Updating PCs in a small business | Ask Jack
Kate Sellers runs a small business with an ageing fleet of computers. She'd like to replace some stragglers, but can she speed up the rest? I run a small business with an ageing fleet of computers. We're looking to replace the three or four that are really struggling (at a guess they must be at least five years old, but could be older) and we'd like to keep the cost down. We don't need monitors and we need Microsoft Office; presumably it is cheaper to buy it bundled with the system. The default option would be Dell, but we were disappointed with our last purchase – a Vista machine that is subject to frequent slowdowns and crashes. Do you have any recommendations
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Updating PCs in a small business | Ask Jack
Microsoft beefs up Windows 7 slates
Microsoft has announced that it is 'hardcore' about Windows 7-based slate machines Steve Ballmer, the chief executive of Microsoft, has announced at the Worldwide Partner Conference that the company is serious about the upcoming Windows 7 slate computers. Despite not mentioning competitors by name, it appears the move is part of Microsoft's counter-offensive against both the latest generation of smartphones and the second wave of tablet computers from Apple, Archos and Fusion Garage. With the iPad selling more than 3m units in the first 80 days on the market, this is a fast-growing market – and Microsoft wants a slice of it. "This is a terribly important area for us," Ballmer said
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Microsoft beefs up Windows 7 slates
Can Oracle’s Larry Ellison be an Iron Man in real life?
Oracle chief Larry Ellison says he is already turning around Sun, but can a software maker figure out the hardware world? In the movie Iron Man 2, Larry Ellison makes a cameo appearance as a billionaire, playboy software magnate. It is a role he knows well. He is playing himself – chief executive of Oracle, one of Silicon Valley's most enduring, successful and flamboyant figures. At the age of 65, he is undertaking one of the biggest challenges of his career, and it's not playing Hamlet on Broadway. Oracle, the company Ellison founded three decades ago and built into dominant force in the software industry, is making a go at hardware with the acquisition of money-losing Sun Microsystems. This is not entirely unlike MIT deciding to field a competitive football team, but Ellison being Ellison, he could not be less worried. "We have a wealth of technology to package into systems," said Ellison, who won the America's Cup in February. "I see no reason why we can't get this to where Sun under Oracle should be larger than Sun ever was." In a rare interview he discussed his turnaround efforts at Sun so far, revealed plans to buy additional hardware companies and detailed new products that will launch in the near future. And he did so with his usual in-your-face style – heaping all manner of abuse, for example, on Sun's previous managers. During the 1990s, Sun prospered by selling high-end computers at top dollar to large corporations and dotcom startups. Its business peaked in 2001, then slid with the collapse of the internet boom and never recovered, though the company is still widely respected for its technological prowess and the brain power of its engineering staff. Sun came into play in November 2008 after IBM chief executive Sam Palmisano made an overture to buy it. Oracle, which had been strictly a software maker, unexpectedly jumped in to outbid IBM by just 10c a share, paying a total of $5.6bn (£3.8bn)in cash. Now Ellison says he is going to rebuild Sun's hardware business by using a strategy that helped IBM prosper in the 1960s – selling computer systems built with standardised bundles of hardware and software. Plenty of skeptics doubt Ellison can pull it off.
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Can Oracle's Larry Ellison be an Iron Man in real life?
