Personal Tech: Netscape

Washington Post columnist Rob Pegoraro answered your questions and discussed his latest column , which examines the Netscape Web browser. Rob writes that AOL concocted a mess with Netscape 8.0.

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Rob Pegoraro: Hi, my name is Rob Pegoraro, and I am not Deep Throat.

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Tucson, Arizona: Did AOL try to do too much and provide too many features with the new Netscape 8.0 browser? What would you recommend to AOL to salvage it if possible with a new release or and update? I'm happily using Firefox 1.0.4 so I can afford to wait AOL out.

washingtonpost.com: Fast Forward: AOL Concocts a Mess With Netscape 8.0

Rob Pegoraro: Exactly--one of the hardest things to do in software design seems to be saying "no," to judge from all the overfeatured stuff that crosses my desk. If AOL spent more time getting the default settings right, so that users wouldn't need so many options, Netscape would be an easier thing to like.

AOL also erred by making IE the default rendering software for "safe" sites (which resulted in that security bug I discovered), and by hiring people to design the interface who (to judge from the results) haven't the faintest grasp of aesthetics.

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Vienna, VA: I like the Mozilla Composer as a nice simple HTML editor, but I'm irritated by some of the basics that it fails to handle. For example, it tends to save pages with a .html extension, which is difficult to correct in WindowsXP. It's as if they haven't made simple fixes to the software since it was part of Netscape in the late '90s. Have the Mozilla people simply abandoned this bit of software?

Rob Pegoraro: No - it, like Firefox and Thunderbird, has been spun off into a separate application. In this case, it's called Nvu (www.nvu.com).

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Prior Lake, Minn.: Rob, I know you feel MAXTHON browser is too complex, yet I think its' purrrfect. I downloaded NETSCAPE 8&two seem to work together just great. Info bars retreat while Netscape homepage displays. Maybe its' just both working in tandem, yet I've had good luck with both. Thanks for your timely discussions.

Rob Pegoraro: You're welcome!

The post here refers to a browser called Maxthon (formerly MyIE2), which uses IE's core software but wraps its own user interface around to provide features like tabbed browsing. I don't like it much--it's way too complex, like Netscape but more so, and also suffers from all of IE's security issues.

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Fairfax, VA: Did Netscape 8.0 (AOL) get anything right?

Rob Pegoraro: Yes. It is the first time I've seen multiple rendering engines combined in a way that's usable to everyday users. I think the "Live Content" toolbar widgets are also a smart idea, although I'll like them more when other parties can write their own.

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Vienna, VA: iPods have several of the features that Palm and Handspring PDAs have long had. Cell phones also have a few of these features along with wireless Internet capability. We're now seeing portable game systems and even portable satellite radio receivers.

So here's the question -- when will we something the size of an iPod (or maybe a little larger) that has 40MB for MP3 storage, calendar and contact syncing, games, cell phone (you could use the same headphones, plus a small microphone) and maybe even satellite radio all in one? Imagine having only one gadget to carry around.

Rob Pegoraro: Imagining is all you can do right now. We will see phones with built-in hard drives before long, but at the start they'll only be in the 4 to 6-gig range--competing with an iPod mini, not a full-size iPod. But the hard drive-based phones that I've heard of come from the likes of Nokia, not Microsoft, Apple or Palm (i.e., the people who actually know how to do good organizer and music software). I suspect the choices in this category will be unsatisfying for a while longer.

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Arlington, Va.: When using Firefox, I can switch between windows using the keyboard, with the Alt-Tab command. Is there an equivalent keyboard command to switch between the tabs in one window? I'm trying to get used to Firefox, and I'm finding it awkward to have to reach for the mouse to switch among tabs.

Rob Pegoraro: Ctrl-Tab cycles forward through your open tabs; Shift-Ctrl-Tab does the same in reverse.

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D.C.: Hi Rob -- I'll be moving to Europe soon and am wondering if it is better to buy electronics here and use converters over there (since I believe things such as DVD's, computers, etc. are cheaper here) or, if I should just pay more and get my electronics over there...any thoughts?

Rob Pegoraro: The hardware's almost always going to be cheaper here, since you won't be paying VAT (value-added tax) on it. If, however, you're going to be buying DVD movies over there, you'll need to buy a new player; the region coding burned into North American-market players won't accept most discs sold in Europe.

