Desktop sales fell by 23 percent last year across the computer industry. In the U.S., 80 percent of sales went to notebooks. Gizmodo declares the desktop dead, but we’re wondering if you see a future for non-mobile systems.
Linux: If you’re running a server, always-on media box or other system that’s powered by Ubuntu, you probably don’t love having to reboot just to install security updates. Ksplice, a semi-free service, eliminates the need for downtime.
Most modern browsers implement the Ctrl+K shortcut key for quickly focusing the built-in browser search box—and now you can use the same shortcut in Internet Explorer as well.
Firefox 3.5: Earlier today we mentioned that Firefox 3.5 could be pushed out as an official release as soon as Tuesday, June 30 (US time). Now PC Magazine is reporting that Mozilla has officially confirmed the Tuesday release. Among other additions, Firefox 3.5 will include a Private Browsing Mode to hide browser activity, a JavaScript engine known as TraceMonkey, new location services, and HTML5 support. Mozilla’s Mike Beltzner told the magazine that he expects over one billion downloads of the updated browser.
Windows only: Application launcher CSMenu makes up for the lack of the classic start menu in Windows 7 by creating a menu that looks and works just like the ancient Windows 2000 menu did.
A high-end macro lens for your camera can easily run upwards of a thousand dollars, but you can make a super-simple macro lens for a few bucks out of old binoculars.
Windows only: Tiny utility MonitorES pauses your media player, turns off your monitor and sets Google Talk to away whenever you lock your PC.
If you’re a fan of previously mentioned web-based life organiser Springpad, or you’re looking to start with it, the webapp’s notebooks just got easier to use with layouts optimised for mobile browsers
Apparently the attachment size limit we casually mentioned last week was actually a new upgrade. All Gmail users should see a bump from 20MB to 25MB limits in their accounts, according to the Google Operating System blog. As Alex notes there, Gmail’s convenient-but-crash-prone Flash uploading tool may make it very hard to actually get a 25MB file up and going, so clicking to use the older tool that uploads upon hitting “Send” is probably the way to go for gigundo-sized files.
Windows: Notepad++, a light but reliable text editor we included in our 2009 Lifehacker Pack of essential Windows downloads, gets even more reliable with a free, configurable auto-saving plug-in.
