It has been over a year since Google released the initial beta version of its Chrome Web browser software. The Chrome browser was taken out of beta, then put back into beta, and finally taken back out of beta a few months ago. Until now, though, there has not been a version of Chrome for Mac OS X users.

That is about to change...mostly. Google has set a deadline to release a Mac OS X-compatible version of the Chrome Web browser by the end of 2009. However, in order to meet that deadline it is eliminating features that are found in the current Windows version.

Today is Cyber Monday--the online equivalent of the brick and mortar retail Black Friday holiday shopping launch. There are a lot of great deals out there for things like iPods, but there are also a number of deals out there .

Here are five of the hottest items for budget-savvy business professionals:

Rumors are circulating that the next generation iPhone may actually already exist. Log data captured by analytics firm PinchMedia related to the iBart app have identified the existence of an iPhone 3.1. That is literally the only fact backing this rumor, but it hasn't slowed down speculation of what the next iPhone might entail.

Let's start with what's known. Analytic data collected for Pandav's iBart app captured information about an iPhone 3.1 device. The current iPhone 3GS is the iPhone 2.1. Apple typically only changes the first number of the device identified when there is a significant hardware change. So, the existence of an iPhone 3.1 suggests more than a minor incremental update to the current iPhone 3GS.

Holiday electronics sales can be as good for scoring new business gear as for loading up the kids' stockings. But smart buyers should be wary of doorbuster tactics.

It's generally regarded as fact that Black Friday is the hottest shopping day of the year, with deal seekers lining up as early as 3:00 AM outside tech superstores nationwide. But pre-dawn sales aren't all they're cracked up to be. In reality, doorbuster deals are laden with fine-print gotchas that can turn holiday zeal into buyer's remorse. Whether you're shopping for business or pleasure, here's why you'd do well to sleep in on Friday morning.

This Friday is Black Friday--officially kicking off the 2009 holiday shopping season. Online attackers and malware developers know how to capitalize on current events, and the rush to find great holiday bargains offers a prime opportunity to exploit eager shoppers. Here are five tips to help you shop online securely.

1. Start with the Basics. I realize that it seems redundant and cliché, but the first step in protecting yourself and your computer this holiday season is to make sure your computer is patched and secure .

Apple has established the concept of the app store and continues to define the business model for competitors to follow. Mobile operating system platforms, at least those intended for smartphones, are more or less required to have some form of app store now, but enough is enough with 'there's an app for that'. How many apps do we need, exactly?

App Store boasts over 100,000 apps. Contrast that with the roughly 10,000 apps in the Android Market, or the approximately 1,000 apps available from Microsoft's Windows Marketplace for Mobile, and you can easily see that Apple is by far the leader in the app store arena.

Amazon has led the way in driving acceptance of ebook reader devices with its Kindle, but now the market has gotten crowded. This is just the beginning though as ebook readers start to transition from purely consumer gadgets to accepted business tools.

Apparently Barnes and Noble and Sony failed to read the Forrester Research report when planning production of their ebook readers. Forrester predicted that as many as 1 million electronic book reading gadgets will be sold this holiday season, but the Barnes and Noble Nook and the Sony Reader couldn't keep up with demand and will miss out on the party.

Verizon has challenged Sprint's marketing claim that its "America's most dependable 3G network." The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has asked Sprint to drop the slogan in response to the Verizon complaint, expanding the ongoing marketing battle between the leading mobile service providers.

Verizon is already engaged in a heated battle with AT&T revolving around its 'There's a Map for That' ad campaign. Verizon's very clever marketing compares maps of the United States showing that Verizon has five times the 3G network coverage of rival provider AT&T.

Google is the leader in online search and search-based advertising, and recent acquisitions are designed to expand the vast Google empire. Critics take exception to Google undercutting traditional marketing channels, but the evolving advertising landscape levels the playing field for small and medium businesses.

Google recently purchased AdMob, which targets advertising on mobile devices, and now has also acquired Teracent, a firm focused on online display advertising. Google's voracious appetite for new advertising revenue streams borders on monopolistic.