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Wash. D.C.: With a number of gadgets now having built-in MP3 players (cell phones, PDAs, etc.), can you still make a case for buying an iPod? Wouldn't that be redundant?

Rob Pegoraro: No, because none of those other devices have nearly as much storage as an iPod. Their usability is also a lot worse. (Don't forget that an iPod functions pretty well as a read-only handheld organizer; it will display your calendar, contacts and notes as well as any handheld.)

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Laurel: Rob, over the weekend I downloaded (accidentally, of course) a "start page spyware." As viruses go, this isn't a terrible one, and I think I eventually deleted all its manifestations. One of its characteristics was to occasionally pop-up a box pointing out that my machine had been infected, and telling me where to go for spyware removal software.

My question is -- since the people selling the removal software are probably the ones, or at least part of a conspiracy, who put the spyware on my machine, shouldn't it be pretty easy to catch and prosecute them? What's being done to eliminate this racket?

washingtonpost.com: Brian Krebs also writes about spyware in his Security Fix blog.

Rob Pegoraro: I would think it should be, yes. You've switched to a non-IE browser since this episode, right?

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Baltimore, MD: Besides offering IE-specific rendering, why would somebody need Netscape vs. Firefox? Just wondering in case somebody asks me -- I've been switching friends and neighbors over to Firefox and they are quite pleased with it.

Rob Pegoraro: Exactly. Netscape offers nothing substantial over Firefox when displaying pages in Firefox mode (actually, it will be slightly less secure if AOL continues to release security updates after they've already been provided for Firefox users).

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Washington, DC: The Personal Tech page recently ran a column that included a how-to and reviews of equipment and software to digitize LPs. Unfortunately, I can't find the article on the Post's web site. Could you post the link to the article? I'm interested in your thoughts about the ADS Technolgies USB Instant Music and Griffin Technologies IMic.

Thanks!

washingtonpost.com: How To Turn Tapes and LPs Into Digital Files (Oct. 12, 2003)

Rob Pegoraro: Here ya go...

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Manassas, VA: Hey Rob

I want to get an XM radio. I want to be able to listen to it in my house, in the car, on the road.

There's 2 options for about the same amount of money. 1. MYFi, although I've heard mixed reviews on this product. 2. Buy a Roady 2 and there's a "walkman" like device to buy and plug it into that would enable you to listen to it anywhere (seen on circuit city website anyway).

Which would you buy? I really don't appreciate buying a product and having to buy additional parts to listen to it, but with satellite, that's what you have to do!

Rob Pegoraro: I'd get the Roady or another "plug and play" home/car model. We didn't find the MyFi worked well enough as a portable sat radio to be worth recommending--it's really large and the reception is problematic. And you look like a total dork with its antenna clipped to your shoulder.

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Washington, DC: I've been seeing getting some pop-up ads while using Firefox lately, even though it still successfully blocks most popups. Do I have a setting wrong, or are the pop-up makers figuring out how to exploit Firefox?

Rob Pegoraro: I've got a writer working on this exact topic. Basically, some online ad agencies (whose executives clearly want to go to hell) figured out that they could launch pop-up windows through Flash banner ads, thus getting around conventional pop-up blocking. Firefox and other browsers are being updated to defeat this workaround.

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Tampa, FL: FYI on PC security: Business using spyware on their competitors:

Ever heard of this here?

washingtonpost.com: 18 Arrested In Israeli Probe Of Computer Espionage

Rob Pegoraro: No, but I'm not surprised to see this tactic being exploited.

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Washington, DC: I want to buy an external CD-RW or CD/DVD-RW drive, mostly to save my digital photographs. Would the DVD-RW allow me to view my pictures through a DVD player or is this really only useful if I want to create movies? Is there anything else I should be looking for an external drive to save photographs?

Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: You need to look at your DVD player, not the burner. If its manual says it can display JPEG images, then it will be able to display photos in that format when burned onto a data DVD.

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Baltimore, MD: I have been following the blogger Winn Schwartau's postings on his switch from Windows to OSX, and there is something I do not understand.

