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Itanium was conceived as a server/workstation chip from the beginning, and it performs VERY well in that setting. Aside from some sweaty geeks on /. that are counting down the days until Athlon64 (btw, how many times has that release been delayed?), nobody else really cares about 64 bits in the desktop.

At the same time, many are finding that in many cases they don't need MS-Windows any more even on the desktop. OS X and even some of the major Linux distributions are turning out to be more efficient and cost effective choices for some on the desktop. StarOffice and OpenOffice have made such advances that unless one really likes the security problems and incompatible file formats of MS-Office there's no reason not to migrate.

"But lets not forget that as of a little while ago, Linux is on more desktops than MacOS is! [...] [Apple] dying a slow painfull death? Maybe."

Uhh... No.

While Linux desktop market share is slowly increasing, it would still have a way to go before it catches up. An IDC analyst recently predicted that in 2003/2004 Linux desktops would outnumber Mac desktops, but even with this liberal estimation Linux has yet to surpass the MacOS current shipments & installed base. Further, estimations like these do not take into account that more Linux success means more Mac success - the more people considering Liunx, the more are willing to consider MacOS X too (and vice-versa). The "momentum hump" for switchers to get over is the willingness to seriously consider an alterative to Windows; once they make that decision they are often willing to experiement with many systems.

There is also the recent phenomenon of what Tim O'Reilly describes as the migration of the alpha geeks. He has noticed over the last year that many of the influential core developers and stakeholders (the alpha geeks) in the open source movement especially are "choosing Mac OS X." Linux Journal Senior Editor Doc Searls seems to agree, and - will wonders never cease? - there's evidence of IT types now considering Mac solutions.

The reason that these influential adopters are important beyond their mere numbers is that often where they go, much of the industry goes too. Not necessarily resulting in huge market share, but in mindshare and driving a core part of the industry. In fact, contrary to what many people in this forum think, the almighty goal of market share is usually not a worthwhile central objective for a company such as Apple; read Dave Minter's The Myth of Market Share: Why Market Share is the Fool's Gold of Business for some much needed common sense in operating system market share discussions.

Seems like Apple has the pictures
of the quicksilver and the MDD on the announcement mislabeled.

The news story has the pictures correct.

The CNet article has more info - they will use this thing called XrMS (Extensible Rights Markup Language), and it will or can be cross-platform.

Because none of us are using Microsoft products or file formats... right?

Right. But check the CNet article - the name of this feature is Rights Management Service - RMS! I wouldn't want to be Microsoft right now; that's crossing the line.

AMD is running into trouble trying to use two new design technologies simultaneously for a new chip: the 64-bit architecture and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process, which can improve chip performance or reduce power consumption.

"We have underestimated the challenge of getting SOI ... to scale to some target frequencies," on the Athlon 64, AMD's Abbinanti said.

While AMD said it pushed the Athlon 64 chip back to better align its introduction with software, analysts believe the company has had problems with manufacturing the chip. The problems were most likely in perfecting its silicon on insulator (SOI) process, which jumps up performance and helps lower power consumption, McCarron said.

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-985496.html

If some people thought that GNU/RMS is bad enough, now we have MS-RMS!

here is a link to the news.com.com.com.com coverage

I no longer have any respect for cnn. Al-Quida financed himself, and presumably the 9/11 actions, by credit card fraud? Give me a break.

This is the sort of reason why people have a wacky idea of hackers, and getting caught reading 2600 can get you in trouble.

Here is a link to the Idot website.

Here is a link to the Gearzoo website.

CNet

Can I pretend to be microsoft so I can get the money??? I am broke. I'll sign anything.

Can I pretend to be microsoft so I can get the money??? I am broke. I'll sign anything.

Can I pretend to be microsoft so I can get the money??? I am broke. I'll sign anything.

Isn't some big fax company under indictment for this?

It is Fax.com.

While M$ doesn't own VMWare, they're certainly on friendly business terms.

June 1999: CMGI buys AltaVista from Compaq for $2.3 billion in stocks.

"On Tuesday [the day after the sale], CMGI closed at $110.31, up $12.63, or 12.92 percent, with 13,921,400 shares traded.
'It's a great deal for them [CMGI],' says Ullas Naik, analyst with FAC Equities. 'AltaVista is an underappreciated and underused asset. CMGI can leverage that and cross-pollinate it with their existing companies and then they'll probably be able to spin it off as an IPO in six to nine months at a significant premium to what they paid.'"

December 1999, AltaVista files for IPO. (DEC had made plans to have AltaVista go public in 1996, but recanted the following year.)

April 2000: IPO delayed.

"CMGI was enjoying a midday bounce of nearly 6 percent to $55.13 [half of what it was not one year before, mind you]."

