windows

As many of you are aware, I think Windows Vista is a blunder. And with its annoying UAC system and horrifically slow operation, it won't take long before the majority of home users agree with me. If the recent figures showing Mac OS X is already gaining market share is any indication of the future, look for Leopard to outsell Vista by a staggering margin.

Simply put, Mac OS X Leopard is one of the most significant operating system achievements we have witnessed in years. Not only does it add functionality that Microsoft could only have dreamed of, it does so in a snappy environment that doesn't annoy you with pop-ups asking for permission or all of those security threats we have come to know (and hate) in Windows.

But my belief that Vista will soon bow to Leopard goes far beyond the operating system itself. In fact, the major reason Vista will succumb to Mac OS X has little to do with Apple, but quite a bit to do with Microsoft's current focus. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, one thing is abundantly clear: Microsoft fears Google and is doing everything it can to become the Google slayer instead of competing in its core business--software.

The company is on a slippery slope, and to be quite honest, I don't think it can get off too easily.… Read more

Have you ever found yourself in this quandary? You walk into your cell phone carrier's store, looking to purchase your first smartphone but you're too old to get a device like the T-Mobile Sidekick and yet, you're not really ready for a full-featured beast like the AT&T Tilt. So what's a girl or boy to do? Well, it seems the handset manufacturers and carriers are hip to this problem and are trying to fill the void in the market by releasing more user-friendly, affordable, and fun smartphones. We saw it with the Palm Centro … Read more

I had a great dinner tonight with the Openbravo management team in Barcelona. As we walked up La Rambla from a decadent pre-dinner "meal" of lava-like hot chocolate, we headed into the parking garage to get our car.

The door to the parking payment machine was open as we got into the garage. The computer had malfunctioned and the parking attendant was rebooting it. I got there just in time to notice the operating system (used city-wide) that was causing this parking attendant grief:

Windows.

One can't even park anymore without getting the Blue Screen of Death.… Read more

PC Magazine columnist, John C. Dvorak, wrote up an interesting column earlier this week explaining exactly how Google would get into the operating system business to take on Microsoft and Apple. And while I too believe Google may make such a move, John only got us to the point of inception.

And with most of the OS focus this week being allocated to Mac OS X Leopard, I thought it would be nice to take our attention away from that for a moment, and take a look at what the hypothetical Google OS would look like after the company declares war on Microsoft.

And if you're thinking what I'm thinking, this OS would take Windows (and Mac OS X) for a ride.… Read more

A few years ago market share data clearly demonstrated Linux server growth outpacing Windows server growth. Today, Linux server growth has apparently slowed while Windows is picking up, according to IDC. Why? The rate of migration from Unix to Linux has slowed.

In other words, Linux may have hit the end of Unix's low-hanging fruit (which also might mean that Sun's OpenSolaris has picked up...?).

Linux growth in the U.S. x86 server market has, over the past six quarters, started to falter and reverse its positive course relative to Windows Server and the market as a whole.

The annual rate at which Linux is growing in the x86 server space has fallen from around 53 percent in 2003 (45 percent globally), when Windows Server growth was in the mid-20 percent range, to a negative 4 percent growth (less than 10 percent globally) in calendar year 2006, IDC Quarterly Server Tracker figures show.… Read more

I-mate may be the leading wireless device manufacturer in the Middle East, but it doesn't enjoy quite the same popularity here in the United States. However, today's announcements are sure to turn some heads here. I-mate introduced its Ultimate line of four handhelds at the fall CTIA 2007 show, which including the Ultimate 6150, 8150, 8502, and 9502. All are quad-band smartphones running Windows Mobile 6 but have varying form factors to meet people's different needs. Here's the breakdown:

I-mate Ultimate 6150: Traditional PDA-like design with a 2.8-inch, 65,000-color touch screen, integrated Bluetooth and … Read more

The low-cost Eee PC may have been officially announced only last week, but Asus has kept the buzz going by confirming that it will offer Windows preloaded on the Eee PC by the end of the year. "With the addition of Microsoft Windows," reads the press release, "the Eee PC can now also accommodate educational and corporate requirements." It's a smart move on the part of Asus; provided the laptop's price remains below $500, a Windows-based Eee PC will have tremendous appeal to schools and parents who want to give every child his or … Read more

Updated 4:40 p.m. to note Microsoft not interested in bidding for wireless spectrum.

SAN FRANCISCO--Cell phones are so great these days that some people have started carrying two.

Well, that's not exactly true. A growing number of people do have multiple cell phones, but it's actually a failure, not a success of the industry, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said on Tuesday.

People are finding they need one phone for work and another for home, or one phone for e-mail and another for making phone calls.

"That strikes me as incredibly odd," Ballmer said in … Read more