Hot on the heels of Opera 9.5, the Opera team has released version 9.5.1 of their desktop web browser. The new version includes some recommended security and stability updates. But there are also some other handy changes. Here are a few highlights:

• Fine-tuned the new default skin
• Saved images no longer recorded in the file transfer window
• Fixed an issue that could be used to display arbitrary code
• Fixed a stability issue with Yahoo! Mail
• 64 bit Linux package now available

Overall you won't notice a ton of changes to the interface. But if you're currently using Opera 9.5, we'd recommend updating for the security enhancements alone.

No, it won't really turn your folders gold, but Visual Subst does deserve a medal. It's little more than a GUI frontend to the Windows prompt's subst command, but if there's one thing we like more than commands that save repetitious typing it's pretty graphical systems to utilize them.

What subst does is create a symbolic link - assigning any folder on your system its own drive letter. Most of us aren't even close to using up all 26 letters, so why not set up a few of them as ridiculously short routes to get at our commonly used folders?

Visual Subst makes the process ridiculously simple, just choose an available drive letter, browse to your folder, and click the green plus. Just like that, your new virtual drive shows up in My Computer. Now getting at the temp folder is as easy as windows + r, t:, enter. Simple. Check the box at the bottom, and your new drives return after a reboot.

For a 110k application, Visual Subst is a no-brainer. You've got to have it, we swear!

Microsoft may have ceased offering Windows XP to retail customers, but that doesn't mean you can't get your hands on the venerable operating system. The company is allowing PC makers to offer customers a "downgrade" option if they purchase a new computer with Windows Vista Business or Ultimate. And Microsoft has been trying to fend off the Linux threat (more of a mosquito than an alien invasion) posed by ultra-low-cost laptops like the Asus Eee PC by allowing some cheap laptop makers to use XP.

Originally, Microsoft was only letting PC makers get away with that low-cost option if a PC met strict requirements. For example, it had to use 1GB of RAM or less, have a 10.2 inch or smaller display, and less than 80GB of storage capacity. Now IDG news is reporting that Microosft is easing off on some of those requirements.

Here's the new definition of an ULPC (Ultra Low Cost PC):

• Display: 14.1 inch or smaller
• Hard drive: 160GB or less
• CPU: Single Core, and no more than 1GHz (with exceptions for low-power processors like the 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU used by the Eee PC 901, Acer Aspire One, and MSI Wind)
• RAM: 1GB

Will this move be enough to help Microsoft maintain its market share? We're going to tentatively say yes, because honestly, we're not convinced that Linux-based laptops were going to make much of a dent anyway. Especially ULPC Linux based laptops, which are so cheap that many users are picking them up as second and third computers, not primary machines.

Mario Paint Composer lets you do what you know you've wanted to do all of your life...compose music in the key of Super Mario. You'll remember this from the Super NES days, but everything is way more fun on the computer.

This baby is free and it's available for Windows AND Mac and it comes from unFun games. Yay.

Don't have any music writing chops? No problem, neither do we. It makes fun noises and has cool Mario icons. 'Nuff said.

The default song when you load up Mario Paint Composer is a jazzy version of your favorite video game theme song ever. But it's up to you to write the next masterpiece.

And not just any masterpiece, you get to use pigs and cats and hearts.

Best part is that when the app is loaded, everywhere you click on your computer, the sounds follow. I like hearing a nice Yoshi sound when I click on an email or on iChat.

unFun built an interface for you to lo in and download all the songs you want, for your personal listening and partytime enjoyment, but it took forever to log into the system, so we wouldn't hang our hats on that feature.

[via chris pirillo]

Knowing the status of your hard drive is a great way to prepare for problems that may potentially arise. And thank to CrystalDiskInfo obtaining this information from your hard drive couldn't be any easier.

CrystalDisk will gather data from your hard drive and will let you know its current temperature, the number of power cycles and even the number of hours the drive has been on. All this information comes in handy when trying to determine the root of a system crash or data failure, especially when you're dealing with an older drive in a crowded system case where cooling may not be optimal.

In our testing, the program was very easy to use and recognized our drive right away. Fortunately for us, we had no issues but if we did, we had no doubt that CrystalDisk would alert us to the problem so that appropriate steps could be taken.