Several commenters (mostly professional IT guys) have taken Schwartau to task, and insisted that they do nothing special to their own Windows environment - no Virus or adware protection - and they have no infections and do not spend a lot of time dealing with the kinds of problems (OS reloads, etc.) that Schwartau complained about.

Yet, has it not been established that an unprotected Windows computer will get infected within 20 minutes of being connected to the Web?

Something is not jelling here.

Rob Pegoraro: The people contesting Schwartau's conclusions have firewalls enabled. (Hint: What was never enabled by default in Windows until XP Service Pack 2 shipped?) BTW, Schwartau's original story is here ; the blog is here .

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DC: I had to reformat my master hard drive, and none of the video files that I had on my slave drive, which survived, play on any sort of video player even after reinstalling and downloading codecs. I start up the video files, and they just keep loading without playing. What can I do? I'm running windows 98 se.

Rob Pegoraro: What format were these files in? What program have you tried so far?

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Alexandria, VA: I am pretty fed up with AOL email account that I get from my parents. Is the money worth it for a .Mac account? It would be nice to be able to have a homepage to host my pictures and stuff. But not sure if it is worth the $100 a year for email.....

Rob Pegoraro: I don't think it is, not for just e-mail and Web hosting. You can get what I hear is very reliable IMAP mail service through fastmail.fm, and picture-hosting is free at plenty of sites. A .Mac account only makes sense to me for people who have multiple Macs and want to keep their data current across all of them.

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Annapolis, Md. : I'm submitting early because of a conflict. I hope you can help with an annoying problem with Foxfire. I switched to it last year, and have been happy with it (except for the fact that the graphics on some sites, including my Yahoo mail icons, don't get displayed.) However, every so often, I open the browser and I get a message saying "cannot find "yahoo" (my home page). I know it's not the dsl service, because I've tried IE as an alternative, and there's no problem. As far as I can tell, my firewall permissions are correct - firefox should be able to get access. I have been getting a message, even before I open Firefox, that the computer is trying to access a dsl router = I can't figure out what that's all about, but I'm assuming it's for my dsl service; i've tried allowing and disallowing it, but it makes no difference. Sometimes I get Firefox to link, sometimes not. Any suggestions?

Rob Pegoraro: That doesn't sound to me like a Firefox problem at all, but check the proxy-server settings in Firefox and IE to make sure they're identical. In Firefox, go to the Tools menu, select Options and click "Connection Settings" (on the first, general-settings screen). In IE, go to the Tools menu, select Internet Options, click the Connections tab and then click the "LAN Settings" button.

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Arlington, Va: Fios comments: Fios has been pitching me hard-6 letters, so far. I have Verizon cell, LD, and phone, but no "features" like caller ID, etc. I asked if they would give me the $34 rate anyway, but I was turned down. Still, $39 was cheaper than my Comcast b'band, so I called Comcast, told them Verizon wanted me, and Comcast immediately gave me the $29/mo promotion rate for 12 mos. Get with it Verizon! Also, a guy across the street from me cannot get Fios, they won't run the fiber across the street.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the update on Verizon's fiber-optic service, which is being deployed in various neighborhoods across the D.C. area.

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Oakton, VA: Hi Rob,

I'm trying to find a good backup program for my PC. You once said you had "heard good things about Dantz Retrospect", but I (and others) just find it too complicated. I liked Zip Backup to CD, but then I discovered glitches. Is there anything you can recommend for the home user that's reasonably simple, actually works and can be scheduled to run automatically? Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: The last backup app that my reviewers really liked came from AlohaBob, the company that makes the data-relocatoin program of the same name: www.alohabob.com

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Mt. Washington, MD: RE: XM Radio

I bought the original XM receiver for my car and bought a cradle (I think from Target) so I can listen to XM through my home theatre system. Works like a charm.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks!

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Cleveland Park, Washington, DC: re: Taking a DVD player to a foreign country

The writer can also use a numeric hack to make his machine play other region discs. See here:

http://tinyurl.com/69maf

Rob Pegoraro: As that page shows, that doesn't always work!

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Laurel, MD: Are you familiar with the Saft plug-in for Safari? It substantially improved bookmarking, for one thing, and adds other useful features, too.

