Apps of the future

Computers are the future. How many time have you heard that? Well computers are the "Now". I am here to tell you. All the stuff you see in the movies
about what the hottest or craziest program that will come in our somewhat near future is here. Today I wanna talk about some future apps that are here already and how they can weave themselves into your world

1. Interactivity and Crowd Sourcing –Wikipedia is a great example of crowd sourcing. But as the trend has become more commonplace, people have come up with increasingly more creative ways to use it. Take Dahlia Lithwick, for example. By day, unassuming Supreme Court reporter, but for her special project, she decided to write her novel (Saving Face) using input from her Facebook Fans. From the other end of the spectrum, budding inventors can use the power of crowds to think up, develop, manufacture and market new products on Quirky. Say that you have a great idea, but don’t have the engineering skill to design it. Submit it to Quirky and engineers will help. The community serves as the market test site and the proceeds from products that actually sell are divided among the community according to their level of input.
2. Augmented Reality and Reality Browsers. You may not be familiar with this phrase, but you’ve already seen this in action on TV and the movies. When you see actors interacting with a virtual computer screen that’s actually an overlay on the space around them; moving files with the swipe of their hand, opening documents in mid air – that’s augmented reality. Augmented reality applications can already be found on mobile phones. The new Android has an application called Layar. Layar is a “reality browser. Users will simply use their phone’s camera feature to point at scenes or objects and the technology will overlay additional information or data on the screen about those objects. For example, say you’re in a new city or town and are looking for a Chinese restaurant, you would point your phone at the street or neighborhood where you are and Layar will tell you what businesses are around you. Think of this application as on-demand Yellow Pages.
3. Digital Branding/Real Time Branding: The internet revolution has made it hip to be small. Small businesses can increase their brand equity by becoming ubiquitous participants on social media sites. But there are more opportunities for small businesses who want to build their brand in a more subtle, more cost effective way. Ex-Yahoo Real Estate executive, Arjun Dev Arora used his expertise in real estate to create ReTargeter, a brilliant way to get past visitors BACK to your site. The technology places a little “burr” of code onto your web site – much like the little burrs you might collect on your pants while your hiking. Then once visitors that have been to your site, they collect these digital “burrs” as they wander off to bigger sites like CNN.com, for example. As they wander the web they see a subtle ad for your site on the sites they are visiting (such as CNN.com, that have ad spaces) thereby increasing the perception of your brand and enticing them to return to you.
4. Location-Based Applications: With the widespread incorporation of GPS devices and applications, it’s easier than ever to get real-time information on
where your friends are and what’s around you. This trend is related to augmented reality applications because it’s “location-based” technology that is
one of the first consumer-accessible ways that we use it. Twitter was a pre-curser to this trend when people were using it to tell their friends where
they were and connect in real time. BrightKite was another location-based application that was a little before its time in giving you updates as to
where your friends are. The latest in the mix is Foursquare: A location-based service based on your Twitter network with an added layer of
social gameplay. Currently Foursquare is gaining traction in big cities.

5. Real time collaboration –Google Wave is an innovative new way for people to communicate and collaborate. Wave is already being used for projects and collaboration among many small groups and organizations around the world, in large part because of its strength in combining familiar communication platforms. But it’s really no fun or no good if everyone you work with isn’t on the system. Maybe that’s why it’s been so slow to build steam. Because I run so many virtual teams, I think that Google Wave is an amazing way to stay connected, work collaboratively and efficiently with people from all over the world as if they were right next to you.

What Exactly is Computer Memory and How Is it Used?

by: Sarah Phelt

Memory is one of the core hardware components for the computer. It is the component that temporarily stores information (such as Numbers, Characters, Settings, Instructions, Files and so on) once a computer has started. The information is temporary because when a computer is switched off or restarted the information is deleted from memory. When a program has finished with the information, the memory it was using is released (not deleted) so other programs can then use that memory.

Memory itself is a microchip (see above) that can temporarily store Bytes. The more bytes the memory has the more information it can temporarily store. A byte is just a number with a value between 0 and 255. It is a program's job to turn each byte into something a human and/or another program can interpret. For example. If the memory was storing 4 Bytes with the values 74, 79, 72 and 78 it would mean nothing to you. However. To Microsoft Word 2007 the byte value 74 means J. The byte value 79 means O. The byte value 72 means H and the byte value 78 means N. So even though the memory is storing byte values that mean nothing to you, Microsoft Word 2007 has no trouble interpreting (reading) those same byte values as JOHN. The same applies to other programs that interpret (read) the byte values. For example. A Paint program might interpret 74 as colour Red, 79 as colour Yellow, 72 as colour Blue and 78 as colour Green. Whereas a Language program might interpret (read) 74 as English, 79 as Spanish, 72 as French and 78 as Italian. It depends on the program. Either way, the memory will always see 74, 79, 72 and 78. Here is a diagram of the memory with the 4 Bytes interpreted.

The logic behind interpreting byte values is like so: If the byte value is 74 display J (Microsoft Word 2007). If the byte value is 74 use English (Language program). If the byte value is 74 use colour Red (Paint program). And so on. In other words, the byte will always have its value of 74 but it can be interpreted differently depending on the program doing the interpreting. Programs that save settings files use interpretation a lot to cut down on the number of bytes used. For example. If a paint program had to interpret RED, YELLOW and BLUE with characters it would use 13 Bytes (R E D Y E L L O W B L U E). Whereas using the logic of byte values to represent RED, YELLOW and GREEN it would only use 3 Bytes (79, 74 and 72).

Although the above concentrated on programs interpreting byte values that were already stored inside memory, the reverse is just as true. For example. When you type the word JOHN into a Microsoft Word 2007 document its stores (puts) the byte values 74, 79, 72 and 78 inside memory. The same with a paint program. Instead of storing the characters R E D (byte values 82, 69 and 68) it might store the byte value 74 (which represents RED in the above example) so that it is uses 1 Byte, instead of 3, every time you use the red ink.

Basically, memory is just full of numbers that are interpreted by programs to mean Instructions, Settings, Characters, Words, Sentences, Numbers, Symbols and so on.

ENOUGH MEMORY

When a program opens it first allocates some memory for its own needs. For example. If you open a 1000 bytes essay file with Microsoft Word 2007, from a floppy disk, and edit it (i.e you change the word JOHN into PAUL) the changes are not made to the essay file on the floppy disk. They are made inside memory instead, to avoid wear of the floppy disk. If you imagine every time you edited an essay character (byte value) the whole essay file had to be re-saved onto floppy disk you would soon end up with a damaged floppy disk. Just changing JOHN into PAUL would mean four re-saves. Memory is purposely made for the constant editing of byte values.

