InsideTech

A radical new day has dawned for the operating system. Today Google finally aired its long awaited Chrome Operating System.  The operating system was detailed at a press conference starting at 1 p.m. EST, and the open source code was posted online just before the start of the presentation.  The new operating system brings a dramatically different look and perspective to ...

A report compiled by security company McAfee notes there are a growing number of governments across the world that are preparing for potential cyber conflicts with other nations. The United States continues to receive cyber attacks against computer networks from numerous sources overseas, though other nations also are becoming worried about the cyber capabilities of other nations.  China, for example, said ...

Nov. 19 - LOS ANGELES - If you want to try out Microsoft Office 2010, the beta is available for anyone to download, the company announced at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference. It also said Office Web Apps, Microsoft's online competitor to Google's Google Docs, will be available for anyone who downloads the 2010 beta. Office Mobile 2010 is also ...

One of the pleasant surprises of diving back into the world of Windows was exploring Windows Live's apps, which bundle e-mail, file storage, social networking, instant messaging, photo sharing and blogging into one clean, organized online spot. The offerings are more than enough for average computer users, and Windows Live is the closest thing I've used to serving as a one-stop ...

MOSCOW - When a police officer posted a video on YouTube complaining of rampant abuse in Russian law enforcement, it seemed like a lonely voice in a sea of social media. Since then, three more officers have come forward with their own YouTube videos making similar accusations - and others are lining up to do the same. In a country ...

While Apple seems to be content with "going negative" when it comes to commercials touting its computing products, Microsoft has taken a different route with Windows 7. Apple has focused more on bashing Windows 7 (and the faults of its predecessors) rather than focus on the main strengths of the OS X platform. Microsoft, on the other hand, has created positive ...

NEW YORK - You might call him the Mickey Mouse of video games. He's reminiscent of a doughnut, round and sweet and comforting. He's also a vessel, devoid of a real personality so you can live vicariously through him. Mario, the pot-bellied Italian plumber with a penchant for rescuing princesses, collecting golden coins and gobbling magic mushrooms, has been around for ...

WASHINGTON - With the technology industry looking on, the Supreme Court on Monday will explore what types of inventions should be eligible for a patent in a pivotal case that could undermine such legal protections for software. A ruling that sides with the Patent Office could bar patents on processes and methods of doing business, such as online shopping techniques, ...

It is fitting that Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system arrives ahead of Halloween. When Microsoft buries Windows Vista for good on Oct. 22 and replaces it with Windows 7, the ghostbusters in Redmond will have exorcised a demon. If you haven't experienced the frights of Vista firsthand, you've no doubt heard about them: how it takes forever to power ...

NEW YORK -- You have good reason to be skeptical when someone says millions of ordinary television viewers are about to start surfing the Internet on the living room's electronic hearth. We've heard that Web-on-your-TV convergence promise for more than a decade, with ambitious efforts to make it happen including AOL TV and WebTV Networks. Each time, the optimists have ...

Of all the sinister things that Internet viruses do, this might be the worst: They can make you an unsuspecting collector of child pornography. Heinous pictures and videos can be deposited on computers by viruses - the malicious programs better known for swiping your credit card numbers. In this twist, it's your reputation that's stolen. Pedophiles can exploit virus-infected PCs ...

HAVANA - The U.S. State Department issued a statement late Monday decrying attacks on three Cuban bloggers, including one who has gained international attention for her searing observations about life on the communist island. "The U.S. government strongly deplores the assault on bloggers Yoani Sanchez, Orlando Luis Pardo, and Claudia Cadelo," the department said. Sanchez, who has won international awards for ...

Nov. 9 - For most Americans, it would be hard to imagine life without the Internet. It has become an integral part of work, communication, education and entertainment. And it has thrived in an environment largely free of government control. One of the commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission, Robert McDowell, recently called the Internet "the greatest deregulatory success story ...

When it comes to programming, many of the languages that are commonly used have been around for a long time. Languages like C++ and JAVA have been used for numerous types of software. Google feels that while computers have become much faster over the years, developing software has not. To help remedy this shortcoming Google has unveiled a new programming language ...

Adobe Systems plans to cut 680 full-time employees worldwide which represents about 10% of the company's workforce. After Adobe's acquisition of Omniture in late October, the company announced 9 percent of Omniture's 1,200 employees will be released in a separate round of job cuts in the future. The company - which is best known for Photoshop and Flash - will have ...

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Hewlett-Packard Co., looking to expand into a business long dominated by Cisco, said Wednesday it has agreed to buy networking software and equipment maker 3Com Corp. in a deal the companies valued at $2.7 billion. HP also issued a preliminary report Wednesday for the three months that ended in October, saying it earned 99 cents per share, ...

SEATTLE - Microsoft's Bing search service will pull more information and tools from other Web sites as the company tries to distinguish itself as part of its challenge to market leader Google. Traditionally, search engines from Google Inc. and others respond to users' queries by offering links to other sites that Web surfers can go to for information. Microsoft Corp., ...

Nov. 1 - It's a global battle whose foot soldiers will be engineering teams working inside a few square miles of Sunnyvale and Mountain View, with billions of dollars in advertising at stake. Almost a decade after Google became a household name, Microsoft's launch of its Bing search engine, followed by Microsoft and Yahoo's deal to collaborate on search, could ...

Oct. 18 - With Windows 7, Microsoft may have found its mojo again. Reviewers are giving the new operating system the thumbs up, this after the technical and marketing blunders the company was unable to shake with the predecessor, Vista. Still, even though Windows 7 has been lauded as everything Vista should have been, Microsoft is launching its flagship product Thursday ...

Oct. 26 - PORTLAND, Ore. - Maybe I'm on to something. For a good part of last week, my musings about Ubuntu Linux was among the top five most-read stories on our site. Since the other top stories concerned health-insurance reform or the H1N1 vaccine and similar weighty topics, the presence of a geek-oriented column came as a pleasant surprise. I ...