End of an era: Mac Internet Explorer

	IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER FOR MAC USERS In June 2003, the Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit announced that Internet Explorer for Mac would undergo no further development, and support would cease in 2005. In accordance with published support lifecycle policies, Microsoft will end support for Internet Explorer for Mac on December 31st, 2005, and will provide no further security or performance updates. Additionally, as of January 31st, 2006, Internet Explorer for the Mac will no longer be available for download from Mactopia. It is recommended that Macintosh users migrate to more recent web browsing technologies such as Apple’s Safari. There was a News.com (CNET) article on this topic back in 2003 when I left Microsoft. Four years of my life were dedicated to this product and others based on it. Those four years in the Macintosh Business Unit at Microsoft were incredible, and I learned many important lessons and made some great lifelong friends. The most remarkable thing about those four years was that I was able to fulfill a childhood dream…and get paid lots of money for it! My first real computer was an Apple II+ and I have been hooked on Apple’s products since I was six years old. To work in the largest Mac software development team in the world, live 15 minutes away from Cupertino, and become friends with many of the people who were instrumental in making the Macintosh successful was a dream come true. Along the way, I gained an appreciation for Microsoft which not enough people have. It’s a truly remarkable company that treats its employees well, develops some incredible technology, and deserves all the success it has. As with any large collection of people, Microsoft has made mistakes along the way, but that does not diminish the impact it has had on billions of people’s lives and the way it has helped technology progress. I’m sure people will post some comments telling me how evil Microsoft is and that’s fine. They are wrong, but still entitled to their opinion. I am a hardcore Mac user and reformed Microsoft-hater so no one is going to be able to change my opinion since its based on first hand experience.

Hanukkah Celebration

Hanukkah (Hebrew word for dedication) begins on the 25th day of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar. It lasts for eight days beginning at sunset the previous day and is also known as the Festival of Lights.

Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian tyrant Antiochus and the subsequent reclamation of Jerusalem. According to the Talmud, only a one day supply of nondesecrated oil was found in the Temple when the Maccabees prepared it for rededication by removing all Syrian idols. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days until oil that was fit for use in the temple could be obtained.

This miracle is commemorated by the lighting of the Hanukkah candles. The candles are placed on the menorah or hanukkiya, a nine-branch candelabrum. The ninth branch of the hanukkiya holds the shamash, or servant light. This branch is lit first and is used to light a new candle on successive nights. The candle lighting is accompanied by the chanting of blessings.

During Hanukkah, gifts are exchanged and children often play the dreidl game.

Interview with HK Bain, the CEO of Digitech Systems

There have been a great many stories in the news recently about Microsoft launching its new 'Software as a Service' business. As you know, the concept is not new and we have seen a number of successes here, including one of the most successful - Salesforce.com. At the boom of the dot com era, the word ASP was coined, yet the dot com bust seemed to keep that word out of the public domain. However, in the ECM space, we have seen several ASP offerings, and Software as a Service has been available for some time.
Document Boss recently spoke with one of the most successful ECM companies in the Software as a Service space. We sat down with HK Bain, the CEO of Digitech Systems, one of the ASP pioneers and a thriving and successful company. We wanted to get his perspectives about the ECM business and talk about the success Digitech has had.

Q. Can we begin with a brief history and introduction to Digitech, and could you tell us about your business vision and strategy?
A. Scott Matthews, our founder and CTO, formed Digitech Systems, Inc. in July 1997 in Lincoln, Nebraska. His goal was to develop and market document imaging capture and retrieval software that would revolutionize the industry. At that time, document management systems were complex, built with proprietary technologies and prohibitively expensive. We wanted to simplify the process, drive the cost down and provide an affordable yet comprehensive enterprise solution suite.
Digitech is delivering on this promise: our unique approach of selling the Software as a Service yields extremely low start-up costs and very rapid ROI. We now have over 60 Terabytes of storage under management and this number is growing rapidly. In addition, through our PaperVision® Enterprise and PaperFlow™ solutions, we can offer both a hosted solution and an in-house solution to our customers. Both are equally scalable.

Q. Which markets are your key markets and account for the majority of your sales?
A. We have built our ECM solutions using a horizontal methodology so they can apply to virtually any vertical market and any vertical application. We sell 100% through our channel partners, so we count on them heavily to identify developing key markets and applications. Our ability to easily integrate into any vertical application makes us incredibly competitive.
We have seen the greatest demand from Financial Services, Government, Insurance, and Commercial and Educational markets. But the fact is, once you have the option of purchasing ECM through an "On Demand" service, literally any size business can begin using ECM technology - from a 2-man shop to a Fortune 500 company.
Even professional football teams like the Denver Broncos use a Digitech solution. Fans can actually access the Bronco's past playbooks, which are hosted and served using ImageSilo® and available to the general public online at www.broncosgamebook.com.

Q. Where (regions) do you have the greatest presence?
A. We are currently selling predominantly in the United States with partners in the UK and other parts of the world.
We are interested in expanding our global reach, through our current indirect channel sales model. However, the challenge is not only to find the right global partners, but also to maintain the extremely high quality standards and customer service levels we now maintain in North America.

Q. Can you discuss some of the opportunities available to you? Where do you see the biggest growth opportunities? Is your sector or area sector showing good growth dynamics?
A. We are extremely excited by Digitech Systems' growth, and see unlimited opportunities available to us. We have seen 20% ImageSilo growth every month over a sustained period, and feel this growth will easily increase as the economy continues to strengthen and Digitech gains recognition in the marketplace. In addition, our ability to sell the software as a service makes the customer's decision time far more rapid, as it moves ECM from a capital expenditure to an operating expense - a significant change in enabling businesses to take advantage of ECM. While our software business will continue to grow, we see the services business growing far more rapidly. Companies can now manage their information at a very low cost.
In addition, all evidence points to the total potential market for this type of ECM deployment as being enormous. While the larger traditional ECM companies went after larger companies, it left a huge population of small and medium sized businesses uncovered, believing that ECM was too expensive for them. The way Digitech delivers ECM is changing that belief.

Q. In a wider sense, can you talk about the drivers that are at play, and then bring it back to your company and give us a sense of how you've been able to tap into these drivers?
A. There are a number of fundamental things occurring that are stimulating the ECM sector and will drive our continued growth. First, we believe that ECM is moving from an organizational luxury to an organizational necessity. This is being driven by a number of factors, including regulations, compliance issues, and the growth of paperwork, as well as the basic need for simply sharing information. Affordability, integration and secure accessibility on-demand will not only maintain, but accelerate our growth as more businesses move to adopt ECM.
Second, we believe a key driver of ECM adoption is moving the decision from a capital expenditure to an operating expense. This has an enormous impact on the ability of small and medium businesses to adopt our technology and solve fundamental information management problems and thus compete with larger market competitors. It also fuels rapid expansion within an organization, as well as shortening the purchasing decision time, and ultimately the sell cycle.
Third, we see the ability to scale rapidly and add new users and departments as a key expansion driver. Our hosted model allows this expansion in a time frame and through a method not possible in conventional systems.
Finally, rapid and measurable ROI will continue to be a powerful driver. This is where solutions from Digitech Systems really stand out. With no capital expense, rapid installation, simple training and ease of use, Digitech offers rapid and measurable ROI for every single installation and user.

