- Test Center Tracker: Sunrise, sunset... and daylight savings
- Attachmate touts SOA for mainframes
- Test Center Daily: IBM won't do Oracle Linux
- CipherMax bets the company name on encryption
- Semantic Web toolset readied
- Test Center Tracker: iSCSI in the spotlight
- HP ships D2D backup for SMB, with no tapes, literally
- Test Center Daily: New blogs on the block
- Microsoft bolsters collaboration server
- Preview: SaaS meets BPM in Lombardi Blueprint
February 28, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: Sunrise, sunset... and daylight savings
Here comes the sun: Daylight savings time arrives early this year - as in March 11, about a week and a half away. The date was moved up three weeks with the intent of saving some energy (check out Ted Samson's thoughts on the realities of that in the Sustainable IT blog), and the "fall back" date was also moved back a week to Nov. 4. That's no big deal in Arizona, Hawaii, or the U.S. territories. But there could be a problem for the rest of us, other than losing an extra hour of sleep: Most systems aren't programmed with the new DST switchover, so your calendars, e-mail apps, etc. could go wonky. There are patches out there to fix the blips, but you've got to make sure you're downloading and installing them correctly and all systems are covered. Here are a few resources, and Oliver Rist has a few tips on fixing this ahead of time (as well as Virtual PC 2007) in this week's Enterprise Windows column.
Virtually bummed: Speaking of virtualization, Randall Kennedy over at the Enterprise Desktop blog is not a happy virtual camper after reading VMware's "breathless diatribe it unleashed last week against all things Microsoft." According to Kennedy, VMware's spouting the kind of FUD that Redmond is so familiar with, and he's taking it as a sign that VMware is getting a bit worried about Microsoft's long-term plans. What's your take?
Parallels is out: Parallels Desktop for Mac is out and ready for use. InfoWorld IT director Kevin Railsback has the update details and download link. Tom Yager touts Parallels as the tool that helped him begin an experiment: is it possible to successfully switch a long-time, hardcore PC user to a Mac? Follow the experiment in Yager's Ahead of the Curve columns.
Posted by Stephanie McLoughlin on February 28, 2007 09:33 AM
February 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Attachmate touts SOA for mainframes
Attachmate on Tuesday debuted Verastream Host Integrator 6.5, for accessing mainframe data and logic.
The product is geared to SOA integration. Featured is flexibility for Web-based user interfaces and support for 64-bit hardware and software platforms.
Verastream Host Integrator transforms legacy applications into SOA assets, exposing business proceses as Web services, XML, Java and .Net components that can be reused. No changes are required to mainframe application code, Attachmate said.
Microsoft Vista support is included in version 6.5. Also supported are the latest Java application infrastructure standards. End-to-end communications are encrypted between the client and the mainframe.
Verastream Host Integrator works within IBM mainframes as well as with IBM iSeries, Unix and HP OpenVMS and e3000 environments.
Posted by Paul Krill on February 27, 2007 04:33 PM
February 27, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Daily: IBM won't do Oracle Linux
Big Blue says "no" to Oracle: Matt Asay over in the Open Sources blog notes that IBM, for the time being, isn't ready to promise users that its software will run on Oracle's brand of Linux, despite Oracle's claims that its Linux is just like Red Hat's. But Matt, he knows Red Hat Linux. He's worked with Red Hat Linux. Oracle Linux, he declares: You're no Red Hat Linux.
Acrobat aggravation: In its efforts to battle software piracy, Adobe may have gone a bit too far with its DRM implementation, judging by an anecdote shared by GripeLine blog Ed Foster. A reader wrote in about his trials and tribulations getting Adobe Acrobat to stay activated on his systems and the pains of getting unhelpful support from the company. "If the DRM is going to be phoning home periodically anyway, there's no reason it has to be tied to specific hardware components of your system," Foster concludes. Tell him what you think.
