Jim Rapoza

While Web pages arguably have been one of the most successful forms of electronic content delivery ever, they have serious shortcomings. When it comes to areas like portability, printing and document integrity, Web pages come up well behind other formats such as Adobe Acrobats PDF. For certain types of content, such as contracts, manuals and […]

As open-source software has matured and evolved over the years, it has faced many questions and misconceptions about its suitability for enterprise use. Among those questions: Can open source deliver enterprise-class performance and scalability? Is it secure? Can it be extended to meet diverse enterprise needs? Can it meet the usability needs of everyday users? […]

In a recent column (“Pop-up Ads Bad for Business”), I discussed a study by Bunnyfoot Universality showing that pop-up ads on Web sites can cause site visitors to refuse to do business with the company advertising in the pop-up and to stop visiting the site altogether. I received dozens of responses from readers fed up […]

In past reviews, weve said one of the biggest threats to rich Internet application platform vendors is the growth of Macromedia Inc.s Flash and its entry into rich Internet applications. With the late-March release of Flex 1.0, that threat is now here. Click here to read the full review of Flex 1.0. 2 In past […]

Implementing an enterprise-class identity management application can be difficult for any organization. But few would have to overcome the hurdles that Childrens Hospital Boston did when it deployed Courion Corp.s Identity Management Suite to handle password resets and account provisioning. eWEEK Labs recently went on-site at Childrens to learn why the hospital decided to implement […]

The latest release of Macromedias popular multimedia application development platform, Director MX 2004, is hardly an overhaul of the previous version, which eWeek Labs reviewed last year. However, for some businesses, Director MX 2004 might qualify as a must-have upgrade for one new feature that addresses the products biggest weakness. Using the $1,199 Director MX […]

WINNER TippingPoint Technologies Inc.s UnityOne Intrusion Prevention Appliances TippingPoints UnityOne appliances got the nod because of their outstanding network and application-level security defenses and straightforward deployment. Despite their high prices, which can escalate to $90,000 for a single device, the UnityOne appliances were the clear winner in the Enterprise Resource Protection category. The UnityOne appliances […]

WINNER IBMs WebSphere Portal 5.0 Sometimes, the hardest task that a software company can face is to improve an already strong and market-leading product. With WebSphere Portal 5.0, IBM has met this challenge, vastly improving its enterprise portal application while removing nearly all the weaknesses of previous versions. With excellent administration capabilities, extensive configurability options […]

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 […]