Over 5 million downloads occured for the latest version of Mozilla’s Firefox web browser. It is short of 3 million downloads compared to Firefox 3.0 when it was released for the first 24 hours.

However, there is no “Download Day Event” that the company promoted for this version, unlike verison 3.0. The event promoted supporters to download the software on the first day of its release.

Last year, there are over 500 million Firefox downloads. Currently, it has a share of 20 to 30 percent of the global browser market.

Source: Ars Technica

An article is posted at PC World about a user who had bought Windows XP Pro operating system (OS) from an online company. He checked it with Microsoft Genuine Advantage Tools and it was pronounced as legitimate. However, over a year later, he got a message that his OS is no longer legal.

“If Microsoft declared my copy legal in 2007, it should stay legal. Why is this such a wishy-washy situation? Now I can’t get updates and if I have to reinstall the operating system I won’t be able to,” says William.

Source: PC World

A worm about Michael Jackson has been detected. It comes from a spam that has a typical subject of “Remembering Michael Jackson” according to Symantec.

The email claims to offer secret songs and photos of the singer when users check out the attached zip file. The malware can spread via USB sticks.

It is detected as Ackantta-F and it is not the only malware item that is tring to ride the popstar’s death. One of these is a website that touts conspiracy theories about his death.

Source: The Register

Next year, a mass rollout of USB 3.0 devices will begin.

These devices are ten times as fast as USB 2.0 devices which have speeds of 480Mb/s to 5Gb/s. It is also referred to as SuperSpeed USB. It is faster than an external SATA drive.

NEC Electronics of Japan is expected to produce a million chips a month. According to the article at Channel Register, there will be 340 million USB 3.0 PCs in 2012.

These devices are designed to speed up backup operations and to be more practical.

Source: Channel Register

PC makers would not have to meet the deadline of installing or packaging the software called Green Dam Youth Escort before July 1 according to various tech sites.

“We’re pleased with the delay on this issue that is part of a broader, historic struggle between openness and repression—not just in China but Iran and North Korea. Ultimately, we would like to see the US government negotiate issues of Internet openness and freedom in a broad, systematic way as part of trade and other international agreements,” said Ed Black of Computer & Communications Industry Association.

Source: Ars Technica

Guest Post by Brian V. Brian is 18 and owns a southern California based PC repair business.

Microsoft has just announced that Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade discs are going to be sold at major retail stores around the globe.

Like other Windows 7 discs, all versions of Windows 7 will be available to users on one single disc. All you need to do is enter your product hey and the installer will know which version you are licensed to use. According to the article to upgrade your version of Windows 7 all you have to do is…
Read the rest of this entry »

An ATO spam has been intercepted by Sophos. ATO stands for Australian Tax Office. The subject is “2008 - 2009 Recalculation of you tax refund”.

Two screen shots are included in the blog entry. The first shows the message. It is very short and it notifies the user that he or she has a tax refund. In order to get the refund, the user must complete a form on the link that is included in the email.

The link goes to a bogus Tax Office website.

Source: Sophos

Lenovo has announced their Windows 7 upgrade plan promotion.

Those who bought a computer with Windows Vista from June 26, 20009 to January 31, 2010 are entitled for a free Windows 7 upgrade.

Home Premium PCs can be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium. Business edition computers can get the Windows 7 Professional upgrade while the Vista Ultimate users will get the Windows 7 Ultimate versions.

The company’s announcement follows HP’s deal that was announced on Thursday. The deals are only available to businesses and consumers that have less than 25 PCs.

Source: Information Week

A review on the beta version of Microsoft’s antivirus software called Morro has been posted at The Washington Post’s website.

The beta version is limited to 75,000 downloaders in the U.S., Brazil, or Israel according to the article. The review includes a few screen shots. The first one shows the screen that would show up after the user installed the program.

In the second image, two windows are shown. The first is the software making a quick scan. The other shows how much memory it uses on a system.

Source: The Washington Post

The prices for upgrade and full editions of Windows 7 has been revealed by Microsoft in its Windows Team Blog.

Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade edition costs $49.99 if a user pre-orders it before July 11. However, it is only limited “until supplies last”. After July 11, it will costs over twice as much. The full version would cost $199.99.

The full versions of Ultimate and Business are $299.99 and $319.99 respectively.

Also, Windows 7 in Europe is now called Windows 7 E.

Source: The Washington Post