The fifth version of Apple's popular operating system for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad became available on Wednesday. Just last week, Chris expressed disappointment that many of the features rolling out with this new iOS release were already available to users via third party apps. While it's certainly true that many app savvy users have already managed to create the effect of integration by installing third party apps, now this integrated experience is available to anyone who wants it through the free install of iOS 5.

Installation and set-up

Installation itself requires users to have iTunes 10.5. If you have an older version of iTunes, you'll be prompted to install that update before you can install iOS 5 on any of your devices.

Once the iTunes update is installed, you can begin the process of updating your device to iOS 5. It's never a bad idea to back-up your iTunes library and the other files on your device before moving forward. While there are messages assuring you that a back-up will be performed automatically, it's better to be on the safe side in case an unexpected error occurs (which I actually experienced the first time I tried to install the new operating system on my iPad).

Once properly installed, iOS 5 set-up is a snap. You'll be guided through a series of prompts as to whether you'd like to use iCloud, sign in with an Apple ID and even activate the Find My iPad service that helps locate your iPad in the event that you misplace it. After you answer those basic questions, you're done and iOS 5 is yours to explore.

Most users use the Android Market to download and install their applications.  But what if you have an .apk file you want to install manually via Windows XP?

The Android Application Package File (apk) is the native file format to Android.  It is the package of installer and program files rolled into one simple format.

I recently had this problem with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 4G LTE tablet that I use here at Softonic in San Francisco.  My HTC Thunderbolt is recognized by Windows XP and I can use Windows Explorer to control my music (though now with Music WithMe, I sync wirelessly from iTunes).

The problem that arose was the Galaxy Tab is not recognized as a removable device in Windows XP.  It’s recognized through the Android SDK, but not in Windows OS.  So what happens when you need to install an apk, but the device is not recognized by Windows XP?

Apple’s “Let’s Talk iPhone” keynote is over and CEO Tim Cook (with friends) talked about the new roll-out of products and features.

But with all the hype around the next new iPhone - which is actually the iPhone 4S and not the iPhone 5 - did anything really amazing come out of it for users?

Our Mobile Lead Expert James Thornton already talked about how to get many of the features of iOS 5 through different apps, but since iOS 5 presents a unified package, there are something things worth noting.

The unveiling and response to Microsoft's Windows 8 was impressive.  Displaying a radically different and user friendly interface, Windows 8 contains two versions of the upcoming Internet Explorer 10.

The focus on a unified visual experience that parallels on both computers and tablets, Windows 8 takes its cues from Windows Phone 7.

The big news is that the two versions of Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) contain the same core functionality, but IE10 Metro contains one large difference - a lack of browser plug-ins in favor of HTML5. Not to say that IE10 has done away with Adobe Flash and other plug-ins, as the legacy version of IE10 will continue to support browser plug-ins.

In IE10 Metro, the browser is built with HTML5 in mind. IE10 Metro is directed towards both mobile devices increasing functionality with lower power consumption - a known issue with Flash and a whole new browsing experience in Windows 8. It should also be noticed that Microsoft's own Silverlight would not be supported in IE10 Metro.

The reasoning behind the lack of support in the browser was said to be for extending battery life for mobile devices and improving security for systems overall.

Metro IE10 is a different way to experience internet browsing and could be the first big step for Microsoft in moving past their stagnant user interface inside old Windows OS to Windows 8.

Windows 8 Developer Preview, which has been made available for download today, comes as an ISO file and can be installed and tested with Virtualbox to avoid harming your computer. But if you're too lazy even to try a new operating system in a virtual environment, here's a collection of screenshots we've taken while testing Windows 8 .

Windows 8 Developer Preview, a very early testing version of Windows 8 mainly addressed at software developers, is already available for download. You can choose between the 32-bit, 64-bit and 64-bit with development tools, and test it as much as you like until November 3rd, 2012 - the preview's expiration date. Hardware requirements are the same for the three versions: a 1-GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM memory and 16 GB of free space in your hard drive. Not too much to ask for these days.

The Preview is offered as an ISO file, which you can burn to a DVD or mount as a drive in Virtualbox. Bear in mind though that some machines may have serious hardware compatibility issues - which, on the other hand, will allow you to enjoy the new Windows 8 blue screen of death. Now it's a much more humane error message!

If you manage to install the preview, you'll get a first preview of some of the new features included in Windows 8, including the new Ribbon-ed Windows Manager we mentioned on the blog earlier on, and the Windows Live syncing feature.

