United Kingdom

Mozilla and Opera Software say they are seeing an uptick in demand for their browsers in the wake of Microsoft's launch of a choice ballot in Europe. Mozilla CEO John Lilly told The New York Times over the weekend that more than 50,000 Firefox downloads have already occurred via direct links from the new choice screen that the European Commission mandated last year as part of its antitrust settlement with Microsoft.

Rivals of Microsoft's market-leading Web browser have attracted a flurry of interest since the company, fulfilling a regulatory requirement, started making it easier for European users of its Windows operating system to switch.

by Jeff Wilson
I. GONDWANALAND, MIGRATION, AND DINOSAURS

by Jeff Wilson
I. GONDWANALAND, MIGRATION, AND DINOSAURS

by Jeff Wilson
I. GONDWANALAND, MIGRATION, AND DINOSAURS

Apple's iPad tablet will go on sale a few days later than originally announced -- a fact that is attracting attention. The company announced Friday that the Wi-Fi version will be released for sale on April 3 in the U.S. At the iPad announcement in January, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company said the product would ship in late March.

There have been rumors that the sale date was pushed back to accommodate an unspecified production problem. The 3G version goes on sale in late April, and preordering for either model in the U.S. begins in a week.

Reshaping the Landscape?

Google's Chrome was the only web browser application to gain global market share last month, with all other major browser platforms showing month-to-month declines, according to Net Applications. Mozilla's Firefox browser -- which had been racking up steady gains at Microsoft's expense through November 2009 -- saw its global market share fall for the third straight month, the web metrics firm reported.

On September 1, 1969, the English singer-songwriter and guitarist Nick Drake made his recording debut as his album Five Leaves Left shipped to record stores. Released on producer Joe Boyd's Witchseason label with backing by members of Fairport Convention and string arrangements by Harry Robinson and Drake's Cambridge chum Robert Kirby, the album stands as a haunting, pastoral portrait of the 21-year-old artist as a very young but startlingly musically adept young man.