Microsoft: IE9 Won't Support Windows XP

Windows XP users will not be able to run the final version of Internet Explorer 9, according to Microsoft executives, cutting out a decade-old, yet still popular operating system.

In fact, the Windows IE9 Platform Preview, as well as the final version, won't run on anything but the latest Microsoft operating systems. Users trying to run the preview code on an XP system will receive the following dialogue box: "Windows Internet Explorer Platform Preview does not support any operating system earlier than Windows Vista SP2."

And of course, don't even think about versions for non-Windows operating systems. IE General Manager Dean Hachamovitch told us that Mac and Linux versions weren't currently in the company's plans.

The reason IE9 doesn't work in XP is that it uses the Direct2D feature of DirectX when accessing the graphics hardware to accelerate image creation and drawing. Direct2D was introduced in Windows 7, but then added to Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 R2. But not to WIndows XP.

When I asked the IE9 team about their plans for the legacy OS, they confirmed that XP was not in the cards:

"Windows XP users have a fast, safe, reliable and private browser in Internet Explorer 8," company representatives said in an emailed statement. "As the Web has continued to change in everything from security to the future HTML5 applications developers are starting to build today, browsers should require the modern graphics and security infrastructure that has come along since 2001.

Internet Explorer 9 requires the modern graphics and security underpinnings that have come since 2001, and is intended to be run on a modern operating system in order to build on the latest hardware and operating system innovations."

It only makes sense the the OS vendor wants to give people as many reasons to upgrade their PCs to Wnidows 7 as possible, and not spend developer man-hours updating software that debuted nine years ago. Still, this probably won't make XP loyalists smile. They may even jump ship to fast browsers that do run on their platform – like Chrome, Opera, and Safari.

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Sky Downloader Helps You Pull Music and Video From the Web

Looking for a simple-to-use way to find music, video, TV shows and other goodies to download? Then try the free SkyDownloader, an attractive downloader with a built-in music and video player.

SkyDownloader is an excellent downloader and media player.>

Search for what you want from right within SkyDownloader, select your downloads, and Sky Downloader gets to work. Each download is rated by other users, so you have some advice to go on before you download. SkyDownloader uses both the Gnutella file-sharing network and the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol, so that you get the best of both worlds.

You can pause and resume downloads, and SkyDownloader handles your downloaded files as well. Its media player is exemplary. And SkyDownloader does more than just search for files, manage them and play them. You can also watch TV shows from inside it from Hulu.com, and listen to Internet radio stations.

If you're looking for a pleasing-looking download and media player, SkyDownloader is a solid bet.

Download
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,81849-order,4/description.html
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Ubuntu 10.04 beta now available for download (screenshot tour)

With the final release of Ubuntu 10.04 due in just under a month, things appear to be right on schedule at Canonical. Yesterday the Lucid beta download page went live and eager testers rapidly descended upon the mirrors.Watching Lucid evolve has been exciting.

It's clear that Canonical is intent on creating a version of Ubuntu which can appeal to a broader base of computer users with a more select set of default programs, new visuals, built-in easy access to social networks via Gwibber, and loads of other improvements.

One key addition to the beta is Wubi. If you're not familiar with it, Wubi is a Windows program which allows you to install Ubuntu on the same drive as your Windows install. It's an extremely simple way to take Ubuntu for a test drive -- or make it a permanent fixture on your system.

you give Ubuntu 10.04 a try at this point, it's important to remember that you will encounter glitches. There's still plenty of work to do (and bugs to squash) at this point. Wubi, for example, was able to install 10.04 and modify my Windows boot menu, but GRUB failed to load and I couldn't boot into Ubuntu.

Overall, however, the Lucid beta feels fast, it's very usable, and I can definitely see myself using 10.04 as my primary OS. Will the computing masses feel the same way? Probably not, but there's no doubt that the improvements in Lucid will help increase in Ubuntu's market share.

You can download the Ubuntu 10.04 beta and try it out for yourself

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors

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