When Microsoft Word 2007 opens an essay file from floppy disk for example it first allocates (reserves) 1000 bytes of file memory, so it can store an exact copy of the essay file inside that memory - The original essay file on the floppy disk is left intact. The next thing Microsoft Word 2007 does is allocate some memory for its editing needs. For example. If you make a copy of the word JOHN, because you want to add (paste) it somewhere else in the essay, behind the scenes Microsoft Word 2007 makes a copy of the word JOHN by storing the word JOHN inside the edit memory. So you now have 1000 bytes full of essay characters inside the file memory and 4 bytes used inside the edit memory for the J O H N characters. However. Because you might want to copy a paragraph, an whole essay page or even the whole essay Microsoft Word 2007 has to make sure it has allocated enough edit memory for these situations. The same applies to the file memory - It might not be allocated just 1000 bytes for the essay characters, but perhaps 3000 bytes just in case you need to add more to the essay (i.e you start copying bits out of an History/Research file into the essay or you just type more characters into the essay). So the essay might need 5000 bytes in total allocated for it. Once you have finished editing the essay, which is in file memory at this point, you then tell Microsoft Word 2007 to save the file memory back onto the floppy disk as an essay file.

A collection of bytes is known as Data. Microsoft Word 2007 sees files and memory as a block of data only, which means when it opens a file and copies it into memory all it is doing is copying a block of data from one place (i.e Floppy Disk) to another (i.e Memory). So when it saves the essay file from file memory to floppy disk it just sees it as copying a block of data from one place to another. And that is how you should see files and memory - as blocks of data. Once the essay (file memory) has been saved onto the floppy disk as an essay file the file memory and edit memory are released for other programs to use.

The above is okay when everything is running smoothly, but problems arise when a program tries to allocate memory that is not available. For example. If you try to open too many programs or files at once they might crash (Freeze/Stop) Windows Vista. This would be due to the programs either not having enough memory to open themselves (i.e show their own windows) or not enough memory for their additional needs, such as editing files. For example. If there are only 10,000 bytes of memory remaining and two newly opened programs are waiting for 50,000 bytes of memory each they will be put in a waiting queue. Waiting forever. Or at least until another program closes and releases its memory, but it might only be releasing 4000 bytes of memory. In which case one of the waiting programs could use the 4000 bytes now available and then wait for the other 46,000 bytes to become available. On the other hand, the programs might get sick of waiting and decide to close. Either way it is a slow and messy process. This is why you should get to know the limits of your computer first before opening too many programs at once. Another scenario is memory corruption. Basically this is when a program misinterprets some byte values. For example. If a language program is supposed to read 74, in a settings file, as English but sees (reads) 77 instead. It would probably show text in a different language - Not much harm as you could probably change the language setting back to English once the language program had opened and fully completed. However. Imagine if a program interprets a byte value of 100 to mean you have paid/registered to use that program and a byte value of 101 to mean you are just trying out that program for 30 days. You might of paid £30 for a program that is saying you have not paid, but you are just trying it out. Incidently. This is one way hackers hack legal software...they change the software's data (byte values) so it thinks the user has paid for it. Apart from hacked bytes data is normally corrupted because the files (software/programs) came from a bad/scratched floppy disk or CD - The files can still be read as data (byte values), but as incorrect data. Unfortunately, a program will not test every byte value inside a file simply because it would take too long, especially if it was a large file.

BYTE SIZES

The reason for explaining memory to you is so that you get some idea of how Data is stored and how memory is allocated. In the above examples I mentioned bytes in terms of thousands only (i.e 4000 and 50,000) so you could understand the examples quite easily. However. The reality is that programs and files have become bigger and bigger over the years, to the point where you no longer say a file is just a few thousand bytes long. Now a file can be millions of bytes long. The same applies to the computer. Years ago the memory inside it might have been a maximum of 32KB (32768 bytes), whereas these days it must have a minimum of 256MB (262,144,000 bytes) inside it. KB, GB and MB are Byte terminology (jargon), as below:

Byte = 1 Byte
Bytes = 2 Bytes or more
1 KiloByte = 1,024 Bytes - KiloByte(s) is abbreviated to KB
2 KiloBytes = 2,048 Bytes - To work out KiloBytes just devide or multiply Bytes by 1,024
1 MegaByte = 1,024,000 Bytes - MegaByte(s) is abbreviated to MB
2 MegaBytes = 2,048,000 Bytes - To work out MegaBytes just devide or multiply Bytes by 1,024,000
1 GigaByte = 1,024,000,000 Bytes - GigaByte(s) is abbreviated to GB
2 GigaBytes = 2,048,000,000 Bytes - To work out GigaBytes just devide or multiply Bytes by 1,024,000,000

READ / WRITE

When data is being read (i.e from a floppy disk) it is known as Reading the data (because it is being looked at) and when data has been read it is known as Read (because it has been looked at).

When data is being saved it is known as Writing the data (because it is being written onto something, such as: a floppy disk) and when data has been saved it is known as Written (because it has been written onto something, such as: a floppy disk).

ROM / RAM

Memory is known by two types. ROM (Read Only Memory) which means hardware and software can only read the byte values stored inside rom memory and RAM (Read Access Memory) which means hardware and software can not only read the byte values stored inside ram memory but they can also, temporarily, change the byte values stored inside ram memory.

ROM memory is a microchip on a motherboard (green microchip board), such as a Modem motherboard, that contains the instructions (byte values) needed to make the hardware (Modem) work. This is why ROM memory cannot have its byte values changed. The instructions (byte values) are preprogrammed onto the microchip, so that when you first switch on the computer the instructions (byte values) are always the same.

RAM memory is a microchip that is permanently fitted onto a Card (small motherboard), such as a Graphics Card or Memory Card, or a single removable microchip that you attach to the main motherboard. The main motherboard is the big green microchip board inside the computer (base unit). RAM memory can have its byte values temporarily changed, and read, so that you can change Graphics settings (Graphics Card) or store data (Memory Card) for example. Even though RAM memory is cleared when you switch off or restart the computer, because it is meant as a temporary storage place only, the data inside the memory is normally saved by a program (as a file) beforehand. For example. If you change the Modem (hardware) settings using a modem program it will save your changes as a settings file on the hard drive before the computer is switched off or restarted. When the computer is switched on again the modem uses its default (normal, preprogrammed) settings before looking at, and using, the settings from the saved settings file. The modem uses its default settings first for two reasons. One is so that it knows it is setup correctly (by using its normal, manufacturer's, preprogrammed settings) and two is in case the settings file is corrupt, damaged or missing. If it reads a settings file incorrectly (i.e because it is corrupt) you may get problems with the modem or it may revert back to its default settings.

VIRTUAL MEMORY

When Windows Vista finally runs out memory, or when it cannot fit something really big inside memory as one piece, it starts using a thing called Virtual Memory, which is Hard Drive space that is used as memory. For example. Imagine you have just typed out a 10,000 line document using Microsoft Word 2007 and then you run out memory. Instead of Windows Vista telling you "You cannot type anything else - No more Memory available" it will just let you carry on typing as normal. This is because the rest of your typing will be stored on the hard drive as a file, which you have no access to. As far as you are concerned you are just typing a document and so do not have to worry about virtual memory. However. You should be aware that over time this wears out the hard drive. So always make sure you have plenty of memory.

