Mozilla is laying claim to big performance improvements for Firefox 9, while Firefox for Android goes in for a shave and a haircut as it gets an entirely different look. Both desktop and Android updates are being released today.

Firefox 9 (download for Windows | Mac | Linux | Android) continues the browser's rapid-release development oscillation, where feature enhancements and performance improvements take the lead in alternating months.

The JavaScript improvement called Type Inference, which Mozilla spent more than a year developing, debuts on the PC version of Firefox. The short version is that sites that heavily rely on JavaScript--like Web apps or sites that render games, video, and 3D graphics--will render much, much faster.

What actually changed is this: A feature in Firefox's SpiderMonkey JavaScript e... [Read more]

The Omnibox has been beefed up in RockMelt beta 5 with deep hooks directly into Facebook.

While the big browser conflagration between Chrome and, oh, just about everybody else tends to suck the oxygen from a room, the Chromium-based RockMelt continues to keep its users warm and toasty with new features focusing on where social intersects the Web.

RockMelt beta 5 for Windows and Mac will be available around 8:30 a.m. PT Wednesday. Beta 4 is currently available for people who want to get a head start.

Facebook is already an integral part of the RockMelt experience, since an account is required to log in to the browser. RockMelt co-founder and CEO Eric Vishria explained in a visit to the CNET offices yesterday that social networking in general and Facebook specifically are indelibly tied to his browser. "RockMelt gets an average of seven hours of use per day, and 60 percent of our users are under 25 years old. There are also seven chat conversations in RockMelt per day, up from three at launch," he said, explaining the appeal of the browser to its fans. When pressed, Vishria refused to reveal specifics, saying only that RockMelt has hundreds of thousands of users.

The new beta adds t... [Read more]

Pick up a new Android phone recently? Or maybe a tablet?

Either way, with a shiny new device in hand, you're probably itching to download some apps, right? Well, allow CNET to give you a hand with that. With a fast-growing Android Market that can seem overwhelming and downright intimidating to some, chances are, you could use a bit of direction.

So without further ado, I'd like to introduce CNET's list of Best apps for Android. It's got some well-known classics and a few apps that we've plucked from obscurity.

While it would have been nice to highlight every single app we've come to love over the years, doing so obviously would've made for an enormous list. So, what we've done is handpick our favorite, high-quality, tried and tested apps for some of the most commonly searched categories like utilities, productivity, and shopping. It should be both a great reference for experienced Android users and a perfect starter kit for anyone just jumping onto the Android bandwagon.

Check out our list of Best apps for Android now, and feel free to tell us what you think in the comments below.

Last year, we introduced our Top 10 Downloads of the Year lists, presenting the most popular Windows and Mac software on Download.com.

In 2011, we've taken the honors up the proverbial notch with the Top 11 Downloads of 2011, featuring the 11 most popular software apps each for the Windows and Mac platforms, along with the 11 most popular programs in each of the 11 most popular categories in Windows and in Mac.

Security Software is unsurprisingly the most downloaded software by Windows users; Mac users, perhaps also predictably, elevate the MP3 & Audio software category to the top slot; and everybody on both sides of the aisle loves a good utility app.

The most popular categories for Windows software are:

1. Security Software
2. Utilities & Operating Systems
3. Internet Software
4. Video Software
5. MP3 & Audio Software
6. ... [Read more]