Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
  • CNET
  • All plex posts

plex

How to set up the ultimate home theater PC

At some point, you've probably considered hooking your computer up to your TV. Maybe you even purchased a video cable, only to realize that being hunched over your computer and tethered to the TV is far from the awesome setup you had in mind.

Hooking up your computer to your TV can be as simple or as complex as you want. A basic setup lets you stream the occasional Web video, while a more advanced rig lets you access movie and music files from computers across your home network.

But the most brag-worthy home theater PCs (HTPCs) include all … Read more

Dell joins the parade of Windows 8 systems

Dell is joining the ranks of PC companies making system announcements before the official October 26 release of Windows 8.

The following products are available for preorder today, according to Dell:

XPS 12 convertible -- starting at $1,199.99 XPS One 27 with touch -- starting at $1,599.99 Inspiron One 23 AIO with touch -- starting at $779.99 XPS 13 ultrabook -- starting at $999.99

Dell is also offering Windows 8 as an option on its current XPS, Inspiron, Latitude, OptiPlex and Precision brands -- which covers virtually all the company's major product brands. … Read more

IBM supercomputer mixes Intel, Nvidia chips

IBM announced on Tuesday a hybrid high-performance computer that combines Intel and Nvidia processors--a first for IBM.

The IBM iDataPlex Dx360 M3 is powered by both Intel Xeon central processing units (CPUs) and Nvidia Tesla graphics processing units (GPUs) and is designed to be clustered with other Dx360 M3 modular servers to form a supercomputer.

This is the first time a major computer company has adopted Nvidia GPUs for a supercomputer that can be marketed worldwide.

"Now customers will have access to everything IBM brings to the table in high-performance computing," Sumit Gupta, senior manager of Nvidia's … Read more

Microsoft sets up open-source foundation

Microsoft has created the nonprofit CodePlex Foundation to target increased communication between open-source communities and software companies.

Citing an under-representation of commercial software companies and their employees in open source, the CodePlex Foundation aims to work with particular projects to bridge the gap between the open-source and commercial worlds.

The Redmond giant has contributed $1 million to the foundation and has filled out its board and advisory panel with many Microsoft staffers, including Sam Ramji, who is leaving Microsoft as its open-source point man but is also becoming CodePlex Foundation's interim president.

Unlike other open-source foundations, such as the … Read more

Open-source CodePlex helps Microsoft grow up

What a difference a year makes. In the case of CodePlex, Microsoft's open-source code-hosting site, a year has seen Microsoft make serious progress toward real open-source savvy. The site has more than 120,000 registered users and 7,500 projects.

I've noted for years that open source should be an opportunity for Microsoft, not a threat. Windows, for example, should be the world's biggest open-source platform, but it's not, and Microsoft has only itself to blame for this.

But perhaps the rising popularity of CodePlex can help change this. The numbers, as called out by Microsoft's Peter Galli, … Read more