GRAPHICS MEMORY

Graphics Memory is the memory that stores your Imagery (Desktop Picture, Game Scenes, Photographs, Icons, Text and so on). It is a microchip on the Graphics Card. The main job of a graphics card is to store Imagery inside its graphics memory and then display that imagery, on the monitor screen, when a program asks it to. For example. If you are editing a photograph the paint package would of allocated some of the graphics memory as file memory (for the original photograph) and some of the graphics memory as edit memory (for editing purposes) - In the same way the file memory and edit memory was allocated in the Microsoft Word 2007 explanation above. The graphics card will not only display the photograph (file memory) on the monitor screen, but it will also update (refresh) the monitor screen instantly every time you edit the photograph. In the same way that Microsoft Word 2007 updates instantly any changes you make to a document. Graphics memory is also in charge of storing other imagery. For example. If you have one game open, a paint program open and the Internet open it is graphics memory storing the imagery of those three programs. The more programs open that use graphics memory the more tasks (jobs) you are giving the graphics card. Meaning. If you give it too much to do and/or it runs out of graphics memory it will not be able to update the monitor screen quick enough, which means editing and game playing for example will not be instant. The monitor screen will update (draw the imagery) so slowly that it would not be worth editing a photograph or playing a game. A normal sign of this is when the monitor screen is updated (drawn) line by line as opposed to instantly. So get a good Graphics Card with plenty of Graphics Memory because the one built into the computer might not be good enough for your needs.

MEMORY SPECIFICATIONS

Memory Size is measured in multiples of 8 MegaBytes (i.e 256MB, 512MB and 1024MB), which means you could never have 274MB or 519MB for example, and Memory Speed is measured in MegaHertz (Mhz).

Computers made before the year 2000 normally use memory known as SDRAM, which is now difficult to find because it is no longer manufactured. A SDRAM memory chip can either be 100Mhz, 133Mhz or 166Mhz and is named after its speed: PC100, PC133 or PC166.

Computers made between the years 2000 to 2005 (approximately) normally use memory known as DDR, which is still being sold at the present time. A DDR memory chip normally comes with one of the following specifications: PC1600 (200 Mhz), PC2100 (266 Mhz), PC2400 (300 Mhz), PC2700 (333 Mhz), PC3200 (400 Mhz) or PC4000 (500 Mhz).

Computers made between the years 2005 to 2008 (approximately) normally use memory known as DDR 2, which is currently the main type of memory sold. A DDR 2 memory chip normally comes with one of the following specifications: PC2-3200 (400 Mhz), PC2-4200 (533 Mhz), PC2-5300 (667 Mhz) or PC2-6400 (800 Mhz).

Note. As newer/better memory is manufactured every so often the memory specifications above are just to give you an idea of the kind of memory specifications available - I have not mentioned every single memory specification out there in other words. The time overlaps above (i.e. in 2005) mean that newer memory was created in the same year.

As most computers, regardless if old or new, only have two memory slots inside them it is wise to have at least 512MB in each slot. Using anything less is just going to make the computer slow. For example. The minimum memory requirement for Windows XP used to be 256MB only, but now that many programs like Windows Media Player have improved and use more memory it means Windows XP's minimum memory requirement is now 512MB. Remember. This is minimum. You should always aim for the maximum.

Here are the minimum requirements for 2009.

Windows XP - 768 MegaBytes (1.5GB or more recommended)
Windows VISTA - 1.5 GigaBytes (2GB or more recommended)

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Bookmark Managers: Programs vs. Web Services

By: Andrew Nemets

The rapid development of the World Wide Web in recent years has led to an explosive growth of information on the Internet. Our contemporary lifestyle would be unimaginable without access to such a super-abundant cornucopia of valuable information and web surfing has now become an everyday occupation for even the most diverse sections of society.

This rapid expansion of web resources raises some new issues for all of us. How could you possibly remember; after a long search, the address of that crucial web page? How will you be able to return to the page without repeating a tedious web search through hundreds and thousands of pages?
The answer is obvious, you need a program that will allow you to easily create and manage a database of web resources. Of course, this database must be quick, intuitive and convenient to use.

One way to resolve this problem is to use your web browser's bookmarks feature. Bookmarks are a popular term for the lists of web page links stored in web browsers, although they are called 'Favorites' in Internet Explorer. These web browser bookmark systems have some severe limitations. For example, each bookmark list will only be compatible with a specific web browser. If you use several different web browsers you will have to manage the bookmark system in each one. Web browser bookmark lists may become cumbersome to use when your bookmark list grows beyond a few items. Important features missing from web browser bookmark systems include:

• Powerful search functions
• Synchronization of bookmarks between different computers
• Detection and automatic deletion of duplicate bookmarks
• Checks for availability of bookmarked web pages.

Specialist programs and web services that store and organize bookmarks are now available and they offer a comprehensive solution to these problems. They are called bookmark managers or bookmark organizers (in this article both terms have the same meaning). The difference between online (web-based) bookmark managers and standalone bookmark managers is in the location of the stored bookmark database and in the way that the database is accessed. Web services called 'online bookmark managers' store the user's bookmarks on their remote servers and their bookmarks may be accessed from any browser. A standalone bookmark organizer is simply a program which runs on your local computer. It stores the bookmark database on a hard disk and allows access through its own built-in interface.

Here are some examples of web-based bookmark managers:

iKeepBookmarks.com - www.ikeepbookmarks.com

LinkaGoGo - www.linkagogo.com

Murl - murl.com

You can find more links to online bookmark managers here:
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Web_Applications/Bookmark_Managers/

Bookmark management software can be found here:

Link Commander - www.resortlabs.com/bookmark-manager/linkcommander.php

Linkman - www.outertech.com/index.php?_charisma_page=product&id=5

Powermarks - www.kaylon.com/power.html

Any software catalog will contain plenty of links to bookmark managers. For example: www.snapfiles.com/shareware/misctools/swurlorg.html

Offline and online bookmark managers each have relative advantages and disadvantages due to their differing methods of database storage and access.

An online bookmark manager does not depend on any particular computer. If you have an Internet connection you can access your bookmarks from any computer in the world. You don't need to synchronize the bookmarks on your home/work PC or notebook because they will all access the same bookmarks database. With an online bookmark manager you can access your bookmarks even when you are in an Internet cafe! Another advantage is that most of them are free. They will cost you time, though, because you access your bookmarks via an Internet connection. More importantly, most of the web interfaces are not as convenient as software based bookmark managers and don't have so many useful features. For example, they can't search for and delete duplicate database items. Here are some of the other potential disadvantages of using online bookmark managers:

1) You risk losing all your bookmarks if, for some reason, the web service closes down.

2) There is a danger of unauthorized access to your private bookmarks because your bookmark manager server may not be secure against hackers.

The advantages and disadvantages of offline bookmark managers are almost exactly opposite to those of online bookmark managers and will be discussed next.

Any offline bookmark manager is tied to the computer on which it is installed. It stores your bookmarks in a database (which usually has its own proprietary format) that is located on one of the hard drives. To use your bookmarks on several computers you will need to install the program on each computer and find a way to synchronize the bookmark databases. Most of the currently available bookmark organizers do have a database synchronization feature. Also, there are now devices with high data transfer speeds (e.g. flash drives) that can store an independent bookmark database and allow it to be shared between several computers.

Another disadvantage of bookmark manager software is the price. There are some free programs out there, but they don't have a great number of features and technical support is often weak or unavailable. The programs that require payment are inexpensive, though, usually costing from $20 to $40. The user licenses of such programs will normally allow you to install the programs on all of your computers.

