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As part of Mozilla Corporation’s ongoing stability and security update process, Firefox 2.0.0.11 is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux for free download from http://getfirefox.com.

We strongly recommend that all Firefox users upgrade to this latest release. If you already have Firefox 2.x, you will receive an automated update notification within 24 to 48 hours. This update can also be applied manually by selecting “Check for Updates” from the Help menu.

For a list of changes and more information, please review the Firefox 2.0.0.11 Release Notes.

If you are still running Firefox 1.5.0.x, you are highly encouraged to upgrade to the Firefox 2 series as Mozilla ceased supporting Firefox 1.5.0.x in May 2007. Simply choose “Check for Updates” from the Help menu to begin the upgrade process.

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Apparently someone is listening to my cry, and those of the chained masses with Microsoft Windows Mobile phones. Firefox has confirmed it is working on first a Linux version, followed by Windows Mobile 6 version. No timeframe has been given.

Christian Serjersen of Mozilla tells us through his blog that a Symbian version will come down the line as well. He lays out the goals of the program as:

1. provide Mozilla’s standards-based open-source browser engine, optimized for mobile, that can be embedded by device manufacturers and others;
2. a full-featured mobile browser including support for XUL-based add-ons, delivering on Firefox’s key principles of ease-of-use, security and accessibility;
3. grow the Mozilla community in the mobile space;
4. provide tools and documentation to help developers develop, debug and deploy web applications;
5. do all of this work in the shared Mozilla source repositories so all platforms, desktop and mobile benefit each other

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As part of Mozilla Corporation’s ongoing stability and security update process, Firefox 2.0.0.10 is now available for Windows, Mac, and Linux for free download from http://getfirefox.com.

We strongly recommend that all Firefox users upgrade to this latest release. If you already have Firefox 2.x, you will receive an automated update notification within 24 to 48 hours. This update can also be applied manually by selecting “Check for Updates…” from the Help menu starting now.

For a list of changes and more information, please review the Firefox 2.0.0.10 Release Notes.

If you are still running Firefox 1.5.0.x, you are highly encouraged to upgrade to the Firefox 2 series as Mozilla ceased supporting Firefox 1.5.0.x in May 2007. Simply choose “Check for Updates…” from the Help menu to begin the upgrade process.

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You may not be able to download Windows XP Service Pack 3 yet without resorting to risky registry hacks, but software developers at Devil Mountain Software took a beta of the upcoming service pack for a spin, and they like what they saw.

In a nutshell, Devil Mountain reports that they saw a 10 percent performance boost over Windows XP SP2. Microsoft has said SP3’s primary purpose is to provide enhanced security and bug fixes. So the speed boost is a bit of an unexpected cherry on top.

Devil Mountain has also been putting Windows Vista SP1 through the paces, and while the software update does improve hardware compatibility and reliability, users running SP1 will not notice any performance boost.

On the bright side, the Vista update doesn’t seem to slow Vista down any. But Devil Mountain reports that Vista is about 2 times slower than XP according to the company’s benchmarking tests.

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Windows only: Normally not-free screenshot application SnagIt is being given away in a slightly older version for free—good news for technical writers and others who want to upgrade beyond the PrtSc key. Tech blog Digital Inspiration has the details of how to get a fully-unlocked version of SnagIt, which maker TechSmith hopes will entice users into upgrading to version 8.2 at half price. But 7.2 still has a number of nifty features, including capturing entire scrolled windows, arrows and other annotation tools and “profiles” to save certain size shots in specific folders and the like. SnagIt 7.2 is (currently) a free download for Windows systems only.

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Once upon a time, AutoPatcher was the go to program for downloading and installing Windows Updates without connecting to Microsoft’s servers. Say you’ve got a bunch of PCs that you need to update and you don’t want to take the time to connect each to the internet and download updates one by one. Just use AutoPatcher, download the latest updates, burn the results to a CD and carry it from computer to computer.

But a few months back Microsoft effectively shut down the AutoPatcher project, saying that you could only install Windows Updates from Windows servers.

Now the AutoPatcher team is back, with a new utility that downloads updates directly from Microsoft’s servers. AutoPatcher Updater is still in early beta, but it appears that the developers are getting around Microsoft’s objections by requiring you to download updates on on the machine which you are updating. You can’t make those updates portable by burning them to a CD for carrying from PC to PC. Once you’ve downloaded the updates, you can run AutoPatcher.exe to install them. While this might all sound a lot like the built in Windows Update utility, the new AutoPatcher at least gives you a bit more control over your updates.

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The first real, official, and honest to-goodness beta release of Firefox 3 is out. You know, not like that little false alarm pre-beta version we told you about a few weeks ago.

Still, the main differences between this beta and that pre-release copy are that the Firefox team has spent a few more weeks hammering out bugs. The feature set is pretty much what we knew it would be.

• 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’re still not quite ready to replace Firefox 2 with an admittedly still buggy beta. But it’s pretty exciting to see where Mozilla is going with its flagship web browser.

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Things do not look good for Vonage. Yesterday, they lost their request for reconsideration of their settlement with Verizon. This means Vonage owes Verizon $120 million to end the patent lawsuit filed against them. The costs associated with defending the case have cut into Vonage’s bottom line, and despite attempts to cut costs by laying off 10% of their workforce, they may be unable to make a payment against their debt come December. According to the settlement, Vonage will pay $117.5 million to Verizon and another $2.5 million dollars to charity. Vonage’s shares have dropped 87% since their IPO, now hovering around $1.50 per share.

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Stardock announced DeskScapes 2.0 today. DeskScapes is a program that allows users of Windows Vista to have animated wallpaper on their desktop.

DeskScapes 1.0 was released earlier this year exclusively for Windows Vista Ultimate users. It supports playing video content as animated wallpaper, dynamic content as animated wallpaper, and more.

DeskScapes 2.0 will run on all versions of Windows Vista that can run Aero (Windows Home Premium, Ultimate, Business). What makes DeskScapes special is that it can run animated wallpaper and use virtually no CPU and very little memory.

DeskScapes also supports the .DREAM format for animated wallpapers which allow for user configuration of individual animated wallpapers, triggers, author info, and more. You can see a gallery of .DREAM files here.

DeskScapes 2.0 will be released in February 2008 to the general public. A freely downloable version will be available as well as an enhanced registered version for $19.95 which will also come with Object Desktop. A beta version will be available to Object Desktop users shortly.