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JasperSoft pushes 'unlimited access' BI offer 09/07/2009 04:43:00
But the potential cost savings are a tradeoff for tight integration, one analyst says

Open-source BI (business intelligence) vendor JasperSoft said Tuesday it is offering an unlimited-use purchase option to customers worldwide.
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Google OS may force Microsoft to reinvent Windows 09/07/2009 09:38:00
Analysts said Microsoft now faces the challenge of developing a more Web-centric OS

Google's Chrome OS won't be an immediate threat to Windows, but it may force Microsoft to reinvent its operating system more quickly into a product that takes full advantage of the Web and can move more nimbly across devices and form factors, analysts said.
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Google lists HP, Acer among Chrome OS partners 09/07/2009 11:30:00
Chip partners include Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Freescale

Google is already working with several companies to develop devices around the new Chrome OS, including Hewlett-Packard and Acer, the company said in a blog post late Wednesday.
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Chrome OS will push Apple to address failings, say analysts 09/07/2009 07:01:00
Apple needs to offer a tablet, drop MacBook price to US$700, argues expert

Apple should be nervous about Google's move into the operating system market, some analysts said today. Others, however, argued that Apple executives won't lose a second of sleep.
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LaCie adds 12big Rack range for high-end videos pros 09/07/2009 00:19:00
The LaCie 12big Rack Fiber, LaCie 12big Rack Serial, and LaCie 12big Rack Network, provide, respectively, SAN, DAS and NAS storage solutions

LaCie has announced a range of storage solutions for video professionals. The LaCie 12big Rack product range is an enterprise class 2U rack-mounted portfolio.

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Features

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Apple's App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch turns 1! 09/07/2009 15:30:00
To celebrate the App Store's first birthday, we've compiled a list of our favourite apps

Apple's popular App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch is turning 1!
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FAQ: Google Chrome OS 09/07/2009 07:17:00
Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system in development by Google

News of Google's Chrome operating system is sending waves though the tech world with some saying the OS signals the beginning of the end for Microsoft and others who say Google will fall flat on its face and fail.
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Searching where Google can't 09/07/2009 02:24:00
New site displays questions the developing world is asking

We read a lot about the delivery, and popularity, of SMS services such as market prices, health advice and job alerts in developing countries, information there is clearly a need for. Only last week Grameen's AppLab initiative, in conjunction with Google and MTN, launched a suite of SMS services in Uganda. These are the services you'll get to hear most about when you search the Web, trawl the blogosphere and attend various conferences on the subject. It all seems pretty sewn up on the content side -- I mean, what else could people earning a few dollars a day (at most) possibly want?
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Hands on: Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro packs a punch 09/07/2009 09:14:00
Faster processors, more battery life and a better display make for a great -- and small -- package

When it comes to Apple laptops, what's in a name? More specifically, what does adding the "Pro" moniker to Apple's 13-in. MacBook mean?
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FAQ: The Google Chrome OS riddle 09/07/2009 08:06:00
Google chrome project raises a ton of questions

Google's unveiling of its Chrome OS project was akin to opening a Pandora's box of questions. Perhaps actor Joe Pesci said it best in his role as David Ferrie in Oliver Stone's "JFK": "It's a mystery wrapped inside a riddle inside an enigma". While we know a few basics -- open source, lightweight, targeted initially at netbooks, runs on x86 and ARM processors -- there are a lot more mysteries to be solved before netbooks running the Chrome OS hit the shelves next year.

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Opinions

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With OS project, is Google over-extending itself? 09/07/2009 05:15:00
Industry analysts question whether Google is trying to bite off more than it can chew

Google's decision to build a PC operating system could be a master stroke or a colossal blunder, depending on whether the company has the resources that such an ambitious and long-term undertaking will require.
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Are sealed-in laptop batteries a good idea? 30/06/2009 13:40:00
In what may become commonplace, Apple and Dell have begun shipping notebooks with sealed-in batteries, promising longer battery life but preventing battery swapping

When Apple introduced its new MacBooks recently, it touted a doubled battery life -- but noted that the laptops' batteries were sealed into the case, not user-swappable as is the norm on laptops.
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Do business desktop PCs have a future? 15/06/2009 04:45:00
The dedicated core of enterprise desktop users will include programmers and task workers

With laptop shipments gaining momentum over the past few years the question arises: Are desktops on the verge of being banished from the enterprise?
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The next wave of SaaS 26/05/2009 08:27:00
Businesses have just begun to leverage the real power of SaaS

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has gone from a curiosity to the mainstream in just a few years as businesses turn to the technology to take advantage of the inherent economies of scale. Yet that's only the beginning.
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Has Microsoft lost its war on open source? 21/04/2009 05:58:00
Whatever dastardly plans Microsoft may have, open source proponents say it doesn't matter

Is Microsoft a friend or foe of open source? Going by the company's actions, Microsoft can't seem to decide whether to make love or war. But if it's war,Â Microsoft appears to lack the legal weaponry to defeat or even disturb its adversaries.