Will Dell deliver the Linux goods? Geek in Paradise John Kuo notes the Dell customers have called for the company to ship some of its systems loaded with free versions of Linux -- Ubuntu, Fedora, and OpenSUSE -- as well as other open-source wares. Dell already ships Linux on systems in China. Heck, the company has tried to selling Linux-loaded systems before in the U.S., but soon gave up. Will it work this time around?
Posted by Ted Samson on February 27, 2007 09:11 AM
February 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
CipherMax bets the company name on encryption
If the name CipherMax triggers a blank stare, think of Maxxan, a name that you may remember from previous articles , because the two are one and the same.
According to CipherMax, the new name was inspired by a new line of products focused on encryption that the vendor began shipping last year.
In addition to the new name the vendor is celebrating today an injection of VC money and a new line of products that create a less expensive entry point to switch-based encryption.
Dubbed CM100, the new line of encryption devices is based on 1U, 16 ports FC switches, with specialized model to support 256 AES, hardware accelerated cryptography for tape or disk devices.
According to CipherMax, customers can implement encryption deploying any of their models either as a primary switch, or a switch subordinate to a primary unit from another vendor, or as an encryption-only controller.
Using the KeyCruiser application customers can centralize activities such as key management and data recovery regardless of the number and variety of encryption devices.
CipherMax encryption products compete with already established solutions from NetApp- Decru and Neoscale, but the company is confident that improved scalability, up to 256 port with a CM500, flexibility of deployment and centralized management tools will create a significant competitive advantage.
Entry level models for disk and tape are available immediately. A CM100T unit for tape encryption starts at $30,000.
Posted by Mario Apicella on February 26, 2007 12:46 PM
February 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
TopQuadrant plans on Monday to announce availability of TopBraid Composer 2.0, a modeling toolset for languages pertinent to the Semantic Web.
These languages include RDF/S (Resource Description Framework Schema) and OWL (Web Ontology Language).
TopBraid Composer 2.0 is an Eclipse-based Semantic Web ontology development tool supporting multiple inference, or reasoning, engines for specific tasks. Semantic Web applications can be developed that allow rules, queries and description logic to be combined to solve business problems, TopQuadrant said.
“Semantic Web technologies are making it possible for software applications to organize and process information on the Web in ways that are making the Web 'smarter' for people and machines,” said Ralph Hodgson, co-founder of TopQuadrant, in a statement released by company. “The same technologies are changing the way data can be integrated and interoperated between diverse systems and databases. With these advances, enterprise-scale Semantic Web applications need a professionally engineered integrated development environment that has an open, pluggable architecture and offers state-of-the-art support for complementary tools and core Semantic Web capabilities such as reasoning.”
Featured in the product are information visualization and mash-up facilities and ontology mapping support as well as integration with XML, relational databases and other legacy data sources.
Users can configure layout of forms and other content to be user-friendly. Multiple persons can edit an ontology at the same time. Users can run SPARQL (Simple Protocol and RDF Query Language) queries.
Posted by Paul Krill on February 26, 2007 09:59 AM
February 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: iSCSI in the spotlight
Fresh from the Test Center: It's an iSCSI explosion! We've got reviews of LeftHand Networks' SAN/iQ and the EqualLogic PS3800XV, plus a full report on iSCSI's present and future. If you're looking for storage upgrades, this is the report to read.
What's up, bot?: Several recent distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, including one against his friends at CastleCops, have Roger Grimes steamed. But is there any good defense against an onslaught of bots? A little knowledge of how bots and botnets operate can help, so check out the most recent Security Adviser column for a primer.
License liability: Looks like Red-Gate's licensing for SQL Backup is awfully particular about which computer you use your license on. Sean McCown explains that by Red-Gate's wording, a SQL Backup license is non-transferrable... that means if you're consolidating hardware or some other such activity, those SQL Backup licenses can't go into the general pool. Read more about the exact license wording and Sean's thoughts on this issue on his Database Underground blog.
