Stories about: Alpha Software

Companies looking to reduce their IT costs and complexity by tapping into cloud computing services should first make sure that they won't be stepping on any privacy land mines in the process, according to a report released this week by the World Privacy Forum.

One of the release goals of the next-generation KDE office suite, KOffice 2, is to make the package run on Windows and Mac OS X in addition to Debian Linux.

No one loves to pay crazy per-user licensing fees, not to mention 15- 22 per cent annual support residuals. (And no one loves the endless, mind-numbing meetings with non-technical financial folks trying to pry budget for these tools from their clenched fists.) So today we're going to discuss tools that are free. However, we are not naming them to this list of "great" tools simply because they cost nothing. These are some of the best lesser-known tools out there.

More and more IT shops are validating the benefits of desktop and server virtualization, from energy efficiency to better resource utilization. But if you're still leery of forking over big dollars for the technology, there are some low-cost and no-cost ways to give virtualization a try.

The latest Alpha Five software adds enhanced scripting functions and a set of tools to simplify the writing of Web-based front-ends for your databases. Coding knowledge isn't required - you simply pick your preferences and Alpha Five does the rest. About 60 cascading stylesheet templates help you on your way and version 6.0 now has an integrated HTTP server. Alpha Five is easy to use, due to its "genies", better known as wizards. Action Scripting means it's a doddle to set up dialogue boxes, menus or buttons, while Field Rules make it simple to validate input data and provide lookups. Seasoned database builders can also add more complex, automated apps using XBasic, Active Scripting and ActiveX, however XMLS support remains on the wish list.