Top 20 BetaNews stories of 2008

#10. Windows XP SP3 update causing endless reboots in AMD machines

You'd think that Microsoft's extensive beta process would resolve problems like this one. But actually, it was the assembly of the power management libraries in the final release of Windows XP Service Pack 3 -- not in the prior betas -- that caused trouble with many AMD motherboards, and with some AMD and Intel CPUs.

#9. Deeper inside IE 8 Beta 2

Among the many suggestions we get from readers are reminders that the word "Beta" is, after all, in our name. In 2008, we worked to renew our commitment to cover Actual Beta News. So last August, we took our first peek at the Private Browsing mode that premiered with the second beta of Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.

#8. Toshiba: Not HD-DVD, 'HD' DVD!

As the big loser in the high-definition disc format war, Toshiba may yet get its revenge at CES 2009, as it's expected to show off its latest permutation of upconversion -- the ability to make 480p video look substantially better on a 1080p display. While critics say there's no real way to "Blu-ray-ize" DVD video, there are millions of consumers with substantive investments in DVDs for whom that fact might not be as significant as the existence of a system that improves their existing libraries.

#7. WWDC: With iPhone 2.0, the SDK is now the key element

A year and a half after the introduction of the first iPhone, Apple finally made the device it had earlier described as "a Mac in your pocket" programmable by the general public. But under what terms and restrictions? Rather than answer those questions right at first, Apple showed off board member Al Gore and Super Monkey.

#6. Report: Third-generation Toyota Prius to sport solar panels

Okay, you don't see David E. Davis, Jr.'s name on a BetaNews masthead anywhere, but that doesn't mean we can't make inroads in the automotive field. Yea, when we noted the very real possibility that the 2010 Toyota Prius would sport solar panels (verified last week by a spy photographer), we attracted some attention who might never have read...a beta software publication that does stories about production cars with solar panels before.

#5. Who needs hackers? Palin e-mail hack reveals obvious vulnerability

When word first spread about Alaska Governor and former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's use of a common e-mail address for state business, that really wasn't such an egregious fault for a chief executive. What was probably more important was how easy it was for someone not to hack, but to guess, his way into the private communications account of a famous person.

#4. Windows DNS bug fix can impair firewalls, including ZoneAlarm

The DNS cache poisoning problem may go down as one of the greatest successfully averted disasters in the history of computing. After years of warnings that were publicly known, changes had to be made to the entire Internet in such a way that billions of users were blissfully unaware that it was happening. So you can't blame Check Point Technologies for being similarly unaware that these changes would impact the ability of ZoneAlarm, its leading software firewall product, to do its job.

#3. Vista's image problem personified

We almost didn't write this story. After all, what more could anyone have said about Microsoft's bizarre TV advertising campaign featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld, chairman Bill Gates, cheap discount shoes, and the tagline, "The future? Delicious." But quite literally, in discussing the reasons why we shouldn't just add one more voice to the mix, we talked ourselves into publishing this essay...an essay about nothing, in a sense, but one which did stir up something.

#2. Rise of complaints follows Apple Mac OS X 10.5.6 update

With Apple software, to borrow a line from the classic trailer for the movie Westworld, nothing can possibly go wrong, go wrong, go wrong. We couldn't help but be amused at reports of blue screens (the unofficially registered trademark of another company, or so we thought) appearing after folks used the automatic update process to bring their Mac OS X up to speed. And while that may be unusual for Apple, it did seem strangely ironic that the company's initial response to users was somewhat terse and unapologetic.

#1. Six-core Intel processors coming this year

We begin and end our list this year with Intel. Now, AMD has been very quick to point out that many Intel Xeon processors have not been multicore in the traditional sense, but rather sandwiched single- or dual-core processors on a single die. Intel's Dunnington design, part of Intel's outgoing Penryn 45 nm architecture, may have been AMD's last opportunity to pin the "sandwich" metaphor on its competitor. From here on out, Intel's Nehalem architecture will enable it to scale multiple cores on the same processor, linked by an on-chip memory bus...just like AMD.

On behalf of all of us who bring you BetaNews every day, we thank you for helping us grow this year more than any time with the exception of our initial launch over a decade ago now. We have some tremendous plans ahead for 2009, and what makes us most excited is that you'll be a part of it all.