The recently released Microsoft Security Intelligence Report highlights the vast improvements in security from Windows XP to Windows 7. Even so, no operating system is perfect. I asked security experts what they think about Windows 7 security and came up with a list of what Microsoft got right and where Microsoft is still missing the mark.

A Step in the Right Direction

Microsoft made significant changes to how it protects the Windows operating system kernel and added a number of new security controls when it transitioned from Windows XP to Windows Vista. With Windows 7, many of those security controls are enhanced and there are some new features as well.

The Apple App Store has been the subject of debate. Developers complain about the hoops they have to jump through to get through the approval process, while Apple defends the process and claims there is nothing wrong with the App Store. As with most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Last week one of Facebook's lead developers for the iPhone app, Joe Hewitt, left the project to work on other things, claiming to be "philosophically opposed" to having Apple control which applications are allowed to run on the iPhone platform. Hewitt abhors the gatekeeper mentality and says the App Store approval process "sets a horrible precedent".

The debate over climate change--and what is fact versus what fits the agenda of one side or the other--is raging in the wake of hacked e-mails alleging that facts were covered up. I'll let the climate change rivals battle that out, but let's take a closer look at the security aspects of e-mail and how attackers were able to acquire these messages.

A server at the Hadley Climate Research Center in the United Kingdom was breached and the attacker was able to acquire thousands of e-mail messages and sensitive documents which were subsequently uploaded to an FTP server in Russia and have since been publicly shared and analyzed around the world.

Yesterday Google hosted a press event at its Mountain View campus to reveal a first glimpse at the Chrome OS. The excitement around the operating system has led to rampant rumors and speculation, but I question whether the Chrome OS is really worth any of this hype.

Google is Google. It has a Midas touch when it comes to web-based applications and services so its easy to get wrapped up in anticipation about a web-centric operating system from Google. Here are five reasons Chrome won't live up to the hype.

Microsoft made the beta of Office 2010 available for the general public to download yesterday. However, I have already been using the CTP (Community Technology Preview) version since it became available at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in July. Here are my thoughts after four month using Office 2010.

I will start by saying that the look and feel of Office 2010 is very similar to Office 2007. Users of Office 2003 will be in for a fairly significant culture shock, but the learning curve for Office 2007 users should be much shorter. That said, let's jump in.

Google is hosting an event today to offer the first official glimpse at the Chrome operating system. Chrome has ignited enthusiasm in an operating system market that has been largely stagnant for years. Google may succeed in shaking things up a bit.

When you mention Google in conjunction with any upcoming tool or service it tends to draw some attention. When you put Google in the same sentence with 'new operating system'--directly challenging Microsoft in a market it has mercilessly dominated for decades--the rumor mill kicks into high gear. Vegas may even be taking odds.

Microsoft has unleashed the public beta of Microsoft Office 2010. The Office 2010 beta includes updated versions of Word, excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher, InfoPath, SharePoint Workspace, and Communicator. You can download it right now from the Microsoft Office 2010 beta site.

Like Windows XP versus Windows Vista, a fair percentage of users never made the jump from Office 2003 to Office 2007. The Windows Vista backlash had a residual effect which led customers to adopt a 'my-current-version-works-fine-why-change-it' mentality.

Google's new YouTube Direct allows amateur journalists (meaning anyone with a camera in their mobile phone) to upload video clips for a shot at their 15 seconds of fame. The broadcast news media seem to have learned the wrong lesson from the fall of print media and embracing 'citizen journalists' may expedite the extinction of traditional news as we know it.

You can't really blame the amateur videographers. People have always had a fascination with making video recordings of any mundane, inane thing. You don't need to look any farther than this six and a half minute video of a hedgehog taking a bath in a sink to understand my point.

Microsoft announced that its Azure cloud computing platform will be launched into production on January 1^st of 2010. Chief software architect Ray Ozzie also unveiled details of a cloud computing project, codenamed 'Dallas'.

The statements were made at the annual gathering of Microsoft developers--the 2009 PDC (Professional Developers Conference). To ensure the success of the Azure platform, Microsoft needs its army of independent developers to embrace the cloud computing paradigm, and it took advantage of the gathering to spotlight Azure and get developers interested.

