Archive for September, 2011

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Microsoft Windows 8 Tech Could Block Linux Installs

September 28th, 2011
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New boot technology on Windows 8 computers may prevent users from installing Linux, according to some Linux experts. With the coming of Windows 8, Microsoft is introducing a new firmware security measure called UEFI that hardware manufacturers will use to gain signed access to Windows 8. The firmware also has the potential to restrict or even completely block access to Linux.

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is a boot protocol that Microsoft says will dramatically increase boot speeds on Windows 8 computers. Therefore, the goal has nothing to do with Linux, but the potential obstacle it presents for Linux developers is a nasty side effect.

The UEFI itself is designed to prevent rootkit exploits by requiring hardware to be signed with secure keys. According to Red Hat mobile Linux developer Matthew Garrett, there is no central signing authority. Microsoft will leave that up to the hardware providers. When UEFI is enabled, it controls what programs can be executed on the machine. If the hardware vendor does not allow Linux programs to execute, it will not work on the computer.

Microsoft has responded saying that it has no intent to deny users the freedom to install the OSes they want. OEMs are free to allow customers to disable the secure boot feature. In turn, OS makers are responsible for providing signed keys for customers who do not want to disable secure boot.

With its response, Microsoft seems to be dancing around the real issue. Hardware manufacturers are under no obligation to provide a disabling mechanism for secure boot, and those that favor Microsoft may not, leaving Linux users with no other option. Furthermore, adding the signed keys to Grub or even the Linux kernel may present licensing issues that would prevent it. With all of these unanswered questions, the war of words between Red Hat and Microsoft is likely to continue.

Source:http://www.pamil-visions.net/windows-8-linux/230355/

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Seven Good Reasons to Upgrade to Firefox 7

September 28th, 2011
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Six weeks to the day after the official release of Firefox 6, Mozilla on Tuesday rolled out Firefox 7, the next version of its popular Web browser for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android users.

The new release comes as part of the rapid release schedule Mozilla implemented for Firefox earlier this year, by which users are offered upgrades every six weeks.

Business users who want less-frequent updates will soon have a slower alternative schedule, as I noted last week. The first such enterprise-focused Extended Support Release (ESR) version of desktop Firefox is expected to be based on Firefox 8 or 9 later this year.

In the meantime, there are plenty of reasons to make the switch to this newest version, which is now available as a free download. Many of them, in fact, boil down to one key thing: faster speed.

1. Memory Management

Ever since Firefox 7 entered the Aurora channel back in July, its primary focus has been speedier performance and better use of memory, and that emphasis is apparent in the software released today.

Firefox 7 manages memory more efficiently than its predecessors did, Mozilla says, for a speedier Web browsing experience. “Users will notice Firefox is faster at opening new tabs, clicking on menu items and buttons on websites,” the organization says. “Heavy Internet users will enjoy enhanced performance when lots of tabs are open and during long Web browsing sessions that last hours or even days.”

A new Mozilla Hacks blog entry posted today offers several key metrics demonstrating Firefox’s new nimbleness.

2. More Speed

New tools included in Firefox 7, meanwhile, are designed to make it easier for developers to build speedy Web experiences for users. A new version of hardware-accelerated Canvas, for instance, speeds up HTML5 animations and games in the browser, allowing developers to build more compelling and interactive Web experiences.

Firefox now also supports the W3C navigation timing spec API so developers can measure page load time and website navigation against bandwidth speed, website traffic and other factors. This API allows developers to test user experiences remotely and easily so they can quickly optimize websites and Web apps for different types of users.

3. A New Performance Tool

Focusing on future speeds, Firefox 7’s new Telemetry tool collects performance feedback so as to help Mozilla make future Firefox releases even faster.

“Firefox 7 marks a turning point in how we measure Firefox performance,” reads a Mozilla Hacks blog post from this morning on the topic. “Traditionally we measured Firefox performance on individual developer machines and our build & release infrastructure. However it turns out synthetic benchmarks do not correspond to real-world Firefox usage: it is difficult to model a ‘typical’ computer in a lab environment.”

Exceptionally slow consumer hardware, changes in usage patterns and preinstalled “bloatware” can all affect Firefox performance in unexpected ways, the post notes.

The browser’s new Telemetry tool will prompt users to opt into reporting performance data to Mozilla. “This data will supplement our existing benchmarking infrastructure to help us optimize future Firefox releases,” the post explains.

