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| Volume 8, Issue 13 |
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In This Issue:
 Test center's Windows 7 preview
Deep dive into SQL Server 2008
If Windows is a dead end, what's next?
 Seven things you may not know about Windows 7
 Five OS lessons learned from Apple Leopard
Why I'm skipping Vista: IT speaks out
How Obama will use web 2.0 for change
5 things Gen Y can do to survive recession
How to explain Cloud Computing to your CFO
 Stormy weather: 7 gotchas in cloud computing
2008 salary survey: IT pay takes tiny leaps
Video: How to get a girlfriend if you're a hopeless nerd
 Online game for super geeks: Build your own supercomputer
Cool yule tools: 2008 holiday gift guide
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Test center's Windows 7 preview
Measured by runtime specs and performance benchmarks, Windows 7 M3 looks like Vista, and it runs like Vista. Welcome to Windows Vista R2!
It's here! After months of speculation, Windows 7 was finally unveiled last month at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference (PDC).
Through a series of well-orchestrated keynote presentations and supporting breakout sessions, Microsoft walked conference attendees through the highlights of its new desktop OS: better performance, an improved user experience, and some
nifty media-sharing features. Overall, Microsoft's pitch was quite compelling, and the PDC crowd was practically salivating at the chance to play with Microsoft's latest and greatest. But after the stage props came down, and after the projectors finally went
cold, attendees were left with a pre-beta copy of something that looked less like a new OS than the repackaging of an old one...
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Deep dive into SQL Server 2008
Microsoft's 'Katmai' is packed with performance and management features enterprises will love, and even small shops will have reasons to make the upgrade.
SQL Server 2008, aka "Katmai," gives SQL Server shops plenty of reasons to get excited. The best SQL Server release to date, it sports more nice new features than you can count, and the improvements extend to both performance and manageability. In a few cases, such as the Resource Governor, you'll wish Microsoft had taken the
functionality a little further. But whether you manage an OLTP environment, or an OLAP environment, or both, you will most likely find Katmai compelling. It easily passes my own five-point test for upgrades. My five-point test requires a new release to bring at least five significant improvements to my environment, or it’s not worth upgrading.
Each improvement has to change my life in a significant way, either by dramatically shortening the time to do common tasks or by allowing me to do something I couldn't do before. For my environment, which is a large data warehouse, these five Katmai features easily pass the test...
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If Windows is a dead end, what's next?
Windows 7 looks like lipstick on the Vista pig. Maybe it's time to contemplate the PC after Windows.
The writing is on the wall. Despite a major push to sell the much-maligned Windows Vista, customers aren't buying. Nearly two years after Vista's release, Windows XP remains the standard desktop OS in business, and Microsoft has
extended its availability three times (currently to August 2009) due to customer demand. Microsoft itself forecasts just 2 percent growth in Vista sales in early 2009, after lackluster sales in 2008. And that's after forcing customers to buy Vista to get XP
"downgrades." So all eyes were on Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference in Los Angeles last week as Microsoft finally took the wrap off Windows 7, the successor to Vista due in early 2010. But early reaction is that Windows 7 is just a cleaned-up Vista...
Read the article. Back to top
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Five OS lessons learned from Apple Leopard
Apple's Leopard version of its Mac OS X added more polish and features to the Mac desktop -- and carried with it important lessons for operating systems of the future, even for arch-rival Microsoft.
When Apple released Mac OS X 10.5, frequently referred to by its code name "Leopard," the company immediately had to deal with scattered technical problems. Among the widest reported was the "Blue Screen of Death," where the Mac froze during the installation process on the blue startup screen. The issues led one consultant to blog
"it's a dark day in Apple land when the least positive attributes of Windows start showing up in their beloved BSD-based OS." What a difference a year makes. Apple has weathered the problems, morphed both its iMac and MacBook systems to aluminum cases with clean lines, and plans to release the sixth revision, code named "Snow Leopard,"
to its flagship operating system. Next year, the company could hit a milestone that it's missed for a long time and claim at least a 10 percent share of U.S...