Here's a url: http://haoli.dnsalias.com/Saft/index.html

I experimentally switched back to Safari (from Firefox) with the Tiger release. Saft added enough that I don't miss Firefox. There's still a few trade-offs between the two, but Safari plus Saft beats Firefox overall, in my opinion (though I do confess that part of that is preferring Safari's use of the Mac look and feel.)

Rob Pegoraro: Hadn't heard of that one--thanks for the link. You might also want to try a Mac-only Firefox offshoot called Camino. It's farther back in development, but the writers seem committed to matching Firefox's Mac-only features: www.caminobrowser.org

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Monrovia, MD: The city (Monrovia) in the question header is in the future, and the source of our personal doomsday scenario. We've bought a house out there, and Verizon tells us there's no DSL, and no plans for any. There's also no cable. So what do we do for broadband? Dial-up isn't an option: we've been spoiled for too long. I see lots of alternatives on broadbandreports.com, but which ones really work solidly, and will still be around in 3 years? A lot of the comments seem to be by marketing people of the providers.

Rob Pegoraro: Your only option may be satellite broadband, which certainly works but is slow and expensive. Sorry, that's one of the tradeoffs you sometimes have to make to live in certain places.

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washingtonpost.com: Here's a second site from Rob: http://www.securityawareness.blogspot.com/

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Cleveland, OH: I have SBC as my internet provider. I already had internet explorer on my PC. How can I disconnect the SBC browser and just use IE for my browser?

Thanks for your help and the good information you provide thru your columns. Colette

Rob Pegoraro: Unless I'm missing something the SBC browser *is* Internet Explorer. Let me guess--its toolbars look exactly like IE's, but it's got some SBC-specific bookmarks and a spinning SBC logo instead of a blue "e" in the corner, right?

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Fairfax, VA: Why does the Post continue to only publish phone numbers and no web sites for any and all event listings? Examples include the weekend section and Sunday Source.

Rob Pegoraro: Contrary to popular belief, I don't run the Post, but I'll throw this question out there so the people who do make those calls can see it.

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Columbus, Ohio: What is a better alternative - Opera or Firefox?

Rob Pegoraro: Firefox. Here's why I think so:

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Rockville, MD: Re: putting pictures on a DVD.

You can also create a slideshow VCD/DVD but this is purely a software choice, not hardware.

Of course, on a standard TV, it's going to be pretty fuzzy. You'll probably end up never looking at them on TV anyway.

Rob Pegoraro: Right--making a VCD or DVD slideshow will work on any player around (again, assuming it can read a DVD-R or DVD+R, which almost every player in service can).

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Arlington, VA: Have you tried the Maxthon browser? It puts a tabbed interface (along with lots of other improvements) on top of the IE browser engine.

Rob Pegoraro: This is, like, the third question I've gotten about this browser. I don't know what makes all y'all think that I'm gonig to change my mind on this browser, but I'm not--the everything-but-the-kitchen sink design there breaks some fundamental rules of software design, ones that I believe very strongly in. Look, the world doesn't need more programs written for other programmers. It needs programs that just work and don't assume the user will be impressed by a lengthy bulleted list of features--software that gets out of the way as much possible.

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Sterling, VA: With all of the talk about drive heath, what is you opinion on the built-in defragmenter vs a paid 3rd party defragger like PerfectDisk or Diskeeper?

Rob Pegoraro: Defragmenting tools don't affect a drive's health, only its performance--and then, often only at the margins. I did have a writer try out Diskeeper a year or two ago; as I recall, he reported that on an older computer, it did provide a notable improvement in the performance of some games.

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Arlington, Va.: Love my iPod -- only complaint is that it doesn't seem to hold a charge. I feel like I am recharging it all the time. Any way to address this? Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: And it's brand new? I'd say you've got a dud there. The *worst* battery life available among the current models is 12 to 14 hours, so if you're seeing anything below that you should call Apple for help.

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washingtonpost.com: To the reader having trouble signing up for Rob's e-letter, send an e-mail to editor@technews.com. We'll help you out.

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Ijamsville, MD: Several of my WMA music files are huge, because they were created in lossless format. Is there any way to compress these to a more standard 192 level? I don't see this option in Windows Media Player 10. Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: WMP 10 can automatically convert lossless WMA tracks to a compressed format when copying them to a device, but... um, yeah, I can't see any way to convert a selected file now. I'm sure I'm missing something here--can anybody help us out on this point?

