Archive for June, 2008
Windows needs a new approach
There is no doubt that the Windows operating system is much too bloated. Microsoft’s propensity to bundle everything under the sun with the operating system, its desire for backward compatibility, and its paranoia about piracy has led to a Vista system that even Microsoft fanboys are complaining about. The New York Times Sunday business section [...]
A lesser-known computer pioneer
The New York Times has an obituary of a computer pioneer who was not well-known outside of his native Britain. I certainly was unaware of the work he did in computerizing the famous British teahouse chain Lyons. Already in the 1950s (!) David Caminer set up a business computer system for Lyons. According to [...]
Has he finally gone?
There have been articles about Bill Gates relinquishing control at Microsoft for so long that it seems that he has been leaving for years. I can’t begin to count how many posts and articles that I’ve seen. It got to be rather tiresome. John Dvorak puts it this way in Friday’s Market Watch:
Each and every [...]
How file compression works
Just about anyone using a computer will have encountered one of the compressed file formats, especially ZIP files. Have you ever wondered what is involved in compressing files so that they are smaller? Here’s a link to How Stuff Works that explains how it’s done.
Windows XP support
Microsoft has repeated that it will continue to support existing Window XP systems although no longer selling new licenses after June 30. Digital Daily reports:
In a note to customers Monday, Bill Veghte, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Online Services and Windows Business Group, reiterated that Microsoft (MSFT) will send XP off to meet the great [...]
How to access the BIOS setup
When you turn on a computer, it first uses some permanent memory called the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) to get things started. The BIOS contains very elementary information about the memory, the drives, etc. Most of the time PC users don’t have to think about the BIOS but now and then you may want to [...]
Critical update for Adobe PDF readers
Many systems have Adobe software for reading PDF files. Unfortunately, there have been a series of security problems associated with Adobe readers and yet another update, patching a possibly dangerous flaw, has just been issued. Ryan Naraine gives some details:
If you have Adobe Reader or Acrobat installed on your machine, this update should be [...]
About protecting the computer
Anybody who has been reading this blog knows that security is a big theme. I have spilled a lot of figurative ink writing about safe Internet surfing. I even have a Web site on the subject. In several of my screeds I have been advocating a different approach to computer safety. I have a page [...]
Corporate security flunks test
It isn’t just the home PC user who has security problems. Even businesses with IT staffs have been found lacking in proper defenses. PC World reports on a study by the security firm Sophos:
Everyone knows that there’s no such thing as 100 percent security, but it’s unlikely that most businesses realize how insecure they [...]
One billion PCs and counting
Reuters reports:
The number of personal computers in use around the world has surpassed 1 billion, with strong growth in emerging markets set to double the number of PCs by early 2014, research firm Gartner said on Monday.
Mature markets accounted for 58 percent of the first billion installed PCs, but would only account for about [...]