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Why I'm skipping Vista: IT speaks out
IT pros say they've looked past the "I'm a PC" commercials and Apple taunts, but many still see an upgrade from Windows XP to Vista as too risky a proposition. Here's why.
Despite warnings to businesses about the dangers of skipping Windows Vista, many IT managers and CIOs are standing firm that the risks of migrating to Vista outweigh the benefits.The recent press coverage regarding performance efficiencies seen in the Windows 7 pre-beta (delivered at Microsoft's recent Professional Developers
Conference) has dimmed the spotlight on Vista a bit. [IT pros and CIOs we talked to for this story have some old concerns regarding Vista, starting with its ROI, and some new ones, such as how they'd handle a Vista upgrade for users who've now decided based
on months of negative publicity that Vista's a bad choice. What they have in common is clear]...
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How Obama will use web 2.0 for change
President-elect Barack Obama's harnessing of Web 2.0 technologies enabled his rise to power, and his administration will continue to use them to stay in touch with constituents. That's the contention made by political leaders on the third day of the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.
During his campaign, President-elect Barack Obama delivered on the democratic promise of Web 2.0 technologies by using them to give voices to millions of Americans who had traditionally been drowned out by TV pundits, politicians and wealthy donors. And he's already shown he'll continue to use them when he's in office. That was the contention
made by speakers this morning on the third day of the Web 2.0 Summit here in San Francisco. Three guest speakers included San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, considered by many to be a candidate to run for governor in California. He was joined by Joe Trippi, the political advisor credited with harnessing the Web to build Vermont
Governor Howard Dean's grassroots presidential campaign back in the 2004 democratic primary, and Arianna Huffington, founder and editor in chief of the Huffington Post (which publishes a lot of citizen journalism). The group first reflected on the 2008 campaign...
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5 things Gen Y can do to survive recession
Workplace experts agree that Generation Y professionals may have a difficult time surviving a recession because they're not used to having to make sacrifices and because they've never lived through an economic downturn before. Here's what members of Generation Y can do to prove those experts wrong.
In some ways, Generation Y professionals may be better positioned than Baby Boomers and Generation X workers to survive a recession. For one, they don't have the same strong allegiances to their employers that their Boomer and Gen X counterparts have, which some experts say might make it easier for them to cope with being laid off. Nor
do they have the same financial burdens as Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. So if Gen Y professionals do get laid off, they have fewer expenses to worry about. (For more reasons why Generation Y is well prepared to survive an economic downturn, see 5
Reasons Gen Y May Survive Recession, Layoffs Better than Gen X and Boomers.) But in other ways, a recession could come as a complete shock to Generation Y...
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How to explain Cloud Computing to your CFO
Forrester has just released a report outlining the CFO-ish benefits of cloud computing.
The report, entitled "Talking to Your CFO About Cloud Computing," is aimed at communicating the benefits of cloud computing to him or her. (Someone a bit more cynical than me might say a companion report, to help you communicate cloud computing's benefits to a CIO, is in order as well). A couple of things about the
report (see the executive summary on Forrester's site) stood out for me. First, Forrester emphasizes the fact that...
Read the article. Back to top
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Online game for super geeks: Build your own supercomputer
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So you think you can build a supercomputer? Purdue today rolled out an online game that will let you test those skills.
In a nutshell, Rack-A-Node players build a cluster supercomputer using a variety of computing types to run science experiments. A player begins with a small supercomputer and receives science jobs to process. For each completed job, the player gets more funding needed to build an even bigger supercomputer, according to a Purdue release.
Machines can be upgraded with different types of energy efficient nodes and if the machines run out of power players cannot add nodes. The idea is to build the most efficient machine possible, Purdue said. According the game rules, some jobs require more memory, proceeding power or a faster network connection. How the player chooses
to build and operate the machine will go a long way toward winning the game. Speed and efficiency are key. The game begins with...
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Cool yule tools: 2008 holiday gift guide
The holidays are here, and it's time to rock!
With more than 100 products to choose from, let us take you on a journey through our favorite personal technology products and gift ideas for the rock star techie on your list. From phones to computers to the hottest video games, we've got a bunch of great gift ideas. Please peruse and share with friends and family!...
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