VirtualBox 4.1.6.74713

VirtualBox is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware. Targeted at server, desktop and embedded use, it is now the only professional-quality virtualization solution that is also Open Source Software.
Some of the features of VirtualBox are:

• Modularity. VirtualBox has an extremely modular design with well-defined internal programming interfaces and a client/server design. This makes it easy to control it from several interfaces at once: for example, you can start a virtual machine in a typical virtual machine GUI and then control that machine from the command line, or possibly remotely. VirtualBox also comes with a full Software Development Kit: even though it is Open Source Software, you don't have to hack the source to write a new interface for VirtualBox.
• Virtual machine descriptions in XML. The configuration settings of virtual machines are stored entirely in XML and are independent of the local machines. Virtual machine definitions can therefore easily be ported to other computers.

This is a maintenance release. The following items were fixed and/or added:

• VRDP: fixed screen corruption
• NAT: the interface stopped working after a lot of failed ICMP requests
• E1000: fixed rare Windows 7 guest hangs, either at boot time or when reconfiguring the network card in unusual setups
• ATA: fixed a possible crash during ATAPI passthrough with certain guests
• ATA: improved compatibility with ancient Linux kernels
• Main: fixed incorrect framebuffer information after leaving the fullscreen mode with X11 guests, this lead to a scrambled preview window in the GUI for example
• Mac OS X hosts: fixed the problem with duplicate packets when bridged to a wireless interface
• Linux hosts: fix for 3D support on Fedora 15
• Linux hosts: don't call del_timer_sync from an interrupt context (Fedora bug report 746331)
• Windows Vista and 7 guests: more WDDM fixes
• Linux Additions: fixed kernel module compilation failure on Redhat Enterprise Linux 4
• Linux Additions: install the DRI driver correctly on Ubuntu 11.10 guests
• Solaris Additions: added read-only mmap support for shared folders
• Solaris Additions: added directory, file mode and mask options for shared folders
• Windows Additions: implemented faster detection of logged-in guest users and stale sessions
• X.Org Additions: fixed graphical corruption when switching to a virtual terminal

Download: VirtualBox 4.1.6.74713 | 87.2 MB (Open Source)

Google Chrome 17.0.928.0 Dev Channel

Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.
One box for everything
Type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and web pages.
Thumbnails of your top sites
Access your favorite pages instantly with lightning speed from any new tab.
Incognito mode
Don't want pages you visit to show up in your web history? Choose incognito mode for private browsing.
Safe browsing
Google Chrome warns you if you're about to visit a suspected phishing, malware or otherwise unsafe website.
Changelog:
All

• Updated V8 - 3.6.6.3
• Prompt the user if they want to cancel downloads occurring when the last Incognito Window of a profile is closed.
• Panels are enabled by default (extensions-only, “Tasky” in Web Store is one example)
• Adjustable margins supported in Print Preview.
• Mouse Lock “Allow” permission (given via a prompt) is now saved in content settings per domain.

Linux

• Fix the multi-profile selection bubble when using a chrome-theme [r107495]
• Optimization work to make the GTK+ tabstrip do less redundant painting. Please report any regressions, especially with complex themes. [Issue: 100803]

Known Issues

• NaCl will not run on Windows
• Indexed Database: IDBDatabase.transaction() - passing [] as first argument is no longer supported per specification [Issue: 99690]
• Indexed Database: Databases will fail to load previously created object stores [Issue: 102537].

Notes:
- Those already running dev channel will be automatically updated.
For information about alpha and developer builds, check out the Chrome dev channel here.
Download: Google Chrome 17.0.928.0 (Dev Channel, Choose language) | ~23 MB (Freeware)

FrostWire 5.2.9

FrostWire, a BitTorrent client (formerly a Gnutella client), is a collaborative effort from hundreds of Open Source and freelance developers from around the world. In late 2005, concerned developers of LimeWire's open source community announced the start of a new project fork "FrostWire" that would protect the developmental source code of the LimeWire client. The developers of FrostWire give high regard and respect to the GNU General Public License and consider it to be the ideal foundation of a creative and free enterprise market. FrostWire has evolved to replace LimeWire's BitTorrent core for that of Vuze, the Azureus BitTorrent Engine, and ultimately to remove the LimeWire's Gnutella core to become a 100% BitTorrent client that is simple to use.
Frostwire's features include:

• Completely Free & Open Source!
• Faster Download Speeds
• iTunes™ Compatible!
• Faster Torrent Speeds
• Friendly Online Chat Rooms
• Bittorrent Support!
• Even More Connections
• New & Improved Skins

What's new in this version:

• Enhancement: Lucene full text indexing for Smart Search database to allow for fuzzy searches.
• Enhancement: Lucene full text indexing for Library database allows better search results on Radio search and playlist search.
• Enhancement: Audio player will start playing currently selected audio source if it's on a stopped state.
• Bug Fix: Finished Downloads shows only finished downloads.

Download: FrostWire 5.2.9 | 10.1 MB (Open Source)

Restore Desktop Icons

If you are a big fan of using the My Computer, My Documents and My Network desktop icons on your desktop in the past, this tweak will show you how to display the Windows Vista equivalent icons on your desktop.  In only a few steps you will have the Computer, User's Files and Network and even a Control Panel icon on your desktop if you desire.

1. Right click on your desktop and select Personalize.
2. Click Change Desktop Icons under tasks on the top left.
3. Check the icons you want to display.
4. Hit OK.

Speed up wireless WAN connections

In Windows Vista the networking components were designed to be much more intelligent and automatically adjust the network settings to optimize the connection speed.  This is a great new feature.  Your network components basically tweak themselves for optimal performance.  In most situations, these components automatically adjust perfectly for best performance. However, with wireless WAN cards the detection of network conditions is flawed and can result in slower network performance.
To fix this problem, Microsoft has released a hotfix for users affected by this issue. If you have a Wireless WAN device,  I suggest you give this hotfix a try.
KB 940646 details:

This problem occurs because of the way that TCP receive window auto tuning is used in Windows Vista for connections that only receive data.
Windows Vista obtains a round-trip time (RTT) estimate at the time of connection setup and every time that a new segment of data that is transmitted. A connection that only receives data is limited to the single RTT sample that is obtained at the time of connection setup. Because the connection only receives data, the connection cannot "converge" to the actual RTT of the connection. For example, because the RTT data may fluctuate for various reasons, a "converge" operation is performed to estimate a meaningful RTT by using blending current and previous RTT data. However, if the connection cannot converge to the actual RTT of the connection, the bandwidth delay product (BDP) estimate that Vista obtains is also incorrect. Therefore, the connection's receive window is limited, and throughput of the connected transmission network is reduced.


Download 32-bit version
 
Download 64-bit version

How To: Detect what process is thrashing your hard drive

Every once in a while you notice that your hard drive is working extra hard for what seems like no reason.  A background process has taken your hard drive hostage, forcing it to thrash loudly as it struggles to keep up with the high rate of reads and writes.  Your computer responds slowly as the process overloads the physical limitations of your drive. What are you to do?
The solution is simple, although a little tricky at times: identify and stop the process that is killing your drive.  There are two methods and tools that you can use to identify the process.
Method 1

1. Click on the Start Button and key in perfmon.exe /res and hit Enter. This should launch the Resource Monitor on Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
2. On the overview screen click on the Disk section down arrow to see a list of all processes and the files they are writing or reading from your drives.
3. Click on the Read, Write or Total headings to sort all disk operations to identify which process and file is currently using the disk the most.
   
   

Method 2

1. Visit Microsoft’s Sysinternals web site and download Process Explorer.
2. After you have started Process Explorer, click on the View menubar item and then Select Columns.
3. Click on the Process I/O tab and check:
   • Reads
   • Read Bytes
   • Writes
   • Write Bytes
4. Hit OK.
5. You will now see the new columns listed for each process. To identify what process is killing your hard drive, just look for the process with the highest number of Reads or Bytes.
   
   

Search the Office 2007 Ribbon with Search Commands

The new interface in Office 2007 has a great new look but finding your favorite feature can be a little difficult at first. Microsoft Office Labs offers a helpful utility called Search Commands that brings search to the ribbon. Can’t find a specific feature? Just search for it!

 

Just download and install the Search Commands utility and you will have a new search tab in Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Download Search Commands from Microsoft Office Labs