January 2001: IPO withdrawn.

"[During 2000, chief executive David] Wetherell's CMGI shares fell from a value of $2.1 billion at the beginning of the year to $100 million at year's end, a 95 percent decline."

I wouldn't worry about Google. It's made grown men cry. All over their worthless stocks.

The Segway is just a ruse, a delaying tactic until the real Ginger is released. ;)

Another offtopic:

Existence of God can be derived from equations

ZDNet: India faces IT worker shortage

Good thing I am going back :-)

Below is a flamebait but....

If I had not decided to go back, I would be worried about my family's future here with the whole world hating USA (maybe they are just jealous but still not good.). It's scary for Americans, if they travel abroad, that they run the risk of being kidnapped/killed by those terrorists because of the government's policies and high price they could demand in cash or politics....

Plus America is changing.... it used to be a country of hard working immigrants... Now I see the gangsta culture taking strong roots in the youth...I wish you all well.. Don't hate me...

Now don't be picking on grammer/spelling... I want to post it now...

Pay attention. This was posted to the Slashdot front page on the 10th. Article links to even more examples. (now with magical quotation mark in anchor tag).

Slow down cowboy!

2.2 million...it will be interesting to see what happends when who ever did this starts to sell them in bulk. Who is going to be responsible? The Credit Card companies or the site that got hosed?

My credit card has been re-issued twice due to it being stolen en masse from a web site. The first time it was stolen from CD Universe and the second time it was, ahem, another company. In both cases, it was just an incredible pain in the ass to me.

In the first incident, I was in Best Buy, and my card was denied because it was marked as stolen, which is a good thing, except when the people are all looking at you like you're the thief. The second incident, I had ordered gifts from a bunch of sites when I was told my card was being rejected, and I had to call each site and get them to use a different card. Not the easiest thing in the world to do for some sites.

In any case, in both incident, hundreds of thousands of numbers were stolen, and both victims just told the issuing companies, and most issuing companies cancelled the numbers. I suspect even though this is 10x as many cards, they'll still do the same thing. The potential liablity is too great to do otherwise.

On the other hand, this might be enough to get the companies thinking about coming up with a better, less theft-prone system.

From this cNet article, current Memory Sticks top out at 128MB, but the new cards will come in 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB capacities.

From the lexmark article, "The DMCA was put in place (to protect) things like movies, music and software applications."; this is a lie. Those in the printing industry new exactely how they could use technology to make things more expensive, ie.. how to keep today's publishers from being overrun by a bunch of rebel evangilist, by making the cost of publishing higher, they protect the status quo.

Don't expect our courts to protect us, they are obviousely there to protect PROFITS and more importantly, their POWER.

Technology was supposed to improve our life, not make it more expensive, but don't tell those in washington that, as their goals aren't compatible with the masses, only with the interest of a lobbying few

--If someone could get rid of enough of 'em, perhaps then america could truely be free

who remembers the beta versions of Mirabilis??

They're all beta versions...

Even the latest .

I'm not positive but I believe the reason they're all betas is so they don't have to provide support. I could be wrong though.

"Stop looking over your shoulder and invent something!"

That's just it: Microsoft has never invented anything. Everything Microsoft ever sold (with the possible exception of that first BASIC interpreter) they either bought or stole (sometimes both) from somwhere else. Microsoft can't innovate because they've never known how.

As far as I can tell, it seems like the hardware is holding Sun back. Just look at recent headlines, where RISC / expensive unix systems are being replaced with Linux/x86 ones. However, I think that Java is something of the future. If you look at colleges and how they are structuring their computer science programs, you will see that many of them have just recently switched over to Java. I know that most colleges try to stay ahead of the curve and use technologies that will become mainstay in the future. I think that if Sun could find a way to convince people that they need their servers over the cheaper Linux/x86 combination, then they will not fail.

I read Bob Cringely's columns each week on both PBS and InfoWorld because I like his fanciful take on the things he writes about. But when he comes up with these pie-in-the-sky scenarios, he's almost never right. Just as he suggested Apple would/should port OS X to X86 and Microsoft should replace the Windows kernel with the Linux kernel. Just plain nuts. It also looks as though he compared notes with Charles Cooper at CNet/ZDNet

I think Sun only has to lose their emotional attachment to the Sparc processor. They have too much else going for them.

I read Bob Cringely's columns each week on both PBS and InfoWorld because I like his fanciful take on the things he writes about. But when he comes up with these pie-in-the-sky scenarios, he's almost never right. Just as he suggested Apple would/should port OS X to X86 and Microsoft should replace the Windows kernel with the Linux kernel. Just plain nuts. It also looks as though he compared notes with Charles Cooper at CNet/ZDNet

I think Sun only has to lose their emotional attachment to the Sparc processor. They have too much else going for them.

