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Google Inc., Owner of the most popular Internet search engine, posted its biggest gain in four months in Nasdaq trading after introducing a browser to challenge Microsoft’s decade-long dominance of the market. The program, known as chrome, will isolate flawed web pages so users can close them without shutting down the entire browser, and will make it easier to run other applications without downloading them to a computer, Google said.

The software opens a new front in Google’s fight with Microsoft, whose Internet Explorer controls more than 70/ of the browser market. Google is trying to parlay its success over Microsoft in online searches into an effort to court users who want e-mail, calendars and word processing through a browser instead of products such as Microsoft’s Word and Excel.

“They’re looking at the big picture of their business,” said David Smith, a Gartner analyst in Bedford, New Hampshire. “They’re looking at the speed at which browser development is going and they’re trying to accelerate it.” Google faces an uphill battle against internet Explorer, Which has led the browser market since it passed Netscape Communications’ Navigator in 1999, because the Microsoft program come pre-installed on personal computers. Internet Explorer’s lead in the Web browsing market is followed by Mozilla Corp’s Firefox with 20/ and Apple’s Safari with 6.4/, according to research firm Net Applications of Aliso Viejo, California.

A loss of browser users to Google might curb Microsoft’s ability to lure people to its search engine, the default option for Web queries on Internet Explorer. Microsoft, the world’s biggest software maker, released a new version of Explorer last week for testing. The software lets users control whether it saves the sites they’ve visited and can keep Internet sites from tracking user activity.

“the browser landscape is highly competitive,” said Dean Hachamovitch, general manager Internet Explorer, in a statement. “People will choose Internet Explorer 8 for way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips, respects their personal choices about how they want to browse and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online.”

Google is the default search engine on Firefox, Safari and Opera Software ASA’s Opera, browsers that represent about 27/ of the market combined. Chrome’s address bar may also help Google attract users. It will have a double function, allowing people to type in web site location and offering suggestions for Google searches. That may help keep people from going to Microsoft or Yahoo for their Internet queries, Gartner’s Smith said.

You can visit Tech Freek for more Technology News.

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Author: Abhik Biswas
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The Android basically is a software podium and an operating mechanism especially for mobile devices, which is developed by Google. It permits developers to write a managed code in a language that resembles Java, and it utilizes Java libraries that are developed by Google.

It does not sustain programs that are developed in the native code. The Android podium was unveiled on 05th November 2007, and coincided with the inauguration of Open Handset Alliance. This Alliance was formed with the help of a conglomerate of around 34 software, hardware and telecom organizations that pledged to promoting open standards for mobile phones.

Google acquiring Android Inc:

Android was known to make software programs for mobile phones. When in July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc., rumors spread that Google was making an entry in the mobile phone market. Google thereafter applied for a patent for a mobile payment scheme and came to be known as Gpay. It would let the customer send a message to Google by providing payment details to some specified recipient. The user’s account would then be debited by Gpay, by giving credit to the payee’s account.

Google’s Android may bring new risks:

Googles’s Android open source cell phone operating mechanism, along with Open Handset Alliance may expose mobile operators to more security risks than any other devices that are currently selling in the market. Currently there is no central authority that can sign and test the Android applications, and this unavoidably increases the risk of misuse. But Android was meant to be designed in such a manner as to reduce the effects of such misuse.

An independent procedure is followed by the Linux based Android system for each application. This prevents malicious programs from disturbing other applications or important telephone functions. If an application program makes it essential to access the data or phone operations, for instance to read phone numbers in the address book or make a telephone call, the user needs to explicitly enable this during installation itself.

The function in the system was neatly demonstrated with the help of an Android emulator and is a division of the software development kit that is available free of cost. It was also demonstrated as to how an Android terminal was able to study a shopping list using the Google spreadsheets, and show it in an appropriate format for mobile use. The data present in the spreadsheet application could also be edited in real time using the Android application. Thus it was asserted that Android was very much adaptable to such a kind of online data processing.

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Author: Musa Aykac
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Despite the increase in brand reputation for Google phones, the Android operating system still remains largely unrecognised by consumers according to research company IDC. It would appear that although consumers are now well acquainted with the latest Google branded smartphones, they are less in tune with the Android operating system that powers the majority of Google phones.

This news has been released despite the increase in market share of Google Android across Western Europe in Q3 this year. Its market share has risen from 4.2% to 5.4% in the most popular region for mobile usage.

IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo admitted: “Consumers steer clear of Google’s OS and sell-out is below everyone’s expectations. Consumers recognise the Google brand but still do not understand what Android is.”

It is fair to say that the number of Google handsets available on the market is on the rise. Manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola are all set to release new Android-powered smartphones in the coming weeks and months.

Android remains challenged by global market leader Symbian that is still fiercely loyal to Nokia. Its position as the leading operating system across Western Europe is a mightily impressive 48% of the entire market.

The likes of the HTC Hero and HTC Magic have taken Android smartphones to another level, with their open source capabilities providing a wealth of applications and programs for everyday use. The HTC Hero boasts an expansive 3.2″ touch screen with the personalisation that lets users tailor their home screen, applications and HTC mobile accessories to their requirements.

Meanwhile the HTC Magic also enables consumers to set their own rules with a multitude of enhancements and Google applications that instantly command attention.

For a great selection of the latest mobile phones and mobile phone accessories, visit online mobile phone specialists, Foneshop.com.

Author: Nick Wilkins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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A high performance exhaust system is one of the easiest and most cost effective modifications you can make to your car. Not only is a high performance exhaust system very effective and affordable, it is also fairy easy to install. These days, due to the rising cost of gas, the subject of gas mileage is on just about every driver’s mind. A high performance exhaust system will help increase mileage too.

If it seems too good to be true that a single modification such as an exhaust system would give so many benefits, it is most definitely not. Even better is that so many of the benefits of a well designed performance exhaust system, such as better performance and gas mileage, are usually mutually exclusive. Not the case here, though. Why are so many advantages to be had by simply installing an exhaust system?

It all comes down to the compromises made by the auto manufacturers. They have to balance many things when designing a vehicle; cost, weight, noise, performance, gas mileage, and a myriad of other things such as supplier relationships. In short, they can’t give you the best exhaust system available because it would raise the price of the vehicle too much. In addition, they have to abide by EPA noise restrictions and build a vehicle for the broadest number of car buyers. That alone requires compromise. The car, or any of its parts, simply can’t be perfect in every respect, for every car buyer.

Once it’s your car, on the other hand, you’re free to make any improvements you see fit. If a nice, low rumble doesn’t bother you, a performance exhaust could be just the answer you’re looking for. Like may performance enhancing modifications, the quality of available systems run the gamut from truly pathetic to finely engineered works of automotive art. Where on the spectrum you want to be is determined by your requirements and budget.