Telemetry performance metrics are very lightweight, however, and will not negatively impact Firefox performance, Mozilla says.

4. Add-On Compatibility

When Firefox 6 launched, 97 percent of add-ons compatible with Firefox 5 were still compatible with version 6, according to Mozilla add-ons product manager Justin Scott, who wrote a blog post yesterday on the topic.

Not only that, but “we’re on track to launch Firefox 7 tomorrow with 99 percent compatibility from 6,” Scott added. With Firefox 8, which will reach beta later this week, compatibility issues should improve even more, he wrote.

Add-on users can also install Firefox’s Add-On Compatibility Reporter to flag any problems with the software they use.

5. A Cross-Platform Approach

By supporting tools like WebSockets across desktop and mobile platforms, Firefox lets developers create faster, seamless Web applications for use on mobile phones, tablets and computers. Firefox also now supports the W3C navigation timing spec API across desktop and mobile platforms, so developers can optimize websites and Web apps for different types of devices, platforms and networks.

A number of features in Firefox for Android, meanwhile, are designed to make it faster to browse the mobile Web, such as the ability to copy any website text and paste it into emails, website forms and SMS messages.

6. Free, as in Beer

Firefox is free in more ways than one. First and foremost is that it costs you nothing to install, use or upgrade–a winning feature by most accounts, though certainly not Firefox’s only one.

7. Free, as in Freedom

Perhaps even more important, though, is that Firefox is open source software and so it doesn’t restrict your use of the browser in any way. There’s no vendor lock-in, and it’s eminently flexible and customizable to your needs.

Also significant is that Mozilla is what it calls a public benefit organization, existing not to make money but to make the Web better for everyone.

Source:http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/240662/seven_good_reasons_to_upgrade_to_firefox_7.html

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Dell has the best relative performance in the computer hardware industry (dell, ncr, hpq, aapl, sgi)

September 28th, 2011
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Below are the top five companies in the Computer Hardware industry as measured by relative performance. This analysis was compiled based on yesterday’s trading activity as we search for stocks that have the potential to outperform.

Dell (NASDAQ:DELL – Analyst Report) ranks first with a gain of 2.43%; NCR (NYSE:NCR – Analyst Report) ranks second with a gain of 2.16%; and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ – Analyst Report) ranks third with a gain of 1.75%.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Analyst Report) follows with a loss of 0.28% and Silicon Graphics International (NYSE:SGI – Snapshot Report) rounds out the top five with a loss of 2.63%.

SmarTrend currently has shares of Hewlett-Packard in an Downtrend and issued the Downtrend alert on February 23, 2011 at $43.15. The stock has fallen 47.4% since the Downtrend alert was issued.

Source:http://www.zacks.com/research/get_news.php?id=270l7558

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Apple Is Hardware Makers Worst Performer

September 28th, 2011
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Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ), the maker of printers and personal computers is trading at 24.24, which represents 6.72% versus its previous trading session close. Hewlett Packard is the computer hardware index best performer today, it’s helping the sector adding upward pressure to overall technology shares, with the Technology Select Sector Spider (NYSE:XLK) trading 2.29% from its previous trading session close.

Technology shares trading flat with the S&P500, which is trading higher by 2.29%.

The Index best performer, Hewlett Packard the maker of printers and personal computers, is helping push the Computer Hardware Index (NYSE:^HWI) Higher by 6.01%. The index is rallying with all the components trading higher.

Also among the top performers, Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), the 3rd largest personal computer maker in the world is trading at $15.32 representing 3.86% Versus the previous trading session. Shares of Dell have defined support at $13.78 and resistance at $15.39.

Practically no Relative weakness in the index today, however today’s worst performer is Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), with the stock trading at $407.82 representing 1.15% versus the previous trading session. Shares of Apple, the maker of iPhones and iPads have defined support at $366.48 and resistance at $422.86.

The other worst performer is NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP), which is trading at $36.44 representing 1.76% from its previous close. NetApp, the storage and data management solutions provider has calculated support and resistance levels at $366.48 and $422.86 respectively.

Source:http://www.tradershuddle.com/20110927156206179/Stocks/is-hardware-makers-worst-performer.html

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Concurrent Computer is Among the Companies in the Computer Hardware Industry With the Highest Current Ratio (ccur, smci, cray)

September 28th, 2011
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Below are the three companies in the Computer Hardware industry with the highest current ratios. Current ratio is useful to get an idea of how quickly a company can repay its short-term liabilities with its short-term assets. The higher the current ratio, the more capable the company is of paying its obligations.