Q. How would you characterize the current business and economic environment?
A. The economy has been challenging, but it is making a slow and sustained recovery. However, with companies trying to cut costs, streamline operations, and increase profitability, ECM solutions should be selling like hotcakes. I believe ECM manufacturers have made this industry far too complex and too expensive. Digitech is committed to reduce this complexity and establish new lower price points so solutions can be driven down to small and medium size users, as well as larger companies. ECM is not a technology driven decision anymore. It's an economically driven decision.
We are not trying to conquer the world, but to achieve our business plan in a manner of which we can be proud. And, fortunately, we have done this exceedingly well, maintaining profitability even when the economy has been less than robust.

Q. There have been many, many mergers and acquisitions in the ECM space over the last several years. Do you see that as an opportunity or as a threat for Digitech?
A. I am actually thrilled with all the M&A activity we have seen. It brings attention to the ECM sector and exposes more companies to the benefits of these technologies.
Given that we have a very different business model with a low cost structure, I don't see this activity as a threat to Digitech. Our model is not easily transferable to a traditional ECM player and, with the Microsoft's and Oracle's of the world driving more ECM functionality to their platform, our business model is not as applicable to them. With our cost structure advantages, we are more attractive as a licensing partner than an acquisition candidate.
I tend to view our business model more like that of a cell phone business model, as opposed to a traditional ECM company business model. It would be difficult for a traditional player to both understand and implement the Digitech model within their existing company structure.

Q. Who are you running up against in terms of competition? Who do you consider to be your primary competitors?
A. There is always competition in the ECM business. However with ImageSilo, our model is so different from the traditional ECM players that we fare very well against any competitor. In addition, we are far more focused on the mid-level clients, a segment which many of the traditional ECM players have shied away from. We qualify our prospects very carefully and, in a time when capital budgets and complexity are issues, we have a very strong, often unmatched, solution to offer.

Q. What are the three or four best reasons for potential customers to look towards your company?
A. There are many reasons to buy Digitech's solutions, however, the reasons we hear all the time from our customers include:
1. No capital expenditure required
2. Extremely rapid implementation with very simple training requirements. (One organization even trained their entire staff through a simple memo!)
3. Near immediate ROI which is easy to measure and validate
4. Integration with virtually any application, tying disparate sources of information conveniently into your ECM system.

Digitech Systems, Inc. is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado with offices in Lincoln, Nebraska and has more than 300 resellers worldwide.

The reasons why Apple is better

Because they are not a PC

Apple really is the better way, but why? No, not for the trendy industrial design, not for the OS, not for the CPU, but for the money. It charges quite a bit, but it is not the 'reassuringly expensive' factor either, the price/performance is nothing to brag about. What makes Apple better is quite simply the fact that it doesn't compete.

If you look at the PC world, they have some amazing deals out there. Even with the Windows tax, you can find sub $300 PCs that are functional if not stupendous. They work, and for a young child, or someone who just wants to surf, they will get the job done. They will also be cheap as hell, have a power supply that may cook after a few weeks, and dangerously sharp edges on the interior.

The raw MIPS will be there though, as will the 'Windows experience'. Once it boots, and before it dies a smoky death, it will be just like any other Win box. Whoopee. This is what all PCs out there have to contend with, $299, even if they cost $2999. The same vicious cost cutting philosophy that brings you those price points pervades the rest of the motherboards, hard drives and components, Taiwanese ODMs will kill to save $.12/1000 on parts. Can you say bad caps?

What you have is a cut throat competitive environment that leads to a fantastic price performance figure at any level, but it also has a down side, life. Things smoke out, innovation is a word that MS coopted when creativity fled Redmond, and they all come in a set colour scheme, black and silver of late.

Apple, the long forgotten subject of this article, is different. It doesn't compete against anything at all. The industrial design focus group is one turtleneck wielding man, not a watered down group of suburban housewives who fit into income category 12a, or teens in the hip-hop demographic. Nope, Apple needs to please one person.

The more important point, in fact the point is that it doesn't have an insane list of companies putting out the exact same product. It makes the case it wants to. It makes its own motherboard the way it wants, it uses the right CPU, GPU and monitor panels. Keyboard and mouse? The same, it is done the Apple way, not any other way, to its spec and with its components.

OSX? Neat. So what. More importantly, it doesn't have to use the caps that cost $.02, it can use the ones that cost $.05. Those will just work better. Need a 12,000RPM fan to cool a CPU that puts out 190W? Sure you can get them cheap, or you can get a water cooling rig that is not cheap, but it is silent, and works a hell of a lot better. Guess which one Apple chooses, and guess which one the PC masses choose?

In the PC world, if you did any of this, you would end up with a box that costs $999, and all you competitors would be at $699 for the same CPU spec, the same GPU, and same everything. You would sell all of 12 pieces while Apple would move thousands. Your company would go under before you could be laughed at by the big box stores.

Apple doesn't play there. In fact, it doesn't play any game at all, in any way. It just look down at all the PC players fighting it out and does its own thing. Sure, it costs twice as much, and can sometimes end in 'quirks' that prevent much needed functions from doing what you want, but it is done the way 'it should be'. Not perfect, but much better.

So, the thing that makes Apple better is not the design, OS, or a mouse button less, it is not playing the same rules that govern PCs. It is more a willingness to do the right thing, not the cheap thing. Because Apple doesn't play, it wins, and that really is the better way.

Upgrades Lift Ubuntu and SUSE

You may not be ready to welcome Linux onto your organization's desktops, but that doesn't mean that desktop Linux isn't ready for you.

eWEEK Labs reviewed Canonical Ltd.'s Ubuntu 5.10 and Novell Inc.'s SUSE Linux 10.0, both of which began shipping in October, and we were impressed by the maturity, polish and, yes, innovation that these Penguin banner bearers displayed.

Click here for the Executive Summary for Novell SUSE Linux 10.0.

Click here for the Executive Summary for Canonical Ubuntu Linux 5.10.

Novell's SUSE Linux has long been one of our favorite distributions. Release 10.0—the first from Novell to ship in freely available as well as boxed retail editions—impressed us enough with its completeness and usability to earn an Analyst's Choice award.

Ubuntu 5.10, also known by the code name Breezy Badger, is the third in a line of Ubuntu releases that has grown to become one of the most prominent Linux distributions available on the strength of a solid foundation in Debian GNU/Linux and a tight focus on desktop usability.

SUSE Linux 10.0 doesn't match the breadth of precompiled software packages that are available for Ubuntu, nor does it equal Ubuntu's flexible and well-integrated software management tools, but SUSE's superior overall polish makes it a better option for users unfamiliar with Linux or uninterested in working around Ubuntu's few rough edges.

Both distributions are well worth further investigation, and both are available in LiveCD form, so you can take them for a spin on prospective hardware to get a feel for how well they'll suit your needs and support your hardware. If you find that these distributions don't fit the bill, check back in a few months—both SUSE and Ubuntu are on six-month release cycles. The SUSE team provides security updates for two years for each version, and Ubuntu releases receive security updates for 18 months.

The next version of Ubuntu, slated to ship next spring, is set to receive security updates for three years for desktop components and five years for core operating system and server software components.

The first version of SUSE Linux for Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s 64-bit architecture shipped in April 2003. It was the first AMD64 Linux distribution that we tested, and multiarchitecture support remains one of SUSE's strong suits. Although the 64-bit version of SUSE Linux 10.0 lacks some of the software packages that are available for x86, such as those for User Mode Linux, SUSE Linux 10.0 delivers the best AMD64 experience of any operating system we've tested so far.