Keep in mind that to properly design exhaust system requires specialized knowledge, equipment and experience. If the system is improperly designed, chances are it will make more noise, but no more power or gas mileage. In fact, due to the high level of factory engineered systems these days, you may even hurt your cars’ performance with a poorly designed exhaust.

Because they are relatively inexpensive, offer decent performance gains, and is easy to install, most people opt for a system that comprises only the system from the rear of the catalytic converter to the exhaust tip. This is known as a “cat back” system. More performance can be had by installing a complete system from the exhaust manifold to the tip, however. You can even install a high performance catalytic converter to maximize performance and fuel economy.

There are some features you should look for when selecting an aftermarket exhaust system. The first is the type of material it’s made of. Any of the better systems will be either coated steel or stainless steel. The standard stainless steel alloy for a high quality exhaust system is T-304, steel alloyed with about 10% nickel and 20% chromium for strength and corrosion resistance.
You may also find exhaust components made from T-409 stainless. While this is a good material, it doesn’t have the strength or corrosion resistance of T-304, so it will exhibit discoloration over time and won’t last as long as a system fabricated from T-304. T-304 is harder to work with and more expensive to procure, so be prepared to pay a premium to buy a system made from it. As with many things in life, if you want high quality, be aware it costs more.

If you are after the finest quality exhaust system, you may find it’s made from T-316L stainless. This has even lower carbon content than T-304, and is used extensively in marine exhaust products, due to its superior corrosion resistance. The absolute best stainless steel material for an exhaust system is T-321 stainless, steel alloyed with the wonder metal titanium. As you might expect, T-321 is extremely expensive, and fairly rare in street exhaust systems, although common in race units, such as IRL and F-1. You’ll also find T-321 used in aircraft construction, where the margin for error is small indeed. If you’re after a price no object exhaust system, you can have one custom fabricated from Inconel 625, a nickel alloy used in construction of the X-15 rocket research plane. No, unless you’re driving a Ferrari, you probably can’t afford it.

Another advantage of stainless steel as an exhaust material is that it conducts heat less readily than does mild steel. This serves as a thermal barrier, keeping exhaust heat inside the exhaust tubes. If you are investing in headers or exhaust manifolds made form stainless, the benefit of the lower thermal conductivity will be better exhaust velocity. The higher velocity will give better scavenging, so you’ll get more complete exhaust flow out of your cylinders. This means more efficient engine operation, increased power and better gas mileage.

If you’re not prepared to pony up for a stainless exhaust system, you can find fine products made from varieties of coated steel, such as aluminized steel or ceramic coated steel. These have some of the properties of stainless, such as corrosion resistance, or, in the case of ceramic coated products, low thermal conductivity.

The next thing to look for in a high performance exhaust is mandrel bending. Mandrel bending ensures the tubes are bent without reducing the diameter, and thus adding restriction. This restriction will hurt exhaust flow, power and efficiency. With mandrel bending, there is actually a piece of tooling (the mandrel) placed inside the tube as it is being bent to prevent the exhaust tube from being reduced in interior diameter. While the best method of forming bends in exhaust tubing, it is quite expensive, and most low priced systems don’t use this method. The performance of the finished system will suffer, however. Some estimates are that for a system with 5 bends, mandrel bending reduces exhaust backpressure by about 30%.

A new high performance exhaust system is one of the fastest, most cost effective performance enhancements you can make to your vehicle. In addition, you’ll reduce weight, save gas, increase longevity, make it look better, and oh, that sound!

Did you know a high performance exhaust system is one of the most popular aftermarket enhancements people make to their vehicles? It’s true! Find out why so many people are enhancing their performance, sound and gas mileage with a high performance exhaust system at the high performance exhuast system guide.

Author: Steve Faber
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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One exciting development to come out of Google’s recent announcement of their Chrome OS has been the support for Trusted Computing through the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip built into the specification from the ground up, but first, a slight aside. There are two operating systems, Chrome OS and Chromium OS, both of which support TPM, and both are basically identical, mirroring the similar Google’s Chrome and Chromium web browsers. The Chrome version is Google’s own branded version, the Chromium is the Open Source public release, but both in theory use the same code base. From here on I will use the more familiar Chrome term, although the applicable version of the browser and operating system is Chromium.

What does Chrome OS and TPM give us?
Trusted Computing, and the TPM, has a really poor image amongst Open Source fans, many of whom love Google, so support for a TPM in their new operating system induces a bit of cognitive dissonance. Do not worry, however, Google Do No Evil, and this philosophy is reflected in their approach. First, support for a TPM is only an option, although since Chromium is Open Source, any vendor can make the TPM mandatory. Next, if a TPM were to be present, the role described follows the Trusted Computing Group’s suggested method of implementing a Trusted Boot, a method that produces nothing more than just a trusted boot log through the use of trusted registers on the TPM.

This means that client applications, and remote servers, can attest to the state of the device and be able to tell if it booted into a known trusted state. Although from one point of view one might throw up one’s hands in horror at third parties checking out the configuration of the TPM and thus one’s operating system, the benefit is for banking applications, for instance, where the bank can query your TPM for the Chrome OS state, and if it decides it is an unknown, thus potentially insecure due to the possibility of spy software on the device, refuse you access to your banking details.

What does Chrome OS and TPM NOT give us?
A TPM does NOT prevent you hacking your device; Google from the get-go recognised that people will want to install not just their own operating system on the device, but also the firmware, so they have provided methods that allow the device to start up under these circumstances too. As the TPM is always a passive chip, there is no way that it can detect an unexpected operating system or firmware and prevent booting, despite what TPM detractors claim.

Indeed, if you have an enlightened bank and can convince them you know what you are doing, they might even offer a way to allow you to register a known-good system state based on your own personal software configuration, thus as described in the previous section, the bank could attest to your own personal TPM plus system configuration, thus accepting your own private device set-up, but detecting anomalies to that personalised configuration.

But why would I want a TPM watching over me?
In most homes there are probably two distinct classes of internet-connectable devices. The first is computers, the second home electronics like televisions or games machines. For private-use computers, TPMs are a bit of a hard sell, but for home electronics, you just want to switch on and have them work; the average user is not interested in anything other than the bog-standard out-of-the-box PlayStation. A device based on Google’s new OS falls more into the second category; you (with you being the average user, not you the leet haxx0r) just want it to work.

However, the internet is a big bad world, and full-time surfing can expose one to all kinds of potentially dangerous content that can infect one’s equipment. By adding a TPM into the mix, you as the user have an extra guarantee that the device is still in a secure and trusted mode. For example, after boot-up the Chrome OS-based device could query the TPM state and use that information to decrypt a message to display at login time, so if you saw a garbled message you could know the device is not in the expected state, then take measures to fix the problem.

