Firefox 1.0.4 is a security update that is part of our ongoing program to provide a safe Internet experience for our customers. We recommend that all users upgrade to this latest version.

Here's what's new in Firefox 1.0.4:

* Several security fixes.
* Fix to DHTML errors encountered at some web sites. For web developers, learn more.

Google is contemplating various improvements to its popular Blogger Web logging service, including native image uploading and deeper integration with the company's Gmail Web-mail service, according to a Google executive.

Google is also considering the creation of an enterprise Blogger version, as well as letting users limit access to their blogs by creating private groups, said Biz Stone, Blogger senior specialist.

Although Blogger currently allows users to post text and photos to their blogs via any e-mail program, Google is looking into a tighter integration with Gmail, Stone said.

Google is also weighing whether to develop an enterprise version of Blogger that would be tailored for workplace use, as opposed to individual consumer use, Stone said. "It's something we're always thinking about, something we have a few people thinking about and looking into. It's definitely being researched," he said.

Google is mulling over the possibility of adding some native privacy features, such as the ability for users to create private groups and that way control who can view their blogs, Stone said.

Meanwhile, Blogger has resolved some performance issues Stone acknowledged in March that were affecting the service, including slow response times.

Two years after it selected open-source rendering engine KHTML as the basis of its Safari Web browser, Apple Computer has proposed resolving compatibility conflicts by scrapping that code base in favor of its own.

In an e-mail seen by CNET News.com, a leading Apple browser developer suggested that architects of the KHTML rendering engine--the heart of a browser--consider abandoning the KHTML code base, or "tree," in favor of Apple's version, called WebCore. KHTML was originally written to work on top of KDE (the K Desktop Environment), an interface for Linux and Unix operating systems.

"One thing you may want to consider eventually is back-porting (WebCore) to work on top of (KDE), and merging your changes into that," Apple engineer Maciej Stachowiak wrote in an e-mail dated May 5. "I think the Apple trees have seen a lot more change since the two trees diverged, although both have useful changes. We'd be open to making our tree multi-platform."

In an aggressive attempt to broaden the online-music business, Yahoo Inc. today plans to roll out a new low-priced service that allows listeners to rent songs rather than buy them outright.

The service, dubbed Yahoo Music Unlimited, will give music fans unlimited access to more than a million songs from artists including Bruce Springsteen, Gwen Stefani and 50 Cent, for $6.99 a month. Yahoo also will offer an annual subscription for $60 -- about the cost of four or five CDs. Songs become unplayable when consumers let their subscriptions expire. The service, which lets users transfer the songs to select portable MP3-format music players, is priced far below major rivals' services: RealNetworks Inc., for example, charges $179 a year for its comparable subscription service.

Yahoo's $6.99-a-month service has the potential to change the music-buying calculus for consumers.

Beyond pricing, Yahoo is giving users extensive ability to share their music. Yahoo says its service, which includes free software similar to Apple's iTunes jukebox, will allow subscribers to see what songs friends have on their computers, and listen to their friends' tracks if the tracks are part of Yahoo's catalog. Rival services let users share music play lists, but individuals can't always hear the songs unless they own them.

While Yahoo's service sets a new floor for online music pricing, some record executives say they aren't concerned about the low price. It is "a good thing for artists, a good thing for music, and a good experience for consumers," says Ted Cohen, senior vice president of digital development and distribution for EMI Music, a unit of the U.K.'s EMI Group PLC.

Yahoo's subscription service works with about 10 different portable MP3 players, all of which use Microsoft Corp.'s digital-music format. They include Dell Inc.'s DJ players and Creative Technology Ltd.'s Zen Micro. The subscription service doesn't work with Apple's iPod, by far the top-selling digital-music player.

The iTunes Music Store is now selling videos, in the U.S. store at least.

As of this writing, they offer no preview, and their times are listed as zero, which they obviously are not.

Too bad I accidently bought the single song first and then had to buy the album again to try the videos. They show up in the "Purchased Music" playlist just like any other song, and behave in the same way that videos imported from your hard drive do, with the option to play them in the "Album Art" box, in a separate window, or full screen. My purchase history indicates that I was able to do this as of 9:20 PM tonight.

I have not yet had a chance to test if movies can be shared via Bonjour. I did transfer one of the files to another (non-authorized) computer via another method, and it plays, meaning there is no DRM. Very interesting. The videos do not transfer to iPods.

Apple today quietly released iTunes 4.8. According to the company, the software "includes new Music Store features and support for transferring contacts and calendars from your computer to your iPod."

One feature Apple curiously failed to mention is video support. The new version is capable of not only storing, but also displaying QuickTime video content.

New options built into the iTunes "Advanced" preference pane lets users choose whether they want video content to in "the main window," "a separate window," or "full screen."

The latest version of the free OpenOffice suite promises to be a strong competitor to Microsoft Office. It's still in the "beta," or unfinished, stage, but it's already a good alternative for people who aren't heavy users. And you can't argue with the price.

It opens Word, WordPerfect and Excel files flawlessly. Saved files open fine on Microsoft programs. It also adds a database program that's similar to Access.

Another new and nifty feature, not found in Office, gives you the option of saving a file as a PDF, the ubiquitous document format. To do the same in Office, you need to install Adobe Acrobat or one of its knockoffs.

Just as in the previous version, most controls will be familiar to those who have used Office. An example: the menu headings in Write, OpenOffice's word processor, are identical to those in Word except that "Tools" and "Table," which are next to one another, have switched places. Open the programs side by side and you will be hard pressed to tell which is which.

OpenOffice also contains an analog to Microsoft's PowerPoint presentation application, a drawing program and an app for writing mathematical formulas.

The chief drawback of OpenOffice is that it still lacks an equivalent to Microsoft's excellent Outlook e-mail and calendar program. This need not be a fatal flaw.

This is my first widget, needs some polish, but works for me right now. Enter your TiVo IP and MAK and it will get the listing from your TiVo. Hover over the Episode/Description for longer info. Let me know what features you want! Thanks, and enjoy! You need a networked Series2 TiVo with the 7.1 update.

iWork ... bundled Keynote with a new word processing app, Pages. While coming up short of what AppleWorks once was, Pages represented Apple’s first foray into the writing and page designing realm since OS X became a reality, and it should’ve been welcomed with open arms and wallets.

It's even priced $20 less than [standalone] Keynote was, and seemed to offer everything Mac users were clamoring for.

But apparently, people aren't buying it. Even I, who works with words for a living, passed it up.

I decided that [Cherry OS] is not worth the hassle, not now or in the future. [Cherry OS] went to work without brushing its teeth or taking a shower, it was not ready.

Oh yeah, I know – everyone out there who has their certain opinion about me will have their great comment hour right now. Its [sic] ok I expect that anyway.

Apple's iTunes Music Store—which has sold more than 350 million downloads at a buck a pop—has been wildly successful. But because digitized music can be distributed, paid for and listened to in so many ways, there's room for other business models that could potentially grow the whole industry. Apple CEO Steve Jobs professes to be cautious about this issue—"We're not religious on this, but there's no evidence people want [other business models]," he says—but others have been brainstorming different ways to move legal digital music forward. Now we're finally seeing some of the schemes come to market.

Some of these ideas may flop, but eventually the most ingenious ones will generate more excitement in music and a greater willingness to sample new artists. Best of all, music executives are starting to get this. "There's been a change in attitude," says Adam Klein, EMI's head of strategy. "We've found that the more time consumers spend with digital music, the more they spend on music overall." To those outside the music industry, this observation seems as obvious as mud. But acknowledging the obvious certainly beats denial. As the shrink said to Portnoy, "Now we can begin."