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This section of the site is no longer being formally maintained, although new items may be added periodically.
(20 July 2004)
Following the release of Opera 7.52 on 08 July 2004, version 7.53 was released today. The former incorporated a number of bug fixes in addition to several security fixes, while the latest version fixes a single security vulnerability.
 www.opera.com
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(19 July 2004)
Test Partners are offering the first 100 companies that register via our website, 5 days functionality, compatibility or accessibility testing for £250* a day.
There are no restrictions on the number of days that can be taken at any one time (minimum 1 day) except that the days must be used by 01 August 2005.
www.testpartners.co.uk/special_offer.htm
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(08 July 2004)
Mozilla 1.7.1 and Firefox 0.9.2 were both released today. The only changes were a security update to fix the recently discovered Windows shell: security vulnerbility.
www.mozilla.org/products/mozilla1.x
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(30 June 2004)
As part of his ongoing campaign to switch Mac users over to OS X, Steve Jobs has announced that approximately half of the estimated 24 million Mac users are now using Mac OS X. Very impressive, but from the compatibility testing viewpoint it means that the 50% still using OS 9 or earlier cannot be ignored.
Although the number of OS X users can be expected to grow as it is shipped with all new Macs, many OS 9 users have increasing reason not to upgrade. Apple have recently moved into the space previously occupied by the likes of Adobe, causing them and other major software vendors to threaten to stop developing applications for OS X (and actually doing so in some cases).
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(29 June 2004)
Just a load of bugs fixes and a new theme (who cares?) as Firefox inches its way towards full release.
www.mozilla.org/products/firefox
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(17 June 2004)
This release does not contain any major new features, but a variety of minor improvements have been made, especially with regard to the password manager, cookie dialogs, popup blocking and download handling. The file size has been reduced by 5%, page loading times by 9% and about 1700 bugs have been fixed!
www.mozilla.org/products/mozilla1.x
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(16 June 2004)
Two months after the release of Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official, ISO images are now publicly available on a number of FTP mirrors. Three boxed versions are available - Beginners, Advanced and Professional, all based on the new Linux 2.6 kernel and KDE 3.2 desktop. Benefits include:
- Automated installation process
- Automatic hardware detection and configuration
- NTFS partition resizing without data loss
- Mandrakelinux Control Center: 62 tools for easily configuring your system
- CPU compatible with SMP and Hyper-Threading architectures
- Support for USB2 and IEEE 1394
- Authentication on LDAP, NIS or Windows servers
- Firewall
- Partitioning software supports journalized file systems EXT3, ReiserFS, XFS, and encrypted file system
- Heterogeneous environment support with Samba
www.mandrakesoft.com/products/10
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(15 June 2004)
The lightweight standalone browser from the Mozilla Foundation is one step nearer to the full release that is expected later this summer. The file size has been reduced to 4.7MB, making it one of the smallest Windows browsers available. New features include a new default theme and a theme manager for those concerned about their browser's appearance.
Migration from other browsers has been made easier now that Firefox imports data like Favorites, History, Settings, Cookies and Passwords from Internet Explorer. Firefox can also import from Mozilla 1.x, Netscape 4.x, 6.x and 7.x, and Opera. MacOS X and Linux migrators for browsers like Safari, OmniWeb, Konqueror etc. will arrive in future releases.
www.mozilla.org/products/firefox
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(10 June 2004)
Opera 7.51 adds several new features and improves on the innovations of Opera 7. Features include:
- Enhanced built-in e-mail client, Opera Mail
- IRC-compatible chat
- Completely new sleek UI design
- Restricted image size in address bar, page bar and page/window cycler to address a potential security issue
- Various stability improvements
www.opera.com
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(09 June 2004)
The KDE Project have released version 3.2.3 of the K Desktop Environment for Linux. This is a maintenance release and ships with a basic desktop and eighteen other packages.
