windows

When it comes to understanding IT, groupthink only gets you so far

Earlier Friday I was speaking with a CIO when the conversation turned to the subject of Microsoft. There's been no small amount of reaction to the publication of Gartner Group's gloomy report on Windows. But this exec was not buying into the notion of a future tech landscape where Web browsers elbow aside client operating systems as the preferred software development platform.

"We're still on XP. I'm not going to move to Vista for a while. We'll let other people be the early adopters," she said, asking to remain unidentified in case Microsoft … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 701: Doughnut for your hate

Flickr-haters get free doughnuts. If that's what you get for hating, sign us up! Also, Gartner hates on Windows, and no one gets any doughnuts for that. Europe rejects plans to criminalize file-sharing, offering doughnuts in the form of broad exemptions for fair use, and Network Solutions gets a big, fat doughnut hole for putting ads on your subdomains. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 701

Mike Please keep doing the show.

Windows is ‘collapsing,’ Gartner analysts warn http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9916717-56.html http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1870375122;fp;;fpid;;pf;1 http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=8428… Read more

Make your PC boot faster with Startup Delayer

Tired of waiting an eternity for your computer to boot? Malware could be the culprit, so make sure to run anti-spyware software. But another cause of slow booting is all the software that's trying to run the moment Windows starts. Startup Delayer takes a clever approach to this by letting you delay selected programs.

For example, I need my anti-virus and desktop-search programs to run right away, but Adobe Reader Speed Launcher? iTunesHelper? LightScribe Control Panel? They can wait. Using Startup Delayer, I can configure programs like those to run at, say, 2-minute intervals, starting a full 15 minutes … Read more

"Windows is too monolithic," declares Gartner, opening the door for Linux

"The Innovator's Dilemma" is finally catching up with Microsoft. As Gartner analyst Michael Silver declares (and ZDNet's Larry Dignan captures),

Microsoft's Windows juggernaut is collapsing as it tries to support 20 years of applications and becomes more complicated by the minute. Meanwhile, Windows has outgrown hardware and customers are pondering skipping Vista to wait for Windows 7. If Windows is going to remain relevant it will need radical changes...."Windows is too monolithic," says Silver.

That monolithic nature will become ever less relevant as more and more applications are written for the web...and simply won't care what OS is running on the client. Gartner figures that 2011 will represent a tipping point when developers will care more about developing for the Web than for the desktop.

Ironically, Gartner's recommendations for how Windows should change sound eerily like a recommendation to become...Linux:

Windows should be able to be tailored to specific applications. Linux has been doing this for years, modular as it is. Linux reigns in embedded devices and scales up to the most demanding high-performance computing needs. Whatever the application, Linux has been tailored to fit it. Windows can't compete.… Read more

Ferret out Windows' system-info hiding places

How much RAM is installed in your PC? How fast is its processor? How much unused space is on its hard drive?

This and other basic information about your system is easy to find, but how do you find the date Windows was originally installed, how long since the last restart, or the model number of your display adapter? For this information you may have to dig a little deeper.

The fast way to open System Properties The standard facts and figures about your PC are listed in System Properties. Most people get their by right-clicking My Computer (in XP) … Read more

Live Maps gets a major upgrade

Microsoft's Live Maps team just dropped a huge new version of its service in addition to the traffic updates from earlier Thursday.

Live Maps now offers a wealth of new features, including exporting to GPS devices, improved 3D imagery, and one of my personal favorites, MapCruncher integration.

Microsoft is rolling out its new "version 2" 3D imagery in four cities (Las Vegas, Denver, Dallas, and Phoenix) for now, with more to come later. The rest of us will have to wait and look on in envy. 3D improvements include higher-resolution textures, rendered trees, and buildings reaching farther … Read more

The problem with Windows.

Poor Microsoft.

No, really.

OK, stop that. Stop that snickering.

OK, well, just a little snickering. Go ahead.

OK, done now?

OK.

But, look, they really have a tough job. Apparently -- and who could have predicted this? -- there's a cost to being everything to everyone. The Macalope doesn't envy them. They have a gazillion different users with a gazillion different requirements and hundreds (thousands?) of hardware manufacturers they have to get their software to satisfy those requirements on.

Suddenly the Apple method of making the whole enchilada doesn't seem so bad now does it?

So, … Read more

Gartner: Windows is collapsing

SAO PAULO, Brazil--At a Las Vegas conference on Thursday, Gartner analysts warned that Windows is in danger of collapsing, according to a report in ComputerWorld.

Upon reading that, I wondered how this could have happened in the 10 days I have been traveling around Latin America. Although Microsoft faces challenges from Linux and piracy here, looking out from the company's futuristic offices, it hardly seemed like either the building or the Windows empire was in imminent danger of collapse.

Seriously, though, Gartner analyst Michael Silver appears to be noting some important long-term issues that threaten to make it harder … Read more

CNET Live--Episode 49

It's our birthday! We had a little champagne and balloons to help celebrate the one-year anniversary of CNET Live. We also invited back Justin Kan of Justin.TV to talk about the world of lifecasting.

Watch the show on CNET TV.

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Will an ATI graphics card work with an nVidia motherboard? Yes. The integrated graphics card shouldn't matter. And if you're interested the opposite is true too.… Read more

A very cool way to experience Ubuntu...on Windows

Mark Shuttleworth points to an excellent way to let Ubuntu Linux newbies give it a try without leaving the comfort of their Windows machines:

...I was absolutely delighted with the way Agostino Russo and Evan Dandrea steered the Windows-native installer for Ubuntu into 8.04 LTS. What I think is really classy about it is the way it uses the Windows Boot Manager sensibly to offer you the Ubuntu option. If I was a Windows user who was intrigued but nervous about Linux, this would be a really great way to get a taste of it, at low risk. Being … Read more