Recent Articles
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64-Bit Windows’ Performance on Dual-Core
Part I: 64-bit vs. 32-bit Windows Windows XP Professional x64 edition is clearly not a mainstream product. For example, though you can order Dell Dimension XPS models with XP X64 installed, Dell gives you this rather dire warning when you try to buy a system with the OS installed: “Peripherals you currently own or plan…
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Don’t Forget the Memory—RAM Explained
Keeping It All in Balance As processor speeds have rapidly outstripped the ability of memory to keep pace, achieving system balance has been getting more and more difficult. If an application can’t find the information in the CPU’s on-chip cache memory, then a program can come to a screeching halt while waiting hundreds of CPU…
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Broadband Access Debates Speed Up
The Federal Communications Commission earlier this month voted to no longer require telephone companies to sell DSL services to independent competitors at regulated rates, changing the landscape of the broadband market. While the decision is final, the public debate is heating up. “If you deregulate a marketplace that is controlled by two technologies, it’s disingenuous…
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Tablet PCs’ Future Uncertain
Tablet PCs can’t catch a break. The fate of the pen-driven, portable PC category, which got a boost in 2002 when Microsoft Corp. first rolled out its Windows XP Tablet PC Edition software, is uncertain, as some analysts have begun to lower their long-term growth projections for the category and Microsoft remains mum about its…
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New Tools Diagnose App Problems
Two new methods of application problem resolution will find their way to market this week, targeting both service-oriented architectures and Java application server-based environments. IBM is expected to announce new software based on its Tivoli and WebSphere platforms and leveraging the BPEL (Business Process Execution Language) to advance BPM (business process management) in SOAs. The…
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WinFS Is Back on the Redmond Radar Screen
When Microsoft announced a year ago that it had decided to rip the next-generation Windows File System (WinFS) from Longhorn, many company watchers wrote off the feature as little more than vaporware. But it seems Microsoft didn’t simply shelve WinFS. According to sources close to the company, Microsoft just last week put the finishing touches…