Microsoft has extended the availability of the Windows Marketplace for Mobile app store to include Windows Mobile 6.0 and Windows Mobile 6.1 devices. The broader availability is a benefit for both users and developers, but it may not do much to help the Windows Mobile platform capture market share.

While Microsoft claims there are over 18,000 apps available for the Windows Mobile platform, the vast majority of those are only available from the third-party vendors that developed them. The Windows Marketplace for Mobile inventory is restricted to the relative handful of apps that have passed Microsoft's rigorous testing to validate that they work well on the intended devices.

Verizon has responded to the AT&T lawsuit over the "There's a Map for That" marketing campaign with a legal filing of its own. Verizon's message to the court and to AT&T essentially boils down to three words: "the truth hurts".

The Verizon legal team should be commended. Legal briefs and filings don't usually make very compelling reading, but this one is actually a pretty good read. It has a little drama, a little humor, and ultimately makes the point that AT&T is simply trying to use the courts to obscure the simple truth that its 3G network is inadequate.

Microsoft has acknowledged the Windows 7 zero-day vulnerability reported last week with a Security Advisory. The advisory from Microsoft provides some additional details about the scope and nature of the threat, as well as some steps you can take immediately to protect vulnerable systems.

The Security Advisory explains that this vulnerability cannot be used by an attacker to gain control of a vulnerable system, or to install malicious software. It also notes that, while functional exploit code has been published, there are no reported incidents of this flaw being exploited in the wild at this time.

Today's weather report for the Internet: increasing cloudiness with a chance of strong winds (of change). IBM and AT&T both announced new services to compete for a share of the projected $46.4 billion market--a market predicted to grow to over $150 billion over the next 4 years--in the progressively crowded arena of cloud computing.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Amazon should be very flattered. Amazon has more or less defined the market and has a relatively successful model for offering server capacity and storage space from the cloud. Both IBM and AT&T are closely following the Amazon blueprints to duplicate that success.

A federal judge has ruled in Apple's favor in its lawsuit against Mac-clone maker Psystar. Prevailing in the court battle seems like it should be a good thing, but what Apple really gets out of the victory is limited market share potential. Uhm, congratulations?

Google is being sued by a Swiss watchdog agency for allegedly failing to take adequate measures to protect privacy. The legal battle in Switzerland is just the latest in a long line of privacy issues with Google and illustrates the challenge of providing as much information as possible without violating privacy concerns.

The debate in Switzerland is over Google's Street View image indexing. Hanspeter Thuer, the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) made recommendations to Google to address concerns with Street View images displaying car license plates and people's faces. Google claims it has taken strides to comply with those recommendations, but the FDPIC doesn't feel Google has done enough.

Dell unveiled the Android-based Mini 3 smartphone today and announced that it will be available soon in China and Brazil. Venturing away from the familiar server and desktop foundation that Dell is built on may seem risky, but there is a method to Dell's madness that may just pay off.

Ever since rumors began to circulate earlier this year that Dell was planning a move into smartphones there have been naysayers. The market is crowded. Competition is rough. Dell is already losing ground in its core business. If your device isn't from Apple and doesn't say 'iPhone' it can't succeed in the smartphone market.

Verizon made some minor adjustments in the latest series of 3G coverage ads, but AT&T is not impressed. AT&T has expanded its initial complaint and request for injunction to include the new ads, and has issued a statement to 'set the record straight' about the Verizon claims. Do the ads really deserve this much attention?

First of all, what does AT&T hope to accomplish? If the goal is to prevent customers and prospective customers from learning about its sparse 3G coverage, filing a lawsuit and drawing the attention of the media was not a good strategy. The net result is a bunch of free advertising for Verizon.

Google continued its acquisitions shopping spree with the announcement that it is purchasing Gizmo5. Gizmo5 adds VoIP capabilities to Google Voice, pitting Google Voice directly against Skype and providing a platform to enhance Google Wave.

Google Voice provides a diverse set of calling and communications features, but up to now it is mostly an accessory-pack that expands the functionality of the voice services you already use. Google Voice provides simultaneous ring of multiple phones, voicemail delivered to email and transcribed to text, the ability to transfer calls between separate phone systems, and more.