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Damascus, MD: For the guy moving to Europe: it's not just the region coding on the DVDs that he'll need to look after. Europe uses PAL, SECAM, and SECAM-L broadcast formats (the US uses NTSC), so if he wants to watch television in Europe, he'll need a tv that has a PAL/SECAM/SECAM-L tuner (to receive the signals, which are on different frequencies than in the States) and which can display the images received.

The good news is that most tvs and vcrs sold in Europe these days can also handle NTSC, so if/when he comes back to the States, he can bring the new equipment home with him.

Rob Pegoraro: More on DVDs in the EU and the US...

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Washington, D.C.: Hi, Rob, I've got a question about processors. I'm shopping for a new computer that I hope to use to watch C-SPAN live on-line as well as to do (simultaneous) on-line research, e-mail, write office documents, etc. I went to BestBuy to look around, and the salesman -- who claimed not to work on commission -- told me I really need to get a computer with an AMD 64 Athlon processor, even though I'm not a gamer. He said all other processors are only half that speed and that I'll need to upgrade in a year if I don't buy it now. Do you agree? And is it a risky purchase, given that (according to info I found on Google), viruses have targeted Athlon processors in particular? Many thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: I think that sales guy must be getting *something* from AMD to make such a ridiculous claim. Maybe they sent him a really nice t-shirt? Any old processor will handle the chores you outlined. Unless you're a graphic artist or video editor dealing with *enormous* files, the only reason I'd recommend a 64-bit processor is to take advantage of the "no execute" hardware-level anti-virus protection offered by XP Service Pack 2.

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Rochester, NY: Hi Rob,

Is there a tool that can manage/monitor your disk space and try to alert you to infrequently-used programs/files, duplicate copies, one-time downloads, that you can get rid of? Short of going through the stuff manually. Last week I had the little XP alert that cryptically said I was out of disk space. When I OK'd its dialog box to run the system tool whose name I don't remember, it went on buzzing for quite a long time, tying up the system and I finally cancelled it. Yesterday I spent an hour manually deleting stuff, only managing to free up 3 gig. Advice?

Rob Pegoraro: That tool is built right into XP, but it doesn't run automatically. Go to the Start Menu, select All Programs, then select Accessories, then System Tools and finally Disk Cleanup. It's not the fastest program ever, as you noticed. I recommend running it every now and then, but only when you're sure you don't need to use the computer for a little bit.

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Germantown, Md.: Verizon Wireless finally announced the Treo 650 for personal accounts, and it doesn't look like they butchered the Bluetooth too bad. But it doesn't show up on my "Upgrade your phone" list. Does Verizon not allow the "new every 2" for all phones, just a select few?

Rob Pegoraro: I don't know--but I'm going to have to find out, as my own Verizon phone just died, and I do plan on using that "new every 2" discount to get a Treo 650. (Well, the old phone isn't quite dead the two halves are still connected by a ribbon cable through one hinge of the flip, with a rubber band holding them shut. My phone looks so pathetic now.)

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Baltimore, MD: What's your opinion about the Broadcast Flag? My fear is that Congress will be stupid enough (or greedy enough) to cave in to the MPAA's flawed arguments and effectively negate the Supreme Court's decision.

Rob Pegoraro: The broadcast flag proposal to regulate digital-TV hardware quite possibly marks the FCC's lowest moment in the last decade. It's an obscene form of government overreach, one that wouldn't even solve the problem it purports to address.

Here's My first rant on the subject .

And here's a follow-up on what this proposal forced one manufacturer to go through .

This idea isn't worthy of a minute's attention in Congress.

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Baltimore, MD: RE: Compressing/Converting WMA files

I don't know if there's a faster way, but I'd suggest burning the tracks to a CD and ripping them again (picking the appropriate option). This is what I do to convert my iTunes purchases to listen to them on my Pocket PC. A CDRW disc or two can be real handy for doing this repeatedly.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks!

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Washington, DC: I am the person who wrote to you a couple weeks ago regarding the minibug cookie that is something that was in the weatherbug program left on my computer. I tried going in and deleting all that had that name but it still shows up when i run spybot as a tracking cookie. How do I get rid of it? Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: Ignore it. Tracking cookies are harmless, and the authors of SpyBot and AdAware *really* need to get a grip and stop alarming users about them.