www.kde.org/announcements/announce-3.2.3.php
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(26 May 2004)
As usual two versions are available, the smaller being a 40MB update for users with OS X 10.3.3. The combo update is 79MB for users with earlier versions of OS X 10.3. Key enhancements include:
- Improved file sharing and directory services for Mac (AFP), UNIX (NFS), PPTP, and wireless networks
- Improved OpenGL technology and updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers
- Improved disc burning and recording functionality
- iPods connected via USB 2.0 are now recognized by iTunes and iSync
- Additional FireWire audio and USB device compatibility
- Updated Address Book, Mail, Safari, Stickies, and QuickTime applications
- Improved compatibility for third party applications
- Previous standalone security updates (This update does not include Security Update 2004-05-24)
www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n25764
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(25 May 2004)
Today saw the launch of Test Partners' new website. Every page is 100% compliant with the HTML 4.01 Transitional and CSS2 coding standards, which has resulted in an exceptional degree of browser compatibility.
Accessibility has been improved to comply with the Priority 1 requirements of the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and we have a continuing program of improvements that will lead to Priority 2 compliance later this year.
The launch of the website also coincides with the announcement of a partnership agreement with Webmetrics Inc of the US. Test Partners are delighted to have become the exclusive UK partner for Webmetrics' remote performance testing and website monitoring services. We believe the quality, flexibility and cost-effectiveness of these services is unsurpassed.
We have provided usability testing and accessibility testing for some time, and descriptions of these services have now been added to the site.
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(12 May 2004)
iCab 2.9.8 is a pure bugfix release with no new features. In addition some security certificates were updated and it includes a new release of the OpenSSL library (for secure web access).
www.icab.de/dl.php
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(12 May 2004)
Version 7.50 of the Opera browser was released today. In addition to improved standards-support the browser boasts the following features:
- New user interface
- Integrated chat client
- Support for RSS newsfeeds
- Fast full-text indexing of e-mail messages
- Support for spell check
As usual there is support for a wide range of operating systems including all Windows versions from 95 onwards. This is the first 7.x version available for Macs (the previous release being 6.03) although the Mac variant is not as fully featured as the Windows version. This version is only for use with Mac OS X, unlike version 6.03 which was also designed for OS 8 and 9.
www.opera.com
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(12 May 2004)
Red Hat are returning to the desktop/standalone client arena after leaving it in September 2003 when they released the Red Hat 9 core to the open source community as part of a new project called Fedora.
The new desktop client is built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and will sit alongside the workstation version in the product range, serving different markets. Updates to these and the server versions will be synchronised.
It will not be sold as a standalone boxed product but will be available in a number of packages based on a set number of clients, a management server and support options. It includes the Mozilla browser, Novell's Evolution calendaring and PIM suite, the OpenOffice 1.1 office suite and GAIM instant messaging and will run on a wide range of 32-bit and 64-bit hardware platforms.
www.redhat.com
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(26 April 2004)
Today our Test Centre moved a few hundred yards down the High Street into larger offices in Majestic House in the centre of Staines. This will allow us to maintain a permanent facility for running training and focus groups, with ten dedicated PCs permanently set up for the purpose. The extra space and custom-made work areas will increase efficiency as the setup time is reduced during projects. Our postal address and telephone numbers remain unchanged.
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(15 April 2004)
Microsoft will continue to support its Java Virtual Machine (JVM) until 31 December 2007 following a deal with Sun Microsystems Inc. This comes only a few months after announcing that support would end on 30 September 2004.
However, there will be no enhancements to the JVM and products containing it will continue to be replaced or retired. Responding to pressure from customers the extension provides more time to migrate from these products.
www.microsoft.com/mscorp/java/
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(14 April 2004)
Just two weeks after exiting bankruptcy Mandrakesoft announced the availability of Mandrakelinux 10.0 Official, a full-featured operating system that includes a full suite of desktop and server applications. Based on the latest Linux kernel 2.6 it also uses the KDE 3.2 desktop environment and supports USB2 and IEEE 1394 among many other new features.
www.mandrakesoft.com/company/press/pr?n=/pr/products/2464
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