It was a notable accomplishment when Windows 7 was not impacted in any way by the vulnerabilities addressed in the six Security Bulletins released by Microsoft for the November Patch Tuesday. It would be even more impressive if Windows 7 proved invulnerable to the zero-day exploit that hit the next day.

The fact that Intel and AMD have reached a $1.25 billion agreement and established a pact to cross-license each other's patents for the next 5 years should not come as any surprise. AMD needs the cash infusion and Intel needs...well, Intel needs AMD. Seems like a win-win.

Within the processor industry, Intel occupies the role of the dominant virtual monopoly---similar to the role Microsoft plays in the operating system, office productivity, and web browser markets. Intel is more or less the de facto standard for PC processors at 70 percent of the market, and AMD is a distant second with remaining 30 percent.

It is the statement that has re-ignited the near-religious debate about whether the Windows user interface was copied from Mac. Define 'copied'. Adopting features that work is not new to Windows 7 or unique to the Windows / Mac debate--its just the way the world works.

Microsoft partner group manager Simon Aldous was quoted saying "What we've tried to do with Windows 7 - whether it's traditional format or in a touch format - is to create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics."

The gloves are off now in the fight for the data center. Cisco has operated largely unchallenged in providing routing and networking equipment for data centers, but with the purchase of 3Com, HP is poised to go head-to-head with Cisco.

The nearly $3 billion acquisition allows HP to incorporate a diverse portfolio of network switching and routing equipment, as well as 3Com's TippingPoint intrusion prevention products into its inventory. Combined with the growing success of HP's existing ProCurve network devices, purchasing 3Com intensifies the rivalry between Cisco and HP.

Yesterday was Microsoft's Patch Tuesday for the month of November. There are 6 new Security Bulletins this month: 3 rated as Critical and 3 rated as Important. Not all Critical Security Bulletins are created equally though. You need to understand the implications of the flaw being patched and how it applies to your systems to determine how urgent the update is.

With one month left in 2009, Microsoft would have to have a record-breaking month in December to surpass the 78 Security Bulletins released in 2008. So, in that regard you can say its been a better year for Microsoft. It is also worth noting that this month's Security Bulletins do not affect the new Windows 7 operating system.

Google announced the latest in a barrage of free Wi-Fi promotions from the three online search engine giants--Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. This promotion provides free Wi-Fi at 47 airports around the country for weary travelers. The Wi-Fi altruism from Google and others is much appreciated, but it shouldn't be necessary. The Wi-Fi should be free to begin with.

Free Wi-Fi is apparently the gift that keeps on giving this holiday season. Google partnered with Virgin America to provide free Wi-Fi networking on all of its flights within the Continental U.S.. Yahoo is providing free Wi-Fi in New York's Times Square for one year. Microsoft is delivering free Wi-Fi for Bing users at random locations scattered around the country. And now, Google is picking up the tab for airline travelers to use Wi-Fi connections for free at 47 different airports.

Logitech announced that it is purchasing Austin-based LifeSize Communications for $405 million. Purchasing the high-end video equipment vendor moves Logitech from the desktop to the boardroom and into the big leagues of video-conferencing.

LifeSize has established itself as a provider of high-definition video-conferencing systems in a nascent, but quickly growing market that is tied closely with the boom in unified communications. It provides high quality video-conferencing over moderate bandwidth connections with systems that range from $8,000 to $12,000 each. LifeSize has over 9,000 customers, ranging from small businesses to large enterprises spanning more than 80 countries.

Users who want the Mac OS X experience on a netbook budget have figured out how to hack the Mac OS X operating system to force it to work on netbooks based on the Intel Atom processor. The latest update to the Snow Leopard update removes support for the Atom processor and puts an end to the 'hackintosh'--at least for now.

Why would Apple do such a thing? Is Apple so bent on maintaining draconian control of the Mac OS X software and the hardware platform it runs on that it would risk the customer backlash that might come from breaking hackintosh netbooks? Well, yes and no.

Happy birthday Firefox. Its hard to believe that its been 5 years already. Just surviving 5 years in the tech industry is a fairly significant feat, but Firefox has made its mark as the big fish in the small pond. Being the leading web browser that isn't Internet Explorer is commendable; however Google may knock Firefox off its pedestal with Chrome.

