434846
submission
rdmreader writes:
RDM has a point by point disassembly of why the security vulnerability story George Ou of ZDnet regularly rehashes is wrong. Ou condemns Linux and Mac OS X by tallying up reported flaws and comparing them against Microsoft's. What he doesn't note is that his source, Secunia, only lists what vendors and researchers report, selectively includes or excludes component software seemingly at random, and backhandedly claimed its data is evidence of what it now tells journalists they shouldn't report. Is Secunia presenting slanted information with the expectation it will be misused, or is it just bad journalism at ZDnet?
430906
submission
DECS writes:
While it's popular among Windows Enthusiasts to dismiss Apple's use of open source as both a self-serving crutch to offset the company's imagined inability to write its own code and a one-sided grab that takes more than it gives, in reality Apple serves as a powerful ally to the open source community in ways that are often overlooked. Some are obvious and intentional such as code sharing, and some are simply the product of common interests. RDM describes why FOSS needs such allies.
Symbiotic: What Apple Does for Open Source
426836
submission
DECS writes:
Microsoft's rapid rise to power and its ability to hold onto control over the PC desktop throughout the 90s has long been revered by pundits as a classic example of copying an existing business model and then defeating all competition through price efficiencies, despite the fact that Microsoft's Windows software has only ever gotten progressively more expensive with the passing of time. This copy-killing strategy, also described as "embrace, extend, and extinguish," is now over. Here's
Why Microsoft's Copy-Killing Has Reached a Dead End
424610
submission
DECS writes:
Lots of pundits and CEOs will be embarrassed to find that the iPhone, in its first full quarter of sales, has already climbed past Microsoft's entire lineup of Windows Mobile smartphones in North America, according to figures compiled by Canalys and published by Symbian. That puts the iPhone ahead of smartphones running Symbian, Linux, and the Palm OS, but behind the first place RIM BlackBerry. The figures mesh with retail sales data already reported by NPD, which similarly described the size of the US market with a 27% chunk bit out by Apple's iPhone, and web stats that indicate iPhone users are already visiting web sites as much as all other mobile platforms combined.
Canalys, Symbian: Apple iPhone Already Leads Windows Mobile in US Market Share, Q3 2007
422879
submission
DECS writes:
Somewhat ironically, one of the most financially successful capitalist companies of the 90s has positioned itself as a modern counterpart to the old communist Soviet Union. Microsoft's ideological contempt for and resistance to free markets and the open expression and propagation of fresh ideas and technologies is not only a close parallel of the old USSR, but also a clear reflection of why Microsoft is currently failing and why its troubles have only just begun. Here's a comprehensive look at why this is the case.
Soviet Microsoft: How Resistance to Free Markets and Open Ideas Will the Unravel the Software Superpower
420711
submission
DECS writes:
This quarter's NPD report on the video downloads market contradicts the widely publicized reports by James McQuivey of Forrester Research, who has insisted all year that iTunes is headed for a fall, that users want ad-supported downloads, and that Apple TV is a tremendous failure. Daniel Eran Dilger describes why the pundits are wrong in a look at IPTV vs TVoIP, direct sales vs ads, and iTunes vs the studios:
Apple TV Digital Disruption at Work: iTunes Takes 91% of Video Download Market
415831
submission
DECS writes:
Apple is reportedly considering an expansion of its Low Def video iTunes offerings to include video rentals. However, a string of disposable digital rental failures from DIVX discs in 1998 to the current consumer indifference toward exploding digital media rentals from Microsoft and Real pose the question: how can Apple succeed in a rental market where so many other online media outlets have failed or are struggling for relevance? The answer involves taking an new approach that follows what works in the physical world, and respects the existing culture rather than trying to overturn it. Here's what's involved in the complex world of digital rentals, and How Apple could deliver workable iTunes Rentals.
412203
submission
DECS writes:
Some ideas just won't die. Proponents of the Mac OS X Leopard Windows API Myth are so convinced that Apple desperately needs to wedge Microsoft Windows into Mac OS X that they'll run with any hint that might suggest a plausible way for this to happen. The latest take on the subject is that Mac OS X Leopard loads PE files and requests Windows DLL files, which more than a few pundits have determined must be a new development because Tiger didn't do this. Therefore, they've decided that the only sensical conclusion to jump to is that Apple is secretly implementing the Windows API so that Macs will be able to run Windows programs natively. They're wrong, here's why.
PE U: The Mac OS X Leopard Windows API Myth
410349
submission
DECS writes:
RDM outlines how Low Def video is counterintuitively bigger than the celebrated HD, and why it is successfully competing alongside HD in the market. Daniel Eran Dilger writes, "While it's uncontroversial that HDTV can deliver an exceptional picture for users of the latest large flat screen displays, sometimes a high pitched marketing message can drown out more interesting realities. In 2008, it appears that low definition video will actually have a bigger impact on consumers. Here's why Low Def is big and getting bigger-and why it's bigger than HD." Why Low Def is the New HD.
391963
submission
DECS writes:
Last winter, RDM detailed why Microsoft's iPod Killer would fail miserably. This year, Microsoft will fail again, but for a new set of reasons. It is not obvious that the company has figured this out itself. Here's why the Zune will fail in 2007, and how Microsoft is painting a fraudulent portrait of interest that doesn't exist. Why Microsoft's Zune is Still Failing
387387
submission
InCider writes:
After Daniel Eran Dilger of RoughlyDrafted.com challenged Wired's claim that "the iPhone is as insecure as Windows 95," Adam Penenberg of Fast Company asked Dilger some questions about iPhone security and smartphones in general. The resulting article contrasted a very scary sounding iPhone exploit performed by consultant Rik Farrow with Dilger's insistence that there was no business model to support such exploits. But what the article didn't note is even more interesting. Here's the rest of the story on iPhone security:
UnWired! Rick Farrow, Metasploit, and My iPhone Security Interview
372741
submission
Legalizeit writes:
Is Leopard the New Vista? Daniel Eran Dilger shakes down "Ten Myths of Mac OS X Leopard," calling out comments posted by pundits Mary Jo Foley, Mike Elgan, Dan Lyons, Joe Wilcox, and Paul Thurrott, who he says are being too quick to conflate Microsoft's problems with Apple. Interesting points include a comparison of how Windows' 64-bit model differs from Leopard, Linux, and other 64-bit commercial Unix products; how Vista and Leopard approach object visualization; and their overall UI design decisions. Earlier myth articles looked at development tools in Leopard, a look at vendor-bundled spyware, the performance of Leopard's graphics architecture, and Leopard's support for different hardware architectures.
358869
submission
ac writes:
AppleInsider posted a historical overview of Apple's development tools leading up to Mac OS X Leopard, starting with its early troubles with Microsoft back in the late 70s, and through several major transitions (System 7, PowerPC, Mac OS X, Intel) that were largely a breeze for consumers, but rocky for developers. "Apple nearly killed itself several times by not providing adequate tools in the past," notes An Introductory Mac OS X Leopard Review: Developer Tools.
343955
submission
aXUL writes:
AppleInsider is printing a new series on the arrival of Mac OS X Leopard, with extensive historical stories behind some of the "300 new features." Articles give examples of other systems that delivered similar features, or acted as ancestors in an illustrated genealogy of tech history that features Apple, NeXT, BSD, Windows, Be, the Amiga, and DOS. Previous articles have covered Finder 10.5,
Dock 1.6,
Spaces,
Time Machine, Mail 3.0,
iChat 4.0,
iCal 3.0,
Safari 3.0,
Dashboard, Spotlight and the Desktop, and most recently, an extensive history of Unix servers, and an article today covering directory services, parental controls, and managed preferences/group policy. Required reading for nostalgic nerds!
