Netbook had become the most popular computer of the age. It was a new era in Computing. All manufacturers had all kinds of netbooks, from Acer aspire one to Lenovo to Sony Vaio P. This boom gave a rise to tons of new Operating Systems that make the “net”book more net friendly. In other words, make it rely on the cloud. So we started getting “Cloud OSes”. There came Google Chrome OS which I reviewed here, then JoliCloud OS which I reviewed here and many different Linux distros.
So Google Chrome OS has been out for some time and there have been numerous builds by developers all around the world. Dell came up with a 8GB version of Chrome OS, a developer slimmed it to a 300MB version and now we have a new version by Hexxeh. Since Chrome OS is out of the box, JoliCloud unveiled the alpha version of their cloud-based OS. JoliCloud is a similar concept to Chrome OS, but expends its functionality. It has an Application Directory that allows users to install apps with one-click and keep them updated. It also runs Adobe AIR to allow users to enjoy applications that run on the AIR platform. So it is more useable than Chrome OS as it allows users to run native applications that work with Linux.
So Google Chrome OS was unveiled yesterday and everyone was excited. Google released the source code of Chrome OS and the Developer build for preview. Many people read through the documentation and compiled the source to test Chrome OS. I thought to give Chrome OS a try and review it - the features, interface and speed. I tested the Developer build and made a small 4 minute video showing Chrome OS, right from booting to all menus. This will give you an idea of what Chrome OS is like and give you the feel of it, so you need not spend your time figuring out how to get Chrome OS running.
Atebits is known for their great Tweetie app for the iPhone, and today they released Tweetie for Mac! it just went live for download. Tweetie for Mac has a nice slick interface with a two columns: The thin pane on the left shows the Twitter Avatar with tabs for Timeline, Replies, Messages and search. The pane on the right has a broad view for the Tweets.
Besides the beautiful interface, Tweetie offers great features such as one button URL shortening, Tweeting pics and most importantly (for some) support for multiple accounts!
Tweetie is available for $19.95 with the introductory offer of $14.95. However, you can download a fully functional version with Ad-support, just as Twitterific.
So Google Chrome has been there for a while and captured many users, some even switched from Firefox to Chrome. Chrome has been remarkable where speed and performance is concerned, though there were issues with flash objects open simultaneously in multiple tabs. But, overall it has been doing great!
However, Google Chrome is available for Windows only and a Mac version is awaited. It is said to be released this fall. Mac users are waiting to get their hands on Chrome for Mac. Manu J, a developer has made a stripped-down, basic version of Chrome for Mac. The application does not offer all the features of Chrome, but it works, and it works fast like Chrome.
I downloaded it and tested it out for a while and was impressed, it is really fast and gives the Chrome feel on Mac. There are a few features missing, including Open in new tab, Flash support (YouTube), Deleting bookmarks, etc. but it should be good for some basic surfing and checking out Chrome on your Mac.
Anyways, I’ll get to the point now. Here’s how it looks (Click on the screenshot for a larger preview):
And here’s the link to the Download! - Download Now
Postbox is a new E-mail client that was just released as public beta yesterday. It delivers E-Mails, RSS Feeds and Newsletters. I played with Postbox yesterday and found it to be “a beautiful and feature enhanced Thunderbird”. It feels like Mozilla Thunderbird but has more features like ToDo lists and tagging. The interface also looks a bit different with hooded transparent windows and pop-up menus.
So, lets run down through the features of Postbox.
More after the break.
I got a chance to get into the ZumoDrive private beta and try out ZumoDrive. My impression is, “ZumoDrive is just another DropBox”. It has a similar software, the same sync features and online file access system.
Click Continue reading for complete review.
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