Opinion

Operating Systems Software Development

How to decide whether desktop Linux makes sense

Eight questions to help you determine if now is the time to find a place for desktop Linux in your organization

By Eric Knorr

Apr 26, 2009 4 mins

Top 10: Oracle snags Sun, Microsoft earnings dip

Also in this week's roundup of tech news: VMware makes big cloud promises, MySpace gets a new CEO, RSA draws headlines, and more

By Nancy Weil

Apr 24, 2009 5 mins

Careers Cloud Computing Technology Industry

Microsoft revenues decline

What does it mean when the industry's biggest behemoth demonstrates that it's as vulnerable as anyone else?

Apr 24, 2009 3 mins

Tuning up to the mobile Web

Gomez and dotMobi have joined forces to create the first mobile Web benchmarks

By Amber Bouman

Apr 24, 2009 2 mins

The wrong arm of the law

Want to know the biggest problem with the RIAA's relentless pursuit of file swappers? In the age of the Internet, courts are decades behind the times

Apr 24, 2009 4 mins

Intellectual Property

10 free tools to help with your virtualization environment

You don't always have to pay an arm and a leg to perform day-to-day tasks as a virtualization administrator. Check out these free tool offerings that VMware vExperts and virtualization administrators are using in their environments.

Apr 24, 2009 6 mins

Should the feds offer tax credits to companies that encourage telecommuting?

There are those who think tax incentives are a great way to promote telecommuting, and those who consider it "social engineering" and hate the very thought

Apr 23, 2009 3 mins

Cloud panel at the MySQL Conference

Where do open source, MySQL, and the cloud intersect?

Grassroots forum for orphaned MPC customers

Ex-employees and customers of the defunct MPC Corporation have launched a forum to help each other

By Christina Wood

Careers Technology Industry

SOA and the U.S. government — getting together

The great news is that the U.S. government is doing more right around SOA than wrong

By InfoWorld

Apple doesn’t get netbooks? Too bad.

Apple may miss out on the biggest device trend since the smartphone because, absent Steve Jobs, other execs don't seem to grasp future product trends

By Dan Nystedt

Apr 23, 2009 3 mins

Palm Centro breaks ex-iPhone user out of jail

The Centro lacks the flash of Apple's pride and joy but is available without a contract and represents something that may be even more exciting: freedom

By Stephen Lawson

Apr 23, 2009 5 mins

Watch out for the feds’ proposed cybersecurity ‘fix’

A proposed antiterrorist law could create a government-sanctioned back door into your network

By Bill Snyder

Apr 23, 2009 5 mins

The benefits of green IT are apparent, but reaping them requires more than just technology

By Ted Samson

Apr 23, 2009 5 mins

Application Integration Databases Technology Industry

Ten ways Oracle could make money from Sun

"Consolidation" will be the watchword as Oracle absorbs Sun Microsystems, but it shouldn't ignore the plum technologies in Sun's portfolio

By Neil McAllister

Apr 23, 2009 6 mins

PGP disk passwords recovered 200 times faster with GPU

ElcomSoft Distributed Password Recovery product updated to recover PGP disk passwords

By Martin Heller

Data and Information Security

VMware launches vSphere 4 — what’s in it for customers?

The latest version of VMware's hypervisor technology, vSphere 4 certainly looks to be feature rich and performance packed

Apr 22, 2009 5 mins

Harris vs. Blockbuster holds hope for better terms of service

A reader — and news reports — points out that a ruling against Blockbuster could hold hope for eliminating slippery terms of service

By Christina Wood

Apr 22, 2009 3 mins

Your own private Google

Will Google Profiles rescue your reputation or just make you yet another unwitting pawn in the company's quest for world data domination?

Apr 22, 2009 4 mins

Can Oracle really generate a $1.5B profit from Sun?

My analysis leads me to question Oracle's target of generating over $1.5B in operating profit from Sun in the first year after the acquisition

By Savio Rodrigues

Apr 22, 2009 5 mins

Sun’s vision to standardize IT

By giving away software that might otherwise be used to shackle customers, Sun earned customers' trust — and pointed to a more meaningful way of delivering technology

By Tom Yager

Apr 22, 2009 6 mins

When you’ve set the pattern with an employee, you have to be tough to change it

When a manager and direct report have worked together for a long time, both can become complacent. Shaking things up, though, takes both finesse and courage

Apr 21, 2009 3 mins

Oracle wins ‘Acquirer of the Year’ award at MySQL Conference

MySQL and Oracle continue to co-exist in the enterprise

Apr 21, 2009 2 mins

Microsoft Exchange Small and Medium Business Technology Industry

Can you find the enhancements in Exchange 2010?