Ubuntu 5.10 and SUSE Linux 10.0 are available for free download from www. ubuntu.com/download and www.opensuse.org/download, respectively. In either case, your best bet is to download the ISO images for the distributions from one of the mirrors listed on those pages or via BitTorrent Inc.'s BitTorrent, which is what we did.

Alternatively, the Ubuntu project will mail disks for free on request, and Novell sells a $60 boxed version of SUSE Linux 10.0 that includes 300-plus packages not found on the downloadable images, along with printed documentation and physical media.

Both Ubuntu 5.10 and SUSE Linux 10.0 support x86, AMD64 and PowerPC processor architectures—we tested both distributions in their x86 and AMD64 iterations, using an AMD64 workstation and an Intel Corp. Pentium M laptop.

Ubuntu and SUSE both ship with The GNOME Project's GNOME 2.12, the latest version of the popular desktop environment. GNOME 2.12, which was released in September, includes some interface improvements in the system's Nautilus file manager, such as a new "location bar," with buttons representing where you are in the immediate file system hierarchy .

Also, GNOME 2.12 sports a much-needed editor for its task bar application menu and a useful log viewer application with a calendar for locating logs from particular days.

On the KDE (K Desktop Environment) front, SUSE 10.0 and Ubuntu 5.10 sport KDE 3.4.3.

The last SUSE version we reviewed, Version 9.3, came with Beagle, a desktop search application that works like Google Inc.'s Google Desktop and Apple Computer Inc.'s Spotlight for Mac OS X feature. The version of Beagle that ships with SUSE Linux 10.0 is much more stable than the one that shipped with Version 9.3, and it's now enabled by default.

Beagle is also available for installation on Ubuntu, although it's not part of the supported Ubuntu core—in our tests with Ubuntu and Beagle, however, the search tool worked well.

Because SUSE Linux 10.0 and Ubuntu 5.10 are all-free Linux distributions (meaning, free to download but also free to redistribute or modify), there are certain pieces of software—such as Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java Runtime Environment, Macromedia Inc.'s Flash Player and NVidia Corp.'s graphics drivers—that can't ship along with them.

Both distributions provide access to these types of software packages for download and installation through separate software repositories. For SUSE Linux 10.0, there's an impressively well-stocked channel for Java applications and components, as well as another repository for other components such as Flash and Adobe Systems Inc.'s Acrobat.

Consult www.opensuse.org/Additional_YaST_ Package_ Repositories for more information about SUSE's software repositories.

Ubuntu 5.10 provides similar access to license-restricted software packages in a separate repository channel. In addition to the restricted and core channels, we could configure our Ubuntu system to access additional packages beyond the core officially supported software, thereby expanding the available packages from more than 4,000 to more than 17,000.

Except for Debian, from which Ubuntu inherits its software catalog riches, Ubuntu 5.10 boasts more ready-to-install packages than any other distribution of which we're aware—a major competitive advantage.

What's more, Ubuntu boasts excellent package installation tools—we could install packages from the command line or with Synaptic, a graphical package management tool. New in this version of Ubuntu is another simpler software installation tool, which presents packages that are installed and available for installation in a basic menu structure, with checkboxes for selecting which applications to install or remove .

SUSE Linux 10.0's software installation tool isn't bad, but at times when we wanted to install a single particular package, we found it simpler to do so from the command line.

Although we prefer Ubuntu's software tools, the Ubuntu team has some catching up to do with SUSE Linux and with Red Hat Inc.'s Fedora Core where the rest of its configuration tools are concerned.

We found it a hassle to switch among different network connections on Ubuntu 5.10, such as from a wireless link to a wired one, or from one wired network to another. Ubuntu's network configuration utility includes a profiles feature, but we couldn't get it to work properly—the tool wouldn't save the profile definitions we created and would hang for long stretches during certain operations.

SUSE Linux 10.0 does a better job with network configuration and switching and sported a panel-based applet for switching among networks that we first saw in a previous version of Red Hat's Fedora Core distribution—we suggest that Ubuntu pick up this particular panel-based applet as well.

The Ubuntu suite also lacks a configuration tool for its X server. In tests, the Ubuntu installer did a good job configuring the display on its own, but for further configuration tasks, such as setting up dual displays, we had to fuss with text configuration files.

SUSE Linux 10.0 does ship with a graphical X configuration tool and a raft of other helpful modules, which cover the broadest range of system administration tasks of any Linux distribution we've tested.

SUSE Linux 10.0 is the first version to emerge from the OpenSUSE project. So far, the fruits of the Novell project—aside from the freely available SUSE Linux 10.0 release—have been better access to development builds of the distribution and a user-editable wiki.

The next step is opening up patch submission channels to the community and building a structure from which community members can participate in the software packaging efforts for the community.

This is the sort of structure that Ubuntu, through Debian, already enjoys, and the Ubuntu project is working to expand its community efforts through projects such as Rosetta, a Web-based application translation.

Firefox 1.5 Is a Small Step Up

Calling Firefox 1.5 a major new release is probably overstating things a bit, but the latest version of the popular open-source Web browser does have some fairly significant new features and improvements. Among the new features in Firefox 1.5, which was released by the Mozilla Foundation at the end of November, are improved privacy functionality, a rebuilt options configuration screen, multiple interface tweaks and a reworked automatic updating mechanism. As always, the browser has excellent cross-platform support, working identically in eWEEK Labs' tests on multiple operating systems, including Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. Standards support in this release is good, although not perfect. (No Web browser currently in heavy use is). One of the most useful new features, especially for those who share a PC or for kiosk systems, is the Clear Private Data function. Accessible from the Tools menu or by hitting ctrl-shift-delete, this feature made it possible to delete all information from a browsing session, including histories, cookies, cached items, authentication information and saved forms. We could customize this feature from the Options panel, and we could set it to run whenever we closed Firefox. User interface changes are, for the most part, small in this release. The Options panel has moved from a vertical interface to a more horizontal, tabbed interface. For the most part, however, the functions of the Options menu are the same as in the previous version. In the main browser interface, one of only a few visual changes is the move of the RSS feed icon from the bottom status bar to the top address bar. Function-wise, however, it is now easier to drag and drop interface elements from one place to another. We could organize tabbed windows in this way, and we could create a new tabbed window by dragging a link to the tabs bar. We could also reorganize bookmarks directly in the menu using drag and drop. Perhaps the biggest new feature in Firefox 1.5 is the improved Automatic Update capability. In previous versions of Firefox, Automatic Update was almost a misnomer, as the feature basically just informed users that there was a new update to the browser and instituted a full and essentially manual installation of the new version. In Firefox 1.5, Automatic Update is designed to work more seamlessly, without requiring full new installs and supporting Firefox extensions. Automatic Update worked in our tests of Firefox 1.5 betas, but there have been no updates in the short time since Version 1.5 was released. After the first updates are released, we'll offer our take on the Automatic Update functionality in the eWEEK Labs blog at blog.eweek.com/blogs/eweek_labs/. Users will also have to wait and see if the extensions they use will work with Firefox 1.5. The new browser changes the extension model, and developers of these Firefox add-ons have had to rebuild their extensions to work with it. During our testing, none of our favorite extensions—including FireFTP —worked with Firefox 1.5. Users who rely on a particular extension may want to hold off on upgrading until the add-ons have been updated for 1.5. Analysts are predicting an uphill fight for Mozilla with Firefox 1.5. Click here to read more. While eWEEK Labs considers Firefox to be an excellent Web browser and much superior to the current versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer, we have consistently lamented the fact that Firefox isn't more corporate-friendly: As the browser is currently designed, it is not well-suited for large corporate implementations. We are keeping an eye on a current project to create a Client Customization Kit similar to the old Netscape model that would let companies create customized deployments of the Firefox browser. We would also like to see Firefox fully supporting Microsoft Installer technology, rather than just offering wrapper support. This would help companies deploy Firefox using Windows Group Policies and Active Directory, a must for large corporate installations. Other new features in Firefox 1.5 include a wizard to report Web sites that don't work with Firefox and improved accessibility capabilities.