When Mozilla unleashed the first Firefox web browser, it was welcomed with open arms by a web-browsing population that was bored with the lack of innovation in Internet Explorer 6 and increasingly concerned with the massive security issues that plagued Microsoft's web browser. With each successive security flaw discovered in Internet Explorer, more experts jumped on the "switch-to-Firefox-for-better-security" bandwagon.

Google is somewhat new to the mobile operating system and mobile device markets, but one market it understands, arguably better than any other entity, is online advertising. So, there is reason to raise an eyebrow when Google throws down $750 million to purchase a company like AdMob that is focused on mobile advertising.

Mobile advertising is a nascent market, but Google is placing a pretty hefty bet on its continued success. AdMob has built a solid reputation among the emerging mobile ad competitors, serving ads to both the iPhone and Android platforms. The purchase keeps Google a step ahead of the competition and provides it with an opportunity to help define the market as it has defined the online search advertising industry.

Christmas has come early for Barnes and Noble. The book store's Nook eReader is in such hot demand that Barnes and Noble is already announcing production delays before it has even shipped the first device. The eReader market has gotten crowded lately, but it is the Nook that seems to pose the biggest threat so far to the dominance of Amazon's Kindle.

A recent Forrester Group analysis stated "This holiday season, eReaders will be one category that's a breakout success. Lower prices, more content, better distribution, and lots of media hype are contributing to faster-than-expected adoption of eReader devices in 2009."

The Droid invasion landed on Friday and so far the iPhone comparisons haven't stopped. Customers showed up for midnight launches to be first to get the new Android 2.0 device, and Verizon stores haven't had any issue burning through their inventory of the new phone. There is at least one other iPhone comparison that bears noticing, though--battery life.

If you actually put the many functions of the Droid to use, your battery mileage will vary. The phone has to be powered up to be of any use beyond a glorified paper weight, so poor battery life could be an Achilles heel for the Droid invasion like the bacteria that took down the alien invasion force in War of the Worlds.

The Apple rumor mill claims that work is underway to develop a 'world-mode' iPhone capable of operating on both CDMA and GSM/UMTS networks. World mode. Rumors also persist that Verizon will begin to carry the iPhone in 2010. All of these rumors suggest that the AT&T honeymoon with the iPhone is nearing an end.

These are just rumors at this point, but when a rumor is both pervasive and tenacious there is usually a reason. That gives AT&T some reason to be concerned. Without iPhone exclusivity, what does AT&T bring to the table that would entice customers to switch to, or stick with the wireless provider?

Initial sales numbers for Windows 7 are in and it seems that the operating system is delivering the redemption for Windows Vista that Microsoft was hoping for. Lower revenue and lower PC hardware sales figures related to Windows 7 hint at issues, but those figures have to be put in perspective.

Microsoft has reported that Windows 7 sales are 234 percent higher than Windows Vista for the initial week after its release. That figure however is tempered with the statistic that Windows 7 has not prompted the same surge in PC sales that accompanied the release of Windows Vista.

The Droid hits the streets today. After all of the hype around Verizon's marketing efforts, and generally favorable reviews of the Motorola Droid, users that rush out to get the new device may be in for a shock. The Droid does tethering (or at least it will very soon), but the cost will surprise people.

At first glance, and based on initial reviews, the Droid seems to be a very capable device. It may or may not be an 'iPhone-killer', but it certainly seems to be the best phone Verizon has to offer as of today. The Android 2.0-based device will cost users $199.99 with a 2-year contract, with an additional $30 per month for the mandatory data plan to go with it.

The new Google Dashboard addresses concerns that users have regarding just how much Google knows about them. Providing a resource like the Google Dashboard that presents all associated information in one place may actually create more privacy and security issues than it solves though.

Users have a reason to be concerned, or at least curious, about what kind of information is available about them on the Web. Google is like the Big Brother of the Internet--indexing and cataloging virtually everything you do online. Web indexing is like social networking in that its core purpose is in direct conflict with privacy and security. The primary goal is to index everything and provide access to as much information as possible--even if that information is sensitive or personal.

The HTC HD2 has the makings of an 'iPhone-killer'. It is an impressive device on paper, and early reviews and information on the HD2 suggest that it has the ingredients to compete with both the Motorola Droid and the Apple iPhone in a head-to-head-to-head comparison.