Microsoft follows up on HTML5 video and Flash in IE9
Internet Explorer's general manager Dean Hachamovitch has responded to comments on his last post on IEBlog with a fuller explanation of Microsoft's reasons for focusing on H.264 video playback in HTML5 In Follow Up on HTML5 Video in IE9 , Microsoft's Dean Hachamovitch, the general manager of Internet Explorer, has responded to comments about his previous post, covered here as Microsoft says IE9 will only support H.264 for video . As is common with Microsoft posts, there was a lot of misguided comment, including people who claimed Microsoft was dropping support for Adobe Flash. Presumably they didn't know that previous versions of Internet Explorer didn't support Flash either, so no "dropping" was involved. In fact, IE9 will support Flash in exactly the same way as IE6, IE7 and IE8 -- via an Adobe Plug-in. As Hachamovitch explains: "Of course, IE9 will continue to support Flash and other plug-ins. Developers who want to use the same markup today across different browsers rely on plug-ins. Plug-ins are also important for delivering innovation and functionality ahead of the standards process; mainstream video on the web today works primarily because of plug-ins. We're committed to plug-in support because developer choice and opportunity in authoring web pages are very important; ISVs on a platform are what make it great. We fully expect to support plug-ins (of all types, including video) along with HTML5." Nor does Microsoft's choice of H.264 support in HTML5 mean that IE9 will not support other video formats in other ways. Hachamovitch says: "For web browsers, developers can continue to offer plug-ins (using NPAPI or ActiveX; they are effectively equivalent in this scenario) so that webpages can play video using these codecs on Windows. For example, webpages will still be able to play VC-1 (Microsoft WMV) files in IE9
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Microsoft follows up on HTML5 video and Flash in IE9
Ed Roberts obituary
Electronics engineer behind an early version of the PC Ed Roberts, who has died of pneumonia aged 68, was a founder of the microcomputer industry that ushered in the ubiquitous personal computer. In 1975, he introduced the first home-computer construction kit, the MITS Altair 8800. In the same year, he gave Bill Gates and Paul Allen their initial break by hiring them to write software for the computer. While Gates and Allen later flourished as the founders of Microsoft, Roberts sold his business in 1977 before the personal-computer industry became a global phenomenon. Roberts was born in Miami, Florida, the elder child of Henry and Edna. His father was an army conscript at the time of the birth but subsequently established an appliance-repair business. Roberts was educated in Miami, although he spent summers at his grandparents' farm in rural Georgia. As a schoolboy, he showed an aptitude for hobby electronics. He began an engineering degree at Miami University, although he always had a yen to study medicine. He married in 1962 and, with the need to earn a living when his wife became pregnant, he gave up his studies and joined the air force as an electronics technician. The air force sponsored him for an electrical engineering degree at Oklahoma State University and in 1968, he was posted to the weapons laboratory at Kirtland air force base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Roberts and a colleague joined the local Albuquerque Model Rocket club, and in 1970 co-founded a small business making electronics kits for model-aircraft enthusiasts. The firm was named Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, but was known by its initials, MITS, chosen to evoke the scientific image of the prestigious MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
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Ed Roberts obituary
PC shipments boom - at least compared to last year
Gartner and IDC have just released preliminary numbers that show booming shipments in the PC market, but that's in comparison with the slump in last year's first quarter.. Worldwide PC shipments grew by an unexpectedly high 27.4% to 84.3m units in the first quarter of 2010, according to Gartner , or by 24.2% to 79.1m units, according to rival research company IDC . This is the best growth since 2001, although it's more a result of the recession-induced slump at the start of 2009. Still, PC sales are now approaching the one million-a-day level, which is remarkable for a market that is now over 30 years old. The resurgence even included a growth in desktop PC shipments, instead of the usual decline. IDC also credited "continued recovery in emerging markets, improved business sentiments, and growth of specialized designs like All-in-One PCs". Gartner's Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst, added that "Major PC replacement demand driven by Windows 7 will become more apparent in the second half of 2010 and the beginning of 2011." The world's top five PC suppliers became a top six at Gartner. HP continued in first place, shipping 15.3m machines for a market share of 18.2%, followed by Acer (14.2%), Dell (12.1%) and Lenovo (8.3%). Toshiba and Asus tied for fifth place with 5.5% each, after Asus increased its shipments by 115%. HP also kept the top spot in the US market , on Gartner's figures, shipping 4.4m PCs for a market share of 25%. It was followed by Dell (23.4%), Acer (15.6%), Toshiba (8.6%) and Apple (8.0%).
