Episode 18 – Selling Linux – Part 2

This week, we will continue our discussion with a provider who specializes in Linux based solutions and learn about the challenges of selling Linux, the current state of hardware support for Linux based platforms and the how we can best learn to use Linux ourselves in order to provide open source products and services to our customers. Part 2 of a 3 part series.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:17
Billboard :53

News and Comment segment 5:06
The OpenOffice.org Community announced the release of OpenOffice.org 2.4 yesterday. According to a press release, OpenOffice.org 2.4 is the eleventh and latest release of the 2.x series initially launched in the fall of 2005 and offers some major improvements over previous releases including a few new features and bug repairs to existing components.

PC World published a list of what they consider world’s best free stuff on the web. The article, called 101 Fantastic Freebies, lists 101 online services and software downloads such as BitDefender Online Scanner, Winamp and Microsoft Office Live Workspace. A subscription to PC World is also free to professionals who qualify. if you would like a free subscription to PC World, Mac World and other publications simply go the www.theforcefield.net and click on the menu item labeled Free Publications on the right side bar.

The Force Field is conducting a Trivia Contest during the month of March. If you are a regular listener of The Force Field podcast, you now have the chance to take your knowledge of the show and win prizes! All you have to do is listen to the podcast, log into The Force Field web site at theforcefield.net, click on The Force Field Podcast Trivia Contest link on the right sidebar and answer the ten trivia questions. If you answer all ten questions correctly you will be entered into a drawing to win a 1GB USB flash drive or an Nvidia partnerForce T-shirt! Enter The Force Field podcast Trivia Contest today and win! Contest ends March 31, 2008.

According to a recent study, 70% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 prefer to work for employers who allow them to commute via the web. The study was conducted by Citrix Online, the provider of the popular web based service called GoToMeeting. Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts.

Microsoft confirmed reports that Windows 7 is scheduled for release in 2010. After the long awaited release of Windows Vista, Microsoft said they planned to schedule a new release every three years. A build of the next version, code named Windows 7, is already in the hands of federal regulators for their review in accordance with the terms of a settlement reached in 2002 with the US Department of Justice in their anti-trust case against Microsoft.

Commercial Break :53
Geekazine Podcast Promo :30

The Mike Tech Show Podcast promo :23

Intro to Interview 1:43
In our last episode we were introduced to Linux as a viable alternative to selling and supporting Windows. We talked with Todd Hughes, a provider who sells and supports only open source solutions and learned how he started his business.

This week we’re going to continue our discussion with Todd and learn more about the business of selling Linux. We will learn about some of the difficult selling points of Linux, the best way to get into the sales and support of Linux based platforms and find out where he thinks Linux and open source marketplace is heading in the next few years as we continue our discussion in part 2 of our three part series on – Selling Linux.

Todd Hughes Interview 16:55

Wrap up and Close :46

©2008 Savoia Computer. All rights reserved.

Episode 18 – Selling Linux – Part 2

This week, we will continue our discussion with a provider who specializes in Linux based solutions and learn about the challenges of selling Linux, the current state of hardware support for Linux based platforms and the how we can best learn to use Linux ourselves in order to provide open source products and services to our customers. Part 2 of a 3 part series.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:17
Billboard :53

News and Comment segment 5:06
The OpenOffice.org Community announced the release of OpenOffice.org 2.4 yesterday. According to a press release, OpenOffice.org 2.4 is the eleventh and latest release of the 2.x series initially launched in the fall of 2005 and offers some major improvements over previous releases including a few new features and bug repairs to existing components.

PC World published a list of what they consider world's best free stuff on the web. The article, called 101 Fantastic Freebies, lists 101 online services and software downloads such as BitDefender Online Scanner, Winamp and Microsoft Office Live Workspace. A subscription to PC World is also free to professionals who qualify. if you would like a free subscription to PC World, Mac World and other publications simply go the www.theforcefield.net and click on the menu item labeled Free Publications on the right side bar.

