Drivers and Utilities Discussion

[Jonty]

Hello! This thread is intended to work alongside the Drivers and Utilities thread so as to allow you a means of commenting on its contents. If you would like to . . .

• Suggest a link;
• Discuss new driver or utility releases; or
• Report any out of date links

. . . then this is the thread for you! Remember, the Drivers and Utilities thread is for your benefit, as well as everyone else, so don't be afraid to speak up!

Kind Regards

 

[Jonty]

Hi guys

Just some news about browsers, for those who are interested. MozillaZine has reported that . . .

MozillaZine
Looking ahead, mozilla.org hopes to release a Firebird 0.6.1 in the coming week to pick up some of the latest changes, including some crashes that were present in the 0.6 release. Following that, the current plan is to release a Thunderbird 0.1 prior to 1.5b, and a Firebird 0.7 alongside Mozilla 1.5 final, and continue to move towards replacing the trunk with the new standalone applications.

When Firebird 0.6.1 is officially released, I'll be sure to update the drivers and utilities thread.

Those wanting to stay on the bleeding edge of Mozilla proper may be interested to know the Mozilla 1.5 alpha has been released. This is still built around the SeaMonkey code base (v1.6 should now herald the amalgamtion with Firebird), but includes many bug fixes since v1.4 was released. Naturally, this being an alpha, the browser itself is likely to be instable in places.

Mozilla 1.5 Alpha

• Many great improvements to Mozilla Composer including:
  - better resizing for images, tables and absolutely positioned objects
  - support for absolutely positioned objects, movable on the canvas using the mouse
  - support for z-index management
  - "snap to grid" when moving an absolutely positioned object
  - Source View now uses an editor instead of a simple textarea (allows find and replace)
  - numerous fixes in caret management, inline styles handling and CSS styles handling
• Chatzilla now has support for logging and lots of bugfixes.
• Dom Inspector can now display the #document node (the document root.)
• A quicksearch filter has been implemented for about:config.
• Improvements to tabbed browsing including:
  - Back and Forward navigation for tabbed browsing and bookmark groups has been improved. Users can now use the back button after loading a bookmark group to restore the previous tabs.
  - Closing a window with multiple tabs now prompts the user with a confirmation dialog (which can be disabled for future close operations.)
• It is now possible to jump from the JavaScript console to the relevant line in the View Source Window
• The '::' notation for CSS pseudo-elements is now supported. The old ':' notation is still supported for the various -moz-* pseudo-elements, but will NOT be supported in 1.5b. Themes should be updated to use the '::' notation for pseudo-elements.

The release is available from the Mozilla Foundation.

Kind Regards

 

[Jonty]

29 July 2003 Updates

Hi guys

Just a few notes for the 29 July 2003 updates. Firstly, Tweak UI has been updated and now includes new options, plus many revised settings too. The differences are subtle, but at 147Kb it's probably worth getting. Just one word of caution, though: the new version requires Windows XP SP1 or Windows Server 2003.

Firebird 0.6.1 has also been released. This is an incremental update, and only offers critical bug fixes, an updated Gecko rendering engine (1.5a) and some UI polish too. It is still nowhere near complete, so don't expect too much The next version of Firebird (v0.7) will have more new features and will be released around the same time as Mozilla 1.5 final, with the developers hoping to reach v1.0 by the end of this year.

Finally, as has been discussed elsewhere, DirectX 9.0b is out, an upgrade which pretty much everyone should attempt to download.

Kind Regards

 

[vofflujarnid]

Hi, guys

There is a really nice system info utility called 'Statbar'. Statbar is a bar, similar to the taskbar, which is at top of your screen (or at bottom, it's your choice). It shows your window's uptime, RAM Free/in use/Total , CPU usage, hard disk info, how much you've downloaded and uploaded and much more. Statbar is free and doesn't take much space on your desktop. You can grab it at: http://www.statbar.nl/

enjoy

Here is a picture of how it looks:

 

[Memphis2K]

Jonty you could also add

Coolmon (latest version RC2) - http://coolmon.arsware.org/

to the System Customisation section.

