Singin’ to the songbird yesterday December 8, 2008
Posted by David in Cool, Firefox, Music, Software.add a comment
It’s been some considerable time in the making but last week finally saw the official 1.0 release of Songbird (getsongbird.com), a media playing application clearly designed to snap at the ankles of the likes of iTunes, Windows Media Player and Winamp.
In a world awash with MP3 playing software, Songbird offers anticipation because of its open source foundation and the fact that it is built using Mozilla XULRunner, the same programming language that brings us Firefox.
In fact, the first thing you notice when you install and launch Songbird is that it does appear to be the offspring of an iTunes and Firefox liaison – something which brings both good and bad points to the table.
Early pre-release versions of Songbird looked so similar to iTunes that I was convinced Apple would be slapping down a lawsuit before too long The developers appear to have gone some way to giving it its own style but the inspiration is still there for all to see.
Indeed, with a couple of rejigs of the layout and the application of a new skin (as per Firefox, Songbird lets you apply different designs called ‘feathers’), it’s possible to reintroduce the striking similarity. Personally, I would like to see a little more innovation in a new product.
The Firefox family line comes into play with tabbed browsing within the player, the aforementioned ‘feathers’ and extensions – small add-ons to Songbird which perform specific tasks like adding iPod integration or video playback.
It’s these add-ons which excite me most because they offer limitless potential.
As the software stands at the moment, it’s hard to imagine embracing it over iTunes or, indeed, Winamp (just about anything is better than Windows Media Player so there’s no real challenge there).
Yes, it’s open source; yes, it includes concert and ticket information (did you know The Damned are playing in Oxford on the 19th?) and yes, it’s available on all platforms, but it can’t rip or burn CDs, there’s no support for Podcast subscriptions and the deal-breaker for me – it doesn’t recognise the iPhone.
Songbird’s similarity to iTunes causes inevitable comparisons at every step of the way and this is the product’s biggest hurdle.
Do I want it to succeed? Yes, I’d love it to.
Does it have a long way to go? Oh yes, miles. But it’s off to a good start and I’ll be waiting.
One browser to rule them all October 27, 2007
Posted by David in Firefox, Microsoft, The web.add a comment
The past fortnight has seen two major releases in the web browser market.
Microsoft was first off the block when it unleashed Internet Explorer 7 on the world and it was closely followed just a few days later by a new milestone release of Mozilla Firefox.
As regular readers will know, I’m no fan on Internet Explorer. Lacklustre security, no real innovations and an almost total disregard for important web standards, coupled with Microsoft’s monopoly that sees the browser on just about all new PCs purchased, has undoubtedly hurt the web and its reputation over recent years.
Firefox, on the other hand, has considerably tighter security, made innovations like tabbed browsing and extensions and complies more closely with standards.
Microsoft had previously stated that it would no longer be releasing updates to Internet Explorer but as awareness of its security flaws grew, take up of alternative browsers, most noticeably Firefox, grew rapidly and the company was forced to do something about it.
So how do these new browser versions fare?
There’s no denying that IE7 is a radical step forward. A very new interface, in keeping with the design of the forthcoming Vista, is sure to confuse many average computer users but features like tabbed browsing, a rather nifty built-in RSS newsfeed reader and a final acknowledgement by Microsoft that security is important, definitely makes IE7 a compelling product.
So does it offer Windows users currently turned on to Firefox a reason to switch back?
Sorry, Microsoft, but it doesn’t even come close.
Firefox 2 takes the success of its predecessor and builds on it. An enhanced interface, a built-in spell checker and a phishing filter that alerts of potential attempts at tricking you to fraudulently provide passwords mean the best just got better. On the downside, the long standing problem of a memory leak that can see the browser take up vast amounts of your computers RAM if left open for a long time is still present, although it’s probably something only noticed by techies with hefty browsing habits.
A fly in the ointment of Firefox’s continuing success could be that Microsoft will eventually push out IE7 as an automatic update meaning that Windows users will probably end up with it by default.
A couple of cool Firefox extensions November 23, 2006
Posted by David in Firefox.add a comment
One of the things that makes Firefox so great is its extensions – add-ons to the main browser that I can install to improve my productivity and customise Firefox for my own personal browsing style.
My favourite extension for some time, and one that I can no longer do without, is Mouse Gestures.
Once installed, I can perform all manner of everyday actions by simply scribbling symbols on the screen with my mouse. It has become such an automatic thing to do that I can’t stop myself doing it on other computers that don’t have it , leaving onlookers to question my sanity.
Another great extension I have just discovered is Faviconize Tab which reduces the width of a Firefox tab so that it only shows the site’s associated icon. This is great for sites that I want to keep open all the time like Gmail and Google Calendar but that I don’t want taking up valuable width across the top of my browser’s tab bar.
Find both by going ‘Tools – Addons – Get more extensions’ from the Firefox menu.
