Beginning March 1st, Google’s tipping over the dominoes and starting the phase-out of Internet Explorer 6. March 1st begins Google’s drop for IE 6 support in regards to Google Docs and Google Sites. “As a result, you may find that from March 1 key functionality within these products — as well as new Docs and Sites features — won’t work properly in older browsers,” says Google.

March 13th begins (Google-owned) YouTube’s drop of IE6. “The latest YouTube interstitial (messaging) is part of a campaign to encourage users to update their browsers in order to enhance their overall site experience,” notes the YouTube blog. And, as forewarned, Google will also be dropping IE6 support for Gmail and other Google Apps sometime in 2010.

So, what’s a web surfer to do? I channel Beyonce when I say I’m going to “introduce you to some new things and upgrade you, I can up, can I up, let me upgrade you.” Upgrade to a more modern browser! Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox are all great choices. There’s also Opera and Safari.

Yay? Nay? According to Ars Technica, IE6 held 1/5th of the browser market early this year — not too surprising since Windows XP came packaged with the product. This may be largely due to the fact that many IT departments haven’t made that upgrade decision yet. But lots of people, including a numerous web developers and designers, despise the outdated browser and some have even come together via the “Hey IT” group.

Aten Design Group, a Denver-based design company with a sense of humor, will be bidding farewell to IE6 on March 4th. The funeral services will be held at their offices.

Come mix and mingle with Denver’s top IE6 mourners. We’ll have a special time of remembrance, a round of IE6 darts, and plenty of food & drinks.

Alright SND fans, we need your input. With the April 15th Tax deadline looming, we want to know how YOU file your taxes. There are plenty of different ways to get the job done, as outlined in our tax filing guide. But what has your experience been?

Do you prefer one of the boxed software solutions, like the heavily advertised TurboTax by Intuit or the H&R Block At Home series (formerly Tax Cut)? Or do you like the ease of an online-based program such as TaxACT? There are other options, too. OnePriceTaxes is delivered electronically to your email. You could visit a professional tax preparer. Or there’s always the old fashioned paper & pen method.

Do you have a preference? Have you had any bad encounters with a filing method? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think, and be entered to win a $25 SoftwareMedia.com Gift Card.

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The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games start tonight. I’m completely psyched! Although I’ll be out at dinner during the opening ceremonies, I plan on recording the event on my good ol’ VCR. I know, I know… old school. But I don’t have a fancy phone that could stream live content…

For those of you on the go (with fancy phone in tow or laptop or what not), here’s a gather guide of how to enjoy your Olympics sans the television set.

NBCOlympics.com
The obvious choice for those of us in the United States. Although most of NBC’s coverage will only be aired on TV (advertising revenue), there’s a handful of video content on their just-the-Olympics website. Tonight, they are also blogging live throughout the opening ceremonies.

More of where to Watch the Vancounver 2010 Olympic Games >>

Are you “considering replacing your battery” since you’ve upgraded to Windows 7? Then decided to wait it out to see what Microsoft’s testing would uncover? Well, a blog article from Microsoft revealed that they “see nothing more than the normal course of battery degradation over time.”

The blog reminds us that “batteries usually have a warranty of 12 months, which is about the length of time when statistically we expect to see noticeable degradation.” And goes on to explain how Windows 7 calculates the battery life… Basically, the threshold is set at a 40% performing capacity or 60% degradation. If a battery originally had 5 hours of charge, it would now deliver an average 2 hours of charge. If a battery fails to perform at 40% capacity, the warning message appears. When testing systems that displayed the warning message, Microsoft concluded, “we’re simply seeing batteries that are not performing above the designated threshold.”

The test report discovered “only a very small percentage of users are receiving the ‘Consider replacing your battery’ notification, and as expected, we are seeing systems older than ~1.5 years.” However, if you’re still having issues contrary to these findings, Microsoft encourages you to send it in. TechNet, Microsoft Answers forum or the Microsoft Support page are their suggested means for reporting problems.