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Falls Church, VA: Hi Rob,

Submitting early:

Okay--I'll admit it. I'm a Mac nerd. What can you tell me about what Steve Jobs has up his mock-turtleneck sleeves for the WWDC keynote next Monday? The Apple rumor boards I troll are full of fantastic stories with no basis in reality. Of course that's Apple most of the time, right?

Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: I have no clue on what's coming at WWDC, Falls Church. Updated iBooks would make sense, because it's been so long since that model was updated. Same with an updated AirPort Express. Otherwise, your guess/wild conjecture is as good as mine.

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Reston, Va.: I switched to a iBook a few months ago (and love it). I am about to switch to comcast for broadband. I am happy with Panther for now. question - I have the Firewall on and the virex program through .MAC service. So do I need to use the firewall, spyware, spam, virus stuff from comcast as well. By the way, is that loaded at their end of the 'wire' or is it loaded on my computer. also, for times when I switch from Safari to IE or Foxfire, then I assume I DO need to have those comcast security things turned on. I am so thrilled with this computer I am thinking of adding 'PC for Mac' to use a few programs that aren't available for Mac and just not using my PC anymore. Any problems with that program? Again, I assume that that would require all the security extras. thanks -p.s. your column is so helpful.

Rob Pegoraro: I'm pretty sure that none of the Comcast security software will even run on your iBook, much less be necessary on it. Those apps address problems that, thus far, have been confined to the Windows world.

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Houston, TX: re: your cell phone.

The least the WP co. should do is get the country's No.1 Tech Columnist a new cell phone. Love your column!

Rob Pegoraro: I'm keepin' it real, Houston!

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Alexandra, VA: Thank you for taking my question. I would like advice in converting from WINTEL to Apple. I am in the market for a new desk top system. My requirements are that I have access to the web (dial-up), word processing (Word and Word Perfect), Power Point, Excel and Quicken. I have been considering an Apple Computer because of all the security problems/issues with Microsoft operating systems. How difficult and expensive is it going to be to move to Apple? What should I look out for in converting? Is there software that helps ease the transition (i.e file movement/transfer)? I have about 3GB of useful data that that will have to be transferred. If Apple is an alternative - which Apple computer would you recommend? Id like to keep it under $1500. Thank you.

Rob Pegoraro: I think I'll have to do an entire column on this topic--what I can type in this space will probably be horribly inadequate :)

I prefer Microsoft Office for the Mac to the Windows version, and it should read and edit all your existing files without a problem. But there hasn't been a version of WordPerfect for Mac available in years. Quicken does exist for Mac, but in a distinctly inferior version--Intuit can't seem to grasp the idea of making the Mac version work with the same account-downloading standards as the Windows version. You'll probably find that you can't download all the accounts on a Mac that you could in Windows.

A company called Detto makes an automatic file-transfer utility for this kind of switch called Move2Mac.

Best Apple value if you don't own a monitor--or if you plan to do any processor-intensive tasks like editing video--is the newly updated iMac G5. Otherwise, a Mac mini upgraded to 512 MB of memory (and possibly a larger hard drive) or an iBook laptop could be a better deal.

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Bristow, VA: Interesting to read what Netscape has done with its version 8.0. I've been a user of Netscape ever since it originally morphed from Mosaic in the early 1990's (something you omitted in the ancestral browser chronology in your column, btw), but it looks like version 7.2 will be my last. It's kind of sad, like losing a link to the early days of the Web (such as when Yahoo! was still a subdirectory on a server in the Stanford department of computer science). Oh, well, thank goodness for Firefox.

Rob Pegoraro: The thing is, there no longer is a company or "they" you can call Netscape. The non-Firefox parts of Netscape 8 were apparently written by some firm in Canada that AOL hired for the job.

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Rochester, NY: hi Rob,

Every other week I seem to get a renewed itch to look at those tabletop speaker systems for the iPod. The Bose system seems like an obvious choice, but then because its price tag is the same as their noise-cancelling headphones, I get torn. I've also been eyeing those Tivoli PAL radios. What would Rob do?

