Opinion

IDC: PC sales won’t stop dropping until 2018

Mobile devices and economic pressures will continue to eat away at PC sales, with desktops and notebooks alike affected

YAHOO cuts off Facebook, Google — PC death spiral — SNOWDEN plays SXSW — ‘GnuTLS’ BUG hits open-source — SV ‘Comfort women’ startup

Shhh! Don’t tell IT how we send documents around here

Ignoring easier ways to share data, a tech-challenged boss and manager devise an expensive and unnecessary workaround

Microsoft-backed F# language surges in popularity

The functional programming language, ranked 69th a year ago, threatens to crash the top 10 in Tiobe's rankings

AMD, ATI cash in as crypto currency craze eats up video cards

Litecoin miners have cleared the shelves of high-end video cards and driven up prices for existing stock

Windows 8.2 is better than a sharp stick in the eye

With Windows 9 a year away, Microsoft keeps tweaking Windows 8 — and we should be grateful for those improvements

Linux bug exposes open source to its own ‘goto fail’

Bug in widely used open source GnuTLS encryption library can expose encrypted data with specially crafted certificate

Puppet Enterprise’s ‘Razor’ slices through system provisioning

Version 3.2 of open source automation solution features simpler agent installation, support modules, and hardware provisioning

MICROSOFT’s C-suite shuffle — FACEBOOK’s drone-delivered Wi-Fi — Chicago taxis ditch CREDIT CARDS — DISH going Internet TV — TWITTER’s vintage log-cabin offices

Windows 8.1 ‘Spring Update’ hits RTM, should leak soon

Pirate site Wzor says Microsoft has signed off on the latest version of Windows; official distribution set for early April

PayPal and Netflix cozy up to Node.js

The server-side JavaScript platform is busy converting Java users

JXCore brings multithreading, sort of, to Node.js

Node.js fork JXCore adds multithreaded core to JavaScript server-side app engine, but may alienate open source users

What Disney World teaches us about mobile payments

Even in a highly controlled environment, the popular notion struggles to work as needed

Pivotal opens up Cloud Foundry to open source fights

Three open source versions are likely too many for small PaaS market — and could lead to confusion and standards wars

Microsoft: Misery sure loves this company

In the car, in the cloud, in the executive suite — Microsoft can't seem to catch a break this week

Microsoft: Use Laplink’s Windows XP migration tools, not ours

Laplink will provide free data migration tool to help users leave XP, a sign of how Microsoft is weaning itself off XP support

Video: Stephen Colbert pitches, pokes security pros in RSA keynote

The satirist needles RSA for its NSA links, while also hyping his own security measure, with trademark biting humor

Microsoft announces extended Windows XP support in China — or has it?

Reports this morning that Microsoft will support Windows XP in China after April 8 have been disputed by Microsoft

BrandPost: Lenovo will enhance your Windows 8 experience

Launch into a new world of OS efficiency

Mirantis looks to open up OpenStack vendor certifications

But its new open-source certification compatibility initiative challenges a certification process put forward by Red Hat

IE11 still zaps Windows 7 gadgets

It's a common complaint about upgrading to IE11, but don't hold your breath on a fix from Microsoft

APPLE throws CarPlay into drive — Microsoft’s CORTANA takes on Siri — WINDOWS XP won’t die — COOK book, a mystery — ANDROID steals Apple tablet crown

Tami Reller and Tony Bates are out at Microsoft — stay tuned for more departures

Leaked news of Reller and Bates' imminent departures is only a start. Here's who's likely next as the executive exodus begins

Survey: Developers eager for Java 8

Lambda capabilities are the most anticipated new feature, while JavaScript addition lags far behind in popularity

Node.js arrives for the JVM

Nodyn project sponsored by Red Hat ports Node.js APIs to JVM, for closer integration between Node.js and existing Java apps

The simple, sensible — and impossible — fix for the Internet in the USA

The solution to our broadband woes is so fair and practical that it stands no chance of coming to fruition in the States

