Recent Articles
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Office Alternatives Explore Server-Based Apps
While Microsoft quietly pursues developing new servers for its Microsoft Office applications, Sun Microsystems’ StarOffice and the open-source OpenOffice.org are taking another route with their applications. Citing security, portability and deployment benefits, both see offering server-based applications as a future option. In fact, Sun took it so seriously that it went down this path several…
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Reseller Selling Standalone Windows Media Center Software
At least one vendor is selling OEM copies of Microsoft’s new Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 operating system online, possibly exploiting a loophole in Microsoft’s contracts. Houston, Tex.-based Directron.com Inc. is selling the OEM edition of Microsoft’s software on its web site for $129.99, as well as the accompanying remote control for $43.99. That’s…
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Feeling Testy?
When I was interviewing resellers and integrators for a recent story about Windows XP SP2, I was struck by the unanimity of one piece of advice. It revolved around one word. “Test,” they said. And they were right. It’s something I’ve come to appreciate since it’s saved me in many ways. It was just a…
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Build-It: The $800 Gaming PC
It’s been a while since we set out to build an inexpensive gaming PC. The last time we built PCs of this type was this past March, when we first built a $1000 Pentium 4 Game PC and followed that up with a similar Athlon XP system. Prices have naturally shifted since then, so it’s…
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Is eBay a Good Partner for VARs?
eBay is wooing the IT channel. The drums of the tech press corps have been beating ever louder since March. The crescendo peaked Monday at TechXNY.There, with considerable fanfare and a half-day seminar for resellers, eBay unveiled its idea of how VARs can turn used equipment into profits. The centerpiece of the long-heralded plan is…
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Microsoft Issues Flurry of Fixes on Busy Patch Day
Microsoft on Tuesday announced its latest round of patches, focusing almost exclusively on flaws in older operating systems, servers and applications that were largely covered by Microsoft XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). Nevertheless, this month’s “Patch Tuesday” was busy, with Microsoft releasing 10 security bulletins for various vulnerabilities, a majority of which could allow for…
