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The bottom line: If at first you don't succeed, update and update again. Regular Chrome OS updates over the past year have made it faster, with better offline support and more compatibility with traditional file formats. But it's still only for die-hard Googlers.

Review: Welcome to the Chrome channel. Google's operating system started off last year as being little more than all Chrome, all the time. Updates made over the past year have given Chrome OS users better file format support, faster navigation, revised menus, dramatically improved offline abilities, and a new, traditional-looking desktop.

But if you … Read more

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer didn't actually say that there will a half-billion Windows 8 users next year, despite earlier reports.

Earlier this week, AFP reported that Ballmer told attendees at the Seoul Digital Forum in Korea that there could be 500 million Windows 8 users worldwide next year. As one might expect, the online world was set ablaze by the news, since it took Windows 7 some 18 months to hit only 350 million licenses.

However, soon after the report was published, Microsoft issued a statement to Computerworld saying that Ballmer's comments were taken out of context, and … Read more

The National Security Agency has chosen the first four universities it will accredit to teach cyber ops programs.

The universities winning the designation Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations" are Dakota State University, the Naval Postgraduate School, Northeastern University, and the University of Tulsa.

Twenty universities have applied to partner with the federal agency, which said it started the program with an eye toward building a larger reservoir of professionals to support its work in conducting cyber-intelligence operations against adversaries. The interdisciplinary curriculum will include coursework in computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering. Some participants will also … Read more

One of the more widespread malware attacks that has affected Macs, Windows-based PC systems, and even network hardware such as routers is the DNSChanger Trojan, which has also been known as "RSPlug," "Puper," and "Jahlav."

This Trojan was first discovered in 2007, and was able to infect millions of PC systems worldwide. It remained active until 2011 when an FBI sting called Operation Ghost Click resulted in the arrest of an Estonian crime ring and seizure of the rogue DNS network used to maintain the attack.

The DNSChanger malware worked by setting up a … Read more

Available only to registered Mac developers, build 12A178q of Mountain Lion comes with a laundry list of fixes and minor tweaks. The release notes also list the known issues that are still being worked on by Apple (including issues with both Quicktime and Game Center) and directions for developers to submit bug reports as they explore the new build.

Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (read our first take from February) is expected to be launched to the public sometime this summer, only one year after the release of OS X Lion, making it Apple's fastest major OS … Read more

Verizon Wireless is planning to auction off some of its wireless spectrum in the hopes of winning favor with regulators to buy a chunk of spectrum from cable operators.

Verizon has been facing opposition from several smaller wireless carriers for a deal it proposed last year to buy unused spectrum from a group of cable operators called Spectrum Co. that includes Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

Verizon said in a statement today that if it's given approval to buy the cable operators' spectrum it will sell some of its own spectrum in the A and B block of the … Read more

Windows XP has gradually been losing market share over the past few years, yet it continues to hang on as the most popular OS, according to the latest stats from Net Applications.

XP grabbed a 46.86 percent share of the OS market last month, up from 45.39 percent in February. At the same time, Windows 7 lost a bit of ground, capturing 37.53 percent in March, down from 38.12 percent in the prior month.

Neither stat represents a major shift. Over the longer haul, Windows 7 is still gaining in popularity, while XP has been shedding … Read more

Christopher Chaney entered guilty pleas to nine felony counts in federal court today, admitting that he hacked into dozens of celebrities' e-mail accounts, including those of Mila Kunis and Scarlett Johansson, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"Today's guilty pleas shine a bright light on the dark underworld of computer hacking," said U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr., whose office prosecuted the case, according to the Los Angeles Times. "This case demonstrates that everyone, even public figures, should take precautions to shield their personal information from the hackers that inhabit that dark underworld."

Chaney, 35 … Read more

Research In Motion's BlackBerry 10 operating system will be coming to its tablet, the company has confirmed.

Speaking in an interview published yesterday by U.K. news site Tech Radar, RIM vice president of product management, Rob Orr, said his company will be launching a BlackBerry 10-based handset "towards the end of 2012," and will follow that up by bringing "BlackBerry 10 to our PlayBooks."

RIM has been promoting BlackBerry 10 for months, but the OS so far hasn't seen the light of day. Last month, the blog Crackberry leaked images supposedly originating from &… Read more