CrystalDisk is a free application available for Windows and is a bit of a must have tool in diagnosing hard drive errors.

We all love applications that take lots of little things and turn them into one big thing. When this concept is applied to instant messaging clients, one program should jump to everyone's mind: Trillian. Ever since its first multi-protocol release in 2000, many Windows users that want all the IM without all the hassle have chosen Trillian as their weapon of choice for tackling their instant messaging needs.

This week marks the eighth anniversary of Trillian's first release. Since then, Cerulean Studios has had over 35 million downloads, and has become one of the (if not the single) most popular instant messaging clients for Windows. Currently, there are two versions of Trillian offered. Trillian Basic, the free version, offers support for AIM, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and IRC chat. Audio chat is available for all of the protocols that support it.

Cerulean Studios also offers Trillian Pro for $25 dollars; the beefed-up version adds support for more protocols like Bonjour, Novell GroupWise, and Jabber, along with support for video chat and third-party plugins for things like mail, weather, and news feeds. Trillian Pro can also combine your contacts who have multiple IM services into "metacontacts," which help you manage your contact list.

Currently in the works is version 4 of Trillian, called Trillian Astra. Astra boasts incredible new features, including its own IM service that helps to integrate the other IM connections, a web interface and an iPhone interface to allow you to chat on all of your protocols anywhere, and a much more streamlined user interface that supports dozens of colors and styles out-of-the-box. Currently, Trillian Astra is in a private alpha phase. However, their development team has stated that there will be a public beta at some point in the future.

Celebrate Trillian's 8th birthday by checking it out if you're looking for a solution to your all your IM needs.

July 1 will go down in history as the day that major PC manufactures can no longer sell Windows XP preinstalled. This news hasn't gone unnoticed; InfoWorld created a petition to save the aging OS.

The question is why?

Truth of the matter is that there are millions of reasons why one would want to stay with XP just like there are good reasons to upgrade to Vista. Each of them have their merits and it would be pointless to try to disprove any one of them.

But what's going to happen when its time to get another computer and the only option is Vista? Is the lack of an XP option enough to sway you to Ubuntu or OS X? According to Microsoft sales of Vista have reached 140 million copies world wide so it doesn't appear that most computer buyers mind upgrading to Vista.

But for those die hard XP users out there what are you going to do? The Grim Reaper has come for your OS.

Ever created a PowerPoint that everyone in your organization wanted a copy of? Sure you could go ahead and clog up your corporate email server with the 200MB + file or you could just convert your PowerPoint to a smaller flash file with iSpring and publish it to an internal or external website (slideboom account required) for others to view.

Converting your PowerPoint presentation to a flash movie couldn't be any easier as the iSpring installation puts the conversion buttons right in your PowerPoint menu bar. In addition to the one click conversion iSpring also allows for some customization such as generating HTML codes, looped and automatic playback, slide advance via mouse click as well as changing the duration of the slide.

iSpring comes in 3 flavors ranging from the free version which we tested on up to the Ultra version which allows the creation of E-learning content to additional playback controls. In our testing we found the free version more than adequate for most PowerPoint presentations.

So before you send that PowerPoint thru your company email, try converting it with iSpring instead.

Virtual drive software isn't new, but with the recent surge of ultra portable notebooks that do not have built in optical drives this is a good time to go over one of the free emulation software out there, Slysoft's Virtual CloneDrive.

For those that may not know, a virtual drive emulates a physical drive, in this case an optical drive. This way you can mount a disc image and use it as if a physical disc was inserted into an actual drive.

CloneDrive gives you the ability to mount up to 8 virtual drives at once. Simply right click the virtual drive under My Computer and select the image you would like to mount or just double click the image file itself.

One nice feature of CloneDrive is that it also shows a history of what's been mounted before making it easy to swap out images without the need to browse your computer.

Keep in mind that you will need to convert your CD/DVD to an image format before using CloneDrive. But once you have, loading programs are only a mouse click away.

So you're thinking, "Hey, I want to be totally irresponsible with my computer and load it up with crapware!" Really, isn't everyone getting tired of having to be so stinking responsible on the Internet all the time? We certainly are. We're ready for system protection that isn't afraid of our reckless browsing, indiscriminate downloading, and general apathy towards good computer usage habits.

