Timothy Dyck

Boldly going where no database has gone before, Oracle Corp.s Oracle8i Release 3 is a lot more than a database. Oracle8i is now also a file, mail, Web and Java2 Enterprise Edition application server. Oracles development teams are backing up Larry Ellisons mantra of fewer, bigger servers, and its up to customers now to decide […]

Sun Microsystems Inc.s upcoming Forte for Java 2.0 Internet Edition updates and expands the companys midlevel Java development tool to focus on the tasks Web application developers face. eWeek Labs tested a release-candidate version of the $495 package; its scheduled to ship in early January. New features in this release include extensive support for the […]

Theres some sincere flattery of Linux going on at Microsoft these days. As we wrote in these pages in August, a prototype version of Tux, Red Hats kernel-level Web server and cache, blew away all other contenders in SPECweb99 Web benchmark tests, including Microsofts IIS (Internet Information Server) Web server, which ran at about 40 […]

Akopia Inc.s dramatically updated Web storefront, Interchange, has transformed itself from a somewhat raw storefront programming kit into a polished, packaged offering that is now close to (although not yet the equal of) high-end commercial players. Despite the minor-sounding version number, Interchange 4.6 is a major change from prior releases. The package, which shipped in […]

Microsofts windows update web site, which is blessed with prime real estate right off the Start menu, claims to be the place to “download and install the latest updates for your computer.” That statement could instill a false sense of security. Any manager intent on avoiding security breaches should get on the Microsoft Product Security […]

Small companies are often the nimblest. Take Altova, of Vienna, Austria, which has delivered the first Extensible Markup Language tool I have seen that supports the World Wide Web Consortiums XML Schema candidate recommendation. Altovas XML Spy 3.5 Beta 2 (available for trial download at www.xmlspy. com/beta35.html) provides a completely graphical interface for editing XML, […]

Making software easy to use involves soft factors such as putting controls and menu options where users most often search for them and providing interfaces that change with each task. One proven way to identify soft factors is through hard research: building a usability testing lab, bringing in users with varying skill levels and videotaping […]

A key XML standard from the World Wide Web Consortium, XML Schema, is going to make it easier, simpler and cheaper to use Extensible Markup Language in business applications next year. eWeek Labs sees XML Schema as the most important XML standard to be released since XML itself. It will give applications the ability to […]