[digg=http://digg.com/software/Firefox_3_Beta_6]Edit: This review is for Firefox 3 Beta 1.

My first impression of Firefox 3 is quite promising. I started it up and the first thing I noticed was how much the default theme for Mac OS X has changed. The default theme had the Mac OS X unified toolbar which is the first time Firefox has had that. I can’t say exactly what it looks like in Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5), as I don’t have Leopard. In Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4), however, it is the standard white unified toolbar. On the ‘Welcome to Firefox!’ page that you first see after upgrading, there is a link to download the prototype for the new default skin. I downloaded it and was pleasantly surprised to find that it turned Firefox into something that looks a lot like Safari in Leopard. It has a very clean interface with icons representing those found in Safari.

(Above: Firefox 3 Beta without (left) and with (right) the prototype for the new Safari-like skin as shown in Tiger)

The next thing I noticed when I visited Google’s homepage will make Mac users everywhere happy. Form buttons and fields finally now match the standard Mac OS X form buttons and fields. While they have their quirks and are not exactly the same as what most Mac users are used to (for examples, instead of just highlighting, the buttons also depress), they are far better than what Firefox 2 and earlier versions had.

(Above: Firefox 3 Beta sporting new buttons and forms that finally match Mac OS X)

As I dove further into the program, I found more features added to Firefox 3 other than just the aesthetic changes. Among all of the security fixes and a new version of the Gecko rendering engine that Firefox is based on, there are also new ‘toys’ or features that users can play with. One of the first things I noticed was the new “Places” menu in the bookmarks toolbar. Here you can find things such as your most frequently visited pages, recently starred pages and recently tagged pages. Starred pages and tagged pages are also new features in Firefox 3. Starring a webpage works similarly to starring an e-mail in Google’s Gmail service in that it does nothing more than give the page a mark that will allow it to stand out from the others. It doesn’t necessarily add the page to your bookmarks, but rather allows it to show up in the Starred Pages sections of the Places menu. To “star” a page, just click the new star button at the end of the address bar. Clicking the star button twice will allow you to bookmark it and also tag the page at the same time. Tagged bookmarks allows you to organize your bookmarks in a new way. Unfortunately, the only way to access your pages through tags is again through the Places menu in your bookmarks bar.

(Above: Firefox 3 Beta’s new Places menu in the bookmarks toolbar)

Another new feature I noticed, although less fun to play with, was the new “Plugins” tab in the Add-ons window. This tab allows users to much more easily manage which plugins the browser has. Plugins differ from extensions in that they add functionality to the browser “under the hood”. They are also generally created by larger companies. An example of a plugin would be Apple’s QuickTime Plugin which allows you to view QuickTime videos in your browser without having to open the separate QuickTime application.

Overall, the beta version is actually very stable. Against recommendations from Mozilla, I have been using it as my standard for a while now and haven’t really run into any major problems. I would say my biggest complaint at this point would be when I try to reorganize my bookmarks. The bookmark management window seems to have gone backwards in functionality as when I try to drag a bookmark to rearrange it, it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. When I finally get the bookmark to where I want it, I have to restart Firefox before the changes will be reflected in the actual bookmarks menu. That is extremely irritating and hopefully on the list of things to fix before the final version.

The beta is available in several different languages and is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. If you are interested in trying it, you can find it as a free download on Mozilla’s website here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Edit: This review is for Firefox 3 Beta 1.

[digg=http://digg.com/software/Review_AOL_Mac_Beta_2]After years of neglect, AOL has finally decided to update its client software for Mac OS X. The last version of their software released for the Mac was so woefully out of date, that they decided it would be best to rewrite it from the ground up. Just to feed my curiosity, I decided to download it and play with it for a while and I found that I was actually pleasantly surprised. After signing in with my AIM screen name and password, the first thing I noticed was the use of a flat neutral gray main toolbar and the use of Apple’s white “unified” look in the toolbars in each of the different windows. Although going out of date with Apple’s release of Leopard, the unified look is common in programs such as Mail 2 (Tiger’s version; not Leopard’s) and several third-party applications. The icons on the toolbars are all updated as well and look far more professional and clean than the old ones. The updated look is a great improvement over the old blue pinstripped toolbar with the jelly toy-like icons of the last version.

(Above: AOL’s old client software)

(Above: AOL’s new client software)

The next thing I noticed was that the familiar “Welcome” screen is missing. It was replaced by a regular browser window directed to AOL’s homepage. As mentioned above, the browser itself sports the white “unified” look and includes some major enhancements over AOL’s last browser. Under the hood, it is now powered by the same engine that powers Apple’s Safari which is a major improvement over the outdated Gecko engine the old version was using. Another obvious improvement is AOL now comes with support for tabbed browsing. That means you can have multiple windows, which is typical AOL, and you can also tabs. The actual layout of the browser is familiar to anyone that uses Safari or Firefox with your standard browser buttons, address bar and search bar. Clicking on the small heart icon below the back button will open your favorites. Unfortunately, this appears to be the only way to access your favorites, as AOL has removed favorites from the menu bar.

(Above: AOL’s browser now has multiple tabs and a sidebar for favorites)

Aside from the missing “Welcome” screen, the rest is fairly familiar to those who have used AOL’s other software. The Buddy List list is still in tact, although seemingly not functional at the moment. It also sports the new white “unified” look and the chat windows themselves also now have tabs so you can have one window open with multiple conversations going at the same time.

(Above: Chat windows now have tabs, but the Buddy List does not appear to be working yet)

As I continued using the program, I was unfortunately constantly reminded that this program is still in a BETA version. There were several important things that just didn’t work and also several bugs that I ran into. When I tried to add a favorite, it only told me that it had an error communicating with the AOL’s server and the buddy list just flat out doesn’t work — just to name a few. Unless you really like BETA software and are willing to deal with the bugs, I wouldn’t rush out to download the new version of AOL just quite yet. It looks really promising, but I would wait until AOL has released a more stable version to adopt it as your primary web browser.

