Opinion

Apple’s biggest new announcement was the free OS X upgrade

Free OS X Mavericks upgrade, along with the new MacBooks and Mac Pro, hints that Apple isn't turning its back on PCs

Is TrueCrypt truly secure? Let’s have a fundraiser to find out

Fundraising efforts to provide source code auditing for encryption software TrueCrypt have already raised over $46,000

APPLE prepares to underwhelm — WINDOWS 8.1 gets a do-over — MS tries SURFACE again — POGUE jumps to Yahoo — FOX NEWS fakes it

Problems with Windows/RT 8.1 updates continue, with 0xc000000d error workaround

We're at day six in the ongoing Windows/RT 8.1 upgrade debacle, and many of the problems aren't going away

Adblock Plus’ new target: Facebook ‘annoyances’

Ad-blocking plug-in now keeps your Facebook stream cleaner of 'unwanted' material, but how might Facebook fight back?

The new iPads: Want thrills? Look elsewhere

The 64-bit chip will move the iPad closer to being laptop surrogate, but more is needed to achieve adaptive computing

Force-fit: Oracle hypes Java for the Internet of things

Oracle is heavily promoting Java for embedded systems, but there are doubts as to whether it's up to the job

Poor app migration could kill your cloud ROI

All too often, companies migrate apps without using cloud-native features essential to achieving the expected performance

What you need to know about today’s SSDs

All solid-state disks aren't created equally; here's how they differ and what you should keep an eye out for

HealthCare.gov, heal thyself — but where to start?

HealthCare.gov is a screwup of massive proportions, even by Uncle Sam's standards. Get this patient some help, stat!

Crooks ‘stole’ Experian data the old-fashioned way: They bought it

Credit bureau sold personal data from half a million users to fraudster posing as a P.I. who then resold data on the black market

VMware warns of multiple ESX, vCenter, and vSphere vulnerabilities

Flaws could lead to authentication bypass, system crashes, or denial-of-service attacks

WINDOWS 8.1 update kills PCs — Surf’s up for Mavericks OSX, new iPads — The ‘Android-first’ myth — NSA: ‘Hola, el Presidente!’ — AMAZON launches geek TV series

Problems remain after Microsoft yanks Windows RT 8.1 update

Windows RT/8 updates have inspired a stream of complaints. Here's an overview of what's happened, how you might recover

Meet your new network admin: The Linux admin (and vice versa)

As Linux takes over the network operating system, the roles of Linux admin and network admin grow increasingly entwined

Microsoft, the sleeping giant of the cloud

With its vast portfolio of software and billions of dollars in data center infrastructure investment, Microsoft stands poised to rule the cloud

Today’s special: Apoplectic over Apple, lax at LinkedIn, bearish on Ballmer

Hating on Apple? Too hard on LinkedIn? What's wrong with Ballmer? Everyone has an opinion

Why Intel’s more-of-the-same processors aren’t enough

Intel's alleged ultracheap holiday season offerings aren't likely to make a dent in the decline of the Wintel empire

Investors heart GOOGLE, king of post-PC world — MS ships RDP for iOS and Android — POGUE pans WINDOWS 8.1 — OBAMACARE website: Testing? What testing?

Resurrected KB 951847 ‘zombie’ patch fixed — but now has new problem

Botched patch installs .Net Framework 3.5 without warning or consent — even on systems that have studiously avoided .Net

Trade secrets protection set to get tougher

Legal protection of trade secrets on a state-by-state basis has created enforcement problems. Now push is on for federal legislation

Users hit by Blue Screen, 0xC1900101 – 0x40017 error with Windows 8.1 update

Microsoft is struggling to figure out how to handle a widely reported problem when Windows 8 users update to Windows 8.1

Where it makes sense to avoid the cloud

In many cases, public cloud computing is a great, cost-effective option — but not always

Google flies high — but Motorola sinks further

Google's solid Q3 profits marred by underperforming Motorola Mobile and little word about future directions for the division

The ‘good enough’ mobile app is on the rise — but develop with caution

A so-so mobile experience can suffice, as long as developers understand what does and doesn't matter to the user

Really? Java developers love writing non-Java

What language do Java developers love to write in? The results of a survey of 100 Java developers may surprise you

Silicon Valley: Top salaries for many, greater inequality for all

Bidding wars for in-demand talent reap high pay packages for some, like Twitter VP Fry — while hiding gaping disparities

OpenStack Havana rolls out networking, orchestration, and metering upgrades

New version of free, open source IaaS includes many changes — and steeper adoption curve than Amazon's cloud

Windows 8.1 debuts — NSA chief leaves — IBM leads legacy tech down, down — FB ads on iOS crush Android — YAHOO worth meh without Alibaba

Beyond Windows 8.1

With Windows 8.1 now generally available, focus shifts to fixing the mess Steve Sinofsky left behind

Sometimes it’s OK to treat people like numbers

After all, the customers' own Web activity fuels analytic models, but a caveat: The data can grow too complex

Java’s insecurity has doomed it on the desktop

The latest round of patches for Java comes far too late to rescue its damaged reputation as a desktop presence

Hard numbers, chilling facts: What the government does with your data

The Brennan Center for Justice lays out what the NSA does with your data. The news is worse than you think

Hadoop 2: Big data’s big leap forward

Hadoop 2.0 goes beyond MapReduce to create a general framework for distributed data-processing applications

SQUARE: Please email money — HADOOP 2 arrives — TWITTER dials up users, revenue, losses — INTEL’s low-cost fall lineup — D-Day in D.C.

Scroogled, my ass

Microsoft makes hay on its Scroogled claims while conveniently side-stepping its own dirty secrets

VMware campaign to kill off desktop PCs picks up steam

VMware's latest desktop virtualization products make it that much more difficult for enterprises to justify PC hardware purchases

6 ways social media can boost your business

Virtually every type of business can benefit from using social media as a business tool

That’s why you don’t send in IT to do HR’s job

A techie's slip of the tongue exposes shaky HR and IT practices at a travel company with a high turnover rate

Your next network operating system is Linux

Networking is the last bastion of proprietary systems, but Cumulus Networks sees a near future where Linux powers network hardware by default

5 new and improved tools for Exchange and Office 365

Whether designing, deploying, configuring, or troubleshooting on-premise Exchange 2013 or cloud-based Office 365, these free tools can help

Hackers use botnet to scrape Google for vulnerable sites

Hackers are using a botnet to scour Google for websites that use vulnerable installations of the vBulletin forum software

Coho Data looks to reinvent storage

A startup's new view on enterprise storage leverages SDN, which should enable customers to scale out easily while maintaining high performance

NSA stole your address book, too — SALESFORCE dives into identity — Google Now coming to a wrist near you — LAVABIT returns, briefly — APPLE signals retail makeover

Salesforce vs. Microsoft: Dueling single sign-ons

Salesforce Identity adds credentialing and single sign-on to the CRM giant's portfolio of services — and competes directly with Microsoft's Azure-based identity offerings

Did these guys just reinvent the Web?

San Francisco startup Famo.us is doing amazing things with JavaScript, radically raising the bar on what cross-platform Web and mobile apps can do

The hidden challenges of using cloud backup to replace tape

Replacing tape backup with cloud backup raises all sorts of thorny issues

Trouble’s brewing in Android land

Indications of desperation at Samsung, chaos at HTC, and reduced focus at Google suggest Android faces rough sailing

3 rules for getting top enterprise cloud performance

Even though they're derived from proven principles, these rules are often ignored by cloud deployers

Continuous delivery revs up software updates

Implementing the concept can automate software delivery, but companywide buy-in is needed