Pixelmator 1.4 adds new paint engine

Pixelmator has earned a following by doing the tasks most people use Photoshop for, but doing them much cheaper. That's truer than it's ever been in the new version 1.4, which adds a new painting engine, new brushes, and support for Photoshop brush formats. If you're a professional photographer, Photoshop CS4 might be worth $700 to you, but if you're someone who just needs powerful drawing and image editing tools, Pixelmator's $60 price tag looks pretty tempting.
With Pixelmator's existing tablet support, and the new brush customization features, you should be able to use Pixelmator for just about any drawing task. It's compatible with practically every image format, and has lots of intuitive little shortcuts that make it behave the way you'd expect from a good Mac app. The main gripe I've seen from commenters on the Pixelmator blog is the lack of a Photoshop-like "save for web" feature. Word on the street is that it will implemented in the next version, but that one feature should hardly deter you from checking out this great app.

Microsoft gets sued over Windows XP downgrade fees

Microsoft may be doing its best to move past Windows XP once and for all, but a Los Angeles woman is alleging that the company is all too happy to bank some extra change on the OS in the meantime, and that it's essentially trying to have it both ways. As a result, she's now suing microsoft over its XP "downgrade" fees, and requesting that the lawsuit be granted class-action certification so others can get a piece of the action. Apparently, Emma Alvarado bought a Lenovo PC last June and had to pay an additional $59.25 to downgrade to XP, which she claims is simply a case of Microsoft taking advantage of consumer demand for XP to pad its profits. The suit further alleges that the seemingly endless extensions of the XP deadline were "likely due to the tremendous profits that Microsoft has reaped from its 'downgrade' option." For Microsoft's part, it insists that the company itself "does not have a downgrade program," and that it doesn't get any of the money from the Vista-to-XP downgrade options.

New view of Mitsubishi's i Miev sports car

Sketch of Mitsubishi's Prototyp i Miev electric plug-in sports car. (Credit: Mitsubishi) Mitsubishi released a more detailed sketch of its Prototype i Miev on Thursday.The all-electric sports car concept is set to debut at the Geneva Motor Show this March alongside the Mitsubishi's i Mieve Sport Air concept car. Both are follow-ups to Mitsubishi's i Miev hatchback which is currently undergoing "feasibility testing" in Europe. The i Miev hatchback, which is scheduled to go on sale in Japan some time this year, can be plugged into any household outlet for recharging.

The i Miev hatchback all electric plug-in due out soon in Japan and possibly Europe.(Credit: Mitsubishi) though at 7 hours and 14 hours to recharge at 200V and 100V outlets, respectively, owners may opt for a higher voltage option. The i Miev can be charged up to 80 percent in 30 minutes with a quick charge system at a 200V, 50kW 3-phase outlet.