Posted by Stephanie McLoughlin on February 26, 2007 09:25 AM
February 26, 2007 | Comments: (0)
HP ships D2D backup for SMB, with no tapes, literally
If you're keeping a tally of how many different packaging of the Proliant server line HP can come up with, add one more, actually two more: The StorageWorks D2D110 and D2D120 Backup System.
The two systems have essentially the same form factor and features, the major difference being their capacity. With a post RAID 5 capacity of 750GB for the D2D110 and 1.5TB for the D2D120, each system makes available a small, easy to reach via iSCSI, VTL (virtual tape library) to small businesses.
The emphasis seems to be on small and not only because of the capacity of these two systems. Only up to 4 servers can target each backup system, although HP makes no restrictions on mixing backup and application servers, which should allow backing up more than four application environments.
Regardless of their nature each server should have a proper iSCSI initiator connected to the target GbE NIC of the backup appliance. The most common backup applications are supported and the new, internally developed VTL software can emulate an autoloader with 4 LTO-2 drives and 96 cartridges, according to HP.
This first version of the VTL software doesn't offer the possibility to move backups to a physical tape for vaulting, a feature that should become available later this year and at no additional charge, HP promises.
Both models are available immediately. The D2D110 is priced at $2,000 but the extra capacity of the D2D120 will cost $1,000 more.
Posted by Mario Apicella on February 26, 2007 07:58 AM
February 23, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Daily: New blogs on the block
Desktop tech and green IT: We've added a couple more entrees to InfoWorld.com's blog buffet. Test Center Contributor Randall C. Kennedy is the author of the new Enterprise Desktop blog in which he'll be honing in on -- as the blog title suggests -- enterprise desktop computing technologies, such as DreamScene, which he dubs "A Nightmare on Vista Street."
Meanwhile, since I am not above self-promotion, allow me to introduce you to my new blog, Sustainable IT. I'll be exploring issues of green technology, including strategies for making your business more energy efficient. And make no mistake: Energy efficiency should be a top concern for you as data-center power needs continue to rise but sources of reliable energy aren't keeping pace. (Then there's the environmental issues and that whole global warming thing.)
System Restore and Windows: Strategic Developer Martin Heller raised some questions about System Restore on Windows a while back. Specifically, he commented that admins seemingly have less control over restore points in Vista than they do with XP. Well, a program manager at Microsoft pointed him to some information about System Restore that proved somewhat useful -- though Martin still wonders why that info was buried in a Technet blog instead of actual documentation.
Posted by Ted Samson on February 23, 2007 08:55 AM
February 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft bolsters collaboration server
Microsoft has released version 1.2 of its Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server Power Tool, which is intended to improve the user experience for the Team Foundation Server collaboration server for application development.
Formerly known as Power Toys, Power Tool features a set of enhancements, tools and command line utilities. Version 1.2 offers a set of custom check-in policies, a build test task and a process template editor. Also featured are bug fixes.
Download details can be found here.
Posted by Paul Krill on February 22, 2007 01:29 PM
February 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Preview: SaaS meets BPM in Lombardi Blueprint
Lombardi Software is looking to help companies reduce complexity and improve communication during BPM mapping with its new Blueprint application -- a Web-hosted modeling tool, now in beta, that allows employees to collaborate on business processes via Web browser.
In addition to easing deployment requirements with an on-demand SaaS model, what I find to set this tool apart is its "everyman," text-based approach to building process frameworks. You simply type your process descriptions into Blueprint's outline formatter, and Blueprint dynamically generates graphical maps ready to be dressed up with supporting detail (business and process ownership definitions, I/O requirements, and so on).
Blueprint's GUI is easy to use. I could drag process elements to reposition them within the outline, and Ajax underpinnings enabled dynamic type-ahead when entering supporting details. One addition I'd like to see: dropdown selection lists that enforce the use of standard terminology. Better to lead managers to accurate keywords than risk their creating their own.
Blueprint is not due until May 1, so the beta still has some rough edges (which is to be expected), and many features are still in the works. Support for complex processes (such as parallel branching) is limited, support for BPMN (although slated) has not yet arrived, and the general lack of advanced modeling features (like simulation) mean Blueprint is currently best suited to generic, high-level mapping and first-sweep data collection. But that's a start.