There's also a story about this at CNET.

Maybe I got that wrong, but aren't all the routers they're talking about using BGP to decide their routes?

So don't they decide which is the best link based on AS length and load balance if the length is equal on multiple links?

How can this article be true if basically the admins and the architecture of the net determine a route and not the router itself?

AFAIK no normal backbone router decides the best path based on some obscure metrics.

I would have used Madonna instead; though she's 0wn3d by Time Warner, I couldn't find anything on Google indicating that she has voiced support for copyright term extension or for a ban on circumvention of fair use denial mechanisms.

Even better: Prince. His name is Prince Rogers Nelson, but he goes by his first name as a stage name and for a while used the unpronounceable[1] symbol O(+>. And he has voiced support of marketing big-label music through online downloads.

[1] Some people pronounced O(+> as "Frog".

Cnet's got a write up on this too.

What it is is a time-honored Microsoft tactic to diminish consumers' opinion of competing products. There's a new browser war being fought, only this time, the battleground is the mobile market, where the biggest threat to IE arguably comes from Opera, and it's very much in Redmond's interest to make people think Opera's a crappy browser that doesn't display sites correctly.

As to the pettiness of Opera's response, I think it's a clever move. It's irreverent, it makes a pop-cultural reference, and it'll reveal Microsoftian assholishness to a bigger audience than the more reasonable explanation can.

Børk! Børk! Børk!

ARGH!!! This is such bullshit, I get hired of hearing it. I am not an anti-Mac zealot (in fact, I used to use a Mac, and would consider buying one again if I weren't so disappointed with what Apple did to the macOS X interface), but it's so annoying to hear Mac fans claim that Macs have some large installed marketshare that no one recognizes.

First of all, Apple does not get 5% of all computer sales each year. It gets less than 5%. Secondly, were Macs staying in use longer than PCs, you'd expect Macs to show up as a larger percentage of web site hits. But they don't.

References:

CNet article on Mac market share in 2001
News Factor Network story about Mac market share in 2002
Business Week article about Mac market share

If you read these articles, you find that Mac market share is about 3%.

Now, what do the web stats say about Apple's market share?

Google's web stats
W3Schools web stats

These suggest the Mac has between 2-4% market share.

People need to stop fooling themselves. Just because the Mac has only 3% market share, doesn't mean you shouldn't use it. But stop pretending it has larger market share, when it doesn't!

Why don't /. editors post my submissions...

I can't type the whole thing and all links again but here - Blue laser DVD format gets green light

Hey, with new technology that allows DVD media to burn and hold 27GB of data per side, I'm not surprised they are pulling out of CD-R/RW. Maybe they'll jump into the DVD business.

There is a picture in the news.com article.

I thought I was the only one to catch that.

It seems to me that Cell Phone makers are continuously spinning in circles, like a spaztic dog chasing it's tail, to put out the products they think are best products for consumers.

Digital Camera Phones, walkie-talkies, pda's, text messaging, are other attempts to capitalize on what Cell Companies think the public needs. They haven't a clue. The answer is so simple. The thing is that cell companies will never figure out what the answer is. (Which brings us back to the dog chasing it's tail example.)

The following quotes are from one of the many links in the above article:

"The user interface in MIDP 2.0 gives application developers more control over the look and feel of their applications," Lorain said.

It (Java/MIDP 2.0) mandates a standard method for downloading programs over cell phone networks. That's likely to be a boon to software and wireless companies that want to make money selling cell phone programs.

Sun is Suing MS for what reason?

"Mmmmmm Monopoly" - H. Simpson

...and...

The extra 100K of required memory may also make it impossible to upgrade some Java-enabled handsets already on the market, Yach said. These phones simply don't have enough room and, unlike with personal computers, most cell phones can't be upgraded with more memory.

(Must Be said like Captain Kirk) Damnit Scotty, Make that OS Fit! I don't care about performance!!!

Bill Nguyen, founder of wireless messaging company Seven, says that MIDP 2.0 will be used predominantly for "heavy" business applications, so his company will work on applications along those lines. Seven's wireless messaging is offered by Sprint PCS, Cingular Wireless and U.K-based Mmo2.

Hmmm. So the Advancements to Solitare will be what?

Cell companies don't have a clue on how to make or predict good product.

Dolemite

Gecko's Bright Future
Gecko is the engine in the current Mac OS X client release

Uhhmmm... No, it's not.

If he's got this wrong, what else has he got wrong?

She just turns on the power and *blam* instant usable system.

So, would that be AOL TV (defunct) or MSN TV (evil)?

...the Bride of USAPATRIOT is on the sidelines, with Johnny Ashcroft and his minions rooting for it. One step forward, four steps back. But hey, anything goes as long as you can make the public vagely believe, or even not dispute too much, that it'll help them get Osama Bin Laden.