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PC shipments boom - at least compared to last year
Apple shows off the iPad as gadget fever begins to take hold
With just a few days to go until the first gangs of salivating technophiles get their mitts on the iPad, the Apple hype machine is cranking up into gear. First up, the company started punching out videos showing users through the various things that the iPad can do - including fairly obvious activities looking at photos , web surfing and watching videos . Enough to persuade you to part with your cash? Perhaps not. But they keep trying by showing off some of the added features - like this tour of the iBook service. There was also confirmation on Monday that one of America's biggest electronics retailers - Best Buy - would have iPads on sale in store on launch day. That in turn cranked up sales expectations , which are now reaching nosebleed-high levels for a product that hardly anyone has seen and used. Of course, part of this is the media's obsession with the iPad (and yes, I am aware of the circular ) which comes not just because of the way Apple itself is viewed, but also the desperate hopes of many publishers that it can save their businesses in a stroke. If that strikes you as overly optimistic, then you're not alone. But then again, perhaps that's just the cynic in me. After all, not only do Apple's pretty videos fail to tell us a great deal about the product - but British users still haven't had some critical questions about the iPad answered. You know, the terribly awkward things like price, availability, launch date. Until those niggling little issues get addressed, all the guided tours in the world won't make a difference. Apple iPad Gadgets Bobbie Johnson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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Apple shows off the iPad as gadget fever begins to take hold
Medion’s The Touch all-in-one PC
The X9613 is not just an all-in-one touchscreen PC, it's a TV and home theatre system in a box The Touch , Medion's new all-in-one toucscreen PC, is a monster. But when you consider what you get, it's really not that big. After all, it's a 24-inch HD TV set (with remote control), a digital video recorder, a DVD and Blu-ray player, FM and internet radio, world map and digital picture frame, as well as a 64-bit PC. You can use the built-in webcam and microphone for video chats, and it also plays games. The Touch works well as a TV set and entertainment centre, once you've read the manual to figure out what the numerous buttons – the sensors on the front of the system, and the remote control – do. Windows 7's Media Center software does good job with the 10-foot experience. It includes an electronic programme guide (EPG) for one-touch recording, and Sky Player. The multitouch screen means you can do some things with fingers, without reaching for the wireless keyboard and its built-in mouse pad. It works well with Microsoft's Touch Pack for Windows 7 software bundle, which offers some stuff you might have seen on the Microsoft Surface, such as Surface Globe. As you'd expect from the specification, the X9613 works well as a PC, too. It has an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 processor with 4GB of memory, nVidia GeForce GT240M graphics and a 1TB hard drive running 64-bit Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium. The Touch scores 5.9 out of 7.9 on the Windows Experience Index, which reflects the hard drive's (relatively) low score. The processor and memory both score 7.0, with the Aero and 3D graphics scoring 6.4. It has lots of ports including DVB-T and DVB-S for television; HDMI, Scart and VGA sockets; ExpressCard and multi-format card slots; S/PDIF for sound and eSATA for an external hard drive. For wireless connectivity, it has Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth. It also has fingerprint recognition and a small secondary touch screen for Microsoft Sideshow. It comes up slightly short in only having three USB ports, and one of those is used to connect the wireless keyboard supplied as standard. (There's no mouse.) The problem is that using a PC is a 3-foot experience, which means you might not want to mount the X9613 on your wall. If you're far enough away to enjoy the TV or watch a movie on the 24-inch screen, you're not close enough to read the text in your web browser. Stand it on a desk and you can have the TV in one window and Windows Live Messenger or Twitter in another, though that's not how most people watch TV.
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Medion's The Touch all-in-one PC
Kneber attack resurrects notorious Zeus Trojan, say experts
There's been a lot of noise online about the so-called "Kneber" botnet, which has compromised more than 70,000 computers and stolen thousands of pieces of data. According to reports, around 2,500 companies were hit over the last 18 months as part of a botnet first spotted by NetWitness in January. The subject - cybercrime attacks undertaken by organised gangs of hackers - has become a hot topic in recent months, not least after Google accused Chinese hackers of trying to steal information from it and a string of other companies . In fact, however, is not a brand new attack. According to Symantec, the so-called "Kneber" strike is merely the resurrection of an existing Trojan that has been known about for some time. "Kneber, in reality, is not a new threat at all, but is simply a pseudonym for the infamous and well-known Zeus Trojan," said the company. "The name Kneber simply refers to a particular group, or herd, of zombie computers, a.k.a. bots, being controlled by one owner. The actual Trojan itself is the same Trojan.Zbot, which also goes by the name Zeus, which has been being observed, analyzed and protected against for some time now." "Since Zeus/Zbot toolkits are widely available on the underground economy, it is not uncommon for attackers to create new strings, such as Kneber, of the overall Zeus botnet." We have written about Zeus before - last November two people were arrested in Manchester on suspicion of using Zeus to steal people's bank details , part of a series of systematic strikes that had led experts to claim it was "one of the most notorious pieces of malware to have been seen recently" . To be fair, NetWitness was not claiming that the Kneber attack was a new method. Indeed, in the company's white paper on the strikes (registration required) says prominently that "the format and structure of the logged data indicate a Zeus Trojan botnet". What does this mean
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Kneber attack resurrects notorious Zeus Trojan, say experts
Microsoft Office 2010 programs available separately
Microsoft has announced estimated retail pricing for Microsoft Office 2010 in the UK, but Cyteck only wants one application…. In response to your story about Microsoft Office 2010 priced from free , will it be possible in future to purchase Office 2010 applications as separate programs? I'm interested in Outlook, and I wonder if Ask Jack might be able to enlighten me on that. Cyteck Microsoft UK has just released estimated retail prices for separate applications, so you can assume that all of these will be available separately. Basically they all cost £119.99 each -- that's Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher and Access -- except for OneNote, which costs £69.99. Microsoft Software Computing Jack Schofield guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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Microsoft Office 2010 programs available separately