Also on my wish list are administrative features for defining permissions and rolls, necessary to adequately govern access to process elements. Blueprint's use of Wiki is buzzy, but I wouldn't want to risk opening my projects in that manner without more controls. Auditing features -- not yet available -- will be helpful for revision tracking, but auditing is not a substitute for taking some basic precautions.
Among the beta hitches: I was unable to export my diagrams. Lombardi indicates export will be enabled in the final release, and that diagrams will be exportable in BPDM -- a yet unratified standard looking to usurp XPDL. However, in the early going, you won't be able to import maps from existing tools and you will only be able to sync with Lombardi TeamWorks. A TeamWorks release supporting BPDM is slated to coincide with the release of Blueprint.
A nice feature was the ability to generate a presentation-ready PowerPoint deck of my project with a single click. Further, I could define concrete goals (if not yet actually associate them to specific processes) as well as identify pain points in need of attention. The final version promises to include an analysis engine to improve awareness of workflow problems, as well as a chat facility.
There's a long road ahead for making BPM accessible to the masses. It is good to see vendors like Lombardi taking the first steps toward easing that journey. I'll be watching eagerly to report back on how Lombardi Blueprint develops.
Lombardi Blueprint
Availability: Now in beta; GA due May 1, 2007
Price: $500 per month per 10 users
Verdict: Blueprint is one of the easiest to use higher-level process mapping tools I have seen, and its SaaS availability streamlines rollout. The early beta does not support complex mapping scenarios, but it's not entirely indicative of the full feature set to be released in the final product. Lombardi will continue to add capabilities for the May release.
Posted by James Borck on February 22, 2007 08:56 AM
February 22, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: Beat the bots
Botnet resources: Roger Grimes compiled a handy - and thorough - list of reading material about botnets and denial of service attacks. Check them out on the Security Adviser blog and get up to speed fast.
VoIP to go: VoIP on your cell - is it a pipe dream? Oliver Rist says no, although he admits it's going to take a while for the tech to come around thanks in no small part to telecom's delay tactics. In the meantime, the DiVitas MCA can give your DIY VoIP-cell project a leg up. Find out more about this appliance (and Oliver's push for a special summer bikini issue) in this week's Enterprise Windows column.
Posted by Stephanie McLoughlin on February 22, 2007 06:00 AM
February 21, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Preview: Business Objects' newest platform release is more than meets the eye
As one of the titans of business intelligence (BI) platforms, Business Objects has been slowly but surely acquiring technology and integrating it into their existing foundation. A careful reading between the lines of the marketing for their newest release, Business Objects XI Release 2 (R2), will lead an experienced IT hand to think it's primarily an integration release, with the focus on smoother connections between the working parts.
That might be true, but it would undervalue what Business Objects accomplished with this upgrade.
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The key values souped-up in XI R2 involve simpler self-service querying and the ability for low- to intermediate-level users to easily set up dashboards and portals to give bird's-eye views of current dynamic and stored data. Crystal Xcelsius is the powerhouse behind most of that ability, though not all of it.
A feature set that Business Objects calls "Intelligent Question" gives rank newbies a natural-language interface to deliver queries the system will try to answer. A new Encyclopedia documents accessible data sources and deliverables, and searchers can use English-language queries to find items.
Individuals have (and can share) their own "InfoView" dashboard. The act of building dashboards through the Dashboard Manager appears very straightforward, with a graphically-clear design environment. The deliverables UI supports clean drill-down capabilities.
My sole dispute with Business Objects' design is the use of the word "analytic" to define a delivered graphic -- a muddying of the term for marketing purposes. Otherwise, I'm very impressed with what they've achieved in the release. The sales engineer who demonstrated the platform allowed me to take him far off the script, but everything we walked through was clearly thought-out and looked highly implementable, customizable and maintainable.