Similarly, services you access can also query the state of the TPM within the operating system, and if the state is not recognised, take action to prevent illegal or invalid access.

Finally, since every TPM may have a unique identity, if your device is stolen, there may be systems in place to blacklist particular devices. A blacklisted device may be refused access to certain services, and (note the following is not a function of the TPM, but may be added by developers to an operating system featuring a TPM) then commanded to delete personally-identifiable data on disk or even within the TPM, or even more drastically, have a kill switch flicked, although that is not a very error-tolerant option!

Thus, with the TPM one can build a secure, trustworthy, user-friendly device that just works, like televisions and video recorders just work, thus if you are looking to get a Chrome OS-based tablet, picture frame, notebook computer, or whatever form-factor that appears, be sure to ask the vendor if there is a TPM within the device.

Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson has much experience working on software security and Trusted Computing. He produces Trusted Computing-related material both publicly and privately, and runs the leading blog on the Trusted Computing world, with Google’s Chrome and the TPM being one focus.

Author: Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The more and less commands can be used with the | (verical bar or “pipe” symbol) to pause the output of a Linux command.

Example of Using the Linux more Command

The more command can pause the output of a command, but it doesn’t work as well..

For example, you can’t scroll up in the output of a Linux command with the more command – or search for text in the output of a command.

Run the following command to list the contents of the etc directory, which is off of the / (root) directory – and to see the output “scroll off the top of the screen”.

$ ls -l /etc

Now run the following command example to pause the output of the ls command so that it doesn’t “scroll off the top of the screen”.

Be sure to type in the | (vertical bar) between /etc and more.

$ ls -l /etc | moreLinux Commands Training Tips:

The vertical bar “|” symbol is usually below the Backspace key on your keyboard and is referred to as the “pipe” symbol. It is used to “pipe” the output of one command into another command. In this case, you are “piping” the output of the less command to the more command.

Press the Spacebar a few times to scroll down a “screenful”.

Press the up arrow key and then the Page Up key and see that you can’t scroll up.

Press q to quit out of the Linux more command.

Example of Using the Linux less Command

Now run the less command example below to pause the output of the ls command.

Make sure you type in the | (vertical bar) between /etc and less.

$ ls -l /etc | less

This shows the first “page” or “screenful” of the file.

Press the Spacebar to see the next “screen” of output.

Now press the down arrow key a few times, then the up arrow, then press the Page Down key and the Page Up key.

Press the End key to go to the end of the output and then Home to go to the top of the output.

And now I would like to offer you free access to my Linux Commands Training Mini-Course, a 7 Lesson, Daily Mini-Course, including the free Linux Commands ebook and Linux audio podcasts – showing you how to get started learning how to use Linux commands.

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From Clyde Boom – The Easy Linux Training Guy – Easy, self-paced Linux training – In Plain English!

Author: Clyde E. Boom
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Open source development is related developers collaboratively producing software for the free distribution, improvement, and use of anyone willing to abide by the software license-such as the GNU General Public License (GPL) or Lesser General Public License (LGPL). Commercial software, by contrast, is developed by programmers employed by one company (or in partnership with many companies) for the purpose of creating a package that will be sold and whose code is protected through various intellectual property mechanisms, such as a patent and/or a copyright, making that code inaccessible to the purchaser.

The open source model offers “better” software and encourages innovation. The developers contribute to open  projects to gain reputation among their peers. Some of them gain money through donations from users or through support/maintenance or training contracts. Solutions using this model have lower cost and are perfect for startups and home users.

Cost, security and flexibility are the most important advantages. Open source solutions, with their source code available for public scrutiny, is inherently more secure than commercial software solutions, whose source code is not published. Developers will find vulnerabilities in the code and fix them. Most of the open software has large active communities behind their development. They can be more secure than commercial software.

Those solutions are more flexible for customers compared to commercial software stems from the ability of a customer to examine the source code and make the necessary alterations to the code to effect changes in the behavior of the system desired by the customer. This also allows the technically-savvy customer to potentially identify any problems in the system and to make his own changes or fixes to the software to rectify the problem.

Bug fixes for those solutions come from a greater variety of sources. They may be developed through community effort and distributed through channels such as discussion groups. Such fixes may be iteratively refined and improved on by the community if the initial fixes do not correct the bug completely.

OpenOffice.org, Apache, and Linux are the most famous and most used  solutions. They are widely used and well known for their stability compared to Microsoft commercial products.

Lots of commercial firms market free solutions and make money on support. An example is Trixbox. It is an IP PBX with the community edition distributed for free while the professional edition comes with additional features and support is provided for a fee.

Wikipedia uses the mediawiki developed by the Wikimedia foundation. The foundation is running this huge encyclopedia relying on donations to survive with volunteer developers working for free.

Facebook is using also the same development model for its development. The PHP server side scripting is used and their site is hosted on Apache web server on a Linux server.

Conclusion

The open source and commercial software development and business models have complemented each other in a number of aspects. Nonetheless, the debate continues to rage on with regards to which model is “superior”.

Open source  is on a roll. A Saugatuck Research survey showed nearly 50% of businesses plan to use Linux for mission-critical systems by 2012, vs. just 18% in 2007.

Youssef Kassab is a computer expert specialized in Open source solutions. If you need any help don’t hesitate to visit my personal website and contact me http://www.youssefkassab.me/. You can also visit my personal blog on the following URL http://www.youssefkassab.info/ to read my articles about general issues.

Author: Youssef Kassab
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Here are some addition thoughts on Microsoft’s Technology Summit (MTS07). I wanted to jot down some thoughts, what I learned, and what the role of Microsoft will be in the coming years for the evolution of the Web and open source. (This essay was also posted to Techweb here.)
http://www.informationweek.com/software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198702233

Microsoft still has this love/hate relationship with the Mac. Some of the presenters deliberately brought Macs, including one who ran Vista under Parallels. Yet when someone asked if anyone had tested interop of Vista with Mac OS X, it was clear that this wasn’t a focus. (And for those of us that have both, a continuing frustration.) For Microsoft to succeed, the Mac has to move from being a poster child OS, a necessary evil and some annoying relative to be tolerated to an actual strategic direction and integral to the company’s success. The people that have moved to Mac desktops are canaries in the coal mine. They aren’t happy with Windows for very real reasons (blue screen and security sinkholes come to mind). It continues to be a platform that is used by many developers.

There is a growing emphasis on interoperability at Microsoft, and they are clearly spending a lot of resources on projects (such as Windows and other OSs, new versions of Windows networking protocols, and new programming languages with older ones) but there is still room for improvement. You can never do too much interop testing. Interop is getting more attention, but still isn’t infused into the core culture yet.