The HD2 matches the Droid for screen resolution at 480x800--dwarfing the iPhone resolution--but the HD2 has significantly more screen real estate with a 4.3 inch display. Initial reviews report that it is blazing fast as a result of its 1GHz Snapdragon processor. It has the seemingly obligatory WiFi, GPS, and 5 megapixel camera features, but also makes better use of the iPhone-like capacitive multitouch screen than the Droid.

Microsoft has unveiled a fairly significant redesign of the MSN web site, the first overhaul the site has seen in about a decade. The new MSN site incorporates social networking and could breathe some life back into the mostly dead concept of web portals.

The preview of the new design appears to be less cluttered and confusing--which isn't easy to do when also trying to convey as much information at-a-glance on one page as possible. The format and layout are very similar to what Yahoo and Google provide with their web portals, and you can customize it to display the information you want to see in the order you want to see it. Fairly standard stuff.

PayPal used its inaugural PayPal X Innovate 2009 conference in San Francisco to officially announce the PayPal X program to release APIs allowing developers to integrate PayPal seamlessly into third-party applications. The expanded functionality will help PayPal to compete against similar online payment services from Amazon and Google.

The new PayPal APIs allow developers to engage customers directly within their own applications rather than forcing them to port users off to the actual PayPal site. Users who don't even use PayPal can actually sign up for PayPal within the third-party application and begin making PayPal payments seamlessly from within the third-party application.

AT&T has taken offense at the recent Verizon 'There's a Map for That' ad campaign and has filed a lawsuit against Verizon. AT&T claims that the ads are "misleading" customers and resulting in the loss of "incalculable market share." The lawsuit may backfire though as AT&T draws more attention to the ad campaign and the shortcomings of its own 3G network.

Verizon began an aggressive series of marketing campaigns targeting the iPhone dynamic duo of AT&T and Apple. It began with the 'There's a Map for That' ads, playing off of the iPhone 'There's an App for That' marketing slogan and illustrating how Verizon has 5 times more 3G network coverage than AT&T. It followed that up with the iDon't campaign, highlighting weaknesses of the iPhone and stating that the upcoming Android-based Droid can do all of those things and more.

There are only three days until Verizon joins the Android invasion. T-Mobile was first to embrace the open source Google operating system, but with the addition of Sprint, and now Verizon, Android is mounting a quiet revolution that could see it squash the iPhone OS and rise to a dominant position among mobile operating systems.

There has been a lot of media attention devoted to whether or not the Motorola Droid, available beginning this Friday from Verizon, is as good or better than the iPhone. Of course, Verizon started that debate by running the iDon't ad campaign that directly attacks the iPhone and compares it to the Droid. The fact though is that neither Verizon, nor Google need the Droid to "kill" the iPhone in order for it to be a check in the win column for them.

The clock is ticking to the release of the Droid, and its smaller brother the Droid Eris, this Friday from Verizon. The media is filled with rhetoric drawing comparisons between the Droid and the iPhone. Those stories miss the point that the real battle isn't between the Droid and the iPhone, but between Verizon and AT&T.

The media is filled almost entirely with hyperbole comparing the Droid to the iPhone and discussing whether or not the Droid can knock the iPhone off of its mythically high pedestal. There are head-to-head comparisons, opinions claiming the Droid is superior, and articles pointing out that the iPhone killer is an elusive concept because iPhone users are devoted and won't be defecting en masse to adopt the Droid.

Microsoft has released the latest version of the semi-annual Security Intelligence Report (SIR). Microsoft gathers data from millions of Windows computers and high-traffic Internet sites to compile a detailed analysis of the current threat landscape and highlight attack trends. The Microsoft SIR contains some valuable insight, particularly given the recent release of Windows 7.

Looking at the highlights of the Security Intelligence Report, a lot of the information is interesting and may help you win a game of Trivial Pursuit for geeks, but doesn't provide much beyond the trivia factor for most people. For example, knowing which countries were targeted most by worms or Trojans doesn't really help you much unless you're planning on traveling to one of those countries and may want to increase your security controls accordingly.