Cyrix Hotplate Howto

Welcome to the 21st century. The age of conservation, renewable materials and Jolene Blalock. As we're urged to replace our gaming equipment on a weekly basis, many tonnes of silicon, lead, and copies of Daikatana make it into our planet's landfills.

At RabidHardware we strive to be environmentally sound (so says our lawyers). By re-using hardware we would have so hastily discarded in our youth, we can now give our dear Earth a new lease on life. Seeing how the Great White North is in the middle of one of the more colder winters as of late, and I'm on a budget (read: cheap bastard), I figure we could get two birds stoned at once with this latest project: A CPU-driven hotplate.

Enter the intrepid Cyrix(tm) Central Processing Unit. Instead of piling the landfills with these retired, non-biodegradable heathens (or donating them to NASA for shuttle heat shielding), we may as well put em to further use. So what do we do instead you ask? Well, there is only one thing a Cyrix CPU does well besides reflecting heat, and that is producing it.

To do this we'll be using 7 6x86 Cyrix CPUs ranging from 100mhz to 150mhz, dissipating an upwards of 20+ watts each. All chips will be supplied with 5v regardless of their original requirements, which I imagine will also improve the thermal output.

These be my materials:

- 7 Cyrix CPUs (1x PR120, 4x PR166s, 2x PR200s)
- Lexan sheet for CPU base
- aluminum/copper/cookie sheet for hotplate surface
- AT 250W power supply
- wire, solder, fixin's
- 7805 Voltage Regulator

After a quick look at this handy chart, I've decided to use pins A7 (core voltage) and B10 (ground) for our electrical connections.

Step 1 - Processors

First off, clean up the procs in question, as stuff like ancient heatsink compound or warranty stickers (that haven't already burned off of course) will impede heat transfer!

Most important thing we need to do is supply power to these little thermo-electric heaters of ours. All we need to do is run a 12v rail from the power supply into the voltage regulator (which will output +5v @ 1A) and connect the procs in parallel:


[click to enlarge]

I realize there may be a better way to do this but we don't have time for rational thought. After all, my bacon expires tomorrow and I am VERY hungry! I also realize we could just use the 5v rail directly off the power supply. The reason for the VRE though is to regulate the amperage available to our hotplate while adding an extra stop-gap to keep our high quality power supply from exploding (prematurely?). SAFETY FIRST!


my l337 soldering skillz

Feel free to remove the surrounding pins for easier soldering, sure as hell won't be needing them anymore!

Step 2 - Goop

Next off, we'll need to create our most excellent thermal interface. The Arctic Silver 3 which I've had in my toolkit for several years should do nicely, as it has a peak temperature of 180c. Feel free to don a piece of plastic or your favourite straight razor (preferably bloodless) to develop that sexy paper-thin layer of arctic goop, but I'm sort of in a rush.


large contact surface(tm)

You may have noticed we've also attached a heatsink to the regulator. Unfortunately, as Thermaltake or Alpha haven't made performance VRE heatsinks (yet), I had to go with a generic brand. Don't worry though, we'll make up for the performance loss later.

Once you've got your transfer medium installed, it's time to add the hotplate surface. I went with a generic piece of metal from a cookie sheet, but a aluminum or copper sheet would do better. I'm assuming you'll be lapping the side that the procs will be in contact with, right? Once it's ready, position your hotplate surface and press down to further spread around that silvery goodness.

Now is probably as good a time as any to mention: As with any of my projects, make sure you have a fire extinguisher and bomb squad nearby. Again, SAFETY FIRST!

At RabidHardware we're always in for any extra performance we can squeeze out of our projects. Since we've already over-powered these chips, I figured we should enhance the power supply as well! After all, it could only benefit the situation, eh?


sexy!

With our performance modifications complete, we can proceed to our last illustrious step...

Step 3 - COOK!

Of course now all we have to do is get some foodstuffs! I've chosen my favourite breakfast, spicy scrambly eggs with bacon and a 26er of Canadian Club:


cornerstones of any nutritious breakfast

For this job, my trusty discount pan is at my disposal. As most folks don't have the same cooking prowess as I do (my smoldering to raw ratio is quite balanced after all), you may need to consult the instruction manual that was supplied with your frying pan. Food preparation & troubleshooting is beyond the scope of this article, I'm afraid.

currently not on fire!

noble foodstuffs

Last but (definately) not least, we eat! Consume this breakfast faithfully knowing that not only are you saving the environment by sparing these processing gems from the dumpster, but you're conserving electricity and getting decently hammered at the same time! Enjoy!

AMD, Intel sales plunged in October

Notebook sales hit, analysts claim

By INQUIRER staff: Friday 02 December 2005, 11:35

THE SEMICONDUCTOR Industry Association (SIA) released its figures for October but while the overall sector is pretty healthy with sales topping $20 billion, the month was bad for both Intel and AMD.

Analysing the figures, Handelsbanken SE said that Intel and AMD processor sales "plunged in October". According to the analysts there, notebook PC chipset shortages hit Intel, while average selling prices fell from $110 to the mid $80 mark. That, said the group, "indicated that Intel had trouble delivering notebook PC processors in the month of October".

It said that strong Chinese PC production in October had probably drawn down existing stocks of chips, but as it pointed out, "October is a heck of a time to have a chipset shortage".

The figures show that microprocessor sales for October were $3,481,000,000 - that compares rather unfavourably to September figures of $6,301,000,000 Intel releases its mid quarter analysis next week, so we should be able to take the temperature a little better then.

Sales of DRAM chips fell in October too, that's because the whole memory market appears to be still subject to intense pricing pressure.

Contrariwise, as Lewis Carroll might put, sales of flash memory soared, with NAND flash being particularly high. Sales of NAND rose by 95 per cent year on year, and Handelsbanken SE reckons that at some time during 2006, flash memory will surpass the DRAM market in size. NOR flash sales fell in October. µ

Apple store buzzes with Nano fever

SAN FRANCISCO--Sally Robert, of Tiburon, Calif., doesn't even own a television set. But she's got a couple of iPods and lots of accessories--and she was on a mission Saturday to update her collection with the just-released iPod Nano.

Robert, who found out about the Nano while looking online for an iPod-ready BMW, was just one of numerous shoppers at the Apple Computer store in downtown San Francisco, where the diminutive new addition to the iPod family created a palpable buzz. The iPod Nano, unveiled this week as Apple's replacement for the popular iPod Mini, is much smaller than its predecessor, has a color screen that can display photos and uses flash memory rather than a bulkier hard drive.

