The enterprise browser management tool called Catalyst reached public availability yesterday. The program gives corporate IT departments the ability to force specific Web sites to open in different browsers.

As CNET reported in November, it's a useful workaround for businesses that still use Web apps that only work in legacy browsers, but want their employees to spend the rest of their browsing time on more modern, more secure browsers.

Browsium noted in its blog announcing the stable version of Catalyst that it can also be used to minimize security issues, such as the recent Java and Internet Explorer zero-day exploits, by locking down which browsers can open.

Browsium CEO Gary Schare wrote in an e-mail to CNET that the security issue could be a big driver in Catalyst adoption. Google Apps, he wrote, are dropping support for Internet Explorer 8 and below, which will force companies to use Chrome or Firefox and use multiple browsers if they use legacy apps designed for IE, too. "Many of our early prospects are Google Apps customers," he wrote, although he wouldn't reveal yet which companies those are.

Catalyst is available for a 30-day free evaluation... [Read more]

Obstacles XRT gives you a simple but high-intensity workout just about anywhere.

Top reasons you skipped your workout today:

1. It was too dark or cold outside to run.
2. Your hotel didn't have a fitness center.
3. You're sick to death of the treadmill.
4. You let that pricey gym membership expire.

Here's an easy fix for these and other excuses: Obstacles XRT, which bills itself as "extreme reality training" -- a fancy way of saying it's a fitness app. It normally sells for $4.99, but from now through January 31, you can grab it for $1.99.

Two bucks very well spent, in my humble opinion. Obstacles XRT offers guided virtual courses for beginner, intermediate, and advanced fitness levels. Each one employs a series of demonstration videos and audio instructions that'll have you quick-stepping through virtual tires, climbing virtual walls, diving under virtual fences, and so on.

So, for example, in the "Kilburn Proving Grounds" course for beginners (the courses all have real-sounding but meaningless names), you start with a warm-up: 3 minutes of jogging or walking down "the trail" in a zig-zag pattern. From there you'll... [Read more]