Jim Rapoza

In his inimitable way of imparting wisdom, baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra once said, “When you get to the fork in the road, take it.” There are many reasons why this quotation is funny, not the least of which is that it doesnt make sense. But many in the tech community seem to be […]

It is clearly the best of times for companies that want a cost-effective way to build Web sites or intranets that leverage some of the best features of portals, collaborative workgroup environments and streamlined Web publishing systems. These companies can choose from a variety of mature and very capable open-source systems, such as Plone; emerging […]

In digital graphics, theres an often-underserved middle ground: users who are too savvy to use novice-oriented tools but who find high-end Adobe and Macromedia tools to be overkill. Corel has probably served these users most effectively and for the longest time, and the recent release of the $399 CorelDraw 12 graphics suite carries on this […]

With its broad open-standards support, multiple integration options, and some of the best process development and design tools available, Microsoft Corp.s BizTalk Server 2004 is one of the best BPM systems around and earns eWEEK Labs Analysts Choice honors. The product is a must-have for any Microsoft shop doing business integration—and even non-Microsoft shops should […]

From Windows server 2003 to exchange Server 2003 to SharePoint 2.0 to BizTalk Server 2004, some of the best technology coming out of Microsoft lately has been on the server side. But all of these great server products have one problem: They are standing on an aging, creaky and often damaged base—Microsoft SQL Server 2000. […]

Traction Software refers to its TeamPage product as an “enterprise Weblog platform.” However you classify it, TeamPage 3.01 is a strong competitor against collaborative Web publishing portals such as Plone, PHP-Nuke and SharePoint Services, even though most of its rivals are either freeware or bundled features in a Windows Server. TeamPage 3.01 also competes with […]

With the release of version 2.0 this month, the free, open-source Plone has taken what was already probably the best option in Web publishing portals and made it the clear leader in this field (as well as an eWEEK Labs Analysts Choice honoree). Plone 2.0 includes important new features that greatly improve the administration, usability […]

Verity Inc. has continued to make slow-and-steady improvements to its Ultraseek search product—the recent release of Version 5.2 is only the second new edition since Verity acquired Ultraseek from Inktomi Corp. in 2002 and integrated it with Veritys existing search technologies. Although the new features in Version 5.2 arent flashy, they represent welcome improvements, especially […]

Most Web users would probably agree that few Web sites take site search capabilities seriously. And if sites arent working hard to make sure their search is accurate and helpful, they probably arent doing anything to leverage the valuable product and customer information that can come from a search. However, if your company takes searching […]

I like ease of use. I like intuitive interfaces that make it possible for me to carry out the tasks I must do in whatever way is most efficient for me. For example, I like Web authoring tools that allow me to choose whether to edit in code, hierarchical tagged environments or full-on WYSIWYG. Basically, […]

I wonder if i could cut my workload if i stopped writing for a small percentage of my readers. Maybe I could leave work early! Nah. I cant afford to lose a single reader, just like most businesses cant afford to lose a single customer. Imagine if Ford decided to stop sales of its cars […]

For many companies, creating useful reports from databases and enterprise applications is only the first step. The more pressing problem is getting these reports into the hands of those who need them. And thats where eWEEK Labs found the main benefit of Microsoft Corp.s SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services, which provides a flexible, simple means […]