Actually, to call Robert a "shopper" is a bit of a misnomer. Unlike others, who took their time around a crowded Nano display table at the front of the store, she asked an employee at the door where to get the wee device he was casually holding in his hand. He replied "at the register," and Robert got right in line. She knows her verve for everything iPod is a bit "ridiculous. But it's a life choice," she said.

In contrast, Brian Chance of Santa Cruz, Calif., who was attending a trade show at a downtown hotel, spent some time making sure he could see the iPod Nano screen clearly enough with his bad eyes. After years of hearing from a friend how great the iPod is, what put Chance in purchase mode, he said, was discovering the world of podcasting while on his computer at his hotel Friday night.

"I get bored with my own music after awhile and I like to hear the spoken word," he said, adding that he also likes the iPod's stopwatch, alarm clock and other functions.

Chance, at one point, was one of 10 customers testing out 10 Nanos at the display table. Meanwhile, the adjacent iPod Mini display table sat lonely, with no one testing out the 10 display Minis and iPod Shuffles. The Nano is replacing the Mini, which Apple is phasing out.

Also in San Francisco on business was Jon Benediktsson, of Iceland, who bought three Nanos--one for each of two his teenage children, and one for one of their friends.

"I saw something in the news (about the Nano) and liked it immediately," he said. The Nanos will replace his kids' Mini, so Benediktisson, who has no iPod of his own, said he thinks he might get a used Mini out of the deal.

Shoppers Jin and Don Jiang of San Francisco had just come from a nearby Cingular store, where they expected to fall in love with Apple's also newly released iTunes phone. The Rokr phone, made with Motorola and carried exclusive by Cingular, holds up to 100 songs.

But the Jiangs were disappointed at the Rokr's design, which Jin said was bulky and Don said "looks just like a regular phone." They fell for the Nano, however, even though it wasn't what they were initially looking for. "If we get it today, it will be an impulse buy."

Minutes later, they bought it.

Nicholas Blum, a San Francisco resident who was at the store to drop off his iPod Photo for repair, was in awe of the Nano's size. The device weighs 1.5 ounces and is 0.27 inches thick, thinner than a standard No. 2 pencil, Apple says.

Like the Jiangs, Blum had been watching for the iPod phone. "I was so unimpressed with the phone and so over-impressed with this," he said of the Nano.

The iPod Nano comes in black or white and in two sizes: the 4GB iPod Nano holds about 1,000 songs and the 2GB iPod Nano holds 500 songs. They cost $249 and $199, respectively. The Mini line, while available, comes in four colors and in capacities of 4GB for $199 and 6GB for $249.

The Rokr phone sells for $249.99 with a two-year service agreement. It has a color display and features built-in stereo speakers, as well as stereo headphones that also serve as a mobile headset with a microphone.

Intel to build $3.5 billion chip plant in Israel

Intel will build a $3.5 billion chip plant in Israel, the largest investment ever by an industrial company in the country.

Thursday's news of Intel's second plant in Israel--which will produce 300-millimeter wafers using a 45-nanometer process starting in the second half of 2008--confirms an announcement made in July by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Sharon had said the company would invest around $4 billion. Until now, Intel had declined to comment.

"Intel is committed to widening its lead in advanced semiconductor manufacturing," Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini said in a statement.

The government has already approved a grant of $525 million for the new facility, as well as Intel's $600 million plan to upgrade its existing plant.

Construction on the project, which will be Intel's second 45-nanometer factory in the world, will begin immediately, the company said.

The 45-nanometer technology will allow chip circuitry to be built at about half the size of today's standard 90-nanometer technology.

Intel said the project will create more than 2,000 new jobs at the new plant in the southern town of Kiryat Gat, the site of the existing plant that employs about 3,500 people.

The world's top chipmaker, whose processors power an estimated 80 percent of personal computers, reported exports from Israel of $1.17 billion in 2004. Its exports peaked at $2.02 billion in 2002.

The company, which has two plants and five development centers in Israel, accounted for 9 percent of Israel's total electronics and information technology exports in 2004. Centrino mobile technology was developed in Israel.

In 1999, Intel--active in Israel for 30 years--built its first plant in Kiryat Gat with a total investment of $1.6 billion, including government subsidies.

Manufacturing with 300-millimeter wafers--about 12 inches in diameter--significantly increases the ability to produce semiconductors at a lower cost compared with more commonly used 200mm wafers. They also use 40 percent less energy and water per chip, Intel said.

Can the Mac Do Without Microsoft Office?

Opinion: Having Microsoft Office available on Mac OS gives Apple needed credibility with customers. But it also gives Microsoft the ability to suddenly pull the plug if it ever so decides.

Can the Macintosh survive without Microsoft Office? It's a question that has followed Steve Jobs since his return to Cupertino in 1996. At the time, Apple was in deep financial trouble, and a bailout from Microsoft—of all people—got the company back on its feet. The concern isn't that the typical Macintosh "consumer" customer requires MS Office for digital photography or their iPod. But home Macs are generally used at least occasionally by someone who has Microsoft Office running on Windows at work. The thinking goes that, at some point, Office compatibility figures somewhere into the purchase of most Macintosh hardware. And nothing says Office compatibility quite like a real, honest-to-goodness version of Office for the Mac—even if Microsoft has for years crippled the Mac version in such a way as to make it unattractive to "real" (meaning Windows) Office users. Even today, there is no Outlook for Mac, just a program called Entourage that is only barely compatible with corporate Exchange servers. Read more here about the rumors surrounding an Apple office suite. The deal that saved Apple included Microsoft's promise to keep building Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer for five years. That deal ran out in August 2002 and was not extended, despite pressure from analyst Rob Enderle and myself to keep it alive. At one point, Microsoft even agreed to make a new agreement, though I think there was a side agreement between the two companies that Apple wouldn't ask for one. Since that time, Apple has introduced its Safari browser, Microsoft has ditched Internet Explorer for Mac OS, and life on earth has continued to flourish. Microsoft also has released two editions of Office for OS X since the end of the development agreement. Many people believe the current Mac Office is the company's best Office, regardless of platform. Now, with the rumor-fueled run-up to Macworld has come speculation that Apple will announce its own office suite. The basic elements are already in place. MacOS X already comes with a calendar, address book, mail client and synchronization utility. The AppleWorks suite is available for OS X, though it hardly compares to Microsoft's "MacOffice" 2004. Apple today does not offer a real Outlook competitor, but it easily could. Of course, to be really useful, such a product either needs to talk to Microsoft Exchange servers, or Apple needs to offer an Exchange-like server capable of supporting Outlook clients on Windows machines. Though an interesting topic for speculation, such a server, if not beyond Apple's technical capabilities, is beyond its level of interest in the business customers it would support. That Microsoft's Office for Macintosh 2004 is a better suite than the Windows version is a topic for another column. In its most recent release, the program isn't nearly as crippled as previous versions were, all in ways that would make Windows users not want to buy a Mac and Mac users unable to easily connect to Exchange servers. But you know the saying that a government big enough to give you everything is big enough to take everything away? Insert "Microsoft" for "government," and you have Apple's predicament.

Windows Lags in the User Rights Movement

Tech Analysis: Mac OS and Linux handle privileges more sensibly, but Vista could change that.