The Force Field is conducting a Trivia Contest during the month of March. If you are a regular listener of The Force Field podcast, you now have the chance to take your knowledge of the show and win prizes! All you have to do is listen to the podcast, log into The Force Field web site at theforcefield.net, click on The Force Field Podcast Trivia Contest link on the right sidebar and answer the ten trivia questions. If you answer all ten questions correctly you will be entered into a drawing to win a 1GB USB flash drive or an Nvidia partnerForce T-shirt! Enter The Force Field podcast Trivia Contest today and win! Contest ends March 31, 2008.

According to a recent study, 70% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 prefer to work for employers who allow them to commute via the web. The study was conducted by Citrix Online, the provider of the popular web based service called GoToMeeting. Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts.

Microsoft confirmed reports that Windows 7 is scheduled for release in 2010. After the long awaited release of Windows Vista, Microsoft said they planned to schedule a new release every three years. A build of the next version, code named Windows 7, is already in the hands of federal regulators for their review in accordance with the terms of a settlement reached in 2002 with the US Department of Justice in their anti-trust case against Microsoft.

Commercial Break :53
Geekazine Podcast Promo :30

The Mike Tech Show Podcast promo :23

Intro to Interview 1:43
In our last episode we were introduced to Linux as a viable alternative to selling and supporting Windows. We talked with Todd Hughes, a provider who sells and supports only open source solutions and learned how he started his business.

This week we're going to continue our discussion with Todd and learn more about the business of selling Linux. We will learn about some of the difficult selling points of Linux, the best way to get into the sales and support of Linux based platforms and find out where he thinks Linux and open source marketplace is heading in the next few years as we continue our discussion in part 2 of our three part series on – Selling Linux.

Todd Hughes Interview 16:55

Wrap up and Close :46

©2008 Savoia Computer. All rights reserved.

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OpenOffice.org Releases version 2.4

(TheForceField.net ) March 28, 2008 — The OpenOffice.org Community announced the release of OpenOffice.org 2.4 yesterday. According to a press release, OpenOffice.org 2.4 is the eleventh and latest release of the 2.x series initially launched in the fall of 2005 and offers some major improvements over previous releases including a few new features and bug repairs to existing components.

OpenOffice.org Logo

New features to the office suite include an option to print hidden and place holder text for hyperlinks in the word prcessor called Writer,  a "smart move and copy" for blocks of cells in the Calc spreadsheet,  improved usability in Draw and new 3D transition effects in the Microsoft Powerpoint-like presentation program known as Impress. The database application, Base, now supports Microsoft Access 2007,  MySQL, Oracle/jdbc and native (HSQL) databases. Numerous other features and enhancements are also included in the new release.

According to the press release, the next major version, OpenOffice.org 3.0, is due for release sometime in the autumn of 2008. In a telephone interview with The Force Field, Louis Suarez-Potts, OpenOffice.org Community Manager, said there would likely be a few more updates to OpenOffice.org 2.0 before the release of version 3.0 later this year.

"Pre-alpha versions of 3.0 are already available", Suarez-Potts said, "but they are not ready for regular users." 

OpenOffice.org supports the ODF (OpenDocument Format) as well as legacy Microsoft Office file formats. The Office suite is released under the GNU/GPL and is freely available.

OpenOffice.org v2.4 is available at www.openoffice.org

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PC Market is Deteriorating According to Latest ChangeWave Surveys

The U.S. economic slowdown has led to a pullback in PC spending by both consumers and corporations, according to two recent ChangeWave surveys. In terms of manufacturers, Apple (AAPL) remains relatively strong, while Dell (DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) look weaker going forward.

Rockville, MD (PRWEB) March 27, 2008 — The U.S. economic slowdown has led to a pullback in PC spending by both consumers and corporations, according to two recent ChangeWave surveys.

News Image

A late February survey of 4,427 consumers found only 8% saying they'll be purchasing a laptop in the next 90 days — a record low for the past 12 months in a ChangeWave consumer buying survey.

A similar low for the year was seen in desktop PCs, with just 6% of consumers saying they'll be buying one.

