Mozilla Firefox 3.0 beta 2

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Mozilla
Size 6.4MB
Free Download

Some users were disappointed with the release of Mozilla Firefox 2.0. After months of betas, release candidates and previews, the new features weren’t as spectacular as people expected. However, there is only so much you can do to improve a web browser.

With the forthcoming release of Mozilla Firefox 3.0, now planned for 2008, the web graphics rendering engine will receive a completely new upgrade. Dubbed ‘ Cairo’, the new graphics rendering engine should improve the output across different platforms, as it’s being developed as an open-standard (see http://wiki.mozilla.org/Cairo). Mozilla Firefox 3.0 will also be based around the forthcoming Gecko 1.9 rendering engine.

With other improvements in the way that pages are ‘painted’ on screen, improved SVG support and CSS enhancements, the general improvements for Firefox 3.0 are based around the way it will render web pages through the browser.

Note that further improvements and new features will be included within Firefox 3.0 as it is being developed. This 3.0 beta 2 (dubbed “Gran Paradiso”) is the second public preview.

Damn Small Linux 4.2.1

Platform Linux
Type freeware
Manufacturer Damn Small Linux
Size 48.21MB
Free Download

As the demands of all operating systems increase, Damn Small Linux (DSL) is a refreshing change and worth considering by anyone with an old computer. This latest version, 4.2.1, has some updated software and new drivers, while still keeping within the 50MB limit.

The subject of the Computeractive feature introducing Linux, DSL was designed with a strict 50MB limit. This means that many of the familiar programs are not installed by default and an older version of Linux is used, but this is a comprimise worth making.

There are several ways of using DSL. This download can be burnt to a CD and used as a Live CD. Simply reboot the computer with this CD in the drive and DSL will load but without making any changes to the hard disk. Once started in this way it can be installed to the hard disk or a USB key.

A very interesting alternative is a version that works from within Windows. In this mode it can use the network connection of the computer, avoiding the need to set up a modem. This version can also be saved to a USB key so you can always have your own operating system wherever you go.

Extra software can be installed over the internet from a list of specially prepared files. These include favourites such as Firefox, Thunderbird and Open Office. These do take up more space than the goal of 50MB.