Practical Technology

for practical people.

June 19, 2020
by sjvn01
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Was Microsoft in the 1990s really better than Apple in the 2020s?

In a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, Microsoft president Brad Smith announced his support for an antitrust investigation into Apple’s iPhone app store model. OK. So far, so good. Apple claims up to 30% from its app store vendors for every program they sell. It may not be extortion, but if you talk to iPhone independent software vendors (ISVs), they might use stronger language. Smith went on, “You’re seeing app stores that have created higher walls and far more formidable gates to access to other applications than anything that existed in the industry [Windows] 20 years ago.”

Excuse me!?

Apple makes it harder on vendors today than Microsoft did in the 1990s and early 2000s? I don’t think so! Microsoft had 90% of the PC market, compared to Apple’s 13.7% of the smartphone market.

Was Microsoft in the 1990s really better than Apple in the 2020s? More>

June 18, 2020
by sjvn01
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Linux Foundation and Harvard announce Linux and open-source contributor security survey

Except for the desktop, Linux and open-source run the IT world. With great power comes great security responsibilities. While open-source security issues can be overstated, the simple truth is antique, insecure open-source software is everywhere. The Linux Foundation knows this. To address it, the Foundation’s Core Infrastructure Initiative (CII) and the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard (LISH) have developed a survey for FLOSS contributors.

Linux Foundation and Harvard announce Linux and open-source contributor security survey More>

June 18, 2020
by sjvn01
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DataStax Vector: Making Cassandra NoSQL DBMS clusters more manageable

Apache Cassandra is a great NoSQL database, but no one’s ever said it was easy to monitor or manage. Now, DataStax is bringing out a private beta of Vector, an AIOps service for Cassandra. Vector will continually assess the behavior of a Cassandra cluster to provide developers and operators with automated diagnostics and advice. This will help them deal successfully with Cassandra and DataStax Enterprise (DSE) clusters.

DataStax Vector: Making Cassandra NoSQL DBMS clusters more manageable More>

June 17, 2020
by sjvn01
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Best Chromebooks for work in 2020: Which high-end laptop is right for your business?

If you’re a white-collar worker, chances are — thanks to the coronavirus pandemic — you’ve been working from home. And many of you may have turned to Chromebooks for work. They’re cheap and require almost no maintenance.

But the weeks of working from home have turned to months. for many of us, we may never return to the office for work. In that case, you upgrade from the old Chromebook you already have at home or the first one that came to hand at Best Buy when the shutdown started to a true business-class Chromebook.

With that goal in mind, I looked for the best Chromebooks available for work. These are not one-size-fits-all machines. Each has its strong points for different users.

Best Chromebooks for work in 2020: Which high-end laptop is right for your business? More>

June 17, 2020
by sjvn01
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Parallels and Google to bring full-featured Windows applications to Chrome Enterprise

You’ve long been able to run some Windows apps on Chromebooks with CodeWeaver’s Crossover Chrome OS, a beta program. And if you absolutely have to run Microsoft Office — not Google Docs — Microsoft supports Office and Microsoft 365 on Chromebooks. But that still leaves out many Windows programs that don’t run fully on Chromebooks or in the Chrome web browser. Parallels, a virtualization and remote access company, wants to change that with its forthcoming Windows apps on Chrome and Chrome OS program.

Parallels and Google to bring full-featured Windows applications to Chrome Enterprise More>

June 15, 2020
by sjvn01
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Technologies that have been jump-started by COVID-19

It’s an ill wind that blows no one any good. True, the coronavirus pandemic is destroying large swathes of the economy. In particular, small businesses are being clobbered. Some kinds of businesses, such as hotels and restaurants, are in even more hot water. But some smaller technology models have gotten a huge boost from the pandemic, while others, although already big, have jumped in popularity.

So, while acknowledging there’s been a lot of losers, there have been winners as well. Let’s take a close look at them.

Technologies that have been jump-started by COVID-19 More>