Microsoft has made the consumer preview release of its forthcoming Windows 8 operating system free for download. It's optimized for tablets, but it's also what you'll use on your desktop machine. Andy and Sean take a look at Windows 8 Consumer Preview, give it the once-over and talk about whether it's going to work for you.

Firefox users

rejoice! There is now a

Firefox beta for Android

devices that you can download for free. We'll show you where to go to

get Firefox for free

and show you how to start using it to

browse the Internet

, as well as how to

sync Firefox with your desktop

.

Andy and Sean get their hands on IE9, the new beta web browser from Microsoft. Is it any good? What's new in it? And can the Lab Rats get through a whole demo without the beta software crashing? Tune in to find out!

Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 9 beta to the public. The company is promising a browser that will be more secure than previous versions, will display websites better and faster and that will integrate some of our favorite features from Windows 7 like pinning, Aero snap and peek among others.

Google has spent over a year creating App Inventor for Android. This Web-based tool will make it much easier for more people to create Android apps. The tool looks relatively easy-to-use and you can create apps in real time and see them appear on your Android device.

Google Chrome for the PC has been out for quite some time, but Mac users have been waiting patiently. The wait is over! Google Chrome for Mac Beta has been released and it's looking good!

When Google launched its

Chrome browser

one thing everyone could agree on was that it was plain. No flair, not much color, just blah. But no more! Google recently announced the launch of

themes for Google Chrome

. You can install the one you want or change themes every day, should the mood strike. However for the time being, you'll have to

get the beta version of Google Chrome

to partake in themes.

Google recently released its new beta version of its Chrome browser. This version, while still a work in progress, offers some new features and improvements over the current Chrome release. How about autofill for forms, auto scrolling and full page zoom? Another new feature allows you to compare different Web pages side-by-side, right within the Chrome window. This new 0beta is also faster than previous versions and once it reaches final release, promises to be more stable too.

Andy and Sean take a look at Windows 7, the latest operating system from Microsoft. Windows 7 has yet to be officially released. That said, there's a "beta" version available that lets Windows lovers get a taste of Windows 7 before its official release, slated for early 2010.

Today on the Deck we meet up with A. Alfred Ayache, Web Application Architect and Webmaster of butterscotch.com. He shares a snapshot of his storied past from bras and panties to telcos to Tucows and butterscotch.com. A glutton for punishment, Alfred has been burning the midnight oil to get butterscotch ready for its beta launch. Said oil will continue to burn as we make some pretty radical improvements to the site going forward.

Andy and Sean take a look at the beta 2 version of Microsoft's new operating system.

Michael "Doc" Callahan takes us on a guided tour of Windows 7. Across this 10-part series, Doc shows us some of the most interesting, exciting and impactful changes that Microsoft has in store with its latest operating system. With a release date set for early 2010 and speculation flying that Windows 7 might actually be available earlier, in late 2009, changes are good your next computer will run Windows 7.