Mark Russinovich: How Microsoft is building its cloud future

In an exclusive interview, Mark Russinovich opens the hood of Windows Azure and discusses how IT should prepare for its inevitable cloud transition

Yahoo breach exposes naked truth about online security

The umpteenth violation of our Internet privacy proves once again the dearth of common sense among us Web users

Anti-RSA TrustyCon draws packed house seeking modern security know-how

Security conference organized in reaction to RSA's NSA tie-ups focuses on making technology safe and trustable

UK govt strikes OPTIC NERVE — Knives out over EBAY — NETFLIX-COMCAST: strange bedfellows — HACK attack every 1.5 sec — MINECRAFT movie

Open Source Initiative, Free Software Foundation unite against software patents

In rare joint move, OSI and FSF come together to file a U.S. Supreme Court briefing

Machine learning floats all boats on big data’s ocean

Machine learning is the unsung hero that powers many of the most sophisticated big data analytic applications

GSS fixes the fundamental flaws of CSS

Viewed as an alternative to the ballyhooed Famo.us JavaScript framework, GSS is geared toward boosting Web UI development by fixing CSS's inherent layout issues

First look: xPrintServer for Android, Chrome OS

Printing from Android and Chrome OS isn't so simple, but Lantronix's tiny print server makes it much easier

What you need to know about Exchange 2013 SP1

Microsoft has released a grab bag of new, returned, and enhanced functionality in its recent update

Apple’s security flaws: Are you paranoid enough yet?

Apple's SSL encryption fail and iOS keylogging flaw juiced anxiety levels in an industry already reeling from security fatigue

3 hot cloud concepts that can benefit all of IT

Even if you don't believe in the cloud, you can believe in its devops, governance, and data analytics concepts

Mirantis, IBM give businesses 75,000 reasons to adopt OpenStack

Using SoftLayer, Mirantis' performance benchmarks show OpenStack can scale to 75,000 VMs, and potentially beyond

The case for Microsoft buying Pandora

Yesterday a rumored buyout sent Pandora stock climbing, to hoots and jeers from market analysts. But is the idea so absurd?

Y Combinator’s new startup teaches disadvantaged kids to code

Y Combinator, nonprofit CodeNow bring face-to-face programming classes to kids who normally wouldn't get them

GOOGLE’s Lego-like smartphone — Apple abandons SNOW LEOPARD — Security-first ANDROID ‘Blackphone’ — PROPUBLICA debuts Data Store

Google, Microsoft, Salesforce back OpenID Connect — but it’s not enough

Despite big-name support, newly finalized OpenID Connect protocol is a security building block, not a silver bullet

Bitcoin grows up, Mt. Gox melts down: The crypto currency crapshoot

For bitcoin to succeed, Mt. Gox had to fail, and government regulation may be a blessing for the digital dinero

Smartphones find new ally in war against water

P2i shows off nanotech coating that protects your smartphone's delicate innards from the invasive evil of water

Apple and security: 5 deadly development sins

If Apple carries on with its many programming misdeeds, it will soon see a breakdown in its shiny, new security

IBM wants to see your Watson mobile apps

Watson Mobile Developer Challenge aims to see who can put IBM's cognitive computing platform to the most creative uses on mobile devices

Internet Explorer ‘SnowMan’ zero-day spreading: Use alternative or patch with KB 2934088

Attack first noted on VFW website is spreading, say Symantec researchers. If you must use IE9 or IE10, get patched now

NET NEUTRALITY debate rages — BITCOIN is dead, long live bitcoin — NSA partner RSA calls for reform — Fastest CLOUD in the test — ROLLS-ROYCE drone ships

LigerMobile framework aims to raise the bar for hybrid mobile app dev

ReachLocal wants to improve the UI experience on iOS and Android with its open source cross-platform mobile development tools

What you need to know about 3D printers for today and tomorrow

Beyond the hype, there are real uses for this technology, but also some key barriers yet to be addressed