• Crysis DirectX 10 performance gain up to 20%
• Crysis Warhead DirectX 10 performance gain up to 20%
• World in Conflict gains up to 5%
• There are also multiple bugs resolved, both in the CCC (Catalyst Control Center) and in various games like Call of Duty 4.

Download: ATI Catalyst 9.2 drivers

Download: ATI Catalyst 9.2 hotfix for HD2000 and HD3000 cards

• Recommended for the best experience in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.
• Boosts performance in several 3D applications. The following are examples of improvements measured with Release 182.06 WHQL drivers vs. Release 181.22 WHQL drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
  • Up to 8% performance increase in Fallout 3 at high resolution and AA.
  • Up to 10% performance increase in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.
  • Up to 9% performance increase in Half-Life 2 at high resolution with AA.
  • Up to 11% performance increase in Left 4 Dead at high resolution with AA.
  • Up to 10% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID at high resolution and AA
• Includes full support for OpenGL 3.0 on GeForce 8-series, 9-series, and 200-series GPUs.
• Automatically installs the new PhysX System Software version 9.09.0203.

Download : nVidia ForceWare 182.06 for Windows XP 32-bit

Download : nVidia ForceWare 182.06 for Windows XP 64-bit

Download : nVidia ForceWare 182.06 for Windows Vista 32-bit

Download : nVidia ForceWare 182.06 for Windows Vista 64-bit

Microsoft

DirectX Runtime Download (this download installs any versions of DirectX you may not have)

November 2008 Only Download (just get the latest version)

Wakoopa recently began to track web apps as well as desktop apps, so websites like Zoho will show up in your tracked software. Funnily enough, the guys who run Wakoopa noticed that web apps seem to slowly be overtaking their desktop counterparts, likely because of laptops that have limited hard drive space and peoples’ attempts to speed up their computer by running less software.

So if you’re looking for a free desktop and web tracking application that comes with a pretty interface, give Wakoopa a try.

Scour+, developed by myself, solves two problems with one script. It makes Scour have a fixed width, meaning that widescreen users have an easier time reading the search results. It also removes any and every sponsored ad, making Scour better than every to search with.

Before and After:

To use Scour+, you’ll have to be using Firefox with the Stylish installed, which is an awesome addon that lets users customize the way their browsers view webpages, and it can modify Firefox itself too. You can view more styles at Userstyles.org, where Scour+ is hosted.

I personally think Battle.net is good enough to last us another 10 years, but with the release of Diablo III and Starcraft II, some technical and visual updates are of course necessary. Blizzard has not released the dates for the conversion to Battle.net v2.0, but we know it will be soon, with the release of Diablo III (not for sure) and Starcraft II somewhere in 2009, hopefully not much longer! Among some of the features of Battle.net II are:

• Excellent Ping (fast connections)
• Channels and Chat in-game
• Ladders and Rankings, secured against cheating.
• Extended stats, with possibility to see who D/C etc (source)
• Automatic/Anonymous Matchmaking
• Avatars, Images and Icons to represent yourself
• Diablo III Hardcore mode
• Friends/Ignore Lists with advanced management (see accounts below)
• Clan Support
• Automated Tournaments

Here are some screenshots of games that currently use Battle.net:

Chrome uses a different method behind it’s tab system. Instead of opening each tab under the same process, and lagging the computer as well as consuming memory, some of which cannot be reused until you restart, Chrome opens each tab in a new process. In this way, if one tab goes faulty, the whole browser doesn’t crash, just the tab. If you prefer to use tabs over windows, this is the browser for you. If you prefer to use windows over tabs, this is the browser for you. It’s unique drag and drop design allows you to separate tabs into windows, and windows back into tabs again. This is all done at a quick speed, and there is no lag time involved.

However, this does not solve all the problems of lag with the browser. I find that if you have windows of a different type open, such as an instant messenger, a word document or something that isn’t Google Chrome, then I’ve found that the computer will freeze up for a few seconds, but as far as speed and lag times go, that is my only complaint. I have had every webpage open faster than I had seen them open with Firefox, even with Fasterfox installed and running.

The second topic is plug-ins. This is something I’ve missed dearly, even over just one day of usage. I miss things I had on Firefox, such as some auto-complete things, and the themes. Though there are no special looks for the browser yet, seeing as it’s open-source I’m sure you can expect to see some showing up within the month. The look of the browser is very sleek and stylish, just as the name Chrome implies. It has no huge words telling you Google made it, only a small logo in the top right corner next to the minimize, close and maximize buttons. Unlike other browsers, everything is kept small and discrete and inside your one window. There are no extra search bars, no downloads windows, and no pop-ups. The search bar is the same as the URL bar, downloads are confined to a small bar at the bottom that disappears when nothing has been or is in the process of being downloaded, and popups are put in a small box in the bottom right corner of the tab they came from. This keeps browsing easy, simpler, and faster.

Google Chrome is still in beta (like everything else on Google), and so it still includes bugs and lag fixes that need to be corrected, but as of yet, it is already a faster browser than any you have seen before. The production team borrowed from different browsers as well, such as Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Safari. They also used Webkit as a basis for the speed found in the browser. The way that Chrome handles Javascript increases its speed by about 2 times or more what another browser can pull off. Instead of parsing code, and checking for errors, and seeing how well it will run, Chrome uses V8, which changes it directly into machine code that it can compile and run quickly and effectively.

Google Chrome has many protection levels against malware, spyware and phishing as well. When a program tries to install something you don’t want or didn’t ask for, Chrome won’t let it install or look at any files on your computer, your desktop or anything at all you didn’t specifically give it permission to go through. There is also protection against sites of that sort (known as phishing sites).

The last thing Google added was “gears“.  Gears are too difficult to explain, so I’ll keep it simple. Gears are used to help make browsers more helpful and useful to developers, making life better for everyone.

All in all, Google Chrome is not worth switching to from Firefox yet, but in a few months to about a year or two, it could be. Its also possible that the browser flops, and goes nowhere (which is unlikely, looking at Google’s track record).  Only time will tell. All I can say is give it a try, you might find the sleek look and quick loading times good for you if you can live without your add-ons and themes.

• Explosions that cause dust and collateral debris
• Characters with complex, jointed geometries for more life-like motion and interaction
• Realistic weather effects, with forces such as tornadoes directly modifying the world
• Cloth that drapes and tears naturally
• Dense smoke & fog that billow around objects in motion

The Force Within Power Pack itself comes with a slew of games and programs to make use of the PhysX technology. From the Unreal Tournament 3 PhysX mod to Folding@Home, the pack will hopefully continue to be a showcase of ground-breaking games, mods, and programs. You can stay up-to-date on future nVidia news at The Pxl Lab.

The great thing about Scour is how you can earn money for searching exactly like you used to with Google, and the results are better too. Scour makes money by sponsored links like Google does, but instead of keeping all the money to themselves, they want to say thanks to their loyal users with a little cash present.

For Firefox users: If you would like to make Scour your default search engine in the URL bar, type in “about:config”, search for “keyword” in the filter bar, then change the “keyword.URL” value to “http://scour.com/search/web/” without the quotes. Have fun with Scour!

DirectX Runtime Download (this download installs any versions of DirectX you may not have)

August 2008 Only Download (just get the latest version)