The entire BI space underwent a revolution in the last two years in terms of its strength at making the creation of BI deliverables something IT can delegate to business analysts -- or even some of the more-capable executives -- who consume the information. Business Objects XI R2 exemplifies how cleverly it can be delivered.
BusinessObjects XI R2
Platforms: AIX 5.2, Red Hat 4.0 Advanced or Enterprise Server for x86, HP-UX 11.11, Windows 2000 SP4 Professional and above
Price: Roughly $750 per user for typical installations
Verdict: BusinessObjects XI R2 is a more significant release than it appears at first glance. The most striking and IT-resource saving enhancements in this release help advance self-service intelligence work for users in the totally raw and low-intermediate skill ranges.
Posted by Jeff Angus on February 21, 2007 12:44 PM
February 20, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: More virtualization goodies
Virtual vital signs: Microsoft released its free Virtual PC 2007 to the masses -- David Marshall says it may be the last version of Virtual PC we'll see. You can download Virtual PC 2007 here. And if you missed last week's InfoWorld Virtualization Executive Forum , have no fear: you can download the presentations and peruse them in the comfort of your own chair. (There's a podcast series on virtualization available, too.)
1 Picture = 1,000 words: IBM's got a snazzy visual data representation tool called Many Eyes, and to show how it works, they've created a picture of recent data theft statistics that certainly shows where the biggest breaches hit. Paul Roberts has all the info about Many Eyes and IBM's Visual Communications Lab over on the Tech Watch blog.
Enterprise mashups get real: It's more than just mashing up a map with a random data source; enterprise mashup applications take some extra care and feeding to make sure they stay current and useful. Find out more in our special report on enterprise mashups and SOA
Posted by Stephanie McLoughlin on February 20, 2007 09:54 AM
February 16, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: Data protection and app virtualization
Plug those data leaks: Many researchers agree that data leaks are on the rise in the business world, and having your customer files or classified information fall into the wrongs hands can be quite costly. Test Center Analyst Mike Heck recently looked at an impressive ECC (electronic communication control) solution called Orchestria 4.7 that lets admins prevent sensitive data from slipping out via various channels, including e-mail, IM, and blogs.
Thin's back in: Application virtualization is growing more and more appealing to the enterprise, a trend clearly not lost on Thinstall. To that end, the company recently release version 3.0 of its Thinstall Virtualization Suite 3.0, clearly aimed at large companies. Test Center Anayst Randall C. Kennedy got a chance to take it for a spin and discovered "a robust, self-contained application virtualization solution that requires no client-side agents or supporting server infrastructure."
Penguins flock to SoCal: Geek in Paradise High Mobley checked out the Southern California Linux Expo 5x over the weekend and found that, though it was more intimate than the show in San Francisco, there was plenty to learn. "The small size of this event gave me more face time with the big business tech experts as well as the Open Source community leaders and developers," he writes.
Posted by Ted Samson on February 16, 2007 10:22 AM
February 15, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: Treo security alert and Microsoft's online video debut
Fix it or forget it: First it was Qualcomm not patching a vulnerability in Eudora WorldMail. Now, Palm is following that same path: it will not be fixing a Treo password bypass problem found by Symantec. Roger Grimes is appalled, and plans to dump his Treo. What do you think?
Surf's up: If you missed the InfoWorld Virtualization Executive Forum earlier this week, don't despair too much. We've got a flood of videos and presentations that will be coming your way over the next few days, not to mention an excellent collection of analysis articles and product reviews. Start off with this interview of Don Norbeck of SunGard and his thoughts on the coming virtualizaion tidal wave, then check out Red Hat CTO Brian Stevens' thoughts on virtualization features to come in future Linux releases.
Soapbox vs. YouTube: The battle begins: Microsoft opened the doors to its MSN Soapbox online video service today, offering it up as a public beta. Will this be a You Tube killer? Looks like it does most of the same things, although you can watch a video while searching for others at the same time (check out Soapbox for yourself here). Perhaps the larger question is: do we really need another way to watch the Mentos-and-Diet-Coke video? (P.S. Wonder why that combination of candy and soda works? Here's some explanation, courtesy of the MythBusters...)