In my opinion, the disadvantages of standalone bookmark managers are minimal compared to their advantages. The location of both the program and database on the same computer guarantees you fast access to your bookmarks and high security from hacker attacks. The convenience of the program interface and the number of useful features are limited only by the power of the computer and the skills of developers.

So, how should you organize your bookmarks? Should you use an online or offline bookmark manager? I don't think there is a definite answer. It all depends on your preferences and working habits. If mobility is your priority, if you travel often and wish to access your bookmarks no matter where you are and from any computer, then you should consider an online bookmark manager. If speed, ease of use, security and functionality is most important to you then an offline bookmark manager might be a better choice.

Author Bio
About the author: Andrew Nemets is co-founder and CEO of Resort Labs - www.resortlabs.com, the software development company specializing in developing human to computer interaction systems, user interface improvements and routine tasks automation software.

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13 Comparisons of Vista vs Tiger

By: Paul Wilson

Competitive and fast are two terms that are applicable to the world of computers. Constantly changing and evolving computer systems bring many advantages to the users and techies alike. The race for supremacy between the yet to be launched Vista (scheduled for 2006) and Mac OSX Tiger began in 2003 with Microsoft's announcements of plans for an integrated desktop search functionality in Windows Vista.

While opinions vary and are really personal choices in many ways, the following sums up the functionalities between Vista and Tiger.

1. Vista has a completely redesigned look and feel; it is aesthetic, functional, and exciting according to industry sources. Mac Tiger on the other hand was always famous for its technology and aesthetics which are clean and clutter free. In fact, many of the visual effects that Vista has like translucent icons, high resolution, and animation effects have been integral to Tiger for more than four years.

2. Vista is yet to resolve problems caused by underlying windows, while Tiger has fine tuned the bleed caused by windows beneath the surface ones.

3. The 128 x 128 pixel icons of Tiger have better rendition and clearer resolution than the 32 x 32 or 64 x 64 pixel icons of Vista. However one will only know whether Vista will have resolution independent vector graphics once the final version comes to the market.

4. Both Vista and Tiger have closely similar desk top search functions. The only immediate difference is that in Tiger the filtering becomes operational only after creation of a Smart Folder or using the shortcut keys. The Virtual Folder of Vista is identical to the Smart Folder of Tiger.

5. Vista has next generation features, where the system has enough inbuilt intelligence that organizes data. This fine tunes any searches that need to be done. In comparison to this, the Tiger has an old fashioned system with no specials.

6. Vista supports meta data processing while with Tiger meta data can be created or edited only by using document processing applications.

7. Vista permits users to visually locate files while Tiger does not. Image previews in Tiger are turned off by default.

8. As far as security is concerned the Tiger is by far superior to Vista. Since the Tiger user base is small the number of hackers and attackers are fewer as compared to Windows.

9. User accounts and log ins are safer in the Tiger system and Microsoft plans to incorporate similar systems in Vista to strengthen security.

10. Vista has new systems similar to Tiger that will enable users to assert parental locks or blocks. Parental controls help limit computer usage by children protecting them from several dangers.

11. Security in Vista includes inbuilt protection against rogue attacks, malware, spyware, adware and so on. In the case of Tiger its security system has remained secure and unbreached. Whether Vista will earn the same distinction will be known only after it comes into use.

12. Both Vista and Tiger have great networking features making both immensely usable both at home and in businesses. The Tiger is simpler while Vista is a bit more complex to use.

13. The hibernation mode works instantly in Tiger and Vista is also trying to match its facilities.

While the above draws tentative comparisons between the two systems a true evaluation can only be made once Vista is released in its completed version and comes into use.

Author Bio
Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for www.1888SoftwareDownloads.com, the premier website to find Free Software Downloads including free anti-virus software, free spyware detection software, free toolbars, free chat software and more. He also freelances for www.1888FreeOnlineGames.com

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Guide to Buying Hard Drives

Image via Wikipedia

By: Andrew Gates

Apart from being one of the most essential parts of your computer, hard drive storage is constantly updating, in terms of both capacity of disk space and in physical size. When it comes time to upgrade your disk storage, there are a number of factors for you to take into account. Once you've made basic decisions about size, connectivity, speed and data transfer rate, and whether you want an internal drive or external, you can search through Myshopping.com.au to find the most suitable brand, and model, and compare the prices of different vendors.

Hard Drives

How A Hard Drive Works

Your hard drive has a number of magnetized platters connected to a spindle. The spindle spins the platters at a very fast speed while a series of read/write heads scan over them both looking for and writing information. This information is transferred via a cable system, or through a wireless connection to a hard disk controller, which in most systems is built into the motherboard, or in some systems installed as an add-in card. The information that comes from your hard drive through its controller is then made available to the components of your computer. The effectiveness of your hard drive (its performance) depends on how much of its capacity remains unused, how well organised the data is (known as fragmentation) and its data transfer rate, which in turn is dependent on its connection type and the drive's spin rate.

Internal Hard Drives

Most computers from, the most basic home models up to the most powerful servers, have an internally installed hard drive. Technology today ensures that they are all generally fast, reliable, and offer dependable storage ability. Most modern computers have installation slots and cabling to enable you to install additional hard drive. This allows you to increase your storage capacity without giving up your existing hard drive.

Internal Hard Drives

External Hard Drives

These drives are essentially the same drives as ones installed inside computers, but cased inside a protective, portable case. This is a good solution for people who work remotely and need to transport large amounts of data. If an external hard drive is your choice, make sure your computer is compatible with the interface that the hard drive uses. An add-in card, such as a FireWire card can help to increase your computer's capabilities. You can compare different brands of external hard drives simply at Myshopping.com.au and search on the connection type, or other specifications.

External Hard drives

Laptop Hard Drives

There have been many advances in miniaturization of hardware components for laptop computing, and hard drive technology is not left out of this loop. Laptop hard drives function in exactly the same way as internal hard drives on other computers, only they are designed to provide maximum storage and efficiency in the smallest possible package. For added flexibility, some laptop computers come with removable hard drives that can be easily installed and removed. However, before you buy a hard drive for your portable computer, check that the hard drive's specifications will meet the standards of your computer, as many laptop hard drives are proprietary, and are not compatible with other brands and models.

Laptop Hard Drives

Size

Your hard drive stores your operating system, its programs (games and applications), your working data, and your digital music and movies. Most new computer purchases have a minimum of 80 GB of hard disk space; many have considerably more. Hard drive space is one of those things, once you have it, you'll find ways to fill it soon enough. There is no real rule of thumb, but consider the cost per gigabyte of storage as a way to guide your purchase. If you work with large files, such as music, video and graphics, it pays to have a big storage space for your work. It may pay you to have two hard drives, one that houses all your programs and applications, and another for storing your work and projects.

You may want to compare the price of say a 160GB drive against two separate 80 GB drives. If one drive fails all is not lost. Today's hard drives however, are fairly robust pieces of equipment and providing they are not abuse, will serve you well for a long period of time.

up to 32 GB Hard Drives

32-64 GB Hard Drives

64-100 GB Hard Drives

100 GB and more Hard Drives

Interface

One key distinguishing factor between hard drives is the way in which they connect to your computer. There are a number of basic types of connection schemes used with hard drives. Each connection type has a range of differences in performance.