Concurrent Computer (NASDAQ:CCUR) is highest with a current ratio of 2.8. Concurrent Computer Corporation provides computer systems for both the emerging video-on-demand (VOD) market and real-time applications. The Company provides VOD servers and related software primarily to residential cable television operators and markets its computer systems to government agencies, government suppliers, and commercial markets.

Concurrent Computer (NASDAQ:CCUR) has potential upside of 60.7% based on a current price of $5.60 and analysts’ consensus price target of $9.00. The stock should run into initial resistance at its 200-day moving average (MA) of $5.73 and subsequent resistance at its 50-day MA of $5.89.

Following is Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) with a current ratio of 2.6. Yesterday, Super Micro Computer traded 94,000 shares vs. average volume of 190,000 shares per day. The stock underperformed the Dow (2.2% to the Dow’s 2.5%) and underperformed the S&P 500 (2.2% to the S&P’s 2.4%) during yesterday’s trading.

Finishing up the top three is Cray (NASDAQ:CRAY), with a current ratio of 2.4.

Cray share prices have moved between a 52-week high of $8.38 and a 52-week low of $4.97 and closed yesterday at 6% above that low price at $5.26 per share. Over the last five market days, the 200-day moving average (MA) has gone down 0.8% while the 50-day MA has declined 2%.

Source:http://www.fnno.com/story/fast-lane/331-concurrent-computer-among-companies-computer-hardware-industry-highest-current-ratio-ccur-smci-cray-fast-lan

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Amazon to Challenge iPad

September 28th, 2011
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Amazon.com Inc. is expected to unveil Wednesday the latest—and possibly biggest—challenger to Apple Inc.’s dominant iPad tablet.

Few specifics are known about the tablet, and Amazon hasn’t publicly acknowledged its existence, even in the invitation for an event to be held Wednesday. However, a tablet from the Seattle-based company is seen posing a threat to the iPad’s dominance due to Amazon’s strong media offerings, history of aggressive pricing and its ability to market the device on its popular website.
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Among the features expected: touch-screen technology; a customized version of Google Inc.’s Android operating system; and access to Amazon’s app store, streaming movies and TV shows. Some observers have speculated that the device could be priced below $300—a new iPad is $499 —and could include Amazon Prime, the company’s $79-per-year shipping and media service.

An Amazon spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment.

In a page lifted from Apple’s playbook, Amazon distributed cryptic invitations—containing nothing more than the company’s name, an address, a date and time—to a media event in New York. The Wall Street Journal reported in July that Amazon was working on tablet that would run on Google’s Android platform, according to people familiar with the device. Unlike the iPad, it won’t have a camera, one of those people said.

Amazon already has established it can successfully market a piece of hardware. As Apple’s iPad sets the bar for tablets, Amazon’s Kindle is the de facto standard for dedicated e-readers. Citigroup has estimated the Kindle will contribute about 10% of Amazon’s total revenue by next year, or more than $6 billion, even as the company lowers prices on the machine.

As for whether a new tablet could eat into Kindle sales, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has touted the compatibility of the Kindle and fuller-featured tablet devices in the past, saying many shoppers buy both. Amazon will also likely benefit from the millions of people who visit its website, which could serve as built-in promotion. “Amazon has an advantage that other tablet manufacturers don’t in that millions of people already visit its site on a regular basis,” said Ken Sena, an analyst who covers Amazon for Evercore Partners. He added that those consumers will be regularly exposed to advertisements for the device.

“It certainly creates a competitor to the iPad,” Mr. Sena said.

The iPad, credited with kicking off the consumer tablet-computer market, has won plaudits for its ease of use, elegant design and selection of over 90,000 apps that transform it into everything from a video player to a DJ turntable.

The iPad already has left several high-tech bodies in its wake. Research In Motion Ltd.’s PlayBook, Hewlett-Packard Co.’s TouchPad, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s Galaxy Tab and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.’s Xoom have all failed to attract mass audiences. Last month, just weeks after the tablet device had first gone on sale, H-P wound down its TouchPad project. Samsung, meanwhile, faces lawsuits around the world from Apple, which claims the Korean electronics giant copied the iPad’s look and feel.

Apple has sold about 29 million iPads since the product went on sale early last year and had 68.3% of the tablet market in the second quarter, according to data tracker IDC.

