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November 6, 2003 |
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The cat with the headphones is back, and it's gone legit. That's right; after years as the bane of the RIAA, Napster has returned and is totally legal. But is this clean-cut version as good as the bad boy we used to know? |
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Napster
Legal Napster: sound like an oxymoron to you? Perhaps, but it's true; the original enemy number one of the RIAA has gone legit, after its plug was pulled by a court order. It sold its name to software maker Roxio and officially relaunched last week as a legitimate, online, pay-to-play music download service called Napster 2.0. So with that kind of history (and all those TV ads running in prime time), it's no wonder you were searching for our opinions of the second coming of the cat. We found that, while it's not as elegant as Apple's iTunes, Napster 2.0 has a deeper catalog and includes helpful ways to discover new music, such as the ability to browse other users' libraries. And once you've found what you're looking for and bought it, Napster is flexible about what you do with it; you can burn purchased tracks an unlimited number of times and play them on any portable player that supports secure WMA files. What's the downside? Unlike iTunes, a Napster account is good for only one PC. So, you could lose your songs for good, unless you back up your files to CD. But if you're trying to decide between this and other services of similar quality, check out our reviews of three other favorites: Apple iTunes, Musicmatch, and Rhapsody. |
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Longhorn
Microsoft's new version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, may be years away from release (analysts are now predicting 2006), but that doesn't stop the curious from trying to find out about the update. The latest news comes out of last week's Professional Developers Conference, where Bill Gates showed off several new advances, including a new file system known as WinFS. He also gave attendees a look at Longhorn's desktop, which includes transparent windows, animated windows that pop open, and a new taskbar that displays a clock, a buddy list, and news that's streamed to the desktop. We're currently working on an update to our evolving First Take of Longhorn to include some of the revelations from last week's presentation. Look for it to post soon. |
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Virus
Last week also brought a new virus scare, MiMail.c, which disguises itself as a ZIP file of steamy photos from the beach. If a user opens the e-mail attachment and MiMail.c installs itself, the program will search files on the infected hard drive for any e-mail address and attempt to send copies of itself to each of those addresses. In the end, MiMail.c carries with it the potential for a denial-of-service attack and could cause the loss of personal information stored on an infected computer. Here's how you avoid this latest little demon. As hard is it may be to resist those saucy pics, don't open the strange attachment that shows up in your mailbox. And make sure you're up-to-date with a good antivirus application; most of the big makers have updated their signature files to include this worm. If you don't have an antivirus program installed, pick one of the latest and best antivirus packages. |
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Motorola MPx200
Ready to check out Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS for cell phones? Users in Europe have it already, so where's ours? It's finally here aboard Motorola's MPx200 smart phone, the first smart phone in North America to carry Microsoft's OS. Our own Cell Phone Diva Joni Blecher is still evaluating this snazzy new PDA/phone combo, and she's expecting to post her full review in the next couple of weeks. But what does she think about what's she's seen so far? Let's just say that Joni speaks glowingly about the MPx200. Keep your eyes peeled for the review to post soon. |
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IncrediMail
Finally, this week, we have a little something for the kids. In our exploration of what you're downloading these days, many of you seem to be checking out IncrediMail, a program that lets you personalize messages with background stationery with cutesy artwork or art that you create yourself; it even lets you add recorded voice attachments. This all sounds way too adorable for you hard-core CNET techies, right? Well, I'm guessing it's for kids, who need an e-mail program, too. They're not going to use Outlook. And IncrediMail claims to handle basic e-mail functions, including organizing messages, managing an address book, and creating rules for how messages are handled. Judging from the 95 percent thumbs-up user opinions, I'd say it probably delivers on its promise. |
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