Why I love Chromebook
Third in a series. For Valentine's Day, Wayne Williams and I explained why we love Kindle and Surface Pro, respectively. We've decided to extend the concept into an ongoing series, which I continue about Chromebook and in many more ways Chrome OS.
My Chromebook journey began in December 2010 when Google dispatched 60,000 Cr-48 test units. I used the computer as my primary PC for a week, but no more, being a concept. But, then, my 11.6-inch MacBook Air failed in March 2011, and I reverted back to the Cr-48 during the emergency. In June 2011, Samsung released the Series 5 Chromebook, which I used as my only PC for two solid months. But performance couldn't meet my needs -- that is until the successor, the 550, launched in May 2011. I abandoned MacBook Air and didn't look back. Performance and features met my needs. I traded performance for better ergonomics when switching to the ARM-based Series 3 Chromebook in October.
Protect your Windows 8 PC with Panda Cloud Antivirus
Spanish security company Panda Security Ltd has released Panda Cloud Antivirus Free 2.1.1, a minor update to its free cloud-based security tool for Windows. Version 2.1.1 is the first release to secure a Windows 8 compatible logo after passing the eligibility requirements laid down by Microsoft.
Panda Cloud Antivirus, also available with built-in firewall in Pro form, is primarily a maintenance release, building on the major improvements found in version 2.1, which included real-time protection for Windows 8 Store apps and anti-exploit technology.
If Apple can't protect itself from malware, how can you trust it to protect you?
Apple may be perceived as a bastion of security and users generally feel safe from the plagues that us Windows users suffer, but market share plays a large part in that perception. The bigger target gets more attention. Well, the party may be over, folks, because the fruit-logo company has a problem, and it is one that is incredibly familiar to Windows users -- Java. The Oracle software platform may be one of the most exploited ones on computers.
Today Reuters reports that Apple, a company largely known for never admitting error -- think "You're holding it wrong" -- released a statement describing "the widest known attacks targeting Apple computers used by corporations". The same exploit had been used to attack social networking giant Facebook.
StackMob launches new Enterprise Marketplace
According to Gartner, by 2017 around 25 percent of enterprises will have their own app stores for managing home grown and corporate-sanctioned apps on PCs and mobile devices. Bring Your Own Application (BYOA) is becoming almost as important as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in some corporate workplaces.
StackMob, a cloud-based mobile platform provider, has today launched a new Enterprise Marketplace for third-party services, aimed at offering a simple and effective way for larger organizations to build and deploy their own full-featured mobile applications.
The Windows Store is like a Bangkok night market -- full of cheap knockoffs
When Windows 8 launched on October 26 2012, the Windows Store had an estimated 9,000 apps available to purchase or download. Today, according to the excellent MetroStore Scanner, that figure has risen to 43,083 worldwide, of which 28,904 are available in the US store, and 26,385 in the UK one.
The biggest problem with the Windows Store is not the overall number of apps -- in four months it’s seen reasonable growth although the number of new weekly additions has slowed -- the issue is more with quality. While there’s no shortage of third-party apps, many of which are very good, you can’t help but notice how many big names are absent.
Microsoft NEEDs a Mobile Manhattan Project
"We didn't miss cell phones, but the way that we went about it, ah, didn't allow us to get the leadership. So it's clearly a mistake." That's the chilling admission from Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates during a CBS This Morning interview with Charlie Rose (Editor: full interview from January 30). Referring to CEO Steve Ballmer, the cofounder emphasizes: "He and I are not satisfied that in terms of, you know, breakthrough things, that we're, ah, doing everything possible". You think?
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord (or whomever or whatever you worship, if anything). Change starts with admission of fault, and Gates gives it. So what should Microsoft do about the problem? Take my advice. Please. Starting five years ago, I repeatedly recommend Microsoft lunch a Mobile Manhattan Project -- on the order of Internet Explorer in the mid-1990s but only much, much larger. There simply is no other way to catch up in mobile.
Piriform updates Defraggler, adds Quick Defrag scheduling
Piriform Software has released Defraggler 2.13 and Defraggler Portable 2.13, brand new builds of its freeware Windows defragmentation tool. Version 2.13 adds support for Quick Defrag scheduling, Fragmentation Threshold options when scheduling and support for external 3TB drives.
The update comes four days after Piriform updated its free data-recovery tool, Recuva 1.45 and Recuva Portable 1.45, with the promise of better reliability when deep-scanning NTFS drives as well as improved performance when securely overwriting data.
Of course Microsoft limits Office 2013 rights
I'm not surprised about the weekend furor over changes to Office 2013 retail licensing terms. Gregg Keizer, writing for Computerworld, has done some of the best reporting on this topic. He deserves your pageviews, starting with this story. I can confirm what he writes, that the new End User License Agreement restricts usage to one PC and isn't transferrable. Whether or not Microsoft actually enforces the provision, or changes it, is another matter. We'll see.
What does perplex me: Why there is no backlash about other licensing term changes that are considerably more onerous and costly. Like I explained last month, "Microsoft really doesn't want you to buy Office 2013". That is the reason for all these licensing changes. The company wants consumers to purchase Office 365 instead.
Yes! Google should open retail stores
I can't say if rumors flashing across the InterWebs yesterday are true about Google opening retail shops this year. Not that it matters. The search giant should open stores -- and lots of them. Timing is right, too, and who could have imagined two or even three years ago.
