately trying to find some non-Microsoft company to buy us out instead, but time is running out.” Rumors swirl that Yahoo put out feelers to the likes of Google, NewsCorp, AOL, and even Comcast… to gauge possible interest in one of those behemoths taking them over instead of Microsoft.  It’s like in school, when I was a big nerd, and allowing myself to be bullied by one guy meant that all the other bullies would leave me alone.  The lesser of two evils, if you will. 

Yahoo just doesn’t have many options.  They’re already cutting jobs and losing profits.  I’m no economics professor (at least, not anymore I’m not), but Microsoft timed their offer rather perfectly.  From the article:

If Yahoo rejects Microsoft, most analysts believe the company will have to line up another acquisition offer or make radical changes to satisfy disillusioned shareholders.  But most analysts doubt any other potential suitor will have the financial muscle — or desire — to try to outbid Microsoft, which has $21 billion in cash and a market value of nearly $265 billion.

If Yahoo spurns Microsoft’s advances, and doesn’t find another company to buy them, they will now likely face a lot of angry stockholders who might wonder why.  As this article states:

If it spurns Microsoft’s offer, Yahoo’s board of directors will be under pressure to give stockholders a soothing cash payout or even borrow money to buy back shares and turn the firm private.

So, Yahoo is backed into a corner.  They have to do something.  And so far, none of the other bullies have stepped up to plop down the billions.  One thought I read a lot about is that Yahoo–whose search used to be powered by Google as recently as 2004–might turn over it’s search operations to Google again, cutting enough costs in the process to allow them to stay independent.  But Yahoo worked hard enough for years to develop their own search division–to compete with Google–that just reverting to the past would seem like a giant step back. 

Google, you may know, is vehemently against this merger.  Cue the chorus of “Duh” from the peanut gallery.  A Microsoft/Yahoo merger means a huge new competitor for Google’s dominance in search, and Google knows it.  MicroHoo (or YahooSoft) would also be a company bolstered in the area of online advertising–another market Google has a bit of dominance in.  I’m not sure Google’s argument that this merger hinders an open, competitive web holds any water (especially when compared with the numerous acquisitions and mergers Google themselves are guilty of. 

We’ll keep you posted.  Just know that one way or another, Yahoo as we know it is going to change.  My money’s on the merger going through.  And while Yahoo and Google may not prefer that, I do think the end result to us users is a good one.  A significant competitor in search can only mean better search service for all us computer users out here in the real world. 

Microsoft has a crush.  On Yahoo.  And their in the courting phase, so Microsoft is sending flowers and candies and standing outside Yahoo’s window holding a boom-box that plays Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” 

In case you’re not following me:  Microsoft has made a takeover offer to purchase Yahoo for $44.6 Billion. 

Wowzers.  That’s a lot of cash.  More than I’ve got lying around.  This dwarfs Google’s purchase of YouTube for $1.6 Billion.  (Also, how weird is it to read a story about a possible Yahoo takeover on a Yahoo News page?)  Will the new company be called MicroHoo or YahooSoft?  You make the call.  But the thought of a possible Microsoft Yahoo merger sort of blows my mind.

Who knows if Yahoo is going to take the offer.  They did just have to lay off about 1,000 employees, so I’m sure they’ll consider it.  This article has a copy of the letter Microsoft sent to Yahoo’s board of directors.  Here’s an excerpt:

“We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity to create significant value for Yahoo!’s shareholders and employees, and the combined company will be better positioned to provide an enhanced value proposition to users and advertisers. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favorable reply.”

Well that sounds like one of the sweetest, most romantic suggestions I’ve ever heard.   

And think about the kind of super competitor to Google that would be created by a Microsoft/Yahoo merger–I’m talking in terms of search here.  Their collective marketshare, customer base, and expertise would combine to form the first serious challenge to Google’s dominance in years.  It would allow them to innovate instead of just always following Google’s lead.  So for that reason, I’m all for it.  Competition is good for the marketplace; it makes companies work harder and perform better. 

Stay tuned for more information on this possible purchase.  Like papparazzi on the Hollywood streets we’ll be following this potential coupling of two of the big three web/search giants.  Microsoft has gotten down on bended knee and is now nervously awaiting the blushing Yahoo’s answer.  Will it be “Yes” or “No?”  Are Microsoft and Yahoo getting married?  Oh–and will it be MicroHoo or YahooSoft?  Because that’s almost as important as whether or not the merger goes through.  Almost.