On the corporate side, a February ChangeWave survey found planned PC purchases also slowing sharply, with just 73% of 2,204 respondents reporting their company plans on buying laptops in the next quarter — down 4-pts from a year ago. The same pattern was also seen for corporate desktops (70%), with planned purchases down 5-pts to a 12-month low.

"The decline in PC sales going forward is yet another symptom of these recessionary economic times," said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research and editor of ChangeWave Investing. "The economy is sneezing, and even normally resilient sectors like PCs are catching a bad cold."

(Detailed charts on PC buying trends, along with additional ChangeWave findings can be downloaded at changewave.com/pcs).

The Effects On Computer Manufacturers:

The slowdown in PC purchasing is hitting some manufacturers harder than others.

APPLE: Planned purchases of Apple (AAPL) computers remain relatively strong, even in the slower buying environment. Apple remains the leader among consumers who plan to buy a laptop (31%) over the next 90 days — only 2-pts below the all-time high recorded in ChangeWave's previous survey in January. Similarly, Apple planned desktop computer purchases (28%; down 1-pt) are close to record levels.

Importantly, Apple's consumer market share is up more than 50% from a year earlier. Moreover, corporate Mac purchases are also near record highs, with laptops (7%) unchanged from previously and desktops (6%) down just 1-pt.

In terms of customer satisfaction, Apple continues to set the standard among corporate respondents who use the Leopard operating system — with 53% saying they are Very Satisfied with the software. In comparison, Windows XP Pro has a 40% Very Satisfied rating and Microsoft Vista Business hardly registers at all with just 8%.

DELL: After a small gain in planned consumer purchases in a January ChangeWave survey, Dell (DELL) is once again losing momentum going forward.

Planned laptop purchases (28%; down 2-pts) and desktop purchases (32%; down 4-pts) are down markedly from the previous survey. Moreover, corporate planned buying of Dell PCs is also down, with desktops (32%; down 3-pts) and laptops (32%; down 1-pt) falling to new lows.

HEWLETT-PACKARD: In a surprise finding, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) also shows weaker PC sales going forward, including a drop in consumer planned buying of desktops (18%; down 5-pts) and laptops (19%; down 2-pts). On the corporate side, planned purchases for H-P desktops (17%) have fallen 1-pt, while laptops (14%) have dipped 2-pts.

One mitigating factor for H-P is that nearly 70% of their sales occur outside the U.S., where the current slowdown is likely having less of an impact. Note that our ChangeWave surveys focus mainly on the U.S. market.

When we asked respondents living outside the U.S. about Hewlett-Packard planned purchases, H-P registered higher market share numbers for corporate laptops (17%), corporate desktops (20%) and consumer desktops (22%).

To sign-up for real-time email alerts from ChangeWave on emerging trends in technologies and companies, visit changewave.com/hotwire.

About ChangeWave:
ChangeWave runs a proprietary network of more than 15,000 highly qualified business, technology, and medical professionals in leading companies of select industries — credentialed experts who spend their everyday lives working on the frontline of technological change. ChangeWave surveys its members on a range of business and investment research and intelligence topics, collects feedback from them electronically, and converts the information into proprietary quantitative and qualitative reports.

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New Windows XP SP3 beta Available

(TheForceField.Net ) March 26, 2008 — Microsoft released a new Windows XP SP3 RC to the public yesterday. Dubbed Windows XP Service Pack 3, Release Candidate 2 Refresh, the new RC is the second to be released publicly and  may be the last before the official release of Windows XP SP3.

The release was announced on a Microsoft Technet forum yesterday by MSFT moderator Chris Keroack.  "The purpose of RC2 Refresh is to validate improvements to the Windows Update experience with Service Pack 3.", Keroack said in the post. "Therefore, this beta release will be available only on Windows Update, in English, German and Japanese. Beyond fixes for common Windows Update issues and the inclusion of support for HD Audio, there are no substantial differences between this beta release (build 5508) and XP SP3 RC2 (build 3311)"

Keroack said the application used to download RC2, the previous beta,  would also be used to download RC2 Refresh. The application is available from the Microsoft Download Center . He also said that if Windows XP SP3 RC1 or RC2 were previously installed it would first need to be removed before installing Windows XP SP3 RC 2 Refresh.