Among the challenges that enterprise administrators face when attempting to properly lock down the Windows machines in their care, managing the laundry list of operating system functions that require elevated privileges is a chore that looms large. Making matters even worse are Windows' anemic facilities for allowing rights-limited users who are out of reach of IT support to access these functions, without granting them full administrative rights. The primary client alternatives to Windows XP—Apple Computer Inc.'s Mac OS X and most of the prominent Linux distributions—manage user privileges more smoothly than XP does. But eWEEK Labs believes that Vista, which will replace XP sometime next year, demonstrates that Microsoft Corp. is about to catch up. Mac OS X When talking about the various functions of their beloved operating system, Mac stalwarts are fond of remarking, perhaps a bit smugly, that the Mac "just works." But when it comes to appropriately managing user permissions, Apple's OS X definitely merits that phrase. In fact, the Mac boasts the best user rights management of any operating system we've tested. Mac OS X offers separate user and administrator privilege levels and, more importantly, includes effective facilities for prompting users when rights elevation is required. For instance, when a regular user attempts to drag something to a restricted system folder—such as when one installs a Mac application by dragging it to the applications folder—OS X refuses to complete the action, but it does offer the user the option of authenticating with admininstrative credentials to complete the operation. Beyond its simple, effective rights elevation facilities, OS X, when paired with OS X Server, offers good tools for controlling the applications and options to which users have access. This makes the Mac a very good system for lockdown overall. Linux Linux offers good user rights separation and elevation as well, but the specific way that this is implemented depends on the distribution you're using. However, in most popular Linux distributions, such as those from Red Hat Inc., Novell Inc.'s SUSE or the Debian families, regular users receive prompts for root password authentication for operations that require administrator rights. These distributions use the command su to become root and allow users to run arbitrary commands. In addition, Linux distributions usually ship with a handy application called sudo, which enables administrators to grant users permission to run particular commands with root rights by authenticating with the user's own password. Sudo thereby makes it possible to regulate what users do, as well as to generate an audit trail—very useful capabilities when locking down a system. SELinux also boosts rights separation by mandating more specific permissions over what users and applications are allowed to do on a system. At this point, however, SELinux is mostly server-oriented and will require more implementation polish to be effective for client use. Vista We've all heard quite a bit about the flashy hardware-accelerated, three-dimensional features that will accompany Vista when Microsoft's new client operating system ships sometime next year. However, Vista will also include some long-overdue updates to Windows' tools for regulating user permissions, enabling the operating system to do so more appropriately than Microsoft has done in any of its Windows releases so far. We believe that these bits, rather than the flashy user interface, will have the biggest impact on IT upgrade decisions. Like Mac OS X and most Linux distributions, Vista will prompt users who are running with limited rights to enter administrative credentials when those permissions are required. Vista will also run Internet Explorer in a reduced-rights mode by default, which will limit the damage that could be done if (or when) the new IE were to be subverted by malicious code. Finally, Vista will include support for virtualized, per-user system file locations and registry entries. Virtualized file locations and registry entries are intended to enable applications to function properly even for users without administrative rights. We're intrigued by the virtualized-system-files concept, and we'll be keeping a close eye on how this potentially useful, potentially confusing feature shakes out as Vista nears release.

Watchdog Probes Samsung's Apple Deal

SEOUL (Reuters)—South Korea is investigating a flash memory supply deal between Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Apple Computer Inc. over pricing, officials at the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said on Wednesday.

South Korean manufacturers of digital music players have complained Samsung is offering the chips used in Apple's iPod MP3 players at an unfairly low price, putting them at a disadvantage.

News of the probe came a day after Apple said it would prepay Samsung and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. $500 million and $200 million, respectively, to secure flash memory chips for its market-leading iPod music players.

"We are investigating whether Samsung has been unfairly supplying flash memory chips to Apple at cheaper prices than applied to domestic music player makers," a FTC spokesman said by telephone.

A Samsung spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the chipmaker has been offering lower than usual prices to Apple.

"The deal hasn't breached any laws so we believe there will be no problem," the spokeswoman said.

Another FTC official at a team in charge of the investigation said there had been no formal complaint filed with the watchdog over Samsung's chip deal with Apple.

Samsung shares were up 2.54 percent at 605,000 won by 2158 EST, outperforming the broader index, which rose 1.57 percent.

Podcast Chaos Be Gone

Two new search engines offer to do for podcasting what Technorati does for blogs by letting users search podcasts by keyword to single out audio that suits their interests.

Podzinger and blinkx scour audio content for keywords by translating the audio into text and creating an index for quick searching. It's a significant step above traditional search engines that identify only keywords in a podcast's metadata, such as the headline and introductory notes describing the audio file's general content.

See also

• A Podcast Star Is Born
• Technorati: A New Public Utility
• Folksonomies Tap People Power
• Podcasting Gold Rush Is On
• Read more Technology news

Podzinger, in beta until mid-December, lets users jump to the spot in a podcast where their search term appears, rather than forcing them to scan an entire program for pertinent parts as blinkx does. Its minimalist design has an uncluttered search page, à la Google. And Podcasters can link to a searchable index of their content in order to sell sponsored links to text in the index provided by Podzinger.

Both Podzinger and blinkx include information about the source of the podcast and excerpts of text translated from the podcast with the relevant search terms highlighted. But Podzinger's information is more extensive and the results include a counter indicating where in the podcast the snippet is located. And Podzinger allows users to click on the Play button to hear the excerpt and determine its relevancy before clicking on a link to download the entire podcast.

A third search engine, launched last spring by TVEyes and called Podscope, searches podcasts but scans only for the sounds of syllables rather than full words. AOL recently announced plans to integrate Podscope into the portal's search page.

"The (podcast) world is exploding," said Alex Laats, president of the business division of BBN Technologies that created Podzinger. "The problem, though, is that ... it's very difficult to find what you want to find in podcasts.... Google proved that relevance of results means almost everything. But our view is that without the words you can't get the relevant results."

Podzinger is based on speech-recognition software that BBN, a Massachusetts-based research and development firm, created for U.S. intelligence agencies. It was intended to help analysts translate and scour foreign television broadcasts and other media for topics and speakers of interest.

Laats said the analysts' tool focuses mainly on Arabic-language broadcasts, translating real-time feeds from the Al Jazeera network, for example, and highlighting names, places and other words of interest to analysts. The software also can track a speaker's unique voice so broadcasts of Osama bin Laden tapes, for example, can be singled out and tagged.

BBN plans to roll out similar tools the public can use to search online video and radio content, but is focusing first on podcasts because of their recent popularity boom. According to Laats, an estimated 25,000 to 50,000 podcasts are currently online, of which BBN has so far indexed about 14,000. The company plans to work with affiliates like CNN to index their podcasts and online video.

The blinkx service is a bit more extensive. It scours more than 45,000 podcasts and already offers search for 1 million hours of TV news video and the content of academic lectures and guest speakers at the nation's top universities.

Podscope has operated a keyword search engine for video and radio broadcasts since 1999.

Gary Price, news editor of Search Engine Watch, said the concept of searching audio is not new. He points out that HP Labs was one of the first to produce audio keyword searches when it launched an experimental web-based tool called Speechbot in 1999. The tool cataloged more than 17,000 hours of multimedia content for everything from National Public Radio to Scuba Radio before HP took it offline earlier this month.

Price said the translations weren't always perfect but they were good enough to be effective, and he hoped that increased competition in the search realm would mean improvements in speech-to-text translations.

The plethora of new engines, Price said, means that "the spoken word is now becoming as searchable as the printed word has always been."