Make. No. Mistake. In the 22 months since returning as CEO (following a 10-year hiatus), Larry Page has injected new vim, vigor and vibrancy into the Google empire. The company is now one of the most disruptive forces across techdom. Android Market branding to Google Play, Google+, Google Now, Nexus tablets, low-cost Chromebooks and stores selling them inside major retailers all debuted during his watch. Then there is ever-tightening cross-integration of products and services creating one of the most formidable cloud applications stacks available anywhere. Google Now, Google Play and Android and Chrome OS devices are reasons enough for retail stores, because the company has a digital lifestyle to sell.
Best Windows 8 apps this week
Sixteenth in a series. Windows Store's slow but steady application growth continues this week with the addition of 610 new apps in the US store. This brings the total listed to 28,665. Of those, 22,101 free and 6,563 paid. It is not clear why there is one application missing when you add free and paid apps.
The growth is slowing down if you look at the recent performance. Two weeks ago, 970 new apps were listed in Windows Store, one week ago that number dropped to 773, and this week we see another drop to 610 new apps. It will be interesting to see if the downwards trend continues or if there will be a recovery in the coming weeks.
Steve Ballmer should step up, or ship out
Fifteen days using Surface Pro as my primary PC, I must say that I really, really like the tablet. Windows 8, the same. Ditto for Bing and Internet Explorer. I'm no stranger to using Microsoft products or services. But I am new to them being presented and consumed the way the company intends. The experience is refreshing and exhilarating, yet depressing. Who will know, with so much attention going to Android and iOS devices, or nimbler competitors offering more compelling products or services at faster pace?
Microsoft's problems aren't new, and that is the problem. This morning I reread my December 2009 post: "Microsoft isn't losing its consumer edge, it was game over long ago". I'm disturbed how little has changed, so much that, except for the lead paragraph, I could repost with new headline and the content would still be relevant. I will lift some parts here, as I offer, for the umpteenth time, remedies to Microsoft's woes.
Overhauling a home network, Part 1 -- Making decisions
Over the years the little network within my humble abode has grown. It started as a way to connect a laptop and a desktop, but has since become a conglomeration of multiple devices -- a desktop, three laptops, an HTPC, a home server and even three smartphones. Not to mention that the Blu-ray player, DirecTV DVR and Netgear NeoTV are networked. It all comes together in a combination of ethernet and WiFi connections that are controlled through a router in the home office on the third floor of our old restored Victorian, an extender which resides in the entertainment cabinet in the living room -- sorry, "parlor" since it is a Victorian -- on the first floor and a network switch in the basement.
Parts are getting old however -- in the past year I had to buy a new router and replace my daughter's laptop. Recently, more things have become unreliable. My home server, which ran FreeNAS died recently. It was housed in an old tower PC that had once been our desktop. Our HTPC has grown old, despite having been upgraded with new video and audio cards and additional RAM. The Netgear NeoTV is not as reliable as it once was.
Why I love Surface Pro
First in a series. I have loved many computers and gadgets over the years. They typically share two things in common: Initial "Wow" reaction and improved experience the longer used. Microsoft Surface Pro gets the first, but more time is needed on the second. February 14 marks my fourteenth day using the tablet.
Too often tech vendors put too much emphasis on features while missing something more fundamental: Joy. How do you feel using the product. Does it make your life better? Are you happier for using the thing? Design -- how a product looks and the interaction with it -- is paramount. Apple products, for example, are pretty for a reason. On this Valentine's Day, after two weeks with Surface Pro, love is appropriate topic. Because the tablet makes me feel good.
Why I love Kindle
Second in a series. I had a nice surprise Valentine’s Day gift delivered to my door this morning -- a box of ten copies of my new novel (I Know What You Did Last Supper) courtesy of my publisher and fresh off the press. It seemed weird holding the book. Not just because it’s my first novel (co-authored with a friend), but because I haven’t held an actual book for maybe two years now.
When the Kindle first came out, I resisted it. I’ve loved books since I was child, and couldn’t ever imagine switching to an ebook reader. But then I was given the device as a Christmas present in 2009 and despite all my reservations fell in love with it almost immediately.
Internet Explorer is the last browser standing
Opera's decision to change rendering engines means three of the top five browsers will use Webkit. Internet Explorer stands alone, and that is the wrong place to be. In September 2009 post "Microsoft should dig deep into Webkit to keep Google from Framing IE", I suggested radical change, which unsurprisingly was ignored. Since, Chrome usage share grew from 2.9 percent in August 2009 to 17.84 percent in January 2013, according to Net Applications. Meanwhile, IE share fell from 66.97 percent to 55.14 percent.
But the real battleground, and where upstarts gobble up territory, is mobile -- yeah smartphones and tablets. While the category accounted for just 11.8 percent browser usage share in January, the majority is Webkit -- 61.02 percent just for Safari. Internet Explorer: 1.34 percent, or less than Chrome (2.02 percent). Android browser is 21.46 percent. As I expressed three-and-a-half years ago: "Microsoft should answer WebKit for WebKit, by releasing a new browser based on a new rendering engine; put on the IE brand and ship it for desktop and mobile". There's still time, but fast running out.
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