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Interviews

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Flying high with open source 11/11/2008 11:30:00
"It's always peak hour somewhere" on the Sabre Holdings network, but open source software helps the company meet its demanding uptime requirements

To say Sabre Holdings is a believer in open source technology is an understatement. Its IT department supports the Travelocity Web site, the Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Airline Solutions, and the company has been using open source tools for some 10 years, according to CTO Robert Wiseman. Cost certainly factors into the reason, but it's Sabre's ability to control its own destiny by making whatever changes it deems necessary that's the real motivation. Along with Kevin Bomar, Sabre's senior principal of middleware services, Wiseman explains how open source software and the community that supports it help Sabre deliver solutions that meet its demanding uptime requirements.
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Interview with The Pirate Bay founder 16/10/2008 11:32:00
Recent controversy in Europe over torrent containing photographs of a child murder spawns debate over Pirate Bay's policies. Here, we interview one of its founders.

The Pirate Bay (TPB), one of the world's biggest torrent tracker sites, found itself embroiled in controversy last month, when a link to a torrent containing photographs of a grisly child murder in Sweden appeared on the site.
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At 10, Google reiterates commitment to CIOs 08/09/2008 08:36:00
Matthew Glotzbach, product management director of Google's Enterprise team, chats with IDG News Service

Google, which celebrates 10 years of its incorporation this month, remains strongly committed to its Enterprise unit and to the customers it serves, including IT and business managers and CIOs, although most of the company's revenue comes from online advertising.
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Facebook Tech Infrastructure Needs Constant Care 02/09/2008 13:35:00
Jonathan Heiliger, the top technology exec at the huge social networking site, talks about his efforts to build a technology operations team at Facebook that can both handle millions of users worldwide and a restless, creative culture inside the company.

Started in a dorm room four years ago, the social networking site Facebook now claims to be the fourth most-trafficked site in the world. Ninety million active users pound on 10,000 servers every day, uploading millions and millions of pieces of information in a given month. For example, "friends," who socialize in 21 languages, add 500 million photos per month.
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The dos and don'ts of IT job seeking 15/08/2008 10:07:00
High-tech recruiter sheds light on how IT workers can help and hinder their job search with social networking sites.

Social networking sites offer IT job seekers the resources to find peers with similar skills and learn more about employers. But candidates should be aware that the online outlets also provide employees a glimpse into the personal lives of potential hires. That can be good or it can be very bad, according to Rona Borre, president and CEO of Instant Technology, an IT recruiting and staff augmentation firm in the US. Borre recently talked with Denise Dubie about how new technologies can boost or torpedo job searches.

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Tutorials

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Firmware and you: a comprehensive guide to updating your hardware 08/07/2009 13:45:00
Firmware is a set of permanent instructions on a piece of hardware, stored in a device’s read-only memory

Utter the word “firmware” to the average PC user, and you'll likely elicit a blank stare in return.
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Ensuring you get pizza with sync tools 03/07/2009 05:10:00
The latest release of GoodSync is very sophisticated, with support for synchronising between Windows resources, as well as via FTP, SFTP, Amazon S3 and WebDAV

How often have you had to repeatedly copy files from one place to another either to create a backup or to synchronize two locations, and finally resorted to writing some dumb batch files to do the job? Of course, as your batch files have no real intelligence, you could well find your ad hoc solution has failed you.
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Soft skills are sexy 03/07/2009 03:37:00
10 soft skills techies need -- and five ways to get them

If you think technical skill is all you need for a career in IT, think again. Expectations for IT employees are changing.
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Customize your Windows Desktop 01/07/2009 01:45:00
Widescreen monitors are great for watching movies and organising windows side-by-side

Widescreen monitors are great for watching movies and organizing windows side-by-side, but a lot of time the space goes to waste. This week I've got a great tip that's particularly applicable to laptop and netbook users: Move the Windows taskbar to the side of the screen. Also, do you spend time and effort getting your Windows desktop to look just the way you want it, only to have some annoying program rearrange your icons? Read on for a cool little program that gets your desktop back to the way you want it--plus a quick way to resize your icons.
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Why all the Svchosts? 04/06/2009 02:36:00
It's perfectly normal to have multiple svchost processes running at a time

A PC World reader asked the Answer Line forum about the six or seven svchost.exe processes that turn up in Task Manager.

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Buying Guides

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Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Buying Guide 27/04/2009 12:50:00
What is a GPS unit and why do you need one? Let us guide you through the world of GPS.

Next time someone tells you to "Get lost!" — just smile and tell them calmly that you can't, thanks to your GPS navigation unit. Be sure to watch their face.
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Guide to VoIP security 03/07/2008 14:05:56
New ways to hack VoIP aren't fatal if you're prepared for them

New exploits against VoIP continue to emerge, but experts say these demonstrations reveal the need for vigilant security and are not fatal flaws to the technology.
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Smartphones Buying Guide 01/07/2008 17:00:00
A smartphone is a hybrid device that has all the features of a mobile phone and most of the features of a PDA such as calendar, e-mail, Web browsing and office applications. Here's what to look for when buying one.

As technology and communications begin to converge, the focus is increasingly placed upon multifunction devices, such as the modern smartphone.
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3G Mobile Phones 20/06/2008 15:50:00
With more bandwidth and endless multimedia possibilites, 3G mobile phones are leaving 2G in the dust.

With more bandwidth and endless multimedia possibilities, 3G mobile phones are leaving 2G in the dust.
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Desktop PCs 08/02/2008 09:30:35

This PC World Buying Guide aims to take the complexity out of buying a PC by providing the information that will help make your final decision.