The Download Dispatch

Google Toolbar 7 for IE, uTorrent 3 beta, and snarky iPhone fun

Though perhaps not as exciting as technicolor chicken eggs or chocolate bunny rabbits, here's a roundup of some of this week's news from Download.com:

Google Toolbar 7 finally hit IE this week. This newest version of the popular toolbar gives IE users more robust privacy options, a cleaner interface, and Google Instant--all without any impact on browser start time. But please note: if you're already jumping on this upgrade as you read this, the installer will also install Google Toolbar for Firefox. That means you'll have to go into Firefox and disable it if you … Read more

Betas, more betas, and...an Aurora?

First unveiled last October, Microsoft Office 365 is now officially available as a public beta. The service combines Office Web Apps with hosted versions of Exchange, SharePoint, and new collaboration product Lync, in an attempt to offer businesses a cloud-based alternative to some of its traditional desktop and server products.

For the security buffs in the house, this week also saw the release of Symantec's Norton Internet Security 2012 beta and Norton AntiVirus 2012 beta. The updates, while not ground-breaking, are definitely noteworthy, as support for Chrome has been added (a long-requested feature), and Insight 3.0, Download Insight … Read more

IE9 puts Microsoft back in the game

Back in the 1990s, Microsoft's browser competed fiercely with Netscape's and won, but then the company sat back and left the innovation to others. Even though Internet Explorer remains the most-used browser on the Net today, convincing one of our reporters that the latest, IE9, is a real browser was quite an accomplishment. Find out what made Stephen Shankland decide that Microsoft is back in the browser game.

For those of you fond of SMS payments, don't forget to think about security because some evil-minded folks have found ways to take the profit themselves. There's a … Read more

How to detect and remove keyloggers, plus restartless add-ons for Firefox

The Samsung laptop keylogger scare turns out to have been just that--a bad scare. Still, it's a good idea to know how to detect and remove this software if you think somebody is recording your keystrokes. In this video, we show you how to check for keyloggers, and how to remove it using Security Task Manager.

For the masses that have already downloaded Firefox 4, there's a new feature for you to enjoy: Firefox 4's new support for "restartless add-ons." Along with this comes the debut of a second catalog that you can install or … Read more

Benchmark battle: Which browser loads fastest?

There's no doubt the latest crop of stable browsers from Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla are the best the companies have ever produced. But how do they perform when tested under identical conditions? CNET compared Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer, looking at the results of a gantlet of benchmarks that considered JavaScript and HTML5 performance, as well as boot times and memory usage. (Opera and Safari were not tested because they have not been updated recently, nor have they implemented hardware acceleration close to the level that the other three browsers have.) If you've recently downloaded Mozilla's latest … Read more

Firefox 4 launches into a tougher, faster world

Firefox 4, released today to the public at large--after 12 public betas, two release candidates, and nearly a year of development--faces a hugely different landscape than its predecessor did. (Download Firefox 4 here.) Microsoft's Internet Explorer still remains the dominant browser, however, and in less than three years, a significant number of people have taken a shine to relative newcomer Google Chrome. We'll see how the latest Firefox does.

Lest the mobile users be left out, there's also Firefox 4 for Android phones to go along with the desktop browser release.

And in this week's disappointing … Read more

IE9 arrives, but not for XP

Microsoft has taken the training wheels off of Internet Explorer 9, debuting a full-featured browser that has proven to be the fastest, most standards-compliant IE version yet. There's a catch, though: IE 9's not for Windows XP. You'll need Windows 7 or Vista if you want this browser.

And if you're a Microsoft Outlook user prone to rash e-mailing, you might want to check out ToneCheck from Lymbix. This e-mail sentiment analysis app monitors your e-mail's composing window for potential errors of tone, just as spell-check scans for errors of spelling or grammar.

Finally, for … Read more

An early look at Firefox 5

Firefox 4 hasn't even gotten a release candidate yet, but that doesn't mean that Mozilla's design team is sitting idly by. In this gallery, we preview some Firefox 5 images from Mozilla that showcase what's next. And if you use Firefox for work, check out these three productivity-enhancing add-ons.

In app news this week, Google confirmed it pulled several malicious Android apps from its marketplace and removed them from devices that had them installed. Only devices running an Android version earlier than version 2.2.2 were susceptible to the rogue apps. And Twitter revamped its iPhone app … Read more

What's your favorite free antivirus app? Plus, Windows 7 SP1

Microsoft made Windows 7's first service pack available to consumers last week. The service pack doesn't bring any new whiz-bang features for consumers, but it includes two important back-end additions that promise to improve performance in Windows 7's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2. Also included in SP1 are a number of fixes for bugs and security holes, which may be useful for those who don't use the auto-update feature.

On the security side, with Avast 6 fresh out of the gate and CNET's opinion on record, it's time to ask you which of … Read more