Microsoft is a company of coders, and they respond best to an audience full of coders too. Coders are the heart and soul of what drives this place. They have always understood what developers do and think and eat and drink. Speaking of which, during one of the presentations, an Outlook reminder popped up on screen that listed as overdue the items “eat dinner” and “go home.” That resonated amongst the geeks in attendance.

But let’s face it — in the past several years, developers have moved away from writing code for single-PC applications and Microsoft still doesn’t quite get this whole Internet thing. “We didn’t understand open source and didn’t use the correct words back in 2005,” said Bill Hilf, one of their head open source advocates. During the meetings, the audience took them to task about lack of enthusiasm for various open source projects. I found it interesting that most – not all, but most — of the presenters still were viewing open source as competing with some Microsoft product offering. They need to realize that people are going to use both, and want not only choice but also the ability to freely code in both MS and open source projects. Don Box, one of the developer evangelists, semi-seriously said, “I humbly apologize on behalf of the 70,000 owner operators of Microsoft for the statements our CEO makes to scare all the open source people.” But there was an element of truth of course behind it.

The more that Microsoft can make this ambidexterity possible and successful, the more software they will sell. Some of the presenters clearly understood this, but others still characterize things as “us” versus “them”. Because Microsoft is a big company, it is hard sometimes to identify when or how a particular program or project will ultimately drive bottom-line revenue. Is getting more people to write .Net code going to bring in more bucks than getting more people to buy more Windows servers? Is getting Windows better at running PHP going to drive more revenue than getting Windows to become a more secure Internet-facing OS? I dare say that these aren’t easy or simple decisions, and sometimes they don’t get it right the first time.

What is clear is that Microsoft “is the most fanatically self-critical company that I have ever worked for,” says Hilf. They spend time even examining other people’s code, just so they can learn from their mistakes, at least according to Michael Howard, their security czar. “But I don’t want you to love me, I just want you to buy more of my software, ” says Hilf. Note in that statement is the assumption that we are already buying their stuff. But not enough: “We have failed to convey the power of our platform with the elite,” said Sanjay Parthasarathy, the uber-evalengist and programming manager.

They are trying to regain Web thought leadership with IE7 and IIS7, but the open source group (or at least the group that was assembled) has moved on to Firefox and LAMP. “Seventy percent of the Web sites are scripted with PHP and under 20% of those are deployed on IIS,” says Sam Ramji, the director of their open source labs. “We are losing these developers and doing something wrong.” Many of the attendees that I spoke to had a “nothing to see, let’s move along” attitude about IE and IIS: they haven’t used the new versions, didn’t really care, and weren’t interested. I surprisingly learned that a full copy of IIS7 has been shipping in Vista – did I miss that memo? Gotta wonder with all the stuff that I read (and wrote) about Vista, why this key factoid eluded me until now.

Part of the problem (for Microsoft) with Web development today is that it is too pluralistic. Microsoft thrives best when it can focus on a single competitor – Don Box mentioned how they are laser focused on Google, made even more ironic by a developer who works for Google sitting right next to me. “We are a lot of little companies inside here and one of them will figure out a way to crush Google. Still, they are the best thing that happened to us, and are going to make us better.” But focusing on Google isn’t the only answer, and the problem with open source is that a thousand flowers are growing out there, and maybe ten or a hundred of them will bloom and blossom into something useful. It is getting harder to keep track.

A corollary to this is that the c2007 world of programming is all about being able to teach new programmers how to learn new languages. This is somewhat of a challenge for the compsci departments of today, who are trying to find a new curriculum and state of purpose for their students. No one knows this better than Microsoft. Kevin Schofield, who runs Microsoft Research, called Microsoft “the world’s largest compsci department.” They have published almost a paper a day for the past 15 years.

It was quite a learning experience this week. I apologize if these are more like notes than a coherent essay, but I am still digesting what I heard, and reading the various blogs of the attendees and presenters. I have posted links to all of these discussions (Ben and Travis have the most complete coverage of the MTS meetings) on my strominator.com blog here:
http://tinyurl.com/267muy

David Strom is a noted speaker, author, and consultant. His blog can be found at http://strominator.com, and he can be reached at david@strom.com

Author: David Strom
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The higher education sector is quite unlike other industries. It has its own processes and a different set of demands. Most commercial proprietary application vendors develop their applications focused on a wider domain spread across industries. This, academics complain, creates a distinct disconnect between software vendors and the end-users in academia.

To overcome these shortcomings, the education industry started looking to “open source” as an alternate model. Around a decade back, institutions started debating total cost of ownership in adopting an open source based community approach vis-à-vis proprietary applications, viability of open source based business models, sustainability and security issues.

The success of community developed open source software is quite well established. Linux and Apache are ample proof of its success. A similar trend, though not that widespread in its reach, can be traced to the development of community projects in education like the Moodle and Sakai.

Through the course of its formative years, the open source community based approach in education has developed several alternative models. Some of these models and schools of thought have thrived and been implemented successfully across a significant spectrum of the industry. Progress and success in open source projects like the Sakai, Moodle, Kuali, uPortal, Shibboleth, and many more are being closely watched by the industry.

Community Source Model

One school of thought believes that open source sharing is more a philosophical approach than a viable alternative. The adoption of open source in higher education seems to suggest otherwise. FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software) communities are thriving well in learning environments too.

The FLOSS model has been extensively used in initiatives like the MIT OpenCourseWare and Open Source Biology. Project Gutenberg, the Wikipedia, The Open Dictionary project are prime examples of how open source has been successfully adapted to education initiatives.

In a community source project, multiple institutions come together to partner in the project. All partners contribute financially as well as in employing human resources for the effort. In the early stages, the partnering institutions provide all design and development efforts and only in subsequent stages is the project opened to the broader community. This way, the initial support is secured and the institutions have a substantial influence in deciding how the application is modeled and designed.

The initial focus of community source projects is on collaboration between institutions. The focus in the crucial first stages is therefore to form a common economic outlook and an appropriate administrative framework rather than forming a community around a shared code. Most community based open source projects slowly migrate to open source in the later stages.

The Sakai project, for example, started as a joint effort between four institutions (Michigan, Indiana, MIT and Stanford). The initial agenda was to set up a framework of common goals that would produce appropriate software based on an agreed list of objectives. The scope for participation was later increased by forming the Sakai Educational Partners Program (SEPP), whereby other institutions can join and participate in the community for a small fee.

