Product Central

Our colleague Seth Rosenblatt over at Downloads.com in the US has put together a useful guide to open-source and free software that mirrors what Adobe offers in its Creative Suite applications. You can now read this guide on ZDNet UK, here.

We think it's important to keep tabs on what the open source community has to offer in this area, given the furore over the price hikes that Adobe slaps on its customers in the UK and Europe compared to the US.

What we'd like to discover is how many creative professionals are trying open-source alternatives to Adobe's expensive products. Do these free applications cut the mustard when it comes to making your living, or do you simply have to grit your teeth and pay Adobe's prices?

Microsoft Live Labs recently unveiled a Technology Preview of a new browser called Deepfish, which is designed to make web browsing on small-screen mobile devices a much more satisfying experience than it currently is.

Unfortunately, the initial beta program was limited to a small number of users, and we didn't make it in time. Of course, we'll be pulling whatever rank we can muster to get the download — but in the meantime, are any ZDNet UK readers beta-testing Deepfish? If you are, we'd love to hear what you think of it so far.

Our much-travelled Technical Editor Rupert Goodwins is currently deep in Intel briefings at IDF in Beijing, but he's managed to dodge the PowerPoint for long enough to send us this pic of a prototype Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC):



What's new about this one is (a) it's running Vista, and (b) it's powered by Intel's as-yet-unannounced '2007 Mobile processor'. There are two separate models, one of which is capable of running Vista's fancy Aero graphics — for around 4.5 hours.

Stay tuned for more on new UMPC form factors, 'pocket' Vista and Intel's new chip.