Once the install of Exchange 2010 is done, the real work begins on locating all the new options; I'll help you find them quicker

By J. Peter Bruzzese

Apr 21, 2009 6 mins

vSphere 4 steps up, falls short of the cloud

A bunch of great new features make vSphere 4 a whale of an upgrade. But a 'cloud operating system'?

By Eric Knorr

Oracle gets virtualization portfolio with Sun acquisition

Oracle dives in to acquire Sun for $7.4 billion, gaining the hardware, operating system, Java — and Sun's virtualization portfolio.

Confessions of a former contractor

An IT contractor's tale of bad management and finding one's career niche

By InfoWorld Anonymous

Data Management

Singing the Windows 7 post-beta blues

Has the blogosphere gotten too close to the Windows 7 beta process?

By Randall Kennedy

Small and Medium Business Software Development

Vetting cloud providers is tricky business

Reputation and certification go only so far when it comes to choosing vendors in the cloud

By Ephraim Schwartz

Managed Cloud Services SaaS Technology Industry

Oracle/Sun: The end of Java as we know it?

A community weighs the pros and cons of Oracle's new claim on Java

By Paul Krill

Apr 21, 2009 6 mins

Databases Java Technology Industry

Training your manager is hard. Training a manager who telecommutes is harder.

When you have an off-site manager who doesn't know how to manage remote teams, you're in for an uphill battle

Careers

The squeaky wheel gets his answer

A Gripe Line reader wants to know why his Hewlett-Packard printer isn't really out of ink when its software says it is

By Christina Wood

Apr 20, 2009 5 mins

Sun deal revives Oracle’s Network Computer dream

Ellison gets a thin-client step into the cloud to rain on IBM's parade

By Don Tennant

Pirate Bay crew gets the hook

Despite big fines and prison time, the Pirate Bay four remain defiant. And even if Hollywood manages to sink these Bit Torrent trackers, there's an entire fleet waiting to take their place.

Apr 20, 2009 4 mins

Intellectual Property

Measuring SOA

By the way, I’m not talking about the whole Oracle-buys-Sun thing on purpose

By David Linthicum

Apr 20, 2009 2 mins

Fun with TikiWiki

Martin has been setting up TikiWiki CMS/Groupware for a client

By Martin Heller

Tranxition talks about VDI and desktop personalities

Tranxition's product manager talks about the VDI market and the company's latest desktop management solution that automates the migration of user environments and desktop personalities for virtual desktop environments

Apr 20, 2009 6 mins

Breaking news: Oracle to buy Sun for $7.4B

Oracle's acquisition of Sun brings up some very interesting questions for customers and open source proponents

By Savio Rodrigues

Apr 20, 2009 2 mins

Cloud Computing Technology Industry

Big iron: The ultimate cloud platform?

Run the numbers, and it makes economic sense to consolidate the cloud onto mainframes

By whurley

Apr 20, 2009 4 mins

Waiting for Android

When it comes to actual, physical handsets running Android, there's been a lot more talk than action

By Amber Bouman

Lenovo Technology Industry

Is Linux the right choice for a home PC? The answer is easy: It depends

You don't have to be a CTO to have a difficult time deciding on technology. Even when the question is a home system, there are plenty of trade-offs to take into account.

Apr 19, 2009 3 mins

A laptop that runs Hyper-V — who would have thought it?

A laptop is known for its ability to keep you working wherever you are, but modern systems pack an unexpected punch

By J. Peter Bruzzese

Apr 17, 2009 3 mins

New storage engines and appliances at MySQL Conference

Lots of interesting announcements and product launches at the MySQL Conference in Santa Clara next week

Apr 17, 2009 2 mins

Dranzer helps test code for ActiveX vulnerabilities

Dranzer is an open source tool that developers can use to test code for certain kinds of ActiveX vulnerabilities before releasing software to the public

By Martin Heller

Apr 17, 2009 2 mins

Application Security

Power to the people

The residents of Cringeville had some strong opinions about my 'turn out the lights' blog post last week. Here's what some of them had to say.

Apr 17, 2009 4 mins

Weighing the benefits of onshore outsourcing

For companies deciding on an onshore or offshore approach, it is instructive to examine specific scenarios to determine which line of attack is optimal

By Paul Gasparro

Apr 17, 2009 7 mins