The Current Landscape

An education enterprise like any organization has its own needs ranging from resource planning to budgeting. Additionally, they have typical requirements like the need to integrate with financial aid programs of the government, multiple payroll cycles, and student information systems (SIS) that handle admissions, grades, transcripts, student records as well as billing. All these call for robust ERP systems. Until recently, colleges and universities mostly rely on either custom-developed systems that are more than 15 years old, or have transitioned to commercial products from vendors like Oracle, SAP, PeopleSoft or vendors like SunGard that are geared towards the higher education market.

Kuali Financials was borne due to the lack of open source solutions Enterprise applications in the higher education sector are comprised of a mix of some proprietary application vendors and some key open source community initiatives. PeopleSoft, Oracle, SunGard and Datatel are some key vendors that offer tightly integrated ERP packages for the education sector.

Recent consolidation in the industry, like the acquisition of PeopleSoft by Oracle and of WebCT, Angel, etc by Blackboard, has caused considerable unease in the education fraternity. The concern stems from the fear that the trend of consolidation would lead to the monopoly of a few key vendors. The plans of these vendors to offer tightly integrated systems heightens the fear that this will provide an unfair leverage to these vendors as it would extend the community’s dependence on them.

One area of concern about proprietary applications is a seeming disconnect between the industry and software application developers. Institutions also have strong reservations about the currently available administrative software and course management systems. The feeling is that applications provided by vendors such as SAP and PeopleSoft are adapted from other industries and does not work well for educational enterprises. Moreover, the proprietary nature of the applications implies that the source code is not available and customization efforts involve substantial costs.

In the context of such a wide breadth of requirements, open source can prove to be a viable alternative. In fact, these constraints provided the impetus for open source initiatives in higher education. Some of the success has helped provide a strong foundation to building an alternative support model for the education industry.

In the Sakai project, the participating institutions decided to integrate and synchronize their educational software into a pre-integrated collection of open source tools termed Collaborative Learning Environment (CLE). Sakai has active implementations running at multiple institutes including the University of Michigan and Indiana University.

In parallel, Sakai also established a set of activity based communities that have spawned an active cooperation between the industry and application vendors. The Sakai Educational Partners Program allows educational institutions to participate in the program for a small fee. Besides, there are the Sakai Commercial Affiliates, who offer fee-based services for installation, integration and support..

Kuali, on the other hand, mainly addresses aspects of educational administration. The Kuali Financial System (KFS) is the most prominent application. It handles administrative and operational tasks like general accounting, purchasing, salary and benefits, budgeting, asset management and grants. The system is designed around modules that enable it to be tweaked to work with existing commercial applications. For example, at Indiana University, Kuali applications work together with PeopleSoft’s HR and student system. The Kuali Foundation is a non-profit consortium of multiple universities and some hardware and software companies. The Kuali Commercial Affiliate program operates on similar lines like its Sakai counterpart. The community has been growing and now includes the University of California, Cornell, Michigan State University, San Joaquin Delta College (Calif.), and The University of Arizona.

Significantly, according to the 2008 Campus Computing Survey, around 13.8 percent of the survey participants have already identified an Open Source LMS – either Moodle or Sakai – as the campus standard LMS.

Besides these, several other projects offer SIS functionality. For example, openSIS manages student demographics, scheduling, attendance, grades, transcripts, and health records, and its parent company makes add-on modules to support additional features like disciplinary tracking, billing, food service, and bulk email/SMS messaging for emergency contact.

Other Key intiaitives are

JaSig community developing uPortal, and CAS (Central Authentication Services) two components serving as input to Kuali Rice.

Internet2 – A consortium led by universities working in partnership with industry and government to develop and deploy advanced network applications and technologies including products such as Shibboleth and Grouper

Open Source Curricula

As with any “open source” activity, open source curricula by its very definition is one that can be freely used, distributed and modified. A model like this would seemingly be antithetic to the concept of higher education as it strikes at the credibility of the education environment. Campus education is designed to operate as a structured learning methodology. The concept of community collaboration involving academics and students on the same platform brings a lot of unpredictability into the scenario

However, FLOSS communities (Free/Libre and Open Source Software) in education have proved to be quite successful. A key principle of this learning approach is its root in adapting it to the context of ones’ experience. With its stress on learners and their preferences, this learning approach focuses more on learning by collaboration, communication and sharing.

Significant initiatives include the Connexions Project at Rice University, the OpenCourseWare project at MIT and the social learning medium of Wikipedia.

The FLOSS approach in higher education has been operating in combination with traditional teacher centered approaches. The objectives of the FLOSS approach are not to replace traditional methods but to achieve synergies in combination and offer the learner an enhanced learning environment.

The ‘FLOSS-like education transfer report’ published in September 2008, as part of the FLOSSCOM project, notes that FLOSS communities can create effective learning environments. The study has also come up with three different approaches that could be combined effectively with traditional teaching approaches.

Economic Models of Open Source

One aspect that clearly marks the adoption of open source as a winner is the fact that in this scenario, the developers are most often also the users of the software. This removes the perceived disconnect between the developer community and the end-users unlike in the case of proprietary applications. However, this is less evident in the case of administrative applications like payroll or HR. In such cases, adoption of open source has to be a directed process.

Initiatives like the Kuali project have proved that open source can also build up sustainable models that provide adequate support mechanisms. In such models, there is active collaboration between the community that comprises not only developers and end-users, but also an extended support group comprising commercial vendors. These support groups are available to offer timely support to mission critical applications. The community approach also ensures that the code is not closed and that an active community of interest ensures that enhancements keep happening as necessitated.

Projects like uPortal have been developed with minimal resources but are deployed across hundreds of institutions. The community approach has proved sustainable as in the case of the Sakai project. In terms of funding, the Sakai project garnered an investment of $6.8 million over two years.

The viability of the open source, community based model stems not from the monetary or cost aspects but principally the adaptability that it offers. The debate over cost of ownership between commercially available proprietary software and open source applications is yet to be proved empirically. However, the fact that the code is open means it can be easily adapted to suit new requirements and does not involve significant investments in terms of customization or enhancements. This does make significant economic sense in the longer term.

The case for open source in higher education is nicely documented in a study by the Alliance for Higher Education Competitiveness. In a 2005 study report titled, ‘Will Open Source Software Become an Important Institutional Strategy in Higher Education?’ Rob Abel notes how open source is a “great fit for higher education”. The study, based on an analysis of open source projects in education, opines that the community-based approach is an interesting model that also helps reduce the inherent risks in adopting an open source approach.

As for the cost model, the study notes that while open source has helped generate cost savings in the range of 20 to 30 percent for the commercial sector, the same may not be entirely true in education. The community-based approach, the writer notes, with its associated participation fees, may prove only marginally beneficial in terms of costs. Institutions that have their own infrastructure and resources may however, benefit from substantially reduced costs from their open source initiatives.

