Aug 24 PC News

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Consumers shopping online worry that their credit card number will be stolen. A new security enhancement is now available from Citibank to solve that problem by using Temporary card numbers

Lindows.com, the operating system maker, is being forced to re-evaluate its strategy to lure the average consumer away from Windows. The company has increasingly moved away from its original claim to fame--running popular Windows applications on a non-Microsoft platform.

A spokeswoman for Lindows.com confirmed that while some Windows applications will run on LindowsOS, this compatibility is no longer the company's top priority. "Our product does not target the user who wants to save a few dollars on the operating system, but then still run out and spend thousands of dollars on Microsoft Office, Photoshop, et cetera," she commented.

Instead, Lindows.com will focus on making Linux applications easy to download and install. However, where there is no Linux-based alternative to a Microsoft application, LindowsOS will support "some 'bridge' programs, file types and network devices to help people interact with the legacy Microsoft world," the spokeswoman said

Lindows.com chief executive Michael Robertson has said in the past that marketing, rather than technology, was the key to increasing Linux's acceptance in the mainstream market, and the company's marketing has shifted away from Windows compatibility to features such as the company's application download service. The change has led some industry observers to question whether Lindows really has anything to offer that isn't already available in existing Linux distributions.

Linux is based on the open-source GNU General Public License, which allows different companies to modify and redistribute the software, as long as modifications are returned to the community. Because of this, many distributions of Linux exist, including Red Hat, which has gained the largest market share by focusing on the server market.

LindowsOS has recently found a direct route to the PC-buying public in the form of low-cost Lindows PCs sold on Wal-Mart's Web site. Wal-Mart also offers PCs running Mandrake Linux, another Linux distribution designed with the end user in mind, and PCs without an operating system pre-installed.

Lindows was originally conceived as a version of Linux designed for those familiar with Windows, which would include a modified version of WINE, an open-source project designed to mimic the Windows environment on a Linux platform. In October of last year, the press release announcing the operating system described it as "a modern, affordable, easy-to-use operating system with the ability to run both Windows and Linux software".

Roberts was optimistic at the time that Lindows would be able to build broad support for Windows applications. "in 18 to 24 months, we think we can have really robust support for a great deal of all Windows software out there," he said.

LindowsOS' implementation of of WINE was derived from work by CodeWeavers, which provided "the majority" of the company's WINE code, according to Robertson's comments on a developer discussion group. In April, however, CodeWeavers ended its business relationship with Lindows.com and began offering CrossOver Office, a US$54.95 (about £35) application that offers the kind of Windows support for Linux that was originally claimed for Lindows.

Wal-Mart's Web site first advertised its Lindows PCs as being able to run Windows applications, but this claim was soon removed. At about the same time, Lindows.com moved its own Windows compatibility claims into the background, instead highlighting a feature called Click-N-Run Warehouse. This allows any user with a $99-per-year subscription to download and automatically install a wide variety of Linux applications, most of which, observers have noted, are normally available for free with any Linux distribution.

In the past few days, Lindows.com again changed the Windows compatibility claims on its site. The sections of the site describing the operating system now say that the software can "run a select set of 'bridge' Windows-compatible programs" in order to "help users migrate to the new world".

Companies such as Ximian offer a download-and-install feature similar to Lindows.com, but no major players are currently focused on the consumer market. During the dot-com boom, however, Corel, Eazel and others tried and failed to build a business on a consumer version of Linux.

In February of next year, on the 20th and 21st in San Diego, California, Lindows.com will be hosting the Linux Desktop Summit (www.lindows.com/summit). Companies and organizations dedicated to making Linux viable on the desktop will be coming together to showcase their efforts. If your organization is interested in reaching this audience, please sign-up for our mailing list and we'll notify you as more information becomes available. Anyone interested in deploying Linux for their everyday computer in business, school and home should take advantage of this opportunity to hear from actual companies and educational institutions about how Linux is, in a cost-effective way, fulfilling computing needs.

While Lindows.com is the lead sponsor, there will be a wide range of companies participating, including some of the largest hardware and software companies in the industry. One of the most prominent resources for desktop Linux users, DesktopLinux.com will be in attendance as they, and other supporters, share the same belief that the time is ripe for consumers to use Linux as their desktop interface.

Parties interested in attending Linux Desktop Summit can sign-up at www.lindows.com/summit. Exhibitors interested in presenting product at the conference can sign-up at www.lindows.com/summit as well.

Check out these new high tech wristwatches that have features such as heart rate monitors and built in GPS systems.

..."No one single item is a major fix," says Simon Marks, Office XP product manager. "But we'd certainly recommend everyone download Service Pack 2, because there's a very, very long list of stuff in there." Microsoft has made improvements in areas of security, stability, and performance with this service pack, Marks says.

Future updates to Office XP will require that SP2 has been installed, Marks adds. The newest service pack update should be applied to Microsoft Office XP Professional, Microsoft Office XP Professional with FrontPage, and Microsoft Office XP Standard, according to the company.

...Microsoft recommends you keep your original Office XP CD handy when installing the service pack, in case the installation wizard needs to refer to software on the disc. It is not intended to verify ownership, but as an installation resource, according to Microsoft.

...Many of the modifications and fixes resulted from user reports through the automated error-reporting tools that are part of Windows and were first built into the Office suite with the Office XP edition...

www.thefeedroom.com - SGI demo's VR "Xray Vision" for Seismic, the Military & Science

Silicon Graphics, known mostly for the hardware that creates CGI for movies, has migrated into the frontier of real world virtual reality applications.

...The Athlon XP 2600+ will run at 2.133GHz, while the 2400+ will run at 2GHz, said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at Insight 64. Although slower in terms of megahertz, the upcoming Athlons boast performance that's roughly comparable to that of Intel's best chips.

AMD "had fallen behind, but they have closed the gap to a certain degree," Brookwood said.

The two new Athlon chips will list for US$297 and US$193, respectively. And given a new round of price cuts, the 2400+ chip will list for only slightly more than the 2200+, which was lowered 20 percent from US$230 to US$183.

AMD also reduced prices by between 3 percent and 12 percent on the rest of its desktop Athlon XP models. It cut the price of the 2100+ chip from US$180 to US$174; the 2000+ chip from US$163 to US$155; the 1900+ chip from US$150 to US$139; the 1800+ from US$142 to US$130; and the 1700+ from US$130 to US$114...