Ubuntu 8.04 final is almost ready for its scheduled April launch. Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, has released the Alpha 5 of the popular Linux distribution. A great addition that Alpha 5 offers is a new installation option: Users can either run and install Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha 5 using a LiveCD, or they can use Wubi to install Ubuntu to a partition from within Windows.

Updates in the latest Alpha release:

Firefox 3 beta 3 is the default web browser
Xorg 7.3 now included
PulseAudio is used by default
Now uses Linux kernel 2.6.24
Brasero CD/DVD burning application, replaces the Serpentine CD burning utility
Transmission BitTorrent client replaces Gnome BitTorrent
Vinagre VNC client replaces xvnc4viewer

Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha 5 is available for download. Go get it. We recommend you back-up your files before upgrading.

Via Ubuntu

Skype has just released a new version, Skype 2.7 beta for Mac. The best feature in the lasted build is support for OS X 10.5 Leopard. Skype is also not forgeting Linux, and PC as they update those versions often.

Skype 2.7 beta for Mac is the first OS X version to support VGA video at 25 frames per second. Users with a slow internet connection have the option to adjust video settings.

Most likely it will be some time before skype releases a Linux client with VGA support since they just recently added video to Skype 2.0 beta for Linux.

via Skype Journal

Watch out Meebo there is a new kid on the block. It looks like Yahoo is working on a new IM/chat service. MyM is currently in private beta, so we do not know much besides that. Most likely it will be a web-based instant messenger that will bring Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, LiveJournal, and IM services including AIM, MSN Messenger, and Meebo together.

To us this does not make much sense, but we guess that it is all about convenience. Also Yahoo wants to be the #1 website.

Last month we wrote an article telling you how to download Vista SP1 using a registry hack. Now a new registry hack for Windows XP is available. This hack will let Windows XP users download Service Pack 3.

The SP3 is not scheduled for release until next year so it is not recommended that you download it. It is always nice to be up to date with the newest security and reliability updates but it may also cause problems.

The registry hack is pretty easy to do, just download the patch and install. Download the hack WindowsXPSP3Hack.cmd.

Mozilla has finally given us the beta release of Firefox 3. Not like the pre-beta release a couple of weeks ago.

The only differences between this beta and that pre-release version are that the Firefox team has fixed more bugs. The rest of it is the same.

New in Beta 1:

Updates to the Gecko rendering engine which should improve stability.
New Places feature makes it easier to find the sites you’ve visited most recently, most often, or starred for coming back to later.
New security features alert you when you’re visiting insecure web sites and let you auto-scan downloads with your antivirus software

We are still going to keep using Firefox 2 until all the bugs have been worked out.

Pioneer SyncTV was introduced in private beta today. The service is not one of the first of its kind but there are a some features that make SyncTV better than competitors like Amazon, Apple, and NBC.

One excellent feature is it is compatible with Mac, Linux, and PCs. Users can specify up to 5 computers for playing back videos. And once compatible portable media players are released, users will be able to watch videos on up to 10 different devices.

The service uses subscription, users will pay $2-$4 per channel. A few channels will make their content available on a pay per download. Most of the time users will only have to pay the monthly fee to get unlimited downloads of TV programs.

Like with every new online TV service there is a lack of content. The known channel is Showtime. SyncTV does look promising.

Mozilla plans on releasing Mac, Linux, and Windows versions of Firefox but not quite yet. This morning a digg user found Firefox 3 beta on Mozilla’s server. Now Mozilla has blocked access to it with a nice thank you message. We managed to download it in time to try it out.

Many of you won’t notice many changes from Firefox 2. Firefox 3 beta will import all of your settings, bookmarks, add-ons and plugins from Firefox 2 so you may think you have not upgraded properly. One thing we did notice is a star, its use is to remember websites you like or want to come back to later. Firefox 3 beta has a completely redesigned bookmark system in Firefox 3 its name is Places. We found it to be very useful.

Some other new features include a redesigned plugin manager, security requirements for upgrading add-ons, and an enhanced security system that alerts you of suspected attacks.

Mozilla says it will have a new theme but we have not had the chance to see it yet.

As you may have already started to notice Mozilla keeps building more applications. We have Firefox web browser, Thunderbird e-mail client, Songbird music player/browser, and now we’ve got a Mozilla-based instant messaging client.

Instantbird is still in very early beta. But version 0.1 already shows us assurance. The program is much like popular instant messaging services by AOL, MSN, and Yahoo.

Like most program by Mozilla, Instantbird comes in Linux, Windows, and Mac versions. We don’t recommend your downloading it until the next beta release unless you are prepared for many annoying bugs.

We gotta admit this browser does seem a bit out of the ordinary, which is good. It’s a web browser built using Firefox code with a whole lot of neat social networking features.

We downloaded the new version… and we like it! Flock browser now includes a blog editing client, which lets you drag and drop images, text and URLs into your sidebar for handy access on other sites, and a media bar for finding YouTube and other videos.

There’s now a nifty “my world” tab that shows you all of your recently viewed bookmarks and RSS feeds. One let down of Flock is it likes to use your memory, and that is compared to Firefox! If you have a fast machine you will love it. No final release date for Flock 1.0 has been set yet.

Opera Browser just keeps getting better. Today the Opera team released Opera 9.24, which is really just a security update to Opera 9.24. And next week public beta of Opera 9.5 is being released.

Opera 9.24 fixes several vulnerabilities that could leave your computer open to attack. Updates are available for the Windows, Mac, and Linux/Unix versions of Opera.

Opera is official launching Opera 9.5 and throwing. We downloaded the alpha version and were impressed but it still does not compare to the good old Firefox.

If you can’t wait 8 more days to see how it looks, there’s a new snapshot build available for download. It has plenty of bug fixes and updates, but there’s also a huge list of known issues, so download at your own risk.