Posted by Stephanie McLoughlin on February 15, 2007 09:59 AM
February 14, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: Wi-Fi and VOIP are ready to mesh
Seamless wireless: Enterprise Windows columnist Oliver Rist is taking a much-needed break from Vista and donning his prognostication cap. His prediction for this year: Wi-Fi and VOIP are going to converge in a big way. The bad news is, we likely won't start reaping the real benefits of that melding for a while.
Will Internet kill the video star? The aforementioned Oliver Rist has indeed been busy, having just wrapped up the 4th episode of InfoWorld LIVE!, our Internet radio program. This week's focus is on data centers and how building strategies are changing. Special guests include Phillip Pokorny of Penguin Computers/Scyld and Test Center Senior Contributing Editor Logan Harbaugh.
Book review: Ajax on Rails: InfoWorld's Strategic Developer Martin Heller recently curled up with Scott Raymond's new book Ajax on Rails. "Focusing on the Ajax support in Ruby on Rails in just about the right depth for most developers, and offering some valuable insight without going too far afield," Martin reports.
Posted by Ted Samson on February 14, 2007 09:37 AM
February 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)
IBM brings a big tape to a small library
Would you expect to see a tape drive such as the IBM TS1120 that sports native dual 4G FC ports, uncompressed cartridge capacity up to 500 GB and a transfer rate of up to 100 MB/sec (without compression tricks) to become available on other than a mammoth size library?
Probably not, but this is what IBM is announcing today with the TS3400, a unit that can pack two TS1120 and slots for 18 cartridges in just 5U of rack space.
The library can mount a variety of cartridges in those slots, which obviously impacts its overall capacity. In addition, customers can use the drives' native encryption capability to secure backups of sensitive data.
The TS3400 should start shipping in March, at a price starting at $30,000, according to IBM.
Posted by Mario Apicella on February 13, 2007 12:02 PM
February 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Genuitec extends tools to NetBeans, Visual Studio
Visual Studio and NetBeans users now can access Genuitec's SNAPs (Simple Nonintegrated Applications) developer tools.
By downloading Genuitec's "Use-Anywhere" connectors, developers working in the NetBeans and Visual Studio platforms can utilize Genuitec's MyEclipse Visual HTML Designer, XML Editor, Database Explorer and Image Editor SNAPs.
SNAPs is part of the Genuitec Fusion Technology suite of tools to allow developers to accomplish focused tasks without requiring an entire IDE.
Use-Anywhere connectors for NetBeans and Visual Studio require installation of the MyEclipse 5.5M1 Enterprise Workbench, which can be downloaded here. The connectors can be found here for NetBeans and here for Visual Studio.
Accessing the connectors does require an annual subscription to the MyEclipse IDE, which costs $30 per developer for a basic subscription.
Genuitec offers Java and J2EE development tools and bases its technology on the Eclipse open source platform. The company recently announced availability of its MyEclipse 5.5 Enterprise Workbench IDE that leverages SNAPs tools.
Posted by Paul Krill on February 13, 2007 11:50 AM
February 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Progress ships service-oriented apps builder
Progress Software has announced shipment of its Progress OpenEdge 10.1B platform for developing service-oriented business applications.
OpenEdge features a development environment that allows developers to concentrate on creating business logic, Progress said. This release emphasizes large-scale data management.
Featured in OpenEdge are database administration tools for building business applications. Extremely large data tables are supported, with tables able to grow to trillions of rows to ensure data availability, Progress said.
Also enabled in version 10.1B is support for 64-bit data formats and backing for Linux and the 64-bit PowerPC platform.
OpenEdge is built on the Eclipse 3.2 platform.