IDE (INTEGRATED DRIVE ELECTRONICS)

This is by the most common connection methods. Because the hard drive controller is on the drive itself rather than on the motherboard, it helps to keep costs down. There different IDE standards available. Mostly, you will want to purchase the fastest possible standard that your computer can support. Most computers will support a standard that is faster than what the computer currently supports, so you can buy a faster drive, and update your computer at a later time. The different IDE standards, in order from most basic to fastest, are:

ATA (Basic). Supports up to two hard drives and features a 16-bit interface, handling transfer speeds up to 8.3 MB per second.

ATA-2 or EIDE (Enhanced IDE). Supports transfer speeds up to 13.3 MB per second.

ATA-3. A minor upgrade to ATA-2 and offers transfer speeds up to 16.6 MB per second.

Ultra-ATA (Ultra-DMA, ATA-33 or DMA-33). Dramatic speed improvements, with transfer rates up to 33 MB per second.

ATA-66. A version of ATA that doubles transfer rates up to 66 MB per second.

ATA-100. An upgrade to the ATA standard supporting transfer rates up to 100 MB per second.

ATA-133. Found mostly in AMD-based systems (not supported by Intel), with transfer rates up to 133 MB per second.

IDE / EIDE Hard Drives

Serial ATA Hard Drives

Ultra DMA 100 Hard Drives

SCSI (SMALL COMPUTER SYSTEM INTERFACE)

This is the hard drive interface standard used by many high-end PCs, networks and servers, and Apple Macintosh computers, except for the earliest Macs and the newer iMacs. While some systems support SCSI controllers on their motherboards, most feature a SCSI controller add-in card. SCSI drives are usually faster and more reliable, and the SCSI interface supports the connection of many more drives than IDE. While SCSI drives come in many different standards, many of them are not compatible with one another. So it's important be know that your computer supports the drive you plan to install. The different SCSI connections are:

SCSI-1. A basic connection using a 25-pin connector, supporting transfer rates up to 4 MB per second.

SCSI-2. Uses a 50-pin connector and supports multiple devices with a transfer rate of 4MB per second.

Wide SCSI. These drives have a wider cable and a 68-pin connection that supports 16-bit data transfers.

Fast SCSI. Uses an 8-bit bus but transfers data at 10 MB Per second.

Fast Wide SCSI. Doubles both the bus (16-bit) and the data transfer rate (20 MB per second).

Ultra SCSI or Ultra Wide SCSI. Uses an 8-bit bus and transfers data at 20 MB per second.

SCSI-3. Features a 16-bit bus and transfers data at 40 MB per second.

Ultra2 SCSI. Uses an 8-bit bus and transfer data at a rate of 40 MB per second.

Wide Ultra2 SCSI. Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data transfer rates of 80 MB per second.

SCSI Hard Drives

Ultra320 SCSI Hard Drives

FIREWIRE (IEEE 1394)

The FireWire standard is becoming popular in portable hard drives because it can be connected and removed without having to reboot the computer. It supports data transfer rates of 50 MB per second, which means it is ideal for video, audio and multimedia applications. FireWire requires a dedicated add-in card and the hard drives in use require an external power source, but the interface can support up to 63 devices simultaneously.

FireWire Hard Drives

USB 1.1 (UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS)

Pretty much all computers today include USB ports on their motherboards. (On older model, you can install an add-in card.) USB controllers can be used to connect external hard drives, and can support as many as 127 devices simultaneously either through USB port hubs or linked in a daisy chain fashion. USB controllers do delivery power to devices connected to them, but many hard drives still use an external power source. USB is limited by its data transfer speed, the maximum rate being about at 1.5 MB per second.

USB Hard Drives

USB 2.0 (HI-SPEED USB)

A more recently introduced and far better connection standard that offers backward compatibility and data transfer rates of up to 60 MB per second. USB 1.1 system can use a USB 2.0 device; it will need a USB 2.0 controller card to achieve the higher transfer rates.

USB 2.0 Hard Drives

FIBRE CHANNEL

Fibre Cabling is mainly used for high-bandwidth network servers and workstations, providing very fast data transfer rates (up to 106MB per second), and connection at long cabled distances, although it is expensive and you need to install a special interface card.

Spin rate

Data transfer rate is crucial to how well your computer performs for you. Apart from the connection types above, the performance of your hard drive depends on its spin rate, measured in RPM. Higher RPM generally means faster data transfer rate. The lowest spin speed that is acceptable in computing today is 5400 RPM. The common standard at present is 7200 RPM. But higher speeds are available in SCSI drives, and it is one area of computer system technology that is constantly being developed.

3600 RPM Hard Drives

4200 RPM Hard Drives

5400 RPM Hard Drives

7200 RPM Hard Drives

10000 RPM Hard Drives

15000 RPM Hard Drives

A larger capacity hard drive will not necessarily make your system function any faster unless you are low on available disk space with your existing drive. But a drive with Ultra ATA/100 or ATA/133 and a 7200 RPM spin rate will pretty much guarantee an improved hard drive performance.

Other considerations

CACHE

Cache (pronounces 'cash') is additional temporary memory that acts as a buffer between the system and the drive. Frequently accessed data is stored in the cache for quick access. Cache sizes vary from 512 KB up to 16 MB on some SCSI drives. The larger cache you have on your drive, the faster your drive will transfer data. If you are working with large files, such as video, images and audio files, it pays to have the largest cache you can get (8MB or more).

SEEK TIME

The data on your disk is stored in tracks and sectors and when you instruct your hard drive controller to retrieve some data, it goes looking. The seek time is a measure of how long it takes the hard drive to find a specific track on a disk. Seek times can vary slightly from disk to disk and a drive with a faster seek time will always perform better.

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL TRANSFER RATES

These two rates tell how fast a drive actually reads the data and passes it along to the system. Internal Transfer Rate refers to the time it takes for a drives heads to read data from the platter and pass it to the drive's cache. The External Transfer Rate (sometimes called the Transfer Rate or the Burst Transfer Rate) is a measure of the time it takes to send the data from the cache all the way to the computer's memory. Naturally faster transfer rates provide better performance.

S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology)

This is a nice built-in feature in some hard drives that can help alert you to a potential hardware problem. Your computer's BIOS must support this in order for the SMART function it to work, however the drive itself will still work in a system without it.

Buying and installing a hard drive has some technical aspects that you need to take into account. Use Myshopping.com.au to compare different hard drive makes and specifications to find the drive that will work best for your needs and computer. You can compare prices and service offers from different vendors.

Author Bio
MyShopping.com.au helps you compare hard drives and buy online from top-rated online stores.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Ipod Most Popular Mp3 Mp4 player

Image via Wikipedia

By: Roberto Sedycia
This is an mp3 / mp4 player that music lovers acknowledge the most in the modern time. US-based Apple, one among the largest producers of computers, notebooks and computer hardware and software, introduced iPod in 2001 with a single model for the international music market. Apple kept on introducing new iPods for each generation. The latest one is the iPod 5G. Apple also came up with two different variants: the iPod Shuffle (without digital display), the iPod Nano (the smaller version of iPod). Recently, Apple came up with the new-generation of iPod, the iPhone that integrates the conventional MP3 and video player with an internet ready mobile phone.