Coolmon Description
CoolMon is a program for monitoring vital system stats and almost anything else you wish to display on the desktop. It can also display stats from remote pc's and publish real-time stats on a webpage. The application can display CPU, RAM and page file usage, hard drive usage, MotherBoard Monitor temperatures and fan speeds, various network stats and much, much more.

 

[mank!]

Originally posted by vofflujarnid
http://www.statbar.nl/

That is bloody nifty. Cheers.

 

[Jonty]

Thanks Miles I'll add that with the next update to the thread. If anyone else has any more suggestions please feel to put them forward.

Kind Regards

 

[WPKenny]

Originally posted by vofflujarnid
http://www.statbar.nl/

Classy

Got it installed at home and at work now. At home it's very useful cos my keyboard lacks a light for capslock.....but it does have a funky twisty volume knob.

 

[vofflujarnid]

Hi, guys

I have another suggestion of a utility which can be added to the 'System Customisation' catagory. It's called: Jv16 Power Tools, and it's a system registry cleaner. Basicly, it's cleans useless, unwanted or invalid registries in the Window's system registry. It's a free, small program which can be downloaded at: http://www.jv16.org

Enjoy

 

[Jonty]

03 August 2003 Updates

Hi guys

Just a quick note about the 03 August 2003 updates. Firstly, the latest ZoneAlarm (free version) update is available via the integrated update facility, so if you get prompted to download a patch, you'll know what you're getting. I'm guessing this update fixes the exploit found a while back which received quite a lot of press attention.

A little warning notice has been added to the System Customisation section as, although safe for most people to use, some of the utilities can potentially muck up your system if you're careless. It's only a small risk, and you'd have to be trying to cause serious damage, but I thought it better to be safe than sorry.

Finally, vofflujarnid, I didn't add the jv16 utility as it appears to be only trial, and, if at all possible, everything on the Drivers and Utilities thread should be freely available. If I'm missing something, though, just let me know and I'll check again when next I update the thread.

Kind Regards

 

[vofflujarnid]

You were right, Jonty, the new version is only 30-day trial. I was currently using the v1.3 which was a free version it seems. It didn't contain any nag screen nor some buttons were you could purchase the software. Sorry, my mistake.

 

[Wilier]

Jonty,

Is it worth adding the new version of MSN Messenger matey?

 

[Jonty]

Hey Wilier

Don't worry, I haven't forgetten about that chat we had Yes, I'll add MSN Messenger, perhaps under a new section, I'm not sure. I suppose we could make a 'Communications' section, with MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Trillian, Jabber, ICQ and AIM. What do people think? This is your thread, after all

Let me know what you think

 

[Will]

Goven how important IRC and IM prgrams are to gamers, I think you should. Just be careful we don't get into including every patch for every game.

 

[Jonty]

Re: 07 August 2003 Updates

Hi guys

Okay, the 'Communications' section is up. Do you want AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) to be added to the list? I honestly don't know of anybody who uses it (well, some people, but they also use other IMs). Anyway, if you want it, I'll add it. Also, what's the deal with mIRC? Do you have to pay for it? I ask only because the list is really meant to be exclusively for free applications?

To prevent overcrowding, I removed the NVSwap utility, since I believe it was fairly unpopular due it's specific requirements. For the same reason, the Logitech Mouseware Advanced Settings Utility was removed. I was also thinking of ditching the Windows Service Packs section. Your thoughts, if you please? Do you want those two entries putting back? Do you want anything else removed? Let me know!

Kind Regards

Jonty

P.S. Just for reference . . .

• Audio
• NVSwap v1.0 : nVidia
  
  Mice
• Logitech Mouseware Advanced Settings Utility : Logitech

 

[Will]

I'd like the Logitech advanced drivers left, I sometimes refer people to it. Though I heard a rumor the functionality is included in the new drivers. I may be wrong.

mIRC is shareware, though it is fully featured. you get a four-weekly pop-up asking you to register.

