...iBoot lets PCs and servers use computer networking to designate remote disk drives as their primary repository for data, instead of relying on internal hard drives.

...iBoot uses the relatively new iSCSI networking standard, which takes advantage of standard Internet Protocol, to create a link between the PC and the remote disk drive. The PC then uses the remote drive to store all of its data, instead of storing on its own internal drive.

The iBoot technology is similar in philosophy to that used in mainframe computing. But while it centralizes some aspects of a PC, it differs from mainframes or other centralized computers, such as Windows terminals, in several ways, said Kalman Meth, manager of the lab's Network Attached Storage Group.

With iBoot, each PC continues to use its own processor and other hardware, avoiding competition with other machines for shared processing power on a mainframe. iBoot machines are simply assigned storage space on a specific remote disk or shared space on a larger remote drive, allowing people to maintain their own data. The PC's user continues to access or store files as if nothing has changed.

"It's your regular PC. You just have a disk that is physically distant from your PC," Meth said. "The disk looks like it's local."

...The technology can be retrofitted to existing PCs for the price of an iSCSI adaptor. Its main components are the adaptor and a software update.

And because the iSCSI standard is backed by several large companies, including Cisco (news - web sites), Hewlett-Packard (news - web sites) and IBM, and because it uses the most common computer-networking standard, Internet Protocol, many believe it will eventually become cheaper than current high-speed networking hardware and standards, including the Fibre Channel standard, which uses fiber optic cables.

As a result, adding iBoot wouldn't cost much more than adding a new Ethernet card to a PC.

...Manufacturers like IBM could potentially build diskless PCs and diskless severs. By removing the drive, Big Blue could fit more blade servers into a single rack, increasing the computing power in the rack. The company could also potentially create lower-cost, more easily managed PCs.

...This would reverse some of the trends seen in high-end consumer PCs, which typically come with 80GB to 120GB hard drives to accommodate storing lots of digital photos and music as well as video. With faster networks and technologies like iBoot, consumers could store such data remotely.

IBM would not say if it is working to offer the technology as a standalone product or in future PCs. But iSCSI cards will hit the market shortly.

amiga.com- Amiga OS Screen Shots: Gets Ready for Release

As the release date for the next generation of Amiga desktop products gets ever closer, we have been innundated with requests for glimpses of how the new system will look. Amiga has thus asked our partners at Hyperion to provide us with a set of screenshots to show off some of the upcoming features, and this will become a regular event as we seek to highlight particular aspects of our future offering.

For the first set, we chose to highlight the many different customisation options that a user can apply to the AmigaOS4.0 interface. Taken from a VGA setting on one of the core team development machines, this set highlights such effects as transparency, shadow, texture, gadget shape and colour. This will allow the Amiga community to continue to create and enjoy the most varied of experiences.

Lindows.com - MS Loses Appeal to Shut Down Lindows.com

Judge Coughenour wrote in a seven page ruling that after "examining the evidence with a sharper focus" news articles, advertisements, competitors and dictionary definitions demonstrated that the "consuming public used the terms ’windows,’ ’window’ and ’windowing’ to refer to a type of graphical user interface."

The Western Washington District Judge also wrote that through “its own use of the evidence” Microsoft essentially admits that “windows” is a generic term. The Court bolstered that finding by citing Microsoft's own computer dictionary definition, as well as quotes from then Vice President of Marketing, Steve Ballmer, in discussing the introduction of Windows 1.0. To read the document in its entirety, visit www.lindows.com/opposition  

As I stated in our press release, Microsoft pulled the pin on this grenade and the Judge made them swallow it. Our goal is to bring choice back to computers in spite of Microsoft's bullying tactics. If we have to go to trial where the word "windows" will be declared generic, we're prepared to do so. You can read our full press release at www.lindows.com/press 

Online liquidation and discount store Overstock.com made a tepid debut in the stock market Thursday.

Overstock closed at $13.03, just slightly more than the $13 price the stock sold for during its initial public offering Wednesday. Overstock auctioned its stock in a process similar to a so-called Dutch Auction, which allows individuals as well as institutional investors to submit bids with the price they are willing to pay and the number of shares they want to buy....

Toms Hardware - DRAGONS LAIR IS BACK!!!

...After a few attempts with consoles and PCs in the 80's, Dragon's Lair will return at the end of 2002, but this time for the PS2, Xbox, GameCube and PC! This latest version of the adventure game is called Dragon's Lair 3D, and it lasts about ten times longer than the original version. However, they haven't forgotten their recipe for success, which includes the cartoon-ish style of the game. The reason for this is that Encore Software has kept the original developers, Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, around to work on this new version. Older is sometimes better, isn't it?