The Future

Open source has proved to be adaptable and a reliable platform for collaboration and learning. In their quest for ideal application software to handle administrative, operational and education platforms, most CIOs are looking at interoperability, reliability and scalability of applications. Applications like the Sakai and Kuali have proved beyond doubt that open source applications offer great configurability.

Development communities and the support of commercial vendors, as in the case of Kuali and Sakai, fuel a greater rate of innovation. Moreover, the advantage that is offered by collaboration also provides an impetus to continued improvement of the system. Support systems and enhancements for future requirements are ensured.

On the question of how to approach or adopt open source as a model, the answer would depend on the needs, the infrastructure and the means available to an institution. The community development model has shown that costs can be broadly distributed amongst participants. Experience shows that universities and colleges can collaborate to produce open source software that caters to their needs in a way that is superior to some commercial products. The collaborative model enables educational institutions to pool their financial and technical resources. Moreover, a larger community ensures that the applications are tested in a variety of testing environments, thus aiding in building robust solutions.

In term of core academics, learning systems will evolve to accommodate formative assessments and evaluation outside the classroom. Many higher education institutions have taken the lead of MIT and are offering online course materials that are accessible by anyone, free of cost. It has been adopted at Yale, Notre Dame, Tufts and Stanford School of Engineering, to name a few. The United Nations has launched an initiative that would leverage social media technologies and ideas to offer higher education opportunities to people who would otherwise not be able to afford the costs.

Commercially, open source projects have taken their first steps in the marketplace. The model is evolving aided by some significant commercial vendor backing. For the community-based open source approach to prosper, substantial financial backing is an absolute necessity to prevent it from faltering and to avoid the pitfalls that arise form source code being easily modifiable and rebranded by a different vendor. From the commercial perspective, projects like Sakai and the Kuali Foundation are likely to thrive as they have substantial stakeholders from both the academic and the corporate world.

What could derail further adoption? There are several potential risk areas:

• Lack of understanding of entry points for adoption
• Lack of support to adopt the applications
• Minimal staff to support the applications
• Lack of training / documentation to train staff
• A “runaway” project that consumes much press and develops a negative bias toward the project

Many of these risks may be mitigated though co-operative initiatives between the foundations developing the open source solutions and commercial affiliates looking to support the solutions – and develop complementation solutions. Some examples:

• Further publicity through conventional, non-education related channels such as Google and industry-based sites such as edu1world
• Furrther innovation and cooperation – whether through ‘summer of code’ collaborations; or community collaborations that will transform the current listservs to more accessible forums
• Commercial affiliates offering training and webinars
• Commercial affiliates offering ease of use entry points, such as pre-installed servers or virtual images that can be downloaded and used out of the box

In conclusion, open source initiatives in higher education have a long way to go before they enter the commercial mainstream in a significant fashion. However, with industry and academic collaboration, it has a great potential to change the higher education landscape in the longer term.

About Innovativ Consulting Partners: Innovativ Consulting Partners is one of the leading education consultants in the country. Innovativ provides consulting services to clients in the Higher Education and Public Sector industries. Innovativ is a premier Open Source consultant and provides products and services to support Kuali solutions. The Innovativ team have delivered Drupal consulting services and led successful implementations for clients within the Education and Public Sector industries Innovativ is an Oracle Partner

For more information, visit: http://www.innovativcp.com, email: info@innovativcp.com or call 800-787-1889.

Author: Anthony DiSanza
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Overtime most browsers may start to run slow. It is not just Chrome running slow but many other browsers have also been found to run slower at times. Not only this the web browsers may even totally crash due to some strange errors in Windows. Internet browsers are prone to catch errors not just from computer but from internet itself. Thus they need our special care. The same is true if you have noticed Google Chrome slow processing in your system.

The following tips will help you to deal with slow running Chrome:

1-Clear cache. Whenever you end a browsing session make it your habit to clear cache so that all cookies are removed.

2-Clear history. Also clear history from time to time and do not allow URLs to accumulate in your Chrome history files.

3-Get rid of excessive toolbars. Often times there are some heavy plugins and toolbars running with your browser which can make any browser such as Chrome slow.

4-Clean Windows Registry. Fix and clean Windows registry, which is an information storing component of Windows, to fix Google Chrome slow speed.

Follow all the tips that are described above.

It is highly recommended that you repair Windows registry because it not only lets Google Chrome run faster but it also prevents it from crashing.

Some errors in the registry such as the file association errors become the cause of files not opening properly. Google Chrome has also been found to show these errors.

Repairing registry can prevent these errors as well as eliminating spyware effect from the Windows registry database. This effect, if not removed, can wreck havoc on the system as a whole.

If the Google’s Chrome is Slow in your system conduct a registry scan with RegInOut and turn slow Google Chrome into a faster web browser. Download RegInOut: Here.

Author: A. Honey
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Windows 2000 and Linux are both coming up as popular choices of software but still some caution needs to be followed while choosing anyone of them. There are a large number of guidelines that need to be kept in mind while picking up any one of them. The websites of the alpha Net run comfortably on this software because of its stability. Linux has been considered as a better choice for the operating system based web servers. It has been discovered that it is a very trustworthy and stable system.

It is right for the competing choices of mail and web servers. If you are quite confident about the usage of your web publishing software, then you can use any web host and the choice entirely lies up to you.

Your operating system has got nothing to do with the web host. The application used by you is a very important question that can determine your needs of web hosting. If the scripting languages used by you are MySQL, Perl and PHP, then an ideal choice would be Linux. If you want to make use of the Microsoft based applications, then Windows is the perfect choice for you. It is truly a perfect choice given the wide range of Microsoft applications. Let us take an example. If your site is providing the information as it is listed in a brochure or a newsletter, then Linux can really serve your needs.

These sites provide some information through the brochures in the form of enquiry forms and can include all the E-commerce applications. Sites offering online purchasing should opt for a Linux based software. The Linux based systems are far more stable than the windows systems. It is believed that a site, which is hosted on this platform, can have an unbelievable amount of uptime. It is as high as 99.9%. The power supply and the network loads are also quite important for determining the uptime of the system. Another factor, which decides the choice, is the low cost of a Linux based package as compared to Windows.

Since the Linux is an open source it is often available to you free of cost. It also has a full-notched application and has low costs of distribution. It also consists of some desktop uses that accompany the operating system. Some of the server applications, which are usually free under this software, are Web Server, FTP, File Server and DNS Server. Their stability levels are quite high. On the downside, Linux based web server is not fully companionable with Microsoft technologies. If you require any specialist applications for web site development, opt for Windows.

When it comes to web hosting, it is easy to opt for a Linux based system. It is easier to upload the Linux based system.

