Other operating systems
Is Windows 7 the last major release?
Windows 7 is currently the focus of attention and will likely dominate the PC for a few years. But what about the future? At PCMag, technology industry analyst Tim Bajarin speculates about what comes after Windows 7:
So, Windows 7 does, in fact, matter. But for how long? At the moment, we live in a client/server [...]
Is Windows too unsafe for secure online transactions?
A growing number of technology professionals are saying that the Windows operating system is too unsafe for sensitive online transactions like banking. This is not just the same old tired refrain from Linux and Mac fanboys. These are respected professionals making a sober assessment of a rapidly growing problem. For example, Michael Horowitz, who writes [...]
Turning on PCs instantly
One of the drags in Windows systems is the length of time it takes to get a machine booted up and running. This is not inherent in PCs; Linux systems generally boot much faster, for example. Various technologies for near-instant bootup have been around for quite a while but the Windows hegemony has always been [...]
Unix is 40
Most home PC users are unaware of what is the most important operating system ever developed. Yes, it’s Unix and not Windows. That takes nothing away from Windows because Unix has played a unique role in general computing. Unix has reached its 40th birthday and eWeek commemorates it with a slideshow:
Forty years ago, a new [...]
Computing in Africa
The computing scene in Africa has been in the news lately. Here are some links with African stories:
How broadband is changing Africa Fast broadband will transform Africa, and the rest of the world will change too, says Bill Thompson at BBC.
IBM launches new Netbook software in Africa
CNET reports: “IBM has unveiled a new Netbook software [...]
Dell dabbles with Linux
It’s not exactly a major effort but Dell continues to play around with putting Linux on PCs. Ars Technica reports:
Dell has launched its first Moblin-based product, the Mini 10v netbook. It will ship with Canonical’s special Moblin remix of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution. It looks promising, but Dell warns that Moblin is still incomplete [...]
New Apple Mac operating system
Windows isn’t the only operating system getting a new version. A new OS called “Snow Leopard” is being released for the Apple Mac. Numerous reviews have appeared and they are summarized by Harry McCracken at Technologizer.
Microsoft’s “Gazelle” project
Google’s Chrome browser and operating system (OS) is getting all the attention but Microsoft has a project of its own that may hint at a future OS that is Web oriented. It is called “Gazelle”. Little information is available but Microsoft Research posted the following:
Once upon a time, Web sites were the online equivalent of [...]
Is cloud computing the future?
The announcement by Google that it was going to create a new operating system caused a firestorm of discussion. Much of the discussion, however, downplayed or even ignored the fact that the proposed (it doesn’t exist yet) Google Chrome operating system would be a minimalist version aimed solely at getting on the Internet. A system [...]
Google announces new operating system
It looks like the Internet appliance that I have been saying we need may be arriving. Google has just announced its Chrome operating system that is a stripped-down OS geared to using the Chrome browser and providing just Internet services. The blogs are all breathless and bubbling with talk about competition with Windows but that’s [...]
Yet another PC category – smartbooks
The PC line continues to splinter into sub-groups. The netbook is getting a smaller cousin called the “smartbook“. Most netbooks use the Intel Atom chip and run Windows XP Home. The new category uses a different, less-powerful processor called “ARM” and is likely to be Linux based. It will be cheaper and even more [...]