Practical Technology

for practical people.

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 16, 2020
by sjvn01
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Odds are we’ll all soon move to Desktop-as-a-Service

I know how to secure my PCs. I’ve never fallen victim to a phishing attack; gotten infected by a worm; been maligned by malware. But then I have 30-plus years of experience. You? Probably not. That’s why when I read Morphisec‘s recent report on all these people working from home (2020 WFH Employee Cybersecurity Thread Index), I was horrified.

It turns out more than half, 56%, of employees are using their own personal computers to work from home. No! Deep breath. No!

And that tidbit is one of the reasons Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) makes more sense now than ever before. Because a DaaS set-up is a more secure set-up, and apparently that’s something sorely needed.

Odds are we’ll all soon move to Desktop-as-a-Service 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> 

June 11, 2020
by sjvn01
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Faster than ever, Apache Cassandra 4.0 beta is on its way

If you want a fast database management system (DBMS), which can handle petabytes of data for web and mobile applications, chances are you’re using the NoSQL Apache Cassandra database. After all, such companies as Hulu, Netflix, and Reddit, already do. Oh, it has competitors, such as MongoDBDynamoDB, and Cosmos DB, but Cassandra’s arguably the most popular DBMS of its breed.

Faster than ever, Apache Cassandra 4.0 beta is on its way More>

June 10, 2020
by sjvn01
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Dell XPS 13 Linux Developer Edition (2020) hands-on: A great laptop for hard-working developers

For years, most major computing manufacturers ignored Linux desktops. Oh, Dell kept selling them, and smaller Linux vendors like PurismSystem76, and ZaReason kept the Linux desktop flame alive, but that was about it. Now, Lenovo has re-engaged with the Linux desktop, and Dell continues to sell — year-after-year — one of the best of all Linux laptops, the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition.

Dell XPS 13 Linux Developer Edition (2020) hands-on: A great laptop for hard-working developers More>