...Which is why we love Windows Steady State. It creates a cache file in which your operating system operates, meaning any harmful changes can be undone by simply emptying the cache. After downloading it's a snap to install - just a few obligatory clicks and the usual EULA mumbo-jubmo and you're set.

Our first test was pretty a pretty low-intensity workout. We surfed, bookmarked, set up a POP account and downloaded a few messages, and cluttered up the desktop with a dozen or so hilariously named folders. After issuing the old Windows - U - R we waited anxiously for the system to reboot.

There it was, just as it had been before - no trace of any of our activity. The desktop was still tidy, no favorites or emails were anywhere to be seen. So far so good, but let's try some real abuse!

Ever since Windows 2000, Microsoft has included 5 handy buttons on the left hand side of most open and close dialogs in Windows. PlacesBar Editor lets you customize those folders. Just launch the open source utility and choose the folders you'd like to use. If you never store anything in your My Documents folder, for example, why not replace that button with one that says Temp or Download?

If you're worried about mucking up your system, you can take solace in the fact that PlacesBar Editor has a defaults button that will restore things to normal with the click of a button (two buttons, actually. You have to click defaults, and then save).

PlacesBar Editor also lets you add 5 additional folders or locations to the MS Office open/save dialog.

[via Lifehacker and Freeware Genius]

Remember back when the only software worth having was the kind that fit on a single floppy disk? NFReader would have fit right in. You know, if RSS and floppy disks had coexisted a bit longer. NFReader is an RSS reader for Windows that weighs in at less than 1MB. It also doesn't require installation, which makes it a perfect candidate for throwing on a USB flash drive.

You won't find a ton of features in NFReader. There's no way to tag, star, or share items. You can just mark articles as read or unread. But you do to choose whether you want to use HTML or just read the plain text versions of each article.

Like any good RSS Reader, NFReader will let you import or export OPML files. So if you typically use an online RSS reader like Google Reader or Bloglines, but want to test out a desktop reader, you can export your web-based feed list and import it in a matter of moments.

[via Lux.Et.Umbra]

If you use have a handful of portable apps on a thumb drive you'll appreciate the portable start menu.

Developed by Aignesberger Software GmbH, portable start menu will scan your thumb drive for all your executables and create a start menu accessible from your system tray.

Portable start menu can also be configured to auto run applications when the thumb drive is inserted as well as close out all your portable apps when you exit the start menu program.

Available for the Windows operating system, portable start menu can be downloaded for free at Aignes.com.

Windows 7 cannot come fast enough! The New York Times is reporting that Intel has decided against upgrading its 80,000 employees to Windows Vista. An Intel spokesperson told the Times that Vista is being tested and deployed in certain departments, but not company-wide.

Although the enterprise push to upgrade to Vista has fallen short of expectations, this is a particularly brutal blow. Intel is one of Microsoft's oldest and most important partners; both companies became industry leaders in large part because of that partnership.

Although the Times' Intel source made efforts to say that the decision wasn't about "dissing Microsoft," we doubt that will make Steve Ballmer feel any better. Can you imagine what that conversation is going to sound like?

Despite the lack of widespread corporate adoption, the install base for Windows Vista is 140 million worldwide -- hardly peanuts. Still, with large corporations declining to upgrade their systems, Microsoft has had to extend support for Windows XP through 2014.

Thanks Mike!

Since you want your computer to be as secure as it can possibly be, you have Windows set to automatically install updates as soon as they're available, right? Well, if you do, you will have noticed that Windows can be pretty pushy about wanting to restart. In fact, it will pop up a reminder every 10 minutes until you finally give in, or worse, accidentally press the space bar when the update dialog pops up and initiate a restart at the exact wrong time.

To avoid this annoying situation, check out Brad Isaac's free utility called Leave Me Alone! Leave Me Alone! allows you to temporarily turn off the restart nag window until you actually do restart. This allows you to finish what you were doing and choose when to restart, rather than being bullied into restarting at the least convenient time.

Leave Me Alone! works on both Windows XP and Windows Vista.