For anyone that missed it, the original MITRE report is here (this basically started things going) and the rebuttel paper from the Initiative for Software Choice is here.

Again, for those that missed it, the Initiative for Software Choice, though at an 'org' is funded by MS and others of the big software makers.

The response paper goes through quite a bit of trouble to label the GPU as a viral license and the resulting dangers as well as going into how giving 'preferential' treatment to open source will hurt the software industry (monetarily) and the government (by cutting off choice).

They definitely try to do a nice 'turn around'. Open source is hit as not being any more secure than commercial software, that the GPL (specifically) can/will pollute developed works and that the policy change is not only not needed but will deprive the government of choice and the ability to select the best software for a given job.

For completeness, the cnet article is also here.

Here is a link to the story about the lawsuit that could have been prevented.

Lawsuit Link

getting people to the point where they don't buy or use anyone else's stuff.

Are you high? Take a step back and look at the THOUSANDS of profitable companies that make software for Windows. Take a look in your local CompUSA sometime to see how much non-Microsoft software is available for Windows. Look at the most popular downloads at download.com and see that there are MILLIONS of non MS software applications for Windows downloaded every week (only 1 thing from Microsoft in the top 25).

It's trying to control all aspects of the market

Its trying to increase shareholder value, which is true of every single other corporation in the world.

Media Player. Let see, Download.com lists 451 Media Players available for download, most are free

Web Browsers. Oh, no choice here. Only 1616 Web Browsers available for download.

747 Text Editors, 798 Images Editors, 162 Email Clients

Is that not enough? Oh, you can use Linux and have thousands of other choices, too.

Given the (still) lack of choice in OS upon new PC purchase, they should be required to provide the competitor apps

As a publicly traded company, the main goal of Microsoft is to increase shareholder value. If I was a Microsoft shareholder, I'd sell my stock right away if they started bundling competitor products. It would be like buying a Chevy and demanding that they include a Ford engine, Honda exhaust system, and Toyota radio.

Media Player. Let see, Download.com lists 451 Media Players available for download, most are free

Web Browsers. Oh, no choice here. Only 1616 Web Browsers available for download.

747 Text Editors, 798 Images Editors, 162 Email Clients

Is that not enough? Oh, you can use Linux and have thousands of other choices, too.

Given the (still) lack of choice in OS upon new PC purchase, they should be required to provide the competitor apps

As a publicly traded company, the main goal of Microsoft is to increase shareholder value. If I was a Microsoft shareholder, I'd sell my stock right away if they started bundling competitor products. It would be like buying a Chevy and demanding that they include a Ford engine, Honda exhaust system, and Toyota radio.

Media Player. Let see, Download.com lists 451 Media Players available for download, most are free

Web Browsers. Oh, no choice here. Only 1616 Web Browsers available for download.

747 Text Editors, 798 Images Editors, 162 Email Clients

Is that not enough? Oh, you can use Linux and have thousands of other choices, too.

Given the (still) lack of choice in OS upon new PC purchase, they should be required to provide the competitor apps

As a publicly traded company, the main goal of Microsoft is to increase shareholder value. If I was a Microsoft shareholder, I'd sell my stock right away if they started bundling competitor products. It would be like buying a Chevy and demanding that they include a Ford engine, Honda exhaust system, and Toyota radio.

Media Player. Let see, Download.com lists 451 Media Players available for download, most are free

Web Browsers. Oh, no choice here. Only 1616 Web Browsers available for download.

747 Text Editors, 798 Images Editors, 162 Email Clients

Is that not enough? Oh, you can use Linux and have thousands of other choices, too.

Given the (still) lack of choice in OS upon new PC purchase, they should be required to provide the competitor apps

As a publicly traded company, the main goal of Microsoft is to increase shareholder value. If I was a Microsoft shareholder, I'd sell my stock right away if they started bundling competitor products. It would be like buying a Chevy and demanding that they include a Ford engine, Honda exhaust system, and Toyota radio.

Media Player. Let see, Download.com lists 451 Media Players available for download, most are free

Web Browsers. Oh, no choice here. Only 1616 Web Browsers available for download.

747 Text Editors, 798 Images Editors, 162 Email Clients

Is that not enough? Oh, you can use Linux and have thousands of other choices, too.

Given the (still) lack of choice in OS upon new PC purchase, they should be required to provide the competitor apps

As a publicly traded company, the main goal of Microsoft is to increase shareholder value. If I was a Microsoft shareholder, I'd sell my stock right away if they started bundling competitor products. It would be like buying a Chevy and demanding that they include a Ford engine, Honda exhaust system, and Toyota radio.