FireFox 3 beta 1

Once Mozilla announced release of FireFox 3 Beta I was impatient to use the latest beta release. I checked up the net and found that Ubuntu repository has FireFox 3 application. I also noticed that it could be added through Synaptic Package Manager. I added application FireFox 3 through Synaptic Package Manager. The installation was smooth. Alas! When I opened the browser, it was alpha 8. The repository did not have Beta 1. I was working with alpha (browser named "Grand Paradiso") for some time. Till the time of this writing, repository did not provide beta 1. My patience ran out and decided to install directly without repository. I downloaded the tar.gz2 file of beta 1 directly from Mozilla site. Unpacked it. Now, I am able to run the application by clicking the executable FireFox file through file browser. It is cumbersome to open file browser and start beta 1, but it is better than not having it. The screen-shot attached here will show that I am using beta 1. At one time, I was using three versions of FireFox. They were; - stable 2.0.0.10, 3.0 alpha 8 and 3.0 beta 1. I removed alpha 8 later. Obviously, Beta 1 is the most used browser by me now.

My impressions of Beta 1:

• The first thing I noticed is that it is fast in loading web pages as well as files. It could be felt visibly. Application also loads fast. The reason could be that none of my add-ons work with Beta 1. I am sure on this.
  
• The address bar provide more suggestions from surfing history as I type a word. It provides the address as well as the page title. This additional information helps to easily identify the web site one is looking for.
• The release note informs that there are many security enhancements. I am not qualified to discuss them.
• I like the page information module. It allows media files to be saved from the web site. It is more helpful to a budding web developer like me. I am providing a screen-shot of what I am talking about. The Permission tab facilitates blocking pop-ups, cookies and file downloads for individual sites. Security tab provides access to password manager. I feel a bit more secured than earlier. It may be short lived, until I notice some report of new vulnerabilities.
  

Overall, I like the new beta 1. I had a few crashes while trying tab functions. I may have to catalog them and report as bugs.

Advanced desktop effects in Ubuntu

I saw some of the screen shots of Microsoft Vista desktop effects. I was fascinated by them. After installing Ubuntu 7.10, I read some articles saying that CompizFusion could provide similar visual effects. I installed CompizFusion in Ubuntu and it is working. My PC is more than four years old and I had installed a latest video card of that time. My video card is "nVidia's GeForce4 MX 440 AGP 8x". This card is capable of rendering 3D graphics. The screen at the left shows the setting window of desktop effects. To access this window, click System->Preferences->Advanced Desktop Effects Settings.

I am giving below some of the effects I could create in my desktop. "cube" effect does not work in my PC. I am looking at a possible solution. I have tried many of the effects and their performances seem to be satisfying.

















































A word of caution. My PC some times freezes when these effects are enabled. So, I enable desktop effects setting only when I try exploring them. To enable this setting, click System->Preferences->Appearance. A window will appear. Select "Visual Effects" tab in that window. Select "Extra" in the selected page. This will enable the special effects. If "none" is chosen, special effects will be disabled.

Open Source is demonstrating that they are catching up with other proprietary software!

Repositories in Ubuntu

The concept of repository and updating system files and application files automatically is welcome to an user like me. In window updates, only the system files are updated and not loaded applications. It is hard to keep a track of all applications and update them manually. Some applications have their own auto-update functions, but they are few in numbers. So, I like the concept of auto updating from repositories that keep a track of loaded application updates. Another convenience is that the updates do not require all the files of the applications to be downloaded. Only revised files are downloaded and replaced. The third convenience is the installation part. It is done automatically, without a need to refer to installation instructions of each application. Repository concept is originally from Linux and it is well integrated in Ubuntu.

Ubuntu has its own repository for system files, KDE applications and some basic applications like OpenOffice. One can add other repositories, which are unsupported by Ubuntu. There would always be warning of possible malicious software, when we add third party applications from other repositories. The user has to ascertain the genuineness of a repository before adding. I am attaching a picture showing third party software repositories that were added in my PC. I have not added all applications from these repositories. Some applications have similar functionalities. I do not want to consume memory without adding value. I add applications as and when needed.

These repositories check software updates in the background and inform the availability of updates. All we need to do is click the update (apply changes) button. Downloading of the update files and installation of them are done automatically. It is a huge task saver.

There are a lot of repositories that are not written in English. It would be difficult to add these repositories without knowing the details. One of my repositories, in fact, is in French. I use translate menu of Google Toolbar in FireFox to translate in English and read the details. This is again a big help.

I am also on the look out for new repositories that have new applications, but are not in my current repositories. Open Source has really taken off to challenge proprietary software.