Posted by Paul Krill on February 13, 2007 10:59 AM
February 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: Parallels security alert and laptop raves
Heads-up on Parallels: Kevin Railsback, InfoWorld's IT director, is spreading the word about a potential vulnerability in the Parallels beta. (For more about this Windows-to-OSX connection technology, check out our review of Parallels.) According to Railsback, "a recent addition to the Parallels Beta, called Global Sharing, can open up OS X itself to possible attacks from the Windows side." Get more details here and learn how to close the hole.
One for the road: Oliver Rist got his hands on a Gateway M255-E SB laptop, and he doesn't want to give it back. His review on the SMB IT blog says that this little notebook took a licking and kept on ticking, handling everything Oliver threw at it. Sounds like Gateway's going to have a hard time prying this one out of his hot little hands...
Have you seen the InfoClipz yet? Primers on storage virtualization, server virtualization, and SaaS, all in one easy-on-the-eyes video clip. Check 'em out.
Posted by Stephanie McLoughlin on February 13, 2007 10:01 AM
February 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Review: Ruby in Steel proves a speedy debugger
SapphireSteel Software recently shipped Ruby in Steel Developer, a professional Ruby programming environment for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition and above. I have used Komodo, RadRails, and the free tools that ship with Ruby before, but Ruby in Steel improves on all of these in several ways.
Ruby in Steel Developer has advanced Ruby and RHTML editing and IntelliSense support, and allows fast debugging of Ruby and Rails applications. The fast debugging and IntelliSense support wowed me. SapphireSteel claims a 100x speedup for their Cylon debugger over the standard Ruby debugger, but I measured a 200x speedup during my work.
On the other hand, I thought that the way Ruby in Steel integrates Visual Studio with external Ruby and Rails tools and tests was OK, but not as nice as RadRails' integration.
While the ability to do fast debugging of Rails application is very valuable, it currently requires a rather complicated setup. If you need to debug multiple Ruby threads, you'll need to switch to the standard Ruby debugger (something that will be fixed in a later release). The need to switch between the Ruby in Steel RHTML editor and the Visual Studio HTML editor for complicated layouts is awkward; plans to add a visual layout editor for Rails pages in a later release should alleviate this problem.
Tire-kickers can download a 30-day free trial of Ruby in Steel Developer or an unlimited free copy of Ruby in Steel Personal Edition (PE), which lacks the fast debugger and IntelliSense. Of course, those two features are the best parts -- so getting the full version will be worth it to professional developers.
Ruby in Steel Developer
Cost: Launch special: $199; rises to $249 with release of version 1.1
Availability: Now
Verdict: Any serious professional Ruby developer who has a copy of Visual Studio 2005 Professional or above should at least try out Ruby in Steel Developer. If you're like me, the asking price will seem cheap for the combination of the fast debugging and the great IntelliSense support.
Posted by Martin Heller on February 12, 2007 11:04 AM
February 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: 10G at $1,500 per port
Dell delivers: Value-conscious network admins would be well-served adding Dell's new PowerConnect 6248 to their short list of switches. Test Center analyst Paul Venezia finds the gear -- a full Layer-3 switch that can handle up to four 10G ports in addition to 48 gigabit Ethernet ports -- to be a solid piece of hardware for an incredibly low price.
Introducing InfoClipz: If you're curious about information technology concepts like software as a service or virtualization, and you have three minutes to spare, check out InfoWorld's latest offering: InfoClipz, easy-to-digest videos about some tricky technology topics. Our library thus far includes Software as as Service, Storage Virtualization, and Server Virtualization -- with lots more to come.
Virtualization under the hood: Speaking of virtualization, we've put together an essential owner's manual to server, storage, application, and desktop virtualization technologies will help you break the limits of traditional, tightly coupled systems.
Posted by Ted Samson on February 12, 2007 08:55 AM
February 12, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Sepaton pushes more VTLs and de-dup
If you never heard of Sepaton before (wherever you have been, lucky you) just read their name backward to get a hint of where they stand on backups. For a quick update on their approach to de-duplication this should help.
Following last year's battle cry on de-duplication Sepaton is announcing today two new virtual libraries, the S2100-DS2
offering a capacity range between 3.5 and 7 TB, and