Jason Brooks

In recent weeks, there’s been quite a bit of buzz surrounding Linux and its chances for earning a spot as a preloaded option on the client PCs sold by major computer OEMs. Buzzing most loudly has been Dell’s IdeaStorm customer suggestions site, which has turned up a ton of support for the notion–even though many […]

Linux is getting hotter and more mainstream all the time—enough so that even IT administrators who deal primarily with Windows would do well to get their feet wet with Linux. After all, even Microsoft, through its recent deal with Novell, has begun to cozy up to Linux. However, Linux can be confusing for newcomers, even […]

In recent weeks, theres been quite a bit of buzz surrounding Linux and its chances for earning a spot as a preloaded option on the client PCs sold by major computer OEMs. Buzzing most loudly has been Dells IdeaStorm customer suggestions site, which has turned up a ton of support for the notion—even though many […]

Network access control schemes seem to be all the rage, with IT heavyweights and smaller players alike pushing them full force. While theres no disputing that these NAC initiatives are aimed at worthwhile goals, what remains to be seen is whether and to what extent these initiatives are worth the time and money that enterprises […]

We in the computer trade press remain ever poised to chronicle the next major battle between Microsoft and whatever company, governing body or new concept that seems even remotely positioned to challenge the Redmond giant. During the past few years, Google has been one of our favorite such challengers, even though Google hasnt yet directly […]

Microsofts Virtual PC 2007 offers developers and administrators an inexpensive option for satisfying their testing, support and application compatibility needs through the magic of virtualization. The most notable addition to the product, which is a follow-on to Microsofts Virtual PC 2004, is support for Windows Vista as a host or guest operating system. VPC 2007, […]

Microsoft and Novell have been making a big deal of their big deal to work together to soothe customers cross-platform pain points. But it remains to be seen whether and how far the deal will end up extending beyond the realm of press releases and presentation slide decks. In fact, vaporous cooperation pledges arent even […]

VMwares Virtual Infrastructure 3 offers enterprises an impressive, mature framework for making virtualizations promises a reality. eWEEK Labs installed VMwares ESX Server, which forms the foundation of Virtual Infrastructure 3, onto a variety of Intel- and Advanced Micro Devices-powered servers. We bound the boxes together under VMwares VirtualCenter management server. From there, we installed several […]

It seems as if a new Linux-based operating system is born every day, each facing the challenge of justifying its existence in a field thats already rather crowded with mature Linux distributions. But one relatively young Linux distribution worth keeping an eye on is Foresight Linux, a desktop-oriented platform that hit its Version 1.0 release […]

Among early adopters of Microsoft’s freshly minted Windows Vista operating system, the strongest reactions so far seem not to revolve around the system’s fancy new looks or its handy search facilities, but rather around Vista’s knack for asking permission to carry out operations that require administrative privileges. Summing up the annoyance felt by many Vista […]

While cruising through Slashdot this afternoon, I came upon an item in which Rolling Stone blogger Charles Coxe asks whether Apple may become Is the New Evil Empire. “Once but the student (see their classic 1984 ad, their PC vs. Mac ads and oh, everything else that’s ever come out of their mouth), it seems […]

After reading my colleage Joe Wilcox’s ebullient ode to the new Windows Vista commercial that appeared during Lost, I had to see it for myself. Here’s what I got: A click on the image brought me to Adobe’s site, where I was informed that I’d need to upgrade my Flash Player version to 9.0.31.0–which is […]