Rob Pegoraro: I agree, the Bose SoundDock seems like a lot--although it does look fantastically cool. I'd stop by an Apple store and give each system an audition sometime when there aren't too many people around. This compilation of reviews may help too: http://playlistmag.com/products/speakers.php

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Bethesda, MD: I'm pretty happy with OS X version 10.4-- but I skipped 10.3. Is Apple in danger of a "where's the beef" problem with their regular $100 OS upgrades?

washingtonpost.com: Mac's Tiger Gives Panther Owners Little Reason to Pounce (May 1, 2005)

Rob Pegoraro: Yup, it's a risk. I have no quarrel with continuous work on software to make it better, but I also want to get my money's worth each time. But I suspect the next update will not come as quickly as Tiger did after Panther. I mean, c'mon, don't Apple's developers get to take a vacation?

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Vienna VA: I worked as loan processor and found out most web sites our lenders use don't support opera or firefox but ie. Are they stupid? Do they want their customers' identities stolen due to the vunerabilities ie have while others lack.

Rob Pegoraro: You're asking the right questions, Vienna.

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Alexandria, Va - Bob: I live in the Fairfax section of Alexandria and have cox cable, virizon land line and dial up aol. I find myself using the land line less and less since the cell phone meets my needs. Are there better deals out there that combine all three.

washingtonpost.com: Upgrade: A Guide to the Wired Lifestyle

Rob Pegoraro: Have a look at what we reported on in last month's telecom-focused tech guide.

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RE: Digitizing tapes and LPs: Thanks for taking my question and posting a link to an article that (I think) originally appeared in the Sunday Source. It's a great article, but I think something appeared in Personal Tech more recently that is even better. The article to which I refer appeared in the Personal Tech column, and had reviews of the iMic and software used to digitize analogue audio.

Thanks very, very much!

Rob Pegoraro: Oh man, I thought that *was* the story I'd passed along. Here's the link you're looking for.

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DC: I've had my current cell phone for about five years, and have decided to get a new phone (and possibly a new service -- I'm currently with Sprint). There's one feature I definitely want to have: the ability to back up the contacts list on the phone to my computer. However, looking online, it isn't obvious to me what this option is called, unless it's on every phone and listing it would be like listing that the keypad includes the numbers 0 through 9. So, can you help me out? Can most cell phones interact with computers now (either via cable or bluetooth)? If not, what do I need to look for?

Rob Pegoraro: A lot of cell phones do include software for this (usually Windows only), but the cable costs extra. Some can work with Apple's iSync software (again, cable costs extra unless you can use Bluetooth). Still others can do this over the carrier's network; you upload your contacts list at the provider's Web site, which then dumps it on the phone.

But in general, I'm amazed that this isn't a standard feature.

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Tampa, FL: Re ads going through Flash ads: I've been using a Firefox extension called Flashblock and it works great.

https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php

But I've gotten some pop-under ads. They appear under the page I'm viewing, so you don't see them until you close that page.

PS: Which audio format (MP3, AAC, etc) to burn CDs to play in home and car CD players?

Rob Pegoraro: 1) Thanks.

2) MP3

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Riverdale, MD: Rob,

Re Apple update possibilities, you mentioned updating Airport Express. Could you say more? I have Airport Express running in my primarily Windows network. It works so well I've actually converted some 500 CDs to MP3s and may eventually do another 1000 or so. Other than hardware changes that might affect size, I haven't got a complaint.

Rob Pegoraro: Apple desperately needs to add some kind of remote control and display to an AirPort Express, so you don't need to keep a laptop in the living room just to change playlists.

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Detroit, MI: Rob, I don't understand how you can say Netscape 8.0 does not offer anything more than Firefox. Out of the box, without downloading numerous extensions, Firefox is useless. Netscape has many of those extensions incorporated out of the box. Plus, I feel Firefox is limited in it's tab browsing controls.

Rob Pegoraro: Firefox is "useless" out of the box? Right, that's why 60 million-plus people have downloaded it, and why its market share has gone from zero to 6 or 7 percent in a few months (something no browser has done since the rise of IE).

Detroit may find that his or her particular needs aren't met by Firefox, but I'm going to wager here that he or she is a much more technically inclined user than most. The beauty of Firefox is that it's written for, and demands no subsequent tweaking by, the everyday user.