BlackBerry has revamped its app store in an effort to make it easier for users to find and install apps. BlackBerry App World 3.0, available to download from today, includes a redesigned user interface and other new features. Changes to the official BlackBerry store include:

• Redesigned home screen
• Introduction of new categories and sections to help find apps more quickly
• Swipe between app summaries, screenshots and reviews from within one screen
• Recommend apps to your friends via Twitter, Facebook, email, BlackBerry Messenger or SMS
• My Account feature added to home screen for managing payment options more easily
• More search options, including the ability to filter by app name, price, rating, newest, best match or popular
• New My World features give a streamlined view of installed apps along with the ability to manage subscription content and services

Parallels has released the latest version of its virtual environment software. Current users can upgrade now and new users can purchase the full version on September 6th. You can download a trial however already and try it out for yourself. Note that you have to request a trial license key using the "Get Trial" button on the lower left side of the start-up dialog when you install the trial.

Parallels will also be releasing apps for iPhone and Android that allow you to control the virtual environment from your mobile device.

Parallels claims that version 7 streamlines switching between OS X and Windows so that it feels like a much more natural experience, blurring the line between the two operating systems. Paralells CEO Birger Steen said of version 7:

As Macs have become more popular than ever, a growing number of Mac users, including enterprises, find they need to run critical Windows programs on their Macs," he said. "Parallels Desktop 7 lets you run popular apps like Windows Internet Explorer, Access, OneNote, Quicken and more, even the most demanding graphical programs, without rebooting and without compromise on speed and usability.

Parallels also claims that it's 6o percent faster than version 6 with Windows sleep and resume now taking seconds. Other improvements include faster copying of files and a security protection feature to stop potential Window's viruses from damaging files you want to use in OS X.

Users who have already purchased Parallels 6 after August 1st will be able to upgrade to version 7 for free. All other users will be charged $59.95 to upgrade. New users can buy a Standard version ($89.95) or Student Version ($59.95). There will also be a special "Switch to Mac" edition for $119.95 which will include a USB cable to transfer files and a 2 hour beginners guide for switching to Mac.

Download Parallels Desktop 7.

Microsoft has unveiled a few interesting details about the future File Explorer in Windows 8. The most outstanding new feature is, undoubtedly, the addition of the ribbon interface.

Explorer in Windows 3.1

Explorer in Windows 8

The decision to apply a ribbon to the Windows default file manager hasn’t been taken lightly. As explained on its blog, Microsoft has done a lot of research about the most commonly used commands in Explorer, and the way users access them. After studying the results of this analysis, ribbon was clearly the best choice for the new interface in Explorer, for several reasons: it lets you display the most important commands in prominent locations while also exposing loads of other minor tools, organizes commands conveniently in handy groups and it follows the design line opened by Office and Microsoft Paint, making it easier for people to get used to the new interface.

Even with the previous announcement that Nokia was going to focus on Windows Phone, it's nice to see the company didn't forget its existing Symbian users.

The new update, Symbian Anna, is available on Nokia N8, Nokia E7, Nokia C7, and Nokia C6-01. The update brings a lot of good changes to the phones including:

The delivery schedule of the new update has not been released, but will depend on the market that users are in.

Apple upset many users with the decision not to release a hard copy of Lion in case of system crashes and hardware failure. It's no surprise then that one user has come up with a solution in the form of Lion Disk Maker - a free tool which creates a Lion recovery disk on a 4GB pen drive.

With it, you can perform a new installation of Lion without the need to download it again from the Apple Mac App Store. This is a big advantage over Apple's recently released Lion Recovery Disk Assistant which doesn't create a hard copy of Lion - it merely creates a partition of Lion on a USB stick. Lion Disk Maker creates a Lion installation file from the Lion DMG file that you originally download from the App Store when you installed it. All you need is a USB stick or external drive of at least 4GB and Lion Disk Maker extracts enough data to create a bootable version of Lion.

How does it work?

Lion Disk Maker uses Spotlight to automatically scan your Mac for the Lion-installation file. Unlike Apple's official Lion Recovery Disk Assistant all you need is the USB stick to restore Lion - no Internet connection is needed to re-download Lion unlike with Apple's tool.

What if I don't have my Lion DMG file anymore?

No problem. You can simply re-download it from the App Store. Simply go into purchase history and click on OS X Lion while holding the option key to start a new download of Lion. Since you've already paid for it once, you won't be charged for it again.

Lion Disk Maker is an excellent tool that creates a reliable bootable recovery disk for Lion. In contrast to Apple's solution, it's much better because it creates a hard copy of Lion which you can boot your Mac from.

Download Lion Disk Maker.

