Windows only
A few months ago we tried out Digsby, and our verdict was that it's one of the best cross-network messenger clients available. The only downside was that when it came to the performance of Digsby things weren't so pleasant. Some of the commenters on our article noticed RAM usage spiking to 70MB and above as they were using the program, and this disappointed a lot of people since they liked the appearance and functionality of the messenger.

I've been closely following the Digsby blog, and they posted some great news last Friday night. Right now they are preparing for a major new release that has both performance and RAM optimizations that should solve the remaining qualms. This all comes due to a reworking of the application's architecture, which I'm very grateful for!

My first-hand experience is that the new version cut my memory usage by over 50% as seen in the screenshot above. I use Google Talk, Windows Live, and Twitter services with Digsby, and overall it only used about 27MB of my memory. That's not bad considering the previous release ate up over 50MB with the same accounts.

Before we tell you how you can get this pre-release version checkout what the developers had to say about this big milestone:

• RAM Optimization: Many people have reported that Digsby is taking 70MB - 110MB during normal use. If you leave Digsby running for a while, the memory leaks caused RAM usage to climb to 150MB+ on some systems. We completely reworked the architecture to use less memory and also improved the memory management by releasing objects when they are no longer needed. We also hunted down and eliminated numerous memory leaks. All in all, these changes lower Digsby's RAM usage by over 50%. It should now hover in the 20MB - 50MB range depending on how many accounts you have and what you are doing at the moment. There is still more we can do and our goal is to get RAM utilization down even further!
• Performance: The changes in architecture improved the performance of simple user interface elements like buttons and menus; they now draw 2x - 3x faster! Digsby should be much more responsive now than ever before. However, while this build focused on RAM optimization, the next 1-2 builds will have a strong focus on improving "perceived performance" even more, including things like GUI response time, CPU utilization, etc.
• Firewalls and Proxy Servers: Those who have not been able to use MSN or other IM protocols due to firewall/proxy restrictions should now be able to connect without any issues.
• Crash Reporter: The new release includes a crash reporter that will ask you whether you want to send a crash log to us if Digsby should crash.
• Bug Fixes + Enhancements: Over the past two months we have added a large number of bug fixes and enhancements. There are too many to list here but we will include a full Change Log when the release is pushed to everyone.

You can grab a "testers only" version of the new Digsby from their forum, but be aware that it might not be stable (I didn't have any problems with it though). They plan to have a full public release soon, but I'm sure some of you won't want to wait.

Over in our forum Max inquired about whether it was safe to remove old versions of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) that had been left behind after each upgrade. Of course you can, and there's a good chance that you can free up hundreds of megabytes by removing them.

According to Sun the reason they leave the old versions of Java on your computer is to ensure that older Java applications will work even if they're not compatible with the newest version of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE):

The latest version of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is always the recommended version as it contains updates and improvements to previous versions. The latest available version is always compatible with the older versions.

You can keep older versions of the JRE installed, in case you have an applet/application that still depends upon a previous version.

The chances of you actually needing one of these older versions probably isn't high, and removing them can definitely free up some space on your hard drive. Sun provides instructions on how to uninstall older versions of Java, but it can be a bit tedious if you've got several updates to remove.

The easier method is to use a free program called JavaRa, which JMBAKE pointed out. It only works on Windows, but the nice thing is that it doesn't require any installation. Just download the file, extract the contents, and you're ready to go.

When you launch JavaRa you should see a simple interface just like this one:

It's all pretty self explanatory, but here's a list of the things that you can do:

• Remove old versions of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE)
• Update to the latest version of JRE
• Remove the Java startup entry
• Remove the Sun download manager
• Remove useless JRE files

Nothing like having a little extra breathing room on your PC.

Download JavaRa

Virtual desktops are one of those things that have been around for ages, and they have been an integral part of the Linux operating system for a long time. It wasn't until Apple released Mac OS X Leopard last year that a virtual desktop system, which Apple calls Spaces, shipped with an operating system other than a Linux distribution.

Just because Windows doesn't include a virtual desktop manager doesn't mean that you can't get them. In fact there are several third-party applications that will get the job done, and most of them are free. There's one free program for Windows called 360Desktop that puts a new spin on virtual desktops.

What it essentially does is extend your desktop so that it is ultra-wide, and it will feel like you have three or four different monitors attached to each other. You can pan across your desktop moving icons and windows around as you so wish. In the end you'll have a 360 degree desktop that can wrap around from one end to another:

(Click to Enlarge)

Here are some of the things that I like about the program:

• The navigation window shown in the upper-right corner of the screenshot makes it easy to move around the desktop. Normally the desktop preview portion is minimized so that it doesn't get in your way while you're working, but it can be activated by clicking the red 360Desktop icon on the scrollbar.
• It shows little program icons on the desktop preview indicating where you're running applications are located.
• Clicking an application on the Taskbar will take you to where it's located on the 360Desktop.

With all of that being said there are still some things that need to be worked on. For example, there are only a handful of panoramic backgrounds currently available, but it will support custom photos soon. 360Desktop is still in the early stages, and I suspect that it will get better over time.

My question to you is whether a program like this is something you'd prefer to use over a real virtual desktop application. Do you like having your virtual desktops separated into different blocks, or is it nicer when it's one seamless desktop like 360Desktop offers?