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Crystal City, VA: Now that Firefox is gaining such popularity, is there a risk that all the hackers and ID thieves who focused their attention on exploiting weaknesses in Explorer will turn their attention to Firefox? Wasn't one of the early strengths of Firefox that it was relatively unknown, and therefore not a target?

Rob Pegoraro: I'm sure they are turning their attention to Firefox. But it's much more secure than IE--because of its design, not its obscurity.

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Boonsboro, MD: Need to buy a new computer, either laptop or desktop. Is it worth it to get a separate graphics card, or is the built-in Intel graphics chipset good enough? thanks

Rob Pegoraro: The built-in chipset is fine unless you want to play the faster/more intense computer games.

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Montgomery Village, Md.: I took your advice and installed Firefox and like it but occasionally find that when installing fixes, an assumption is made that I'm using IE or Netscape. Have you encountered this, and how do you deal with it? David

Rob Pegoraro: You mean like when you're installing plug-ins? Selecting "Netscape" should ensure that Firefox gets the benefit of the new software.

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Princeton, NJ: I just purchased a Dell PC with a flat-panel, 17" LCD screen. The screen looks fantastic for text and photos. But when I popped in a new DVD movie, I expected to be blown over by the picture quality of the movie but that wasn't the case. My 10-year old, 27" Mitsubishi CRT TV provides a much better picture. What gives? Down the road, I was planning on purchasing a large screen LCD TV but will that provide a better picture than a PC LCD monitor? Am I comparing apples-to-oranges?

Rob Pegoraro: Are you watching both screens from the same distance? The computer monitor should almost always look better--it will display the movie in progressive-scan mode, which meeans more lines of resolution at any given moment and no flickering effects.

Another factor can be how the monitor connects to the computer. If you can, use a digital (DVI) connection, which elminates some noise that can show up over analog video cables.

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Louisville, KY: Rob,

My girlfriend and I share a computer. Because of cookies, we use different browsers. I claimed FireFox and she is begrudgingly using Netscape (after we discussed how bad IE was for her system). Is there a better solution? Maybe this question is academic, but does FireFox have support for different users, complete with different allotments for cookies, e-mail logins, etc.? If not, what browser should be our secondary one, Opera, Mozilla?

Rob Pegoraro: You could set up distinct user accounts on your computer, where you each have your own files and settings kept separate. Mozilla, the all-in-one browser-plus-email predecessor of Firefox, can store separate user profiles in a single computer user account.

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Falls Church, Va.: Have you heard anything about the new IE coming out? I assume that they are going to take all the firefox goodies and attempt to "netscape" firefox before it gets too big. At least firefox forced MS to update their browser.

Rob Pegoraro: Have a look at Microsoft's IE blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/

FWIW, over the last year or two Microsoft has become very open with letting its developers talk to the world about upcoming projects in blogs. I think that's both admirable conduct and good business in general.

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Costco Plasma: I've been looking at the 51 inch Pioneer plasma at Costco for months. Its $5,000 and it has gotten great reviews. I've seen similar if not the same model for about $7,000 at Circuit City, Best Buy. Is this a good price and is there anything I should worry about. I like Costco cause I've taken things back that are several years old with no questions asked.

Rob Pegoraro: Wait, wait, don't buy that HDTV! Not just yet. The prices are going to keep dropping, so the longer you can hold out the less you'll pay. $5,000 does seem like a good price for a 51-inch set--but at that size, you'll spend a *lot* less by getting a rear-projection LCD, DLP or LCoS set.

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St. Louis, MO: Since you answered the question about Firefox vs. Opera, I thought I'd ask the same thing about Firefox vs. Mozilla. I've been using Mozilla, very happily, for quite a while and don't see any advantage in using Firefox. Maybe the more important question is why the people working on these browsers at AOL (Netscape, Mozilla and Firefox) can't put their heads together can come up with ONE great browser?

Keep up the great work Rob!

Rob Pegoraro: No! I never want to see "one great browser" in the market. We've seen what the browser market is like without competition--one increasingly stagnant program that crooks can focus all their attention on defeating with various hacks and hijacking. (Some might say the same thing about the Windows monopoly!)

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Rob Pegoraro: That's all, folks! Thanks for all the fine questions... once again, you've kept me busy. I'll see you here again in a couple of weeks.

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