This article compares each iPod by its special features. One of the most popular model is the iPod 5G that comes with 30 or 80 GB storage capacity. It is not just an mp3 / mp4 player, you can store, view and share complete music videos, movies, podcasts, play games, share photos, playback music and videos, connect to a video output device, and much more. It can play your favorite music for up to 20 hours as this iPod boasts of higher battery life.

The iPod Nano has many of the same features as the full-size iPod, but with much lesser storage capacity. It comes in 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB models. It has up to 24 hours of battery life and is comparatively lighter and smaller. It also suffers from some limitations; the iPod Nano doesn't support voice recording and media storage via third-party peripherals. iPod Nano is a great mp3 player for people who would just like to listen to audio files.

Apple's most-pocket friendly iPod is iPod Shuffle. It offers a host of advantages: it's affordable for everyone; its sound quality is as good as that of any other iPod; it has flash memory rather than a hard drive; and it's really portable. However, the disadvantage is that it doesn't include a screen for steering up to specific songs. It has a limited storage capacity, 512 MB to maximum 1 GB. So it's good for those who want to be in fashion, yet can compromise on memory space. But the size of this mp3 player is so small that you can easily clip it to your clothes.

With digital music being in-vogue, many portable jukeboxes hit the market, since Apple kick-started the music revolution of our time. Other portable MP3 and MP4 players, besides iPod, are available in the entertainment world of mp3 / mp4 players. There are many Chinese, Korean and Japanese brands manufacturing low cost players in bulk. These are much cheaper, but have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. The fact remains that iPods are the most popular among all, and hold the biggest share of this market. There are enough iPod users in the market and a lot of new things are getting developed around iPods.

Some people just can't do without their iPods, from jogging time to bed time. It sticks to their ears. Obviously, the battery drains out of the device. The latest buzz is that Andrew Schneider, a student from New York University, is exploring a solar-powered bikini that can charge iPods. Yes, it is true! The bikini will soak up the sun rays thru photovoltaic film strips. That means, while the iPod user is getting a sun tan, his mp3 / mp4 player is also getting a charge of 6.5 volts of solar power.

iPod has become a very desired mp3 / mp4 player around the world. iPod player just seems to be ahead of its competitors. Not just by delivering good quality products, but also in providing new solutions for eager electronic consumers. Let's just wait what will be next in the iPod revolution.

Author Bio
This article can also be accessed in portuguese language from the News Article section of page www.polomercantil.com.br/mp3-mp4-audio-portatil.php - Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for PoloMercantil
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

iPhone Apps Review

Easy Message

Tired of picking the wrong button in the small keyboard? Want to exchange message between your friends’ mobile phone and your ipod touch? Now with Easy Message, you can use wide landscape keyboard to write your messages and send them for free! This would be nice if this could be used for text messages too, but for now email only. After composing your message, choose the receipt’s mobile phone number and its service provider/carrier. Tap the “Send” button. Send the message in mobile mail and receive the replies there.

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miFace
is an app that lets you create your own avatar for yourself or your contacts. This app works on both the iPhone and iPod Touch, giving you the ability to make cheesy cartoon avatars that look nothing like you or your friends. Or even worst maybe it dose.

The default shirt color is red and you can’t change that unfortunately, but you can change just about everything else. Except of course, the ears, which you’re only given one option. Some of the features like beards and mustaches will only give three options while eyes and mouth offer 20. Oh and you can't change the shirt sorry. Over all I
like it but I hope the updates give more choices of ears beards and mustaches.

Once you’ve made your avatar, you can either save it to the app for future manipulation or you can actually assign these images to different contacts on your device. This might be appealing to you if you don’t have pictures of all your contacts and would prefer them to not be empty.
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Upgrading verse buying a new.

Before you rush out and start spending, it's well worth weighing up the pros and cons of upgrading versus buying a new Mac.

This will depend on what you really want to get out of your upgrade. If you have a G4 tower, for example, and are really struggling to run the software you want, buying and fitting a new CPU, more RAM and larger hard drives might work out more expensive or comparable to buying a new iMac or Mac mini.

If you don't need the PCI slots of a tower, by buying new you will get a new warranty and a very slick piece of kit. The Intel processors in all new Macs also trounce even the fastest G4 upgrade card you could buy, if we're being honest.

Compared to a decade ago, Macs are now a lot cheaper and their performance far better than anyone could have guessed at that time. Consumer models like the MacBook and Mac mini, aggressively priced to lure switchers away from PCs, sell incredibly well and have specs not so far removed from the Pro portables and iMac.

The Mac Pro, though not exactly cheap, is an absolute powerhouse with eight processor cores as standard and the ability to hold a colossal amount of RAM and internal storage. Another factor to bear in mind is that as time goes on, Apple will eventually phase out support for PowerPC processors from its newest operating systems.

Some believe this could even be the case with Mac OS X 10.6, which will be optimised for Intel CPUs. It's not yet clear if G4s and G5s will be supported but even if they are, you're far better future proofed with a Core 2 Duo Mac than a PowerPC one, not to mention the fact that 10.5 will run more comfortably on faster chips.

Of course, if you're quite happy with 10.4 or 10.5 and feel no need to have the very latest system, most G4s – and certainly G5s – will run them perfectly well provided you have a healthy amount of RAM installed.

The upgrade path

There are also, of course, compelling reasons to upgrade rather than buy new. Many people are attached to their older Macs not just because they were an investment but also because, unlike PCs, Macs have a bit of character about them, so it's not quite as easy to treat them as mere commodities.

In cases where someone has invested a lot of money in a setup – for music, video or printing, for example – it can be that newer Macs or operating systems are incompatible with their expensive peripherals.

Imagine you have PCI cards hooked up to top-end printers or audio interfaces, but they only work on a G4's PCI bus and not those of newer Macs; you would want to keep the G4 for compatibility, but need to upgrade its components to get maximum performance. Or let's say the software you invested in several years back won't run on 10.5 but it does on 10.3, a system unsupported by newer Macs; keep the old machine but give it a speed bump.

The crucial thing to consider when upgrading is what specifically you want to improve about your Mac. Adding bigger, faster hard drives is relatively cheap and will give you lots more space for storage, and adding RAM is similarly fairly inexpensive and a good way to make your Mac snappier and more responsive. But neither of these would help all that much if, for example, you wanted to play the latest games. For that, you would need a faster graphics card.

Or let's say you wanted to run the newest music or video software. In this case, faster processors would be the key. None of these upgrades is going to do anything negative – adding RAM is always a good idea – but tailor your upgrade choices to the tasks you want to achieve.

Running an old Mac as a music server, for example, you can get away with a slower processor but it would benefit from bigger drives and a wireless or Ethernet card to hook it into your network.

Faster chips

Upgrading the processor is the most fundamental change you can make to a computer, and there's still a surprisingly robust selection of upgrade cards available for G3- and G4-based Macs and even earlier models.

The upgrade phenomenon skipped G5s, but if you're a confident techie or can get someone to fit it for you, an upgrade card can breathe new life into a G3 or G4. There are several advantages to upgrading the processor in an older Mac. You can generally get a dual processor upgrade card, which combined with the faster clock speed will bring a big speed bump over a single processor machine, especially given the multi-processing abilities of recent versions of Mac OS X.

