Steve Jobs once said that Microsoft stole Windows from Apple, but both sides have snatched plenty of ideas over the years.
Although Mac fanboys and Windows zealots don't like to admit it, the fact is that both Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard contain features that originated in the other OS. Some features were stolen so long ago that they've become part of the computing landscape, and it's difficult to remember who invented what. Two of
Windows 7's most touted new features -- the task bar and Aero Peek -- are clearly based on Mac OS X's Dock and Exposé. Apple's copying of Windows is less recent, such as cloning the Windows address bar in 2007's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard as the path bar. But the borrowing goes For example,...
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Lust, gluttony, greed, anger, envy, pride, and sloth -- Microsoft's new OS suffers from each deadly sin. Here's what you can do to minimize the toll each sin takes.
The seven deadly sins -- for centuries, they've shaped the imaginations of poets, priests, and politicians, while giving the great unwashed a frame of reference: Do these things and you'll burn for sure! When it comes to software, few products have inspired as much debauchery as Windows. From lust to sloth to envy, Microsoft's
flagship OS platform has proven to be a source of manifold transgression. Zealots have praised it, and pundits have cursed it, while those of us in the IT trenches are forced to actually live with it...
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Microsoft's Windows 7 launch is just three weeks away.
It might seem like a long time to some, but for the rest of us, the time has come to prepare for the new operating system. Part of that preparation involves determining what software we should install to augment the experience. Everything from security software to fun, photo-editing tools should make that list. But picking them can be
difficult. How do we know which music application to choose? Which video-editing application is ideal for the new Windows 7? Answering those questions might be more difficult than we think. That's precisely why we here at eWEEK have compiled our own list. We want to help you make those tough choices. So without further ado, join
eWEEK as we point out 10 applications that you'll definitely want to install when Windows 7 hits store shelves on Oct. 22...
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With any new OS deployment, IT teams traditionally take the "safe" route and wait for the first service pack. But IT groups that follow that strategy with Windows 7 rollouts will get caught in a support crunch, says research firm Gartner.
As companies consider Windows 7 deployment timing, many IT veterans choose the traditional safety play: hold off on testing until the first service pack of the new OS arrives. In this case, Microsoft says that will be roughly 12 months after Windows 7 ships on Oct. 22. But the situation is different for this OS upgrade
cycle, analysts say. With automatic Windows updates delivering fixes on a regular basis, businesses should resist the urge to wait for the first service pack to start their Windows 7 deployments, says Gartner research VP Steven Kleynhans. "Waiting for
service packs made sense in the past because it was the only way people got fixes. That's not the case today,...
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As you plan for your enterprise Windows 7 deployment, you can also clean house and improve efficiency. Here's a look at four key areas to consider.
Despite enterprise affinity for the sturdy and reliable Windows XP, it's all but inevitable that Windows 7, shipping next week, on Oct. 22, will see significant business adoption in 2010. That's due to both Windows XP's age and the timing of PC hardware upgrade cycles. Analysts at research firm Gartner expect corporate demand
for Windows 7 to gain full momentum by the end of 2010. Consequently, Gartner recommends strongly that businesses start testing for Windows 7 now, citing... [Here are four steps you need to take as you plan for your business to migrate to Windows 7...]
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When the data center neared its failure point, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory embarked on a project to revamp facilities without breaking the budget. Consider these practical lessons from the edge of failure.
In 2005, problems in the data center at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory came to a head. Unscheduled outages were occurring almost monthly, bringing down the data center for hours at a time. Groups were buying an increasing number of rack-mounted servers — which had recently become cheaper at the time — to boost the computing
resources, says Ralph Wescott, data center services manager for the government laboratory, which is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy. In July, 2005, the server room had reached its capacity limit. "Groups would go buy a server and throw it over the wall to me, saying, 'Hey, install this,'" Wescott says. "But I didn't
have any space, power or cooling (capacity) left. If I installed (one more), the whole room would go dark." Wescott and PNNL embarked on a broad project to revamp their data center without breaking the budget. Every quarter for three years, the data center group spent a weekend...
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Did you think all those legacy apps would just float up into someone else's cloud infrastructure? Management, licensing and migration concerns highlight the list of troubles that vendors are now trying to address.
The hype about cloud computing has gotten so loud that Gartner Group used Cloud as the lead in its hype-parazzi special report Hype Cycle 2009. The sharply sloping graph in the report places cloud, along with e-book readers, wireless power and social software suites, at or near the "Peak of Inflated Expectations," preparing
for a dive into the "Trough of Disillusionment." One thing that may drive it into that trough — other than the unrealistic projections by some providers of cost-savings and easy capacity planning — is the difficulty in getting certain applications to run on it effectively, according to analysts and vendors selling
technology to help bridge the gap. What are the difficulties? Here's a look at five key hurdles...
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A look back at 15 years of wars, lawsuits, and standards the Web browser has brought us.