Andrew, our graphic designer here at SoftwareMedia.com, put together an animation tutorial using Adobe Flash and Adobe Fireworks (after much pushing and nagging from me, I admit). Learn how to apply motion to objects in Flash by using the classic tween feature.

If Andrew starts to bug the crap out of you, click on the image above to get him to stop waving and bobbing. Don’t worry, I got annoyed too — so I made sure he built in that click to bring things to a halt. Just kidding, Andrew… you rock, for making this tutorial….

Flash and Fireworks Animation Tutorial after the break >>

Ina Fried over at CNET’s Beyond Binary blog posted a tip about a “technology guarantee” for Microsoft Office 2010. Cut straight to the chase, Ina reports how Microsoft may be offering a tech guarantee (later purchases of a product about to head for the grave are given a free upgrade to the inevitable new product being released soon) for those that buy Microsoft Office 2007 from March 5 to September 30. The tip was a quickly concealed leak from an Microsoft employee and Microsoft does not confirm anything, but it’s likely to hold true. Read the Beyond Binary post for full details.

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Do you want to upgrade your Vista or Windows XP computer to a Windows 7 system? But you don’t want to spend the money for a new computer? Past versions of the Windows operating system have all grown “more resource-hungry than the last,” reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Each time a PC user wanted the latest Windows system, that user usually had to buy a new, better computer — more RAM, better processor, etc., whatever the need may be for running the new Windows system. Then came the acclaimed Windows 7 OS.

Zazz, an online retailer, refurbishes a number of computers running Windows XP. And since “Customers started asking how these computers would run Windows 8,” Zazz media manager Scott Lewis had his team run a few tests. The results of his tests? Upgrade to Windows 7 already! Upgrading is especially recommended for computers running a dual-core processor and at least 2GB of RAM. However, those with less are also encouraged to upgrade. Surprisingly “Photoshop ran faster on Windows 7 even with 1GB or RAM,” says Lewis.

If you’re ready to upgrade, be sure to read Jeremy’s post on Windows 7 Upgrade Eligibility and Paths. Also, check out the Sydney Morning Herald article for more information on Lewis’ findings and a few useful links.

Take the Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition “20-Minute” Challenge: fully deploy the software in just 20 minutes. At the CRN Test Labs, Endpoint Protection SBE was installed in 16 minutes. How long does it take you?

More information about the product may be found at the Symantec website. There’s also a quick blog breaking down the challenge.

If you just want to start the timer, the product is available for download here. The product is limited 30-day trialware, but once you’re convinced and ready to commit SoftwareMedia.com is ready for you. Feel free to hit up our licensing specialists and take advantage of our software licensing price guarantee!

Have you been having issues with your battery and Windows 7 loaded laptop? Is your new, fully charged battery telling you to “Consider replacing your battery”? Well, you aren’t the only one. Engadget already has proof that something is wrong. And The Register posted an article just last week about the frustrations of Windows 7 users. After several months of this issue floating about, Microsoft is finally playing the same tune of their Windows 7 ads: listening to customer feedback.

“We are investigating this issue in conjunction with our hardware partners, which appears to be related to system firmware,” said a Microsoft rep. Fairly useless at this point for solving the issue, but Microsoft reassures its users that information will be provided as it becomes available.

At a lost for which backup software to use? CA’s ARCserve Backup and Symantec’s Backup Exec have been top contenders when it comes to company backup software. But, according to an independent study conducted by Productive Corp., ARCserve “clearly” surpasses Backup Exec’s features and technology.

The two products were compared in “9 categories to help you uncover the right solution for your data backup needs.” Productive points out that although “these two data backup and storage products are relatively similar in function,” the differences in features are made evident in the product comparison. These features include the nine categories: “ease of install,” “ease of use,” “scalability,” “performance,” “cost,” “data security,” “supported systems,” “customer service,” and “extra value.” The review also concludes ARCserve being a better return on investment product.

Continue reading a comparison between ARCserve and Backup Exec >>