On LineYou Can Email
at Waiting for the ghost bus Page
by Page
|
. |
. | |||||||||
|
|||||||||||
TECH TALKby Zoran Jevtic Huh. It never ends... Thought you had a near-stable OS on your computer? Think again. News from Redmond (Microsoft) and Cuppertino (Apple) are ‘more exciting than ever’ and ‘insanely great’ and this means... yes - new operating systems are coming our way! More upgrading and more new systems to buy. Again. After releasing what many call an unfinished beta version, Apple says that ‘With UNIX foundation, multitasking, killer graphics and integrated Internet services, Mac OSX evolves Macintosh to an entirely new level. Quite simply the most advanced, most open and yet easiest-to-use Macintosh operating system ever.’ Note the key word: evolves. This means exactly that - your shiny new Mac is no good anymore. Anything less than a latest G3 will not run the new OS, and anything less than a 700MHz G4 with 512Mb ram will not run it fast enough. Oh did I mention that all your old applications need to be upgraded and re-written for OSX in order for this ‘ultimate experience’ to be fully enjoyed? And how about this: ‘Designed to dramatically enhance your computing experience, the newest Windows XP is based on the strengths of Windows 2000, with a new set of connected experiences that allow you to do more than ever before, offering greater reliability, security, and compatibility.’ Yes, Microsoft is bringing out a new OS merely a year or so after the last one did all that (or at least they said it would). The good news is that it will run on both new and old Pentiums and your present applications will work. The bad news is that everything looks very different - file system, navigation and general look and feel are changed and will take a lot of getting used to, although there is an option to switch back to the old Win98 style. The price of progress... Current hi-tech advances such as 1700MHz Pentiums, wireless networking, 13Hz notebooks and fast FireWire connections can’t help slow down the ongoing technology slump. It’s been over two consecutive months of more money flowing out than in, a stretch of depression not seen since 1997. Technology companies in Europe and US are laying off large numbers of staff, while the great promise of ‘wired, connected e-conomy’ is ripping fast at the seams. So what happened to that invest, invest buzz of the last year? Oh, well - if it all goes pear-shaped, we can always go and work on other sites... building sites? At least it looks like some of the unemployed programmers are keeping themselves busy - the third Linux worm in less than three months has hit the Internet this week. After the Ramen worm in mid-January and the 1i0n worm, discovered last month, the new Adore worm is compromising the security of the Linux servers around the world. Surely, this will create some more jobs! |
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