A faster CPU will often mean you are able to install a later version of OS X on a machine previously unable to pass the installation requirements. The only thing to watch is compatibility between a card and the specific version of OS X you want to install, as occasionally there can be issues.

Simple solution

Finally, there is a simple way to upgrade any Mac – just add external peripherals. The most obvious example is a FireWire or USB 2.0 hard drive, onto which you can dump iTunes or iPhoto libraries, iMovie projects and more, greatly increasing the space available to you.

If your Mac can't house an AirPort card due to its age, try a USB WiFi dongle to get it onto your network. If your wireless network reception is poor, try a booster antenna to improve it. Plug in a Mighty Mouse or another mouse with a scroll wheel and programmable buttons and you'll have better control over your Mac.

If you don't have an iSight camera built in, you may be able to use a digital camera or third-party webcam instead with enabling software such as Macam (on the disc). Even the most technophobic Mac user can upgrade certain things without having to get their hands dirty!

How to watch TV on Mac

by: Jerry Bridgestone

Mac or Macintosh is a brand name for different kinds of computer produced by Apple, Inc. Production of Mac includes all aspects of hardware and own operating system already installed. The Mac is a computer that can run all the major operating systems, including Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Vista.

TV on a PC is in nowadays. How about TV on a Mac?

Widgets are mini-applications that are downloaded and installed to a dashboard for a new function. There are amazing widgets for Mac that will allow us to play TV right on our Mac. There is this viewmy.tv widget that provides access to free Internet television. Besides viewmy.tv, there is also the Ustream.tv for viewing our favorite live stream channels. Before we can download these features, we should first check the system requirements. If we have what are needed to make this application works, we can enjoy watching our favorite shows directly on our Mac.

As we all know, we can’t depend on our Internet connection all the time. Heavy traffic is frequently experienced so we can’t enjoy our favorite show that much. It’s different when we don’t need to download and consume time to have our full view of the channels. But we can have our Macs installed with TV. Aside from widgets, we can enjoy the entertainment of watching TV on our Mac with the help of USB-based tuners like Elgato EyeTV Hybrid that allows us to watch analog and digital TV. Like other common pc, Mac also has its way to have TV on it.

If external devices (USB like EyeTV) do not satisfy us, we can use the PCTV cards like Miglia AlchemyTV Card that is a good choice for computer TV viewing and VHS-to-DVD transferring. It’s a PCI card that requires no additional power supply. We can check miglia.com to check if we have the latest version. After that, set up the PCI card in our Mac, and then install the software using the cd included. To access the newly installed program, we need to restart our Macs and go to the AlchemyTV dialog.

Miglia also offers a TV Micro unit that comes with the unit itself, a cable as connection, an external USB 2.0 extender, a remote control and an Elgato EyeTV 2.

Slingbox is also a good choice. It works not only for common PC but for Macs as well. It has ports for TV input and for Ethernet. Another one is the iTele, which is a Mac application that allows us to watch TV and record a channel we want.

When we are familiar of iTunes, we’ll know Mac. We can go to the iTunes Store to browse different shows and channels. We can have our favorite shows in advance. We can watch an episode before it will be aired or have a copy of the one we missed. We can watch all of this in Mac.These are only some of the ways on how we can have TV on our Macs. More are coming our way, thanks to the advanced technology.

The Battle of the Browsers – The History and the Future of Internet Browsers

by: Nicholas C Smith

With Internet Explorer 8 now available, can Microsoft hope to retain market dominance over fierce open source rivals such as Mozilla's Firefox or the feature packed Opera web browser. Can history give us a clue to what the future of web browsers/browsing might hold? How did Netscape Navigator go from having a dominant 89.36% market share of all web browsers in 1996 and yet only 3.76% by mid 1999?

Let us take a journey that will begin long before even the intellectual conception of Internet Explorer, that will glance at its long defeated rivals, examine the current browsers available and will end with a prediction of what the future of browsing will offer us – and which browser(s) will still be around to offer it.

People often think that Internet Explorer has been the dominant web browser since the golden age of the internet began. Well for a very long time now it has indeed been the most popular browser and at times been almost totally unrivalled. This was mainly a result of it being packaged free with Microsoft Windows, in what some would later call a brutal monopolisation attempt by Microsoft. The last few years however have heralded the arrival of new, possibly superior browsers. Mozilla's Firefox has been particularly successful at chipping away at Explorers market dominance. So where did it all begin, and why were Microsoft ever allowed to have a hundred percent market dominance?

Origins

The truth is they never did have total dominance, but at times they have come very close. Microsoft actually entered the Browser Battle quite late on. Infact a man named Neil Larson is credited to be one of the originators of internet browsers, when in 1977 he created a program – The TRS-80 - that allowed browsing between “sites” via hypertext jumps. This was a DOS program and the basis of much to come. Slowly other browsers powered by DOS and inspired by the TRS 80 were developed. Unfortunately they were often constricted by the limitations of the still fairly young internet itself.

In 1988, Peter Scott and Earle Fogel created a simple, fast browser called Hytelnet, which by 1990 offered users instant logon and access to the online catalogues of over five thousand libraries around the world – an exhilarating taste of what the internet, and web browsers, would soon be able to offer.

In 1989 the original World Wide Web was born. Using a NeXTcube computer, Tim Berners-Lee created a web browser that would change how people used the internet forever. He called his browser the WorldWideWeb(http://www., which is still likely to sound familiar to internet users today. It was a windowed browser capable of displaying simple style sheet, capable of editing sites and able to download and open any file type supported by the NeXTcube.

In 1993 the first popular graphical browser was released. Its name was Mosaic and it was created by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina. Mosaic could be run on both Unix, and very importantly, on the highly popular Microsoft Windows operating system (incidentally it could also be used on Amiga and Apple computers). It was the first browser on Windows that could display graphics/pictures on a page where there was also textual content. It is often cited as being responsible for triggering the internet boom due to it making the internet bearable for the masses. (It should be noted that the web browser Cello was the first browser to be used on Windows – but it was non graphical and made very little impact compared to Mosaic).

The Browser Wars - Netscape Navigator versus Internet Explorer

Mosaic's decline began almost as soon as Netscape Navigator was released (1994). Netscape Navigator was a browser created by Marc Andreessen, one of the men behind Mosaic and co-founder of Netscape Communications Corporation. Netscape was unrivalled in terms of features and usability at the time. For example, one major change from previous browsers was that it allowed surfers to see parts of a website before the whole site was downloaded. This meant that people did not have to wait for minutes simply to see if the site they were loading was the actual one the were after, whilst also allowing them to read information on the site as the rest of it downloaded. By 1996 Netscape had almost 90% market dominance, as shown below.

Market Share Comparisons of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer from 1996 to 1998

....................Netscape.......IE
October 1998..........64%.........32.2%
April 1998............70%.........22.7%
October 1997..........59.67%......15.13%
April 1997............81.13%......12.13%
October 1996..........80.45%......12.18%
April 1996............89.36%.......3.76%

In these two years Netscape clearly dominated the internet browser market, but a new browser named Internet Explorer was quickly gaining ground on it.