Web Browser Milestones
The Web browser turns 15 on Oct. 13, 2009 — a key milestone in the history of the Internet. That's when the first commercial Web browser — eventually called Netscape Navigator - was released as beta code. While researchers including...
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Google CEO Eric Schmidt feels like a man with a glimpse of open highway after being stuck in traffic for hours.
Google is ready to once again hit the gas, with plans to invest in people, products, and companies over the next several months now that it feels much more confident about its business and the economy. When the last recession hit in 2001, Google was still a small growing company, but a year ago
the crumbling economy spooked executives into caution mode as they tried to anticipate just how bad things might get. Now they know. "The worst of the recession is clearly behind us," Schmidt said following Google's announcement of third-quarter earnings that were stronger than
financial analysts had expected. "Because of what we've seen we can be optimistic about the future." That means Google is about to go on an investment binge;...
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For years analysts have encouraged the consumerization of IT to enhance collaboration and productivity.
It began with adoption of consumer instant messaging applications and continued with Web 2.0 technologies such as Wikis and social networking. Now, as employees start bringing their smartphones to work and request IT to provide access to email and other corporate applications, we are seeing the consumerization of not just an
application but an entire computing platform. At first glance this looks like a great idea. IT increases employee satisfaction, reduces OpEx costs by having employees foot part of the wireless bill, and cuts CapEx costs by ducking the cost of the pricey phones. What’s more, employees with smartphones devote more personal
time to work so there is a productivity gain. Early data from the Aberdeen Group shows that 20% of companies surveyed allow their employees to use personal devices for work. But securing employee-owned smartphones is not the same as securing corporate-owned devices...
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The way traffic moves over the Internet has changed radically in the last five years, according to a new report, and few people have realized it.
Arbor Networks measures network performance for its customers, but it has also used its vantage point to look at overall Internet trends. The company found that the bulk of Internet traffic no longer moves across Tier-1 international transit providers. Instead, the traffic is handled directly by large content providers,
content delivery networks and consumer networks. That is, it moves directly from one of these edge networks to another, rather than going over a Tier-1 carrier's backbone. Also see: Ethernet everywhere! You can probably guess what some of these rising providers are:...
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Cell phone carriers are notorious for slapping consumers with fees and unexpected charges. But if you look carefully at what you're paying for and figure out what you need, you can keep your monthly bill down.
Are you paying too much for your cell phone and its services? Even if you're sticking to your monthly allocation of minutes and messages, you might still be paying more than you have to. The only way to tell is to take a cold, hard look at
your plan and your handset--and at the way you actually use them. Here are five ways your carrier might be milking you for extra bucks--and what you can do to stop those unwanted charges...
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How to ''Swarm'' to the top of the App Store.
David Whatley's fast-paced action-strategy game "geoDefense Swarm" is the latest to top the iPhone App Store. Priced at 99 cents, "Swarm," which was released Sept. 14, is currently No. 1 in the Top Paid Apps Games genre, beating out "Madden NFL 10."
"Swarm" is also No. 3 in Top Paid Apps overall. Whatley says the "ultimate secret" to getting to the top in the App Store is...
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U.S. companies may be contributing unwittingly to the exploitation of workers imported from India and elsewhere by tech-services outfits.
Vimal Patel was studying for a master's in business administration in London when he saw an advertisement for work in the U.S. The ad offered a job in the tech industry, as well as sponsorship for the kind of work visa that allows foreign nationals to take professional-level jobs in the country. So Patel applied and paid his
prospective employer, Cygate Software & Consulting, in Edison, N.J., thousands of dollars in up-front fees. But when Patel arrived, Cygate had no tech job for him. He ended up working at a gas station, and Cygate nevertheless took a chunk of his wages
for years, according to documents in a criminal case against Cygate. After a federal investigation into Cygate,...
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A look at some of the ways hackers use social networking tools to gain access to victims' systems.
While there are an infinite number of social engineering exploits, typical ones include the following:...
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The great office politics battle is over, and you stand victorious. This was no minor skirmish, but an important philosophical battle, one that will determine the future direction of the technology, strategy or organization of your group.
Your foes fought bravely, but some combination of the force of your arguments, the virtue of your personality and the cunning of your maneuvers overwhelmed them. Now that the vanquished lie at your feet, what do you do with them? First, let's assume that you have fought for a noble cause and that you were motivated not by personal
gain, but by what you truly believed was best for the organization and its members. Next, let's also assume that what you do now will be motivated not by malice or a need for vengeance, but by a desire to maximize progress for the whole group. In general, you have four choices of what to do with your former opponents. Depending
on your circumstances, some of them may not be possible because of legal concerns, cultural constraints, corporate policies or threats of lawsuits...
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Think you've got the dreaded flu? Several sites help you find out.
Feeling sick? Wondering if it's the H1N1 flu or just a regular old go-away-don't-come-near-me, flu? Face it, your doctor may not be able to squeeze you right in. But you may be able to figure it out using a Web-based self-assessment tool developed by researchers at...
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