Apple declined to comment for this story. The Cupertino, Calif.-based consumer-electronics giant has scheduled its own media event for next Tuesday, at which it is expected to unveil the latest version of the iPhone.

Amazon’s new tablet will also have to compete with Barnes & Noble Inc.’s Nook, a low-cost e-reader that offers a color screen and Web surfing.

Still, Amazon appears intent on replicating Apple’s most appealing qualities. On Monday, the company augmented its media offerings by striking a partnership with News
Corp.’s Fox unit that places the network’s shows, such as “24,” on the Prime streaming service.

The All Things D website, a sister publication to The Wall Street Journal, has reported that Amazon also has media partnerships to support the tablet with publishers Hearst Corp. and Condé Nast.

News Corp. owns All Things D as well as the Journal.

Amazon’s longstanding relationships with consumers also means it has reams of sensitive information, including email addresses and credit-card data. That could make it easy for Amazon to market additional products for its tablet, as well as charge for them. “They have an awful lot of consumer credit cards already on file,” says Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at research firm Gartner Inc. “I don’t think we’ve seen anyone quite in this position to present a different alternative.”

Source:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204422404576597141076634146.html

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Microsoft, Red Hat Spar Over Secure Boot-loading Tech

September 27th, 2011
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Is Microsoft using a next-generation computing boot-loading technology to lock out the use of Linux and other OSEs on certain computers? While Microsoft has denied malicious intent, one Red Hat developer maintains that this may be the case.

Microsoft is mandating the use of the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) secure boot-loading capability with Windows 8 in such a way that “the end user is no longer in control of their PC,” charged Red Hat developer Matthew Garrett in a blog entry posted Friday.

Microsoft has claimed that this charge is based on a misunderstanding of the company’s intentions. “At the end of the day, the customer is in control of their PC,” said Microsoft program manager Tony Mangefeste in another blog posting from Microsoft.

The controversy took root on Tuesday, when Garrett pointed out in a blog posting that Microsoft-certified computers running Windows 8 may not be able to be loaded with copies of other OSes, such as Linux. Users could not install Linux as a second OS, or replace Windows with a copy of Linux, Garrett argued.

Windows 8 will require its host computer to use the UEFI, the low-level interface between the computer firmware and the OS. Marketed as a replacement to BIOS, UEFI provides a secure boot protocol, which requires the OS to furnish a digital key in order to be loaded by the machine. UEFI then can block the operations of any programs or drivers unless they have been signed by this key, a move that should prevent malware from infecting machines by changing the boot-loading process.

With Windows 8, Microsoft will require hardware manufacturers (those wishing to display the Windows logo on their units) to ship their machines with secure boot enabled. Each machine would then require a digital key from Microsoft, the hardware manufacturer or, if it uses another OS, a secure key for that OS.

Users who customize their own versions of Linux, or use a generic OS that does not come with a key, may not be able to run these OSes on machines requiring this secure booting process, Garrett said. Nor would there be any guarantee that OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) even provide the ability for users to add their own keys, or give users the option to run other OSes without a key.

Garrett’s blog post subsequently sparked debate in the trade press and Linux user communities.

Responding to the controversy on Thursday, Microsoft has denied that the intent was to shut out Linux. Although he did not mention Linux by name, Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division, noted in a blog post that some of those commenting have used details of the new plan to “synthesize scenarios that are not the case.”

The rest of the posting, authored by Mangefeste, noted that Microsoft is concerned only that Windows 8 be protected in a secure boot loader, and that OEMs are free to build in the option of disabling secure boot for running OSes without keys. Other OS providers are responsible for providing their own keys.

“For the enthusiast who wants to run older operating systems, the option is there to allow you to make that decision,” Mangefeste wrote. “However, [disabling secure boot] comes at your own risk,” he added.

“Microsoft’s rebuttal is entirely factually accurate. But it’s also misleading,” Garrett responded in a follow-up blog item, posted Friday. Under the licensing agreement, the equipment manufacturer is under no obligation to provide users with the ability to disable the secure boot capability. Beyond the use of third-party OSes, this approach might also hamper the ability of users to upgrade components such as graphics cards, because there is no requirement to provide the user with the capability of installing additional keys.

“The truth is that UEFI secure boot is a valuable and worthwhile feature that Microsoft are misusing to gain tighter control over the market,” Garrett charged.

Source:http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/240480/microsoft_red_hat_spar_over_secure_bootloading_tech.html

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