Microsoft released their own browser (ironically based on the earlier Mosaic browser which was created by one of the men now running Netscape), clearly worried about Netscape's dominance. It was not so much the worry that it would have a 100% market share of internet browsers on their Windows operating system, but more the worry that browsers would soon be capable of running all types programs on them. That would mean foregoing the need for an actual operating system, or at the most only a very basic one would be needed. This in turn would mean Netscape would soon be able to dictate terms to Microsoft, and Microsoft were not going to let that happen easily. Thus in August 1995, Internet Explorer was released.

By 1999 Internet explorer had captured an 89.03% market share, whilst Netscape was down to 10.47%. How could Internet Explorer make this much ground in just two years? Well this was down to two things really. The first, and by far the most important was that Microsoft bundled Internet Explorer in with every new copy of Windows, and as Windows was used by about 90% of the computer using population it clearly gave them a huge advantage. Internet Explorer had one other ace it held over Netscape – it was much better. Netscape Navigator was stagnant and had been for some time. The only new features it ever seemed to introduce were often perceived by the public as beneficial for Netscape's parent company rather than Netscape's user base. (i.e., features that would help it monopolise the market). Explorer, on the other hand, was given much attention by Microsoft. Regular updates and excellent usability plus a hundred million dollar investment would prove too much for Netscape Explorer.

2000 – 2005

These years were fairly quiet in the Battle of the Browsers. It seemed as if Internet Explorer had won the war and that nobody could even hope to compete with it. In 2002/2003 it had attained about 95% of the market share – about the time of IE 5/6. With over 1000 people working on it and millions of dollars being poured in, few people had the resources to compete. Then again, who wanted to compete? It was clearly a volatile market, and besides that everybody was content with Internet Explorer. Or were they? Some people saw faults with IE – security issues, incompatibility issues or simply bad programming. Not only that, it was being shoved down peoples throats. There was almost no competition to keep it in line or to turn to as an alternative. Something had to change. The only people with the ability and the power to compete with Microsoft took matters into their own hands.

Netscape was now supported by AOL. A few years prior, just after they had lost the Browser Wars to Microsoft, they had released the coding for Netscape into the public domain. This meant anybody could develop their own browser using the Netscape skeleton. And people did. Epiphany, Galeon and Camino, amongst others, were born out of Netscape's ashes. However the two most popular newcomers were called Mozilla and Firefox.

Mozilla was originally an open sourced project aimed to improve the Netscape browser. Eventually it was released as Netscape Navigator 7 and then 8. Later it was released as Mozilla 1.0.

Mozilla was almost an early version on another open source browser, Firefox. With it being an open source the public were able to contribute to it - adding in what features it needed, the programming it required and the support it deserved. The problems people saw in Internet Explorer were being fixed by members of the open sourced browser community via Firefox. For instance, the many security issues IE 6 had were almost entirely fixed in the very first release of Firefox. Microsoft had another fight on their hands.

2005 – Present

Firefox was the browser that grew and grew in these years. Every year capturing an even larger market share percentage than before. More user friendly than most of its rivals along with high security levels and arguably more intelligent programming helped its popularity. With such a large programming community behind it, updates have always been regular and add on programs/features are often released. It prides itself on being the peoples browser. It currently has a 28.38% market share.

Apple computers have had their own browser since the mid 1990's – Safari - complete with its own problems, such as (until recently) the inability to run Java scripts. However most Apple users seemed happy with it and a version capable of running on Windows has been released. It has had no major competitor on Apple Macs, and as such has largely been out of the Browser Wars. It currently holds a 2.54% market share and is slowly increasing.

Internet Explorer's market share has dropped from over 90% to around 75%, and is falling. It will be interesting to see what Microsoft will attempt to regain such a high market share.

Opera currently holds 1.07%.

Mozilla itself only has a 0.6% market share these days.

The Future of Web Browsing

Web browsers come and go. It is the nature of technology (if such a term can be used), to supplant inferior software in very short periods of time. It is almost impossible for a single company to stay ahead of the competition for long. Microsoft have the advantage of being able to release IE with any Windows using PC. That covers over 90% of the market. They also have the advantage of unprecedented resources. They can compete how they wish for as long as they wish. So there is no counting IE out of the future of web browsing.

Safari is in a similar position, being easily the most popular Mac web browser. Its long term survival is dependant upon Apple and the sale of their computers.

These are the only two browsers that are almost guaranteed another five years of life, at least. Firefox may seem like another candidate, but the public is fickle, and one bad release, or if it seriously lags behind the new Internet Explorer 8 for long, could easily see its popularity quickly descend into virtual oblivion.

However, it seems likely community driven browsers, such as Mozilla and Firefox, will be the only types of browser capable of competing with the wealthy internet arm of Microsoft in the near future.

As for web browsing itself, will it change any time soon? Well it already has for some online communities. For example, if you want to buy clothes you could try entering an online 'world' creating an online virtual You to go from 'shop to shop' with, looking at products and trying/buying what you see. Some 'worlds' allow you to recreate yourself accurately including weight and height and then try on things apparel such as jeans to give you an idea of how you would look in that particular item.

Will 'worlds' like this destroy normal web browsers such as IE ? - It seems unlikely. Traditional web browsers provide such freedom and ease of access that it is hard to see any other alternative taking over. However they are part of the new, 'thinking out of the box' wave of alternatives that some people will find attractive, and really who knows what the future will bring.

Why Buy A Mac

Well its Christmas time once again, and i have a lot of people, both friends and strangers asking my what to buy. Now it is true I am a Mac tech and a true mac fan, but that doesn't cloud my judgment. I am still able to make a sound recommendation for the person in the end.

My thing is always what will you be doing with the computer, and though to mac heads this isn't a fair question, because anything you can do on a PC you can do better on a Mac. Well this is mainly to get the PC person to say what it is they are doing then I can show them how doing it on a Mac is just as easy if not easier. Then there are the PC only programs to worry about.... well Macs now have the ability to run window operating systems through boot camp or parallels so that is no longer a factor.

Macs and PCs are typically the same function wise the look and feel are different. The best way I heard it summed up is, Windows users tolerate their computers to get stuff done. The Mac crowd enjoys its machines.

There is a little bit of a learning curve to be a switcher but it is small. Things like PCs recycle bin is Macs trash, to close a window PCs click on the top right of a window, Macs click on the top left.

Macs try to make everything you do easier and they do it in style. There sleek design and intuitive software make using a mac an after thought. You think more about what your doing on the computer then the computer your on.

Mac do come at a slightly higher price then PCs in general but, i have had a few techs argue that if you equip a PC with everything a mac has hardware and software wise then the PC would be about the same price.

I will save the battle of macs do not get viruses and that in itself is worth its weight in gold.
So there is a reason why Apple owners heap lavish praise on Macs. They are solid and elegant computers that are well worth your consideration.

Welcome from skiter

Welcome to the macintec blog. This is an open forum for all mac lovers, fans, experts and novice. No matter where you are in your mac life macintec is here for you. If you need any help, you need a computer repaired or just need advice on what mac is good for you, let me know and i will see if I can help you. Once again Welcome.