My Style Inside THE ALL NEW MSI NOTE BOOK

Product Specifications

Micro-Star International (MSI), one of Taiwan's largest manufacturers of motherboards, graphics cards, portable entertainment devices and personal computers, has launched its latest lightweight notebook, the MEGA BOOK S270. With a 12.1-inch viewing screen, the MEGA BOOK S270 is one of the best and lightest in the market and this ultra-slim notebook weighs a mere 1.9kg. Despite its slimness and lightness, it offers a wide range of astonishing capabilities to give mobile executives and frequent travelers maximum mobility and versatility.

Based on the new AMD Turion 64 processor, the MEGA BOOK S270 is specifically designed to deliver optimum performance for demanding applications as well as built-in support for future 64-bit applications. With the AMD Turion 64 processor, users can enjoy outstanding performance on PC software including productivity and entertainment.

The system is built to maximize the advantage of efficient integrated Wi-Fi connection, which is essential for executives and students that need access to the Internet, email and corporate resources from remote locations. In addition to wireless networking capability, the MEGA BOOK S270 is powered by Lithium ion battery delivering up to 2 hours(the standard 4 cell battery pack) of battery life.

The MEGA BOOK S270 is loaded with special functions including a complete video and data input/output interface, integrated 4-in-1 card reader and DVD combo drive. You can transfer photos with ease from your digital camera to the MEGA BOOK S270. The 4-in-1 card reader accepts popular types of memory cards such as MS, MS Pro, MMS, and SD, thus there is no need to buy an additional memory card.

An excellent choice for a work assistant and partner for personal entertainment, the MEGA BOOK S270 is a full-featured notebook which has a complete range of connectivity ports, including an IEEE 1394 and USB 2.0 ports, which give users a multitude ways of transferring music, pictures and data to and from electronic devices.

MSI MEGA BOOK Bluetooth module is designed to provide a solution for Bluetooth connectivity. It extends your notebook up to 7 Bluetooth device notes. It also fully supports Wide Range Self Power Mode for USB 2.0/1.1/1.0 Devices. A wide range of compatible profiles enable Bluetooth Star Hub to communicate with Bluetooth mouse/ keyboard/ game pad, and exchange your favorite photo/music files with Bluetooth embedded cellular phone and handheld device.

With a complete and developed product line including laptop, PC system, server, wireless communication, optical storage and Internet appliance, MSI is slowly being transformed into a versatile IT company providing high-quality IT solution. To meet the needs and requirements of the consumer market, MSI won't stop innovating but will deliver more and more cutting-edge products.

The Most Extreme Gaming Graphics Card

MSI RX850 series and MSI RX800 series Graphics Cards MSI reaches another major milestone in gaming performance. With ATi®'s latest RADEON™ X850, RADEON™ series VPU, users can experience visual enhancement in these whole new series. Up to 540MHz core clock and 1180 MHz memory clock, the MSI RX850 series shows extremely high score in 3Dmark05. The MSI RX800 also performed relatively well in 3Dmark05. About MSI RX850 series & MSI RX800 series: MSI RX800 series---Up to 540MHz core clock and 1180MHz memory clock, 16 Texture Pipelines. MSI RX800 series---Up to 400MHz core clock and 980MHz memory clock, 16 Texture Pipelines. PCI EXPRESS- Revolutionary Breakthrough Skyrocketing bandwidth jump! New generation ultra speed interface- PCI Express- with 4 GB/sec data transferring rate, and almost 200% jump from 2.1 GB/sec AGP interface. With MSI RX850 series & MSI RX800 series, gamers could rock through all the fantastic DirectX 9.0® and OpenGL® games with unprecedented experience! ATi's revolutionary image technology All MSI RX850 series & MSI RX800 series include ATi's image technology: 3DcTM, SMARTSHADER™ HD, VIDEOSHADER™ HD, HYPERZ™ HD. 3Dc™ --- High Quality Map Compression Revolutionary 3Dc™ image enhancement technology brings characters to life and scenery to greater realism by enabling significant improvements to the image detail of character art with increased performance and lower memory usage. 3Dc™ is slated to become the industry standard to support more complex high definition visual effects in real time. SMOOTHVISION™ HD---delicate texture SMOOTHVISION™ HD combines advanced texture filtering with ATI's revolutionary 3Dc™ image enhancement technology to deliver brilliant image quality without comprising performance. VIDEOSHADER™ HD--- INVINCIBLE GAMING QUALITY With VIDEOSHADER™ HD, MSI RX850 series & MSI RX800 series take advantage of its advanced shader processing engine for user programmable video effects, video quality enhancement, and encoding and decoding of many video standards, including MPEG1/2/4, Real Media, DivX and WMV9. The MSI RX850 series & MSI RX800 series feature ATI's all-new CATALYST™ Control Center, the award-winning application that is revolutionizing how users interact with their graphics software. CATALYST™ Control Center delivers the industry's most stable 3D acceleration control software, providing exceptional graphics performance and breathtaking visual quality. Bundled Game *Not Available in Japan Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell®: Pandora Tomorrow Gamespot Review Quote: "The single-player and multiplayer portions of Pandora Tomorrow are both highly impressive and add up to an experience that will surely appeal to anyone remotely interested in a game of high-tech stealth action..." Gamespot Ranking: SUPERB!!! (quoted from www.gamespot.com) If you need more product info. Please contact marketing@msi.com.tw

Road to Expo: Reborn Mac mini set to take over the living room

By Ryan Katz, Senior Editor

November 29, 2005 - Apple's Mac mini will be reborn as the digital hub centerpiece it was originally conceived to be, Think Secret sources have disclosed. The new Mac mini project, code-named Kaleidoscope, will feature an Intel processor and include both Front Row 2.0 and TiVo-like DVR functionality.

While the specific model and speed of the Intel processor in the new Mac mini is unknown, sources are confident the system will be ready for roll-out at Macworld Expo San Francisco, in line with other reports Think Secret has received that Intel-based Macs will be ready some six months sooner than originally expected.

The new Mac mini is also said to sport a built-in iPod dock, a feature that was scrapped from the Mac mini Apple first introduced one year ago. Other hardware specifics are unknown, such as whether the Mac mini will feature video recording out of the box or whether an add-on will be offered for those looking to employ the Mac mini not as a second computer but as their living room command center.

It is similarly unknown whether Apple will scrap the 2.5-inch hard drive currently featured in the Mac mini in favor a standard 3.5-inch hard drive, both to boost storage capacity that heavy media users demand and to trim costs; such a move would undoubtedly result in a larger Mac mini.

Specifics surrounding Front Row 2.0 and Apple's DVR application are limited at this point, although sources with knowledge of the project have dubbed the latter a "TiVo-killer." The moniker might not be without some bias, however, as sources report that talks of an Apple-TiVo deal recently fizzled, prompting TiVo to independently announce this month that it will soon offer customers the ability to copy stored content to a video iPod.

While Apple surprised watchers when the company delivered Front Row alongside updated iMac G5s recently, Apple's media center intentions have become startlingly clear in the past year since Apple first delivered the Mac mini and customers first started connecting the system to home theaters and installing it in automobiles. Sources have hinted that additional media announcements will further propel Apple's strategy, and with the hardware, software, and iPod sales behind it, Apple now seems poised to firmly plant its footprint in living rooms.

Analyst sees Intel PowerBook in January

Apple Computer could introduce its first laptop computers based on Intel chips as early as January, which, together with robust sales of video iPods, should drive earnings higher, Citigroup said on Wednesday.

