Daily Archives: July 18, 2010

MCITP, mcitp certification, MCITP Training, MCSE, MCSE Certification, MCSE Training, Microsoft, Uncategorized, Windows 7

What New With Operating Systems

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What New With Operating Systems
In the light of fast-paced changes on the browser front, are users finding that innovation at the desktop has stagnated? Has it? Or is there a lot brewing ‘under the hood’ that we’re just not aware of, yet take for granted as our user experience improves incrementally Microsoft MCTS Training?

For most computer users, an operating system is somewhat like the engine under a car’s hood. They know how to start and stop the engine, how to drive around, probably how to check oil levels, but beyond that, the knowledge is limited. With a car, that is okay, since we do not really need to know more unless we are hard-core enthusiasts, or working in the automotive industry.

Getting back to operating systems, the beauty of these ‘engines’ is that they allow users to run their computers and use their favourite applications, while they take care of allocating system resources, handling processes, and so on. Operating systems are far from perfect, but they are remarkable pieces of software for the sheer complexity of tasks that they handle.

We open up the engine and take a look at some of the recent innovations in operating systems.

Splashtop: A fast-booting OS

What do PC users do after they press their PC’s power button?

* Go get a cup of coffee
* Stare at the screen and practice meditation
* Chat with colleagues
* Any of the above

Jokes aside, most of us usually spend minutes waiting for the operating system (OS) to boot up. This is especially frustrating when we need to look up something on the Internet quickly, or just have a few minutes to check personal e-mail.

{quotes}A new operating system called Splashtop allows you to connect to the Internet without booting your main operating system{/quotes}. Splashtop has two components: a core engine that runs out of the BIOS, and an optimised Linux stack that boots rapidly. Splashtop boots out of the BIOS (basic input-output system) on the motherboard of the PC, generally in five seconds or less, according to the website, and provides quick access to certain applications, like the Splashtop Web browser (based on Firefox) and Skype– or offers you the choice of booting your main operating system.

Splashtop is currently available only on ASUS motherboards. When we enquired about how the company plans to make Splashtop available to customers, Andrew Kippen, press and blogger relations manager at DeviceVM (the company that provides Splashtop) revealed, “We spoke about many different ways to release Splashtop, but in the end decided that launching with a partner like ASUS, the world’s largest motherboard manufacturer, was the best way to reach consumers. Splashtop-enabled laptops and desktops will be released later this year.”

Splashtop uses flash memory on the motherboard to store its applications. Could that be a bottleneck? Kippen says, “This is not an issue, since we tailor each version of Splashtop to the manufacturer’s specifications. If there is a size issue, manufacturers can include a larger flash memory chip, or run Splashtop from a partition on the hard drive Microsoft MCITP Certification.”

On issues like vulnerability to attacks and whether it is possible to save attachments or documents, Kippen says, “Like I mentioned earlier, we tailor each version of Splashtop to a manufacturer’s specifications, so [the answer to] your question depends on the manufacturer. On current ASUS products, we allow persistent data (like bookmarks and cookies) to be written to memory. However, users cannot save files, for security reasons.”

Since Splashtop is Linux-based, it is immune to most of the attacks that plague traditional operating systems. Restricting access to memory, whether flash memory or the hard drive, further ensures that Splashtop always works properly.

Speaking on the reasons for the OS’s popularity, Kippen adds, “A major reason for Splashtop’s success is that more and more applications are moving to the Web. Users (excluding business users) spend more time with Web-based e-mail, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and other websites than on any desktop program. Online applications like Google and Zoho are quickly becoming viable options for most Office-like applications.

“We are targeting mass-market consumers, i.e., normal people who just want their computer to work without any wait or fuss. We see ourselves as a good complement to the traditional OS, great for lightweight applications like Web browsing and media playback, but not the right fit if you want to do video editing.”

Splashtop is not the only company in this space. Phoenix Technologies, a company that makes BIOS software, is developing software called Hyperspace that will launch along with the PC’s regular OS. Hyperspace, which is billed as a “compact and secure application environment”, will be able to run applications as well as perform systems maintenance (repair, back-up, recovery, etc) and security. Phoenix expects manufacturers to start offering Hyperspace in the latter half of 2008.

MCITP, mcitp certification, MCITP Training, MCSE, MCSE Certification, MCSE Training, Microsoft, Uncategorized, Windows 7

The Silent Science

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The Silent Science
The non-stop progress of materials science is, and continues to be, the foundation of almost any development in information and communication technology (ICT). This is a relatively unknown yet seminal field; read on to learn more about it Microsoft MCTS Training.

When you think of technology, what comes to mind? Typically, it would be sleek mobile phones, sophisticated computer systems, portable storage devices, stylish music players and gaming consoles, flat screens, high-end software, Internet and Web applications, faster processors, etc. All these, of course, are the gifts of technology.

Now, imagine a world without metals, alloys, gases, liquids and colloids, magnets, lights, lasers, plastics, polymers, ceramics, etc. More so, imagine a world without silicon and other semiconductors. Imagine a world without carbon and its derivatives, a world without DNA… “WAIT A MINUTE!” you say, “WHAT’S GOING ON?”. Welcome to the world of materials science– a science that is least talked about, in spite of its substantial role in the development of technology as a whole. While it might not strike a chord at the first instance, materials and their manipulation, the creation of new materials and their usage– all encompass materials science. And developments in this field have lead to new technologies (or significant improvements in existing technologies), and in turn into highly successful commercial products and even industries. It would not be wrong to say, at least, at the most basic level, that it is the non-stop progress and input of materials science that is– and continues to be– the foundation of almost any development in the field of information and communication technology (ICT). Perhaps it’s time to give due recognition to a science that has long been ‘silent’.

Silicon– everyone’s darling!

Without delving too much into the history of the materials sciences, one may begin with silicon, a semiconductor– the ‘darling’ of the industry. Without it, information processing would be virtually non-existent, considering that silicon, along with its variations, is among the most prominent components in various devices like chips, processors, insulators, transistors, etc. It is here that Dr Praveen Chaudhary, currently director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, points out the importance of materials science in the development of silicon technology. He says, “Silicon technology would not have been possible without continuous advances in materials sciences. This assertion holds for all aspects of IT hardware.” Speaking about current research in conventional silicon technology, Dr Chaudhary says,{quotes} “Research is on in designing thin insulators with large dielectric constants for use as gate insulators, and low-dielectric-constant materials to form substrates for higher-speed transmission of signals.” says Dr Praveen Chaudhary, currently director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory{/quotes}

However, since the introduction of integrated circuits way back in the late 50s, semiconductor science and technology has developed with unmatched speed. Future advances are expected to bridge diverse fields, such as semiconductor physics, magnetic materials, organic chemistry, polymer science, and biology. In addition, the physical contact between different materials on one chip will revolutionise transistor, sensor, memory, and communication technologies Microsoft MCITP Certification.

So, is there ever going to be an alternative for silicon in the future? Well, though there doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer to this question, there is a lot of research and study going on. In fact, two groups had reported superconductivity at high pressure in lithium, which was once thought of as the simplest of metals. In other developments, Intel and IBM have announced replacing silicon with hafnium, in a key part of semiconductors where transistors leaked. Interest is also focused on diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS), in which silicon is made magnetic by doping it with manganese. DMS devices consume less power than conventional devices and have the capability to operate at considerably higher speeds.