Good news for those that want a hard copy of Lion in the event of catastrophe - Apple have decided to issue a Lion Recovery Disk Assistant which allows you to create a backup partition of Lion on any external hard drive. All you need is a USB stick or external drive with at least 1GB of space on it.

The tool will allow users that suffer total hard drive failure to recover their system. Currently, Lion creates a recovery partition on your hard drive when you install it but that's not much use to you if your entire hard drive fails.

The new Lion Recovery Disk Assistant will allow you to reinstall Lion, repair the hard drive using Disk Utility, restore Lion from Time Machine or just browse the web with Safari. Note however that it does not create a Lion recovery USB stick/DVD - it simply creates a partition onto which you can redownload Lion from the Apple store and restore Lion to your system.

To use it, simply download Lion Recovery Disk Assistant, connect an external drive or USB stick to your Mac, launch the assistant, select the drive where you would like to install, and follow the on screen instructions. Voila, you've got a hard copy of Lion to restore it from in case of hard drive failure.

Note that when the process is complete, the new partition will not be visible in Finder or Disk Utility. To access Lion Recovery, reboot the computer while holding the Option key and then select Recovery HD from the Startup Manager.

Download Lion Recovery Disk Assistant here.

Although I prefer OS X to Windows I still have to work with Micr0soft's OS everyday. Luckily I use Windows 7, which is a great operating system overall - especially when compared to its predecessor Vista. The only problem is that it has quite high system requirements, and if I try to use it on my virtual machine it gets really sluggish.

If you too are having performance problems with your Windows 7 machine, here's a trick that can help you improve it. The trick implies giving up on some of Windows 7 graphical beauty, but it's a little sacrifice compared to a noticeable improvement in system's responsiveness. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Open the Start menu, right-click on Computer and select Properties.

2. A window with information about your system will open up on the desktop. Click on the Advanced system settings options in the sidebar.

3. In the System Properties window, select the Advanced tab. This will display a list of all the visual effects you can easily turn off to improve Windows 7 performance. These visual effects are not a core part of the system - just eye candy.

There are four ways you can adjust these settings: you can let Windows decide what's best for your computer based on your configuration, select the elements you want to turn off by yourself, or choose between two adjustment templates: one for best appearance and one for best performance. My advice is to either turn all of them off, or manually pick a few essential items. After all, a fast, responsive computer is preferable to one that looks gorgeous but takes ages to open a window!

So you've upgraded to Lion, got all excited, but then found that important applications like Microsoft Office and Adobe Flash aren't working properly. We did try and warn you but don't worry - bugs like this are normal with a new OS release and updates will surely be released in the next few weeks and months to fix them. However, if Lion is making your life hell, you can always downgrade back to Snow Leopard in a few simple steps.

1. Backup your files to an external drive

Make sure you've got a backup of your files using a tool such as Time Machine, SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner. If the last time you backed-up on Time Machine was with Snow Leopard, your life will be a bit easier. If you've overwirtten it since then with a Lion backup however, you'll find that you can't restore a Lion Time Machine backup in Snow Leopard because of comptability problems. In this case, just drag your user folder (Macintosh HD/Users) from Lion into an external drive and then you can just drag it back into Snow Leopard. Note that it's important to backup to an external drive because shortly, you'll be wiping your hard drive.

2. Boot from a Snow Leopard Disk

Insert the Snow Leopard disk. Shut-down your Mac, switch it back on and hold down the "Option" key and select Snow Leopard.

Mozilla have announced plans to launch a 100% open source web based operating system using the same "Gecko" engine that drives Firefox. "Boot to Gecko" will be developed as a rival to Google's own semi open-source operating system project "Chrome OS" and will also eventually work on Android phones. In a post on the Mozilla Wiki, the company says it aims to provide a completely open source alternative to both Chrome OS and Android:

Mozilla believes that the web can displace proprietary, single-vendor stacks for application development. To make open web technologies a better basis for future applications on mobile and desktop alike, we need to keep pushing the envelope of the web to include - and in places exceed - the capabilities of the competing stacks in question.

Mozilla plan to release the source code in real time and have said that it will also include some low-level Android code so that it runs on Android phones. In a discussion forum, one of the developers stated that the ultimate aim of Boot to Gecko is to "break the stranglehold of proprietary technologies over the mobile device world."

It's certainly an ambitious move by Mozilla and you'd hope that they eventually come up with a more snappy name for it than "Boot to Gecko". Mozilla will also have their work seriously cut-out if they are to rival Windows and OS X considering that Google's Chrome OS has barely made a dent so far.