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Linux and Windows grow data center market share

As Computerworld reports, the search for simplicity is driving Linux and Windows into the data center in ever growing numbers. Gartner expects Windows to hit $19.6 billion in 2007, growing to $22.2 billion by 2012, 13% growth. Linux will pull in $8.6 billion in 2007 and boom to $12.2 billion by 2012, 40% growth. Linux, then, is growing faster, but largely because it's starting from a smaller installed base.

The big loser in all this is Unix, which will not lose revenues (holding flat at roughly $16 billion), but won't grow them. Consolidation of … Read more

Verizon Wireless XV6800 finally sees the light of day

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I know a lot of you have been waiting for this smartphone, and the day has finally come for the Verizon Wireless XV6800 to shine. Starting today, you can purchase the XV6800 online for a pricey $349.99 (ouch) with a two-year contract and after rebates, while in-store availability will begin on December 5.

As the successor to the aging UTStarcom XV6700, the XV6800 brings a much-needed refresh with an upgrade to Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition, a sleeker design, and a 2-megapixel camera. You also get EV-DO, integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), and … Read more

Vista won't be abandoned so here's how to fix it

Since Microsoft has abandoned my plan of abandoning Vista, I feel compelled to help the company out in any way I can. And while I still believe abandoning Vista is the only true option of fixing Windows, I can appreciate the fact that Microsoft has dumped a huge sum of cash into the OS and it's loath to lose out.

Of course, with reports suggesting Vista will become a target for hackers in 2008 and now, even Microsoft executives have no idea what "Vista Capable" really means, I can't help but think this operating system is tanking faster than Microsoft Bob.

But I digress. Although Windows XP running Service Pack 3 is almost twice as fast as Windows Vista running SP1 and major hardware manufacturers are still selling XP machines out of desire for once, Microsoft wants to hold on to Vista regardless of where it takes the company. Will it force the company into a tailspin? I think it already has. Will it get worse? Possibly. But if Microsoft heeds my warnings and follows some of the tips I will outline below, Windows Vista may not be the utter failure I think it will be if nothing changes.… Read more

Save 25 percent on smartphone software

Online software store Handmark carries a broad range of titles for BlackBerry, Palm, Windows Mobile, and other smartphones. What? Huh? You can add software to your phone?!

It always surprises me how few people know this, or don't bother to venture beyond the preinstalled software. Well, now's your chance to score some games, apps, utilities, and more at a discount. From now through Wednesday, Handmark is offering 25 percent off all software purchases. Just enter the promo code "SITE25" when you check out.

"Serious Windows flaw" could put "vast numbers" of computers at risk

Windows is hyper-secure. Just ask Microsoft.

But if you ask people outside Redmond, like Beau Butler, who demonstrated a massive hole in Microsoft's Windows security last week, things aren't so rosy, as The Register reports.

Microsoft knows about the flaw and spent the Thanksgiving holiday trying to fix the error, as reported in The Sydney Morning Herald:

The flaw is an old one, first exposed and apparently fixed more than five years ago. But it appears Microsoft's fix was only partially effective. [GASP!]… Read more

Vista makes the list as one of the top-10 worst consumer tech products of all time

I'll admit: I've used Vista once or twice and I didn't think it was all that bad. I didn't run into the horrible nannying that others reported. But CNET's Crave still felt compelled to rank it up (er, down) with products like The Squircle:

Oh, the Squircle. Not only the product with the lowest score on CNET.co.uk, but the one we felt less love for than our televisions editor feels for his PC. This MP3 player, complete with zero megabytes of internal memory and lump-of-dirt design, had the audacity to sit on shelves asking for money.

This MP3 player uses SD cards to store music. Nay-sayers, don't shout just yet. While an MP3 player running on removable media sounds moderately useful, bear in mind it sounds about as pleasant as a baby seal being clubbed to death. Why such a product even exists is utterly beyond our combined comprehension.

So, you can see the kind of company Vista keeps. Crave writes:… Read more

Sync offers hands-free control

Microsoft and Ford bought a lot of advertisements on NFL football broadcasts over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend. The companies are pushing Sync, which is the latest outgrowth of Microsoft's decade-long effort to provide software for use in automobiles.

In this case, Microsoft might actually succeed. Simplicity is the key: unlike past scenarios floated for the Windows Automotive platform, Sync isn't intended to help control your car (leading to the inevitable blue screen jokes) or connect to the Internet or serve as the back-end for an in-car control panel. Instead, it gives you voice command over Bluetooth-enabled phones and … Read more