"We are becoming more convinced that Apple will introduce its first Intel-based PowerBook at Macworld San Francisco," analyst Richard Gardner said in a research note sent to clients.

The analyst believes Apple plans to introduce the professional laptops sooner than expected in order to help minimize the risk that it would end up with an inventory buildup of its current non-Intel laptops as customers anticipate the new models.

Earlier this month, reliable sources also pinned the PowerBook for a January introduction, saying that Apple is working feverishly to complete a noticeably slimmer 15-inch model for a possible Macworld introduction alongside an Intel-based iMac.

Along with his product predictions, Gardner raised his target price on Apple stock to $71 from $51 and boosted his earnings forecasts for the next two years.

For the current quarter, Gardner raised his revenue estimate to $5.5B and earnings-per share estimates to 60 cents, up from $4.8B and 47 cents.

He also raised his 2006 revenue forecast to $20.4B and $2.16, up from from $17.6B and $1.72.

In 2007, Gardner expects Apple to generate revenues of $24.3B and earn a profit of $2.61 per-share.

Microsoft Must Evolve to Survive

Opinion: If the computer giant doesn't move towards true innovation, it could become a dinosaur.

There's a lot going on in Microsoft's reorganization announcement, which was released today, but there's more to it yet if you read between the lines. It's clear Microsoft executives know what the primary challenges are for the company: innovation and growth. Both were (perhaps not so) coincidentally highlighted in this week's BusinessWeek cover story on what's ailing Microsoft. This is not a new problem. The company has always touted innovation as a key value driver, but its particular brand of innovation is more accurately described, by Steve Ballmer himself, as "learning from others." Microsoft reorganizes and Allchin steps down. Click here to read more. It's an old story. Microsoft didn't invent the graphical user interface or the Web browser, it merely exploited and perfected them. Most of what Microsoft considers innovation consists of adding improvements and new features on top of its core products, Windows and Office. Real innovation, such as that being delivered by Google or Skype, and which fundamentally changes the way we work with technology, may have passed Microsoft by. The company either has become too big to react to change, or it has run out of ways to turn the Windows and Office building blocks into next-generation services. This reorganization will have to change that. Click here to read about the beta of Microsoft Max, which uses technology from Avalon and Indigo. Curiously, the reorganization announcement does not mention a word about search—Google's version of Windows, if you will—though it does say a lot about creating and enhancing the software and service "experience" for the customer. This is the key to the growth problem. Microsoft thrived on the tech build-out in the 1990s, but now that all that infrastructure is in place, the growth has to come from the services the platforms will enable. Microsoft has long enabled developers to build those services, but revenue from services offered by Microsoft is small compared to what Windows and Office bring in. The biggest news here is that Jim Allchin, who has been the main figure in all of Microsoft's Windows and .Net technologies for most of the past 15 years, will be retiring by the end of next year. Allchin will step down after the next version of Windows, Vista, ships next year. His will be big shoes to fill. The biggest task, which falls to Kevin Johnson, will be reforming the product development cycle to enable new features, services and patches to be incorporated into Windows on an ongoing basis, rather than having the industry do the Long Wait every four or five years for the next revision. It seems absurd to say that a company like Microsoft, so entwined in the world's economy, could be in trouble. But it will be if the company cannot react quickly to the changing landscape, a landscape that was once Microsoft's, but is now Google's. Bill, Steve & Co. have been able to reprioritize on the fly before. Whether they can do it again will determine the real legacy they will leave behind.

Linux Desktop Keeps Getting Better with KDE 3.5

The KDE Project released the newest version of its K Desktop Environment, KDE 3.5, on Tuesday, to the delight of its many fans.

"The improvements made in the past year show how mature the KDE Project is. KDE is the most powerful desktop environment and development platform in the market, Stephan Kulow, KDE release coordinator, said in a statement.

KDE is one of the two most popular Linux/Unix graphical desktop environments, GNOME being the other. Like GNOME, it comes with a family of KDE-compliant applications ranging from a Web browser, Konqueror, to an IM client, Kopete.

Recently, however, KDE has faced trouble hanging onto the business Linux desktop market. Novell Inc. briefly planned to stop supporting KDE on its business Linux lines—Novell Linux Desktop and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

In the face of protests from KDE users, both inside and outside the Linux company, Novell shifted course and announced that it would continue to support KDE in its commercial Linux products.

This new version will give users of Novell SUSE, not to mention other KDE-friendly Linux distributions like Mandriva Linux and Kubuntu, more reasons to be happy that KDE is still advancing.

KDE 3.5's many improvements start with the interface itself.

The Kicker, KDE's desktop application-launcher menu bar, has been greatly improved. It now allows users to add applets to the bar. Users also can set the Kicker and pager, which enable users to switch from one virtual desktop to another, to display in one of three modes: elegant, classic and transparency.

In addition, the pager now shows you the application icons of each window to help distinguish between them. Users can drag and drop applications and windows from one virtual desktop to another.

KDE's combination default Web and file browser, Konqueror, has also been improved.

Click here to read more about Novell's earlier choice of GNOME over KDE.

Like Mac OS X's Safari Web browser, Konqueror has now passed the Web Standards Project's "Acid2" CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) compliance test.

Konqueror also now only displays the appropriate options for users depending on whether they're browsing the Web or looking at local or network files. On the Web side, the browser also has an ad-blocking feature.

The revised browser also includes an optional search bar. This gives users the power to select a search engine from a dropdown menu.

Kopete, KDE's IM client, includes improved interoperability with Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and Yahoo Inc.'s IM services. Moreover, it includes better audio and video device support for IM-borne videoconferencing.

Microsoft Drops the Office Open Standard Ball

vember 29, 2005	Be the first to comment on this article
Microsoft Corp.'s open-standard Office XML format announcement may have proved to be a dud. When Microsoft announced a week ago Monday that it had decided to open up its Office 12 XML file formats and had submitted the formats to be considered as a formal open standard by ECMA International, Alan Yates, the general manager of Microsoft's Information Worker Strategy, said, "The new license that will accompany the Open XML format with the standards organization will go well beyond traditional standards licensing and will be very positive for the vast majority of developers, even open-source developers." This new license was to have been released last Wednesday. Instead, all that Microsoft did was to release its Patent Protection Covenant for its Office XML formats. Attorneys and analysts assumed that this would just be a building block for the new license. We now know that the covenant is the be-all and end-all of the new license. According to a Microsoft representative, "The covenant language is what was referred to as the updated 'license' for the Open XML formats that will be submitted to ECMA International for the standardization process." The only difference between Microsoft's November 2003 open and royalty-free license for the Office 2003 Reference Schemas and today's Office 2003 license, according to the company, is that "Microsoft is offering a covenant not to sue for the Office 2003 Reference Schemas." Microsoft also said it "will also be offering this same covenant with respect to the forthcoming specifications for the 'Office 12' schema specifications. More information about this program will be forthcoming at or before the time of the commercial availability of 'Office 12.'" This change does not address the issues that open-source advocates have voiced previously against the license. Richard Stallman, president of the Free Software Foundation and the author of the GPL, said in July that the current license governing the use of the formats is "designed to prohibit all free software. It covers only code that implements, precisely, the Microsoft formats, which means that a program under this license does not permit modification." In addition, simply not suing developers for possibly violating Microsoft's patents doesn't address the issues that many analysts, developers and attorneys have about the "openness" of Microsoft's XML formats.