Anand is a webmaster for Cheap Hosting India visit: http://hosting.b4uindia.com

Author: Anand Maheshwari
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Many people are interested in Linux, but still find themselves feeling intimidated by what they think of as a “geek” or “technical” operating system. Thankfully, times have changed and Linux has come a long way. You can jump in and test the power of Linux quickly, easily, and safely.

There are different varieties of Linux, called “distributions.” You can pick from any number of distributions with all kinds of features. One of the most popular distributions is Ubuntu Linux. It’s called “Linux for Human Beings” because it’s made to be easy and intuitive to use.

You can get Ubuntu for any computer – a desktop or notebook computer. There are several variations: a standard installation for your home computer, a server installation for enterprise solutions, even a version focused on intense media production. But the best version for an absolute beginner to start with is the Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

The Ubuntu Netbook Remix is an attractive, easy to use interface that will have you loving Linux in no time. Your netbook has the advantage of being pretty standardized – almost all netbooks use the same hardware. The outside may look different, but what’s on the inside is most likely the same regardless of what company manufactured your netbook. This standardized technology makes it easy for the Ubuntu Netbook Remix to shine. The programmers don’t have to worry about adding in the configurations for hundreds of thousands of different hardware combinations like they need to with the standard Linux operating systems.

What does this mean for you? It means you get an efficient and awesome little operating system that will fit your netbook perfectly.

The interface of the Ubuntu Netbook Remix is really well-thought out. It’s easy to use and it generally works “out of the box,” meaning the only configuration you need to do is adding all the programs you want.

You can customize and personalize to your heart’s content. The Netbook Remix has none of the ridiculous limitations of the Windows Starter Edition. You can change wallpaper and themes without needing to install any third-party software.

Many people want Windows even with the limitations placed on the Starter Edition. That’s OK, because Linux plays well with Windows. You can easily and safely create a “dual-boot” system that will allow you to pick which operating system you want to enter each time you start up your computer.

Once you boot into Ubuntu you’ll see that your desktop is neatly laid out into categories. You’ll see a “favorites” tab where you can add all your favorite programs for easy use. Next you’ll see a tab for your files and folders. Under that tab are several other tabs representing different groups of software, such as Office, Graphics, and Internet. Click on each of these tabs to see the wide variety of software Ubuntu has to suit your needs.

If you don’t see what you need, just click the Ubuntu Software Store in your Favorites tab to browse for a free program that will meet your needs. Chances are, you already have what you need to get going right away – the Firefox web browser is installed by default, as is the Open Office word processor and Spreadsheet (both compatible with the Microsoft Office suite.) You’ll also find photo-management software, a media players, and an email client.

Spend some time looking through your new Linux operating system. It’s easy to use and looks amazing. If you want to dabble more in the technical side of Linux you can – a terminal is always ready for you and you’ll find a lot of help online for whatever you want to do. But if you’re not quite ready for that you can still enjoy an attractive, functional system that just works with the Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

Kristen loves ranting and raving, so writing suits her perfectly. Visit her newest site http://www.bestheadset.org/ where she details the best headset for your unique situation.

Author: Kristen Burgess
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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There are a lot of benefits to using a Linux operating system. Linux is very powerful and easily customizable. But you often need to continue using a program or two on your Windows computer even after you’re mostly using Linux. Even if you’re using Linux strictly, others in your household may still be using Windows computers, or other Linux computers. Learning to network your computers together is very beneficial. Thankfully the newest versions of Ubuntu Linux have also made it pretty easy.

First, you need to understand that networking your Ubuntu Linux computer to your Windows computer will be different than networking two Ubuntu computers. We’ll cover the Ubuntu/Windows network first.

Unfortunately Microsoft, the company that makes Windows, has decided they really want Windows to be the only operating system around. Therefore Windows computers do not recognize or “play nicely” with Linux computers. Microsoft just ignores the fact that you may not want to have only Windows computers. This leaves setting your network to Linux. The solution to this issue is to fool your Windows computer into thinking your Ubuntu computer is a Windows computer too!

You do this through a program called Samba. Samba is an excellent little program that helps your Windows computer see your Linux computer. It also opens up your Windows computer on the Ubuntu computer, and it allows printer sharing so you can use your printer across your entire home network.

The easiest way to get Samba up and running on your Ubuntu machine is to pick a folder you’d like to share. We’ll say you want to share your “Pictures” folder. Open up your home folder and then “right click” on the “Pictures” folder.

A small menu will pop up. Click on “Sharing Options” near the bottom of the list. Another window will pop up. The window is labeled “Folder Sharing” – check the box and hit the “Create Share” button. You’ll be prompted that you need to install Samba. Go ahead and confirm the installation.

That’s it! Your Samba install is up and running and you should be able to browse your Linux computer’s shared folders on your Ubuntu computer. You’ll also see the shared folders on your Windows computer if you go to “Network” in your Ubuntu Places menu.

If you need more advanced sharing functionality (such as mapped drives) there is a thread on the Ubuntu forums that will help you: Howto: Setup Samba.

Now what do you do if you have two Ubuntu computers that you want to share files on? Samba is made for Windows computers, so your Ubuntu computers “talk” in a different way. Luckily, it’s easy. Open any folder on your Ubuntu computer. The folder navigation program is called Nautilus. You’ll see an address bar in Nautilus just over your folder windows. If you don’t see an address bar where you can type, click the little pencil icon next to your folder name. It will turn into an address bar. Use the Backspace or Delete key to clear the address. Now you want to enter your other Ubuntu computer’s address. You need to know the IP Address of the other Ubuntu computer, which you can find easily by opening a terminal and typing “ifconfig.” Then enter the address in your Nautilus Window:

ftp://192.168.10.165/home/YourUserName

Replace the IP Address with the IP for your other Ubuntu computer, and “YourUserName” with whatever your user name is. This will open your home directory (enter your username and password for that computer) and you can browse and get the files you need. Click “Bookmarks” in the Nautilus menu bar to save this location to your Nautilus bookmarks to get to easily.

Ubuntu Linux has come a long way in making it easy to get your home network up and running. A few steps and you’ll be browsing files and sharing printers with no problem!

Kristen really enjoys speaking her mind – and writing about it in her articles. Visit her newest website at http://www.kitchenaidgrainmill.org/ to find out more about what she thinks of the Kitchenaid grain mill and other grain mill information.

Author: Kristen Burgess
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Linux is a very popular platform. Not just because it is free but also because it is reliable and supports anything you can imagine. A popular setup is a Linux server without any graphical user interface. It can be used for web hosting, as a file server, as a database server, or for anything you need. Most people comfortable with Windows operating system are afraid to start thinking in a different way. In fact, installing and using Linux is pretty simple.

