Apple

What's so bad about XP?

In an interview with Computerworld UK, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had some interesting things to say about the enterprise and its desire to keep Windows XP instead of switching to Vista.

"If you deploy a 4- or 5-year-old operating system today, most people will ask their boss why the heck they don't have the stuff they have at home," Ballmer told the publication.

Ballmer went on to say that it's incumbent upon the business world to make employees happy and comfortable and the best way to do that is to deploy Vista as soon as possible.

According to market research firm Forrester, Windows Vista can be found on less than 10 percent of all the computers companies in North America and Europe are running. Windows XP can be found on over 71 percent of enterprise computers. Ballmer wants that to change.

But his premise that an increasing number of people will be asking for Vista doesn't really make sense. According to research firm Net Applications, Windows XP still controls almost 64 percent of the worldwide consumer market. It's trailed by Vista and Mac OS X 10.5 with 27 percent market share and 5 percent market share, respectively.

Based on those figures, I'm not convinced that there are that many people walking into their supervisor's office wondering when Vista will be deployed at the office. In fact, it's far more likely that they would rather use something they know--XP.

But Ballmer's desire to get enterprises to switch to Vista has me wondering what's so bad about Windows XP. Is it really such an awful operating system that every company should switch?

No way.… Read more

Microsoft readies smartphone assault on Apple

Microsoft is gearing up to take on rival Apple in the smartphone market.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Microsoft is getting ready to launch an online marketplace akin to Apple's App Store. In August, Microsoft had started looking for people to head up the new application store. Microsoft is also readying a more sophisticated version of its mobile operating system called Windows Mobile 6.5, the Journal reported.

Smartphones are sophisticated mobile phones that offer users access to the Web and e-mail, as well as, provide phone calling and all kinds of other messaging options. This category … Read more

Judge: Psystar can claim Apple 'copyright misuse'

A federal judge is letting Mac clone maker Psystar amend its legal defense against Apple.

Psystar was delivered a blow in November, when Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court in Northern California dismissed Psystar's antitrust claims against the Cupertino, Calif.-based Mac maker. The antitrust suit was a response to a copyright and trademark infringement suit Apple filed in July against Psystar, whose OpenComputers are designed to run the Mac OS X operating system.

In its amended complaint, Psystar accuses Apple of copyright misuse, as well as unfair competition violations based on its alleged copyright misuse. … Read more

iPhone apps of the week

One of the most popular iPhone apps of 2008 wasn't a game or productivity app, or even a random sound maker. Surely many iPhone users reading this post have downloaded the app called Koi Pond, or have at least seen it on a friend's iPhone. It's one of the first programs I start up whenever I'm showing off my iPhone because it combines excellent ambient sound, crisp graphics, and you can make waves and "feed the fish" by swiping or touching the screen. There is no real goal to Koi Pond beyond enjoying watching … Read more

Apple stores ban Facebook access? Not really

NEW YORK--It involved three shopping districts, two subway lines, and a whole lot of walking in the freezing cold. But I completed my mission to hit up all three Manhattan Apple stores to see if it was true that the retail outlets' computer stations had blocked access to Facebook because too many people were using the popular social network to waste time. (Editors' note: at publish time, the link above was experiencing a network time-out error.)

The verdict: An Apple Store representative told me in a phone call later on Friday, "We have not blocked Facebook from our stores.&… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 906: Mail-order mice

We learn that, among other things, Rafe is trained in psychology and yearns to order mice. But we also kick around the meaning of security in Google Earth and Windows 7 and take up the cause of the wireless ISP in your neighborhood.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 906

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Facebook steps into OpenID Foundation http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10157980-2.html

Apple banning Facebook in stores http://i.gizmodo.com/5148064/attention-apple-store-web-freeloaders-facebook-is-now-banned… Read more

iPhone OS Push Notification Redux: Where Did it Go?

We visited the topic of Push Notification services for the iPhone 3G in November 2008. At that time, the feature was a month late and there was no word from Apple. Now five months later, Apple is still keeping mum regarding the status of push notification for the iPhone. Apple's self-imposed deadline for releasing the push notification services is now long past, and nothing about it was mentioned at Macworld 2009.

What Push would do: Push notification services would have allowed applications like instant message services to operate in the background while the iPhone is asleep or another application … Read more

Steve Jobs meets the Kindle

As Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos readies to take center stage Monday morning to release what will most likely be the next version of his company's much-hyped digital reading device, I recently obtained some very interesting--and exclusive--information concerning a very hush-hush meeting between Steve Jobs and Bezos that took place on the eve of the launch of the original Kindle back in November of 2007.

My Deep Throat simply goes by the handle "The Dude," and it's unclear whether he's a disgruntled employee of Apple, Amazon, or the hotel where the meeting allegedly took place--or whether … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 905: Buzz off malaria

We were really thinking about calling this episode something to do with prehistoric snake. Because Natali is very into the prehistoric snakes. Although she can't kill them. Instead we discuss Bill Gates releasing mosquitoes at TED, the Congress sort of delaying the DTV transition, and Google trying to steal your health information.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 905

Bill Gates Unleashes Mosquitoes On Rich TED Conference Crowd http://www.alleyinsider.com/2009/2/bill-gates-unleashes-mosquitoes-on-rich-ted-crowd http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7871210.stm

DTV delay passes, 264-158 http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/02/dtv-delay-passes-264-158.ars… Read more