Tech Buzz

I attended the Linspire-sponsored Linux Desktop Summit last week, where the discussion included reasons the folks who build PCs don't want to do Linux. Indeed, some of the commentary at the event related to Microsoft and its vulnerability when it comes to large business and government accounts. Ther...

The European Court of First Instance buzzed with energy this week as Microsoft and the European Commission squared off over a damaging 2004 ruling that, along with a fine of 497 million euros (US$613 million), creates a new Microsoft product and exposes the company's valuable intellectual property.

This week I'm speaking at the Desktop Linux Summit in San Diego on why the PC OEMs don't, and probably never will, fully support Linux on the desktop. This is somewhat of a deja vu for me since a decade ago my team made a similar presentation at IBM on OS/2 and why it wouldn't beat Windows in its ti...

Last year, Congress passed the Real ID Act, a law that calls for standardization of drivers' licenses across the country by 2008. The current reaction from states like California and New Hampshire raises questions about how a national ID system would affect civil liberties, putting welcome pressure...

The Patti Santangelo "Fight Goliath" campaign was officially launched about four months ago and since then, it's raised an impressive $13,140.21. Santangelo is the New York mother of five targeted by the Big Four record labels' Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Actually, there's very...

Last week I visited Hewlett-Packard's lab to see what they have in the works. Lab tours are one of the nice perks of this job. A few months ago I got to see Intel's rather extensive future lineup, and weeks ago I also witnessed Sun's rather disappointing event. However, HP, thanks to its new executi...

IT security and information risk management has been high on the agenda of financial institutions for the past decade. It's little wonder due to the regulatory and organizational repercussions of a wholesale breach. Historically executives have concentrated on threats from "beyond the firewall," pro...

Last week, Apple became a tentative Windows platform OEM with its announcement of Boot Camp, which allows new Mac hardware to run Windows XP and, eventually, Vista. Apple had said it wasn't planning to support Windows -- just like it said it didn't plan to support Intel or bring out flash-based medi...

Despite national legislation, spam remains a menace that clogs e-mail inboxes and costs Internet Service Providers millions of dollars. One California company is trying to stem the flow of unwanted mail, but California legislators are threatening to stand in the way. AOL has partnered with Goodmail...

I spent a lot of time last week reading the Microsoft employee blogs and apparently there is some reasonably strong feeling among many folks who work there that the wrong "Steve" is running the company. This is, in my view, a "grass is greener on the other side of the fence" type of perception -- s...