A new version of Skype has been released today with a new video chat feature. Video chat allows you to make video calls to other Skype users for free. You can now make video calls to co-workers, business colleagues, friends or family using Skype.

The system requirements to run Skype 2.0 for Mac are: Mac computers with G4 800 Mhz processor or faster, Mac OS X 10.3 or later, 512 MB RAM and 40MB free disk space, microphone and webcam. Suggested webcams include Apple iSight, Philips SPC900NC, or Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000.

Download Skype for Mac 2.0 now.

Microsoft released a new version of Internet Explorer version 7. Here are a number of improvements Microsoft made in Internet Explorer:

Phising Filter

Phising filter is designed to warn you if the website you are visiting is a Phising site. Phising is fraudulent attempt to steal your personal information — such as your credit card number, bank account number or password.

A phising site is designed to look like a legitimate bank or a web service (i.e. PayPal or eBay).

When you use Phising Filter to check websites automatically or manually, the address you are visiting will be sent to Microsoft.

It is recommended to enable Phising Filter, since Phising attack can be very tricky for most people.

Tabbed browsing

Tabbed browsing allows you to open multiple websites in the same window. This is a feature has been around for a long time for users of Mozilla Firefox.

Improved Printing

Internet Explorer 7 automatically shrinks text for improved printing; so all web page content fits on your final printed page. IE6 has problem where it cuts the printed pages, leaving you missing a word or two on every line.

Integrated Search

Internet Explorer 7 has a built in search bar allowing users to save time by entering a search term directly into the search bar and receive immediate results. You can also add multiple search provides such as Google, Amazon, Windows Live, Yahoo Search, ESPN, Wikipedia, ask.com, etc.

RSS support

Internet Explorer 7 has its own feed reader so you don’t have to download external software to subscribe to your favourite sites or blogs.

For those who don’t know what RSS is, feel free to read this great explanation of what RSS is. Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog’s feed when you understand what RSS means.

Windows Internet Explorer

Microsoft also changed the name of Internet Explorer in version 7 from Microsoft Internet Explorer to “Windows Internet Explorer”.

Download

Internet Explorer 6 users are encouraged to download and upgrade their Internet Explorer. It offers features that could improve your web browsing experience. It also offers better security to protect you from bad guys.

To install IE7, you are required to install Windows XP Services Pack 2 (SP2). You should really consider upgrading to Service Pack 2 if you’re still on Service Pack 1 because Microsoft ended the support for Windows XP SP1 a few weeks ago (10th October 2006).

Related sites:

• IEBlog: Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP available now
• Windows Internet Explorer Site.

What is it?

OpenOffice.org is an open source office suite application available on major operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X and FreeBSD.

Why is it great?

1. Free of charge — no commercial licenses. You can use it for any purpose- private, commercial, educational, government, etc.
2. Free to distribute — You can download it, burn it and pass it to family, friends, employees, students, etc.
3. Multilingual — Support many different languages.
4. Friendly — The software looked and feels like other office suite softwares.
5. Compatiblity — Ability to read and write most of the file formats in other office software.

Who made it?

Sun Microsystems is the primary contributor to code to OpenOffice.org. Since OpenOffice.org is an open source project, anyone willing to contribute to the community is welcome to join.

Components

1. Writer — Word Processor software for OpenOffice.org
2. Calc — Spreadsheet software of OpenOffice.org.
3. Impress — The presentation software similar to Microsoft PowerPoint.
4. Base — Database software similar to Microsoft Access.
5. Draw — a vector graphic editor.
6. Math — MATH is OpenOffice.org’s component for mathematical equations.

Where to get it?

OpenOffice.org is available for download from OpenOffice.org.

Commentary

Because OpenOffice.org is available to anyone for free, it is a great alternative for business looking to cut costs.

OpenOffice.org can open documents written with Microsoft Office (Word and Excel) allowing you to open files written by anyone with Microsoft Office.

In addition to opening Microsoft Office file formats, OpenOffice.org also has the ability to write documents to Microsoft Office formats allowing people with Microst Office to open documents you prepared using OpenOffice.org

OpenOffice.org has the ability to export documents to Portable Document Format (PDF) without the need to purchase additional software.