Reviews of SRWare Iron and ChromePlus
I have tried both SRWare Iron and ChromePlus, though not using as primary web browser.
I compare the both software based on my personal preference:
| ChromePlus | SRWare Iron |
|---|---|
| Chromium Beta (4.0) | Chromium 3.0 |
| Bookmark syncing | No bookmark syncing |
| Install extension | Cannot install extension |
| Mouse gesture | No mouse gesture |
| Cannot play WMA | Can play WMA with Windows Media Player |
| Clear history and etc on exit | Cannot clear history on exit |
| But difficult to empty cache, needs to go to option | Easier to clear cache from the “Wrench” iron |
| AdBlock Plus | No AdBlock |
| Able to disable/enable Javascript and Java | Cannot disable Javascript and Java |
Because of the WMA problem, I prefer SRWare Iron. But I think these features can all be integrated in future, because Chromium 4.0 is still in beta version.
Everything Internet - Cloud computing
Now, technology aims to cloud computing because of the importance of social networks. Especially the services like Facebook and Twitter. Besides, Google produces Chrome OS so that everything can be done through Internet. No installation of office suite, one can create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc.
Next, synchronization of the documents, bookmarks, personal profile or profile setting becomes important also. Google Chrome 4.0 provides built-in bookmark syncing.
Not only Google Chrome, but Opera 10.10 also provides similar feature: Opera Link and Opera Unite. Opera Unite allows file sharing; Opera Link allows syncing bookmark and other settings.
Google Chrome again
Previously on Allen’s Blog (I like this phrase), I talked about Google Chrome alternative.
There are more, Portable Chrome from PortableApps and ChromePlus. Now I am trying on ChromePlus, it uses Chromium 4.0. That means it can install with the extensions like Firefox. Maybe the extension developers will port the Firefox extensions to Chrome, then Chrome can act like Firefox.

Adding the AddThis button in post
I just tried out adding the AddThis button in the post. If you want to create the AddThis button, just go to AddThis, and follow step by step and you will get a code for AddThis button.

The Windows Installer service could not be accessed
I always got this type of message in Windows XP when installing with MSI:
The Windows Installer service could not be accessed
But this occurs on my friend’s PC. So, I tried to start the service Windows Installer service. And the message shown:
Could not start the Windows Installer service on Local Computer.
Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a
timely fashion
Managing your data
I really like Unix philosophy:
Data dominates. If you have chosen the right data structures and organized things well, the algorithms will almost always be self-evident. Data structures, not algorithms, are central to programming. [link]
Yes, I used to install all the programs to the Windows > Program Files. And I found that the data is always saved in My Documents. And the settings of the programs are stored in user profile application data. This is very annoyance when I needed to format and reinstall the Windows. Because My Documents is in C:. Though we can move My Documents to other location, I did not do so. Because not everything in My Documents is what I want. Most of them just created by the programs. Very annoyance.
The growth of PortableApps.com
If you like portable applications, surely you know about PortableApps.com. I think the most prominent projects of the website are OppenOffice Portable, Firefox Portable, and GIMP Portable. But recently, since I subscribed the RSS, there are more and more new applications in PortableApps.com, such as the game like “Frets on Fire”, the online game “The Mana World”, etc.
This is very interesting. Portability is a very convenient feature because this allows us to bring our applications by using a USB pendrive. And sometimes, we need administrative privilege to install the applications. But portable applications just let us extract it, then we can run the applications anywhere.
COMODO Firewall uninstall problem
A very bad experience for me to upgrade COMODO Firewall. The update was slow. So I decided to download the latest version installation file.
Then tried to install from the latest version. And the installation detected the existing of the older version. I was asked to uninstall the older version. Right, I uninstalled it. Then I was asked to restart the computer. But I didn’t restart. (I know, this was my fault). Then I continued installing the latest version. Finally, restarted the computer.
Firefox "reformat"
Previously I said that Firefox is just like an OS (Operating System), with the add-ons like the applications. If this is the metaphor, then all the bookmarks will be the important files that we own.
Sometimes I will reformat the harddisk and reinstall Windows due to some error, registry corruption, virus infection, some unexpected performance, etc.
And recently, I found that my Firefox have some problems. When the Firefox opened for a long time, 2 or 3 hours, there will be a high CPU usage. Which hinders me to work properly. I don’t know what happened, may be add-ons. I tried to uninstall some of the add-ons, but the problem still there. So, the final solution is “reformat” it.