If you would like the take the BETA version for a spin, you can find it as a free download on AOL’s website here: http://beta.aol.com/projects.php?project=desktop_mac.

[digg=http://www.digg.com/software/New_Version_of_Journler]

A new version of my favorite blogging software, Journler, has just been released. The new version is 2.5 and includes a very spiffy interface upgrade to match that of the 7.0+ versions of iTunes.

Version 2.5 includes more than just an interface overhaul. According to their new features list, you will find features such as: 

Writer-in-Mind Features 

A half dozen features for the writer in all of us. Live word count, spelling auto-correction, smart quotes and much more.

Snapshot: A Picture in Your Entry 

Journler already did video and audio, now it does pictures as well. Forgot your camera but have an iSight enabled Mac? Quickly add a picture to your entry.

Mail Integration 

Send attached files and media directly to Mail, including them with your entry’s text. You can also copy Mail messages into your journal as a permanent reference. And of course you can view them right inside Journler.

The Lexicon 

View the document-term relationships in your journal or right click a word in an entry or file and instantaneously jump to any other occurrence of that word anywhere in any of your entries or media. Oh yeah.

and of course, there’s also more. I have yet to play with all of the new features.

You can find it as a free download for private, non-profit use on their website: http://www.journler.com

[digg=http://digg.com/software/A_Journaling_App/blog]When I first began blogging, I knew I didn’t want use my browser every time I wanted to blog about something. I wanted a local program that I could use to compose my blog entries and one that would also easily allow me to keep an offline record of all of my journal entries. For a while, I just created a folder on my hard drive and used Apple’s Pages (in the iWork suite) to write my entries. This worked well, but I wanted something more. I was sick of having to open my browser, then copy and paste the entire entry into the text box in the browser, then reformat everything with HTML. After a bit of searching, I found several different types of journaling/blogging software. Most of them were quite hideous looking (I’m very meticulous as to how my programs look) and they didn’t have a lot of the features I wanted. I eventually found one with exactly what I was looking for.

This application is called Journaler. The first thing I noticed was how well it used the beautiful Mac OS X interface. It even allowed me to change between the three major themes of Mac OS X applications: normal, unified gray and brushed metal.

Journaler looks a lot like the Mail app that comes with Mac OS X. It was also just as easy to use. On the left side, you can have folders and even smart folders to help organize entries. On the right side, you have a list of entries in the currently selected folder (you can select the standard folder called “Journal” to view all of your entries). Below it, you have an editor to edit the entries. You can either edit or create new entries in this standard three panel view or you can open an entry in a new window to edit it. The other feature I really liked about it was the tabs. In the three panel view, you can have more than one tab open at a time, which means you can easily have more than one entry open at a time; no matter what folder the entry is in. This eliminates the need to have more than one window open or the need to have to constantly switch back and forth between two entries.

The next thing I looked for was how nice the editor was. It appears to use the standard rich text editor that Apple supplies as part of its development kit and that Apple uses in its own TextEdit application. This rich text editor allows for almost everything offered by more feature-rich applications such as Microsoft Word or Apple’s Pages and also uses the standard Mac OS X spell checker integrated into the entire operating system. This made me happy, however, I was still afraid I would have to copy and paste it into my browser and reformat. After a bit of experimentation, I found a button called “Blog”. When I pushed this button, a window opened that displayed my entry with all of the formating I had done converted to the necessary HTML. In the preferences, you can setup as many blogs as you would like to post it to. Journaler then checks your blogging service for categories and builds a list. You can then choose the blog and the category you would like to post your blog to, click the “Post Blog” button and bam. Your blog’s posted. Your blog does have to be MetaWeblog API compatible, however. If you don’t know what this is, just ask your blog provider whether or not they support it. Most major blog providers do support it. Also, you do have to upload images and media via your blog’s website.

The next feature that I found (but wasn’t necessarily looking for) was integration with Apple’s iLife suite of media software. This includes iTunes, iPhoto, Garageband, iMovie, etc. By opening a window (as shown below) and dragging a file to the editor, you can easily add media content to your blog entry without even having to use the Finder or opening any of the iLife apps.

These are only some of the basic features that Journaler offers. I haven’t even begin to use or dive into some of the other features offered by it. If you have a blog and you are a Mac user, I highly recommend Journaler. It’s free for personal use and if you use it commercially or to gain any profits, there is a $24.95 licensing cost. You can also make a donation.

You can visit the Jouranler website at http://www.journler.com for more information or to download it.

[digg=http://www.digg.com/software/A_Nice_Little_App]I found a nice little application today that I think I will be using for quite some time. It’s an application for Mac OS X called Cashbox.

Cashbox is a financial management program that has no frills. My favorite part of Cashbox is that it only does the basic functions that most people need. You could almost consider it a replacement for the paper log found in checkbooks, but with automatic adding and subtracting and graphs. It also allows you to keep track of more than one bank account and make transfers between them. You can also add labels to each transaction, which it uses to generate graphs. For example, you can have a “Food Expenses” label or a “Gas” label. If you had both of these, you can view a pie-graph that will show you what percentage of your budget goes to food expenses and what percentage goes to gas.

Other than that, it doesn’t really do much else. It’s simplicity is really nice and is also compensated by the fact that it’s freeware. You can make donations if you would like, but no payment is required to use it.

Now that I’ve told you about it, I’ll give you a link so you can go download it. Here it is: http://www.fadingred.org/cashbox