John Taschek

If it hasnt happened already, Microsoft will post new benchmark numbers that show Windows 2000 blowing away Oracles 9iAS application server in performance tests. The problem is that no one likes this “performance” test, and Microsoft is excluded from running in the one now sanctioned by the Java/Unix community. The result of this cat fight […]

Consumers and small businesses have long been given short shrift when it comes to network security. Certainly, businesses with a couple of dozen employees can purchase enterprise-class security devices, but theyd be overspending on the infrastructure. Conversely, they could purchase the infrastructure they need, but they would miss out on the security. Netgear is changing […]

SMC and Netgear are duking it out over the market that covers everything from SOHO to extended enterprises (roughly one to 250 users). The networking business in general is a tough, cutthroat business, and its been further hammered by the tech sector decline. SMC and Netgear are in a nice spot, though. Theyre targeting the […]

Even the best scanners cant predict the future. In fact, given the numerous incidents of new attacks and worm and virus outbreaks, it appears that vulnerability scanners make lousy prognosticators. Cenzic Inc.s Hailstorm 3.0 takes a completely different—though often complementary—approach. IT administrators and security specialists can use Hailstorm, which shipped early this month and costs […]

Lately, PCs have failed to elicit that “you gotta have it” feeling. Intel has been trying its hardest to rev performance and drop prices. The Pentium 4 is now at 2.53GHz, and processors are still on target to reach 10GHz in five years or so. Apple and some PC vendors strike up colors and form-factor […]

The application server space, once on the verge of drying up, is revving up once again to be a full-fledged slugfest. Customers dont really care about the slugfest part—theyre just looking for some deals—but everyone appreciates the entertainment. The main contenders are BEA, IBM, Oracle and Sun, and the hubris begins with them. IBM believes […]

Sun is toying with the number 1. Whether that number is indicative of leadership or aloofness is not a bad question to ask. Building on the success of the Sun ONE (Open Net Environment) campaign that kicked off last year, Sun has at least two other singular strategies: S1 and N1, the latter being a […]

Now that HailStorm—I mean .Net My Services—is on hold (see www.eweek.com/links), Microsoft needs another offering to prove that its brand of Web services is viable. It may have found it with maps. Truth be told, HailStorm got off to a rocky start and was barraged by a hailstorm of another variety, personified by Jonathan Schwartz, […]

Most of the time, hedging bets is a sure recipe for failure, though lately it appears that some options traders on the stock market seem to be doing well. Ciscos big hedge, which comes in the form of the Aironet 1200 Access Point, is that theres going to be a demand for 802.11a devices and […]

What happened to the digital dashboard? It was supposed to be a key part of the presentation layer in Microsofts DNA. Then, although DNA died and was reborn as .Net, the dashboard idea sat on cinder blocks like a beat-up old Buick, never to be heard from again. Only one thing is certain—the word dashboard […]

Talk about tablet computers has been de rigueur for at least 10 years—maybe more, if you count some of the Tandy TRS-80 junkies out there. But this time, were a tiny bit closer to reality; in other words, weve finally evolved beyond the failed concept of the Momenta—which was, once upon a time, the most-hyped […]

The U.S. Government is going electronic but may be setting policy ahead of available technology. A series of initiatives, most of them passed during the Clinton administration, mandates that government agencies—and the hundreds of organizations that work with them—jump into the 21st century. However, many vendors—big and small—fall short in supplying products and services that […]