Once you decide to go for it you have already made the first step. The next step is to get some basic information about installing Linux. There are many Linux distributions. One that is very popular is Ubuntu. Simply Google for “ubuntu server” and learn about what do you need to install Linux. In general, things are pretty simple. You can install Linux on almost any machine. Your old computer that was replaced some time ago is a perfect choice for Linux. You only need some space on the hard drive, a CD or DVD drive, a network card and a lot of patience.

The first step is to make a bootable CD with the latest Ubuntu server image. Download the image file and burn it on a CD. Then you boot your computer with this CD and start installing Linux. It is a good idea to do this installation next to your main computer with internet accesses. This way you will be able to browse for any problem you may encounter. The most important thing you should know is that for every question you may have, there is an answer on some web page waiting for you. You only have to find it.

The installation process is pretty straight-forward. If you don’t understand what the installer is asking you then simply select the default option. Of course, you can also ask Google for it and then choose appropriate option. You should understand that the Linux principle is very different from the Windows one. But once you become familiar with Linux shell and basic commands it will be very easy to work with Linux and to install and configure new software.

Having a Linux server is a great upgrade to your home network. This server will be your reliable storage for large peer-to-peer files, web server for website development or a computer to play with. And remember, sooner or later you will encounter a problem. Something will not work or you will not know how to change some setting. All you have to do is to search for the answer on the web. Web pages offer a giant encyclopedia on Linux.

The author is a big Linux fan and all his websites were developed on a home Linux server. One such project is http://hydronicfloorheating.org/ which offers some basic information on Hydronic Floor Heating.

Author: Jan Pascal
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Some of the best ways to optimize Windows is to just flat out turn off some the useless or unneeded services that run by default on every Windows base install. One such service is the Indexing service included in every install of Windows. it is probably one of the most useless services found running in the background of Windows and that is saying quite a lot if you ask me.

What is does is it indexes files as they are saved to your hard drive so when you search your drives the search can be completed faster. I find that very few people actually use this feature and to top it off I have tried multiple searches with and without this enabled and the difference is none or so small you will never see it if you do use that function. This service will however slow your machine down as every single file will be indexed as you save it to the hard drive. Stopping this service is a very highly encouraged optimization.

On how to stop this service you will need to click the start menu button found in the lower left part of your screen. Once you do that then click computer. You should enter Windows Explorer and be able to see your hard drive(s), any floppy and/or CD/DVD ROM drive(s) among others. Right click your hard drive ( you may have more than one and this needs to be done to each ) and click the properties option at the bottom of the pop up. On this pop up you will see a check box that has “Index this drive for faster searching”. Uncheck this box and click apply. This can take a while, but is worth it. While you are on this page you can run disk cleanup to help with stuffed hard drives. This to can take a long time, but will help in long run.

Also while you have this pop up box open you may want to click the tab that says Tools at the top of it. On this new tab you have options to check your disks for errors, which can be helpful at times, and also to defragment your hard drive(s). Defragmenting your hard drive(s) is a common, very basic optimization that many people either forget about or never knew about. All Windows filesystems save files on the disk in clusters that are in sequential order. This is fine as long as you never delete a file, but that isn’t realistic. Easy way to explain this is to take four files, lets give them names of A, B, and C for simplicity sake. File A takes up 3 spaces on the disk, B is next to it at 2 spaces and C occupies 5 spaces. If you delete file B and then save a new file such as D that would take up 3 spaces, Windows will delete B and fill in its spot with the first 2 parts of D and place the third part after file C. This forces the computer to read the first 2 parts of D and then move over C to read the next part decreasing read times and hurting overall performance of any program using file D. This is called fragmentation and can become a huge problem over the course of years or even months. This is why defragmenting your hard drive(s) is so important to system performance. This process will move all pieces of a file and place them next one another so they can be read much more efficiently.

Troubleshooting Windows can be as easy as using the built in help and support feature in Windows or by using google to search the error message you got so you can find what others have done to correct the issue you are facing. Windows also has a recovery console if you have the original install disk, you just put it in and turn on the computer. Unless your BIOS has been altered it should either boot from the disk or ask you if want to. Each issue has its own way of being solved so a broad troubleshooting guide can not fit in this article.

There are many programs out there that offer a variety of services. Many are free and a few of those actually do what they say they will. Some of the best for some samples of each type are as follows:

SpyWare removal:

SpyBot search and destroy- includes passive protection built into browsers

Ad-Aware-can be used in tandem with Spybot to catch more spy/malware

Virus protectors and scanners:

Avira-usually rated as a close second on free virus protectors and the one I use most often.

AVG-is usually in 3rd place, but has made a strive forward and is closing the gap.

Avast-has been the best free virus protector for a while and is rated better than most and equal to the best paid virus protectors out there.

Office applications:

Openoffice- can save files in Microsoft Office format if that is your thing so less worries on that side, but Sun Microsystems, which produces this free open source software, has been recently bought out by Oracle. This may endanger this project, I advise getting this software while it is still widely available.

Messengers:

Of course the usual of msn, yahoo, etc. etc.

Pidgin-Can be used to connect to all the most popular messenger system around from one program.

Lastly to be discussed here is the operating systems besides Windows. Most Windows converts have went to Apple’s Operating System which is based off of the same unix kernal that bsd and linux are. I have seen many say Mac has more in common with the BSD OSs than with the linux ones as of late. If you haven’t tried these operating system I can offer you some guidance here. Make sure you read some literature on each before you attempt to use these as this will save you a lot of headaches, also look at each ones forums and read what problems new users of each one are having as an idea of what you may be facing. Apple has been closing the gap on being able to run the same programs offered to Windows users and much of their software database is actually superior to Windows. I can’t speak much on BSD as I have not had a lot of time to spend with it, but I can make a few suggestions on the linux side.

Linux has many different distros available, most even have a live CD you can download and burn for free with software like cdburnerxp and boot from. that way you can try out the software before you install to your hard drive. Ubuntu and Fedora are 2 that jump to the front of my mind when I think of linux. Ubuntu has made strides to be more convert friendly than Fedora, but that isn’t to say Fedora is hard to learn. Both distros have matured alot in last few years and are happy to live next to windows in a dual-boot environment of you so choose. Ubuntu is the more user friendly of the 2 while Fedora is more bleeding edge. I recommend trying both as live cds and making your mind up from there. If they are almost what you are looking for then take a look at www.distrowatch.com for links to other just as capable OSs.

http://www.rechelp.com

This is my website I have setup to help others help themselves when it comes enjoying your computers more fully, visit and leave feedback as this will help the site provide more of the content you want to see.

Author: Randall Carter
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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