Keroack stressed that although it is a public beta, he recommend it for use by IT professionals, developers and other tech-savvy individuals and not for production use.

Microsoft indicated Windows XP Service Pack 3 would be released in the first half of 2008. Some industry analysts have predicted a release in mid-April.

More information on Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 Refresh may be found on the Windows XP TechCenter

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Sun Awarded $44M DoD Contract to Develop Microchip Interconnect System

DARPA Project Advances Chip Communications Via Proximity and Optical Connections to Create Potential for Virtual Supercomputer From Network of Low-Cost Chips

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) March 24, 2008 — Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA) today announced that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Sun $44.29 million funding for a five and a half-year research project focused on microchip interconnectivity via on-chip optical networks enabled by Silicon photonics and proximity communication. Part of DARPA's Ultraperformance Nanophotonic Intrachip Communication program, the project commences with an incremental delivery of $8.1 million to Sun Microsystems' Microelectronics and Laboratories divisions. For more information on research projects at Sun, visit http://www.research.sun.com.

Building on research done under DARPA's High Productivity Computing Systems program, Sun's new project will accelerate the development of lower cost, high performance and high productivity systems. The project presents a unique opportunity to develop supercomputers through interconnecting an array of low-cost chips, with the potential to overcome the fundamental cost and performance limits of scaling up today's large computer systems. By providing unprecedented high bandwidth, low latency, and low power interconnections between the parallel computing chips in such an array, this research project will help enable a broad class of companies and organizations to utilize applications with high compute and communication requirements, such as energy exploration, biotechnology and weather modeling.

News Image Optical communications could be a truly game-changing technology an elegant way to continue impressive performance gains while completely changing the economics of large-scale silicon production," said Greg Papadopoulos, chief technology officer and executive vice president of research and development for Sun. Congratulations to Sun Labs and Microelectronics teams for their constructive creativity and for driving innovation into the semiconductor marketplace."

Sun's program combines optical signaling with Proximity Communication, its key chip-to-chip I/O technology, to construct arrays of low-cost chips in a single virtual macrochip. Such an aggregation of inexpensive chips looks and performs like a single chip of enormous size, thus extending Moore's Law; it also avoids soldered chip connections to enable lower total system cost. Long connections across the macrochip leverage the low latency, high bandwidth, and low power of silicon optics, and through this program Sun and DARPA will research technologies to dramatically further reduce the cost of these optical connections. The result is a virtual supercomputer.

DARPAs UNIC (Ultraperformance Nanophotonic Intrachip Communications) program will demonstrate high performance photonic technology for high bandwidth, on-chip, photonic communications networks for advanced ( 10 trillion operations/second) microprocessors. By restoring the balance between computation and communications, the program will significantly enhance DoDs capabilities for applications such as Image Processing, Autonomous Operations, Synthetic Aperture Radar, as well as supercomputing, said Dr. Jag Shah, program manager in DARPA's Microsystems Technology Office.

Accelerating Innovation to Extend Moore's Law

The historic accuracy of Moore's Law, which predicts a periodic doubling of the number of transistors that can cost-effectively build on a single chip, is partly behind the impressive growth of microprocessor performance over the last 30 years. Today, though, continued improvements are slowing down, as power and size constraints limit the growth of chip clock frequencies. Boosting computer performance by accumulating hundreds or thousands of cores per chip allows users to exploit massively parallel execution, but it also requires large increases in the number of transistors on a chip, and hence an unconstrained continuation of Moore's Law. However, as Dr. Gordon Moore himself predicted long ago, economic limits on the global financial investment in semiconductors are now slowing down Moore's Law.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Sun Microsystems develops the technologies that power the global marketplace. Guided by a singular vision — "The Network is the Computer" — Sun drives network participation through shared innovation, community development and open source leadership. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.