AIM...I don't know anyone who uses it.

 

[Wilier]

I think the service packs should be left in. I know that when a new one comes out, its usually well publicised and discussed, but over time, perhaps someone may require the latest one, and to save them searching, Jonts has alrady done it

 

[lovedaddy]

Instant message:

http://miranda-im.org/

Miranda - modular IM stuff, does ICQ out the install, but can add in things like Yahoo, AOL, MSN etc. Do things like change your status when you join a game etc.

Very nice, stable, and free.

 

[mank!]

Originally posted by Jonty
Hey Wilier

Don't worry, I haven't forgetten about that chat we had Yes, I'll add MSN Messenger, perhaps under a new section, I'm not sure. I suppose we could make a 'Communications' section, with MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Trillian, Jabber, ICQ and AIM. What do people think? This is your thread, after all

Let me know what you think

I am horrified you didn't include mIRC.

You've shattered my illusions

 

[Jonty]

Bonjour

Have you ever spotted me on IRC, mank!? hehe. I have to confess that I don't really use it, so when I thought of that list above, I was thinking of 'proper' IMs.

Anyway, just to clarify: I'll leave the Windows Service Packs section [Thanks Wilier]; I'll add Miranda [Thanks lovedaddy]; I won't add AIM, especially now ICQ and AIM are becoming compatible.

Just one thing: can anyone confirm that Logitech's new drivers include the Advanced Utilities as standard? If not, then I'll reinstate that link, as Will requested.

Thanks for your time

 

[Will]

Originally posted by Jonty
Have you ever spotted me on IRC?

We'll need to get you onto IRC at some point. #game.hardware anyone?

 

[vofflujarnid]

Will, what IRC Server?

 

[Will]

There are servers apart from Quakenet?

I'm not at home, so I've not got there yet.

 

[vofflujarnid]

#game.hardware is up

Server: irc.quakenet.org

 

[Jonty]

Hi guys

For those interested, Mozilla 1.5 has gone beta. This released, based on the SeaMonkey codebase, features many improvements across the package. Users waiting for Firebird and Thunderbird integration will have to wait until version 1.6.

• Mozilla now includes a spellchecker for MailNews and Composer.
• Mozilla MailNews now supports the printing of the attachments list.
• ChatZilla, Mozilla's internet relay chat client, has had a major overhaul bringing many improvements.
• MailNews users can add header lines to *every* msg sent out via a certain identity.
• A common application hang with SSL-encrypted SMTP connections in MailNews was fixed.
• Unstyled XML display has been improved.
• Users can now mark message as read by date in MailNews.
• Gecko now supports setting color for <HR> and
  .
• A common problem collapsing the URLbar popup on Windows has been fixed.
• Mozilla's view source now displays line and column numbers in the status bar.
• Mozilla has improved performance, stability, standards support and web compatibility.

For Opera fans, v7.20 Beta 7 has also been recently released. Check Mozilla.org and Opera.com (Windows / Linux) respectively.

Kind Regards

Jonty

P.S. Sorry for not being around of late, but rest assured, I have forgotten you

 

[PR.]

Why doesn't the new spell checker support spell checking of Internet forms?!

 

[SoWat]

Some suggestions for additions:

Privacy and Security

SpywareBlaster
Spybot Search & Destroy (better than adaware)

 

[Embattle]

That StatBar is a nice little utility.

 

[Quige]

I don't know if this would be of interest to any of you - I know there are other ways of doing this (make a batch file with start <game.exe> /ABOVENORMAL, etc,) but I find this utility for uping the process priority at which my games play gives a nice little boost if you're playing in Windows 2000, and I presume XP.

Windows2000 Launcher

 

[Sawtooth]

I have to agree I luv Statbar. Very useful indeed.