The release of Vista was supposed to have been a boon for the computer industry, as many were expecting business and consumers to upgrade their hardware at the same time they upgraded their operating system. But, despite Microsoft's claims to the contrary, the launch has generally been regarded as weak. The upshot is that makers of computers and parts are now being forced to ratchet down expectations. Yesterday, chip maker AMD warned of terrible earnings stemming from low volume and a brutal price war with Intel. Today, hard drive maker Seagate is getting slammed after it warned of weak demand and a difficult price environment. The company didn't say it explicitly, but it seems that the whole industry may have produced way too many drives in anticipation of strong, Vista-driven sales that never materialized. Seagate, of course, has another challenge: convincing investors that its core business is not under threat from makers of flash memory. There's no evidence that its troubles are related to competition from flash, but you can be sure that investors are keeping a close eye on the situation. If makers of flash memory continue to sail along, and prices in that space hold up fairly well, you can be sure that obituaries for the hard drive industry will be written once again.

Escalating tensions between water users are among the key challenges facing North America says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Shifts in rainfall patterns, melting mountain glaciers, rising temperatures, increased demand and reduced supplies in some places are likely to aggravate the situation unless cuts are made in greenhouse gases to reduce the scale and pace of climate change.

New box impatient for four-cores

Dell is dipping its toes into the AMD quad-core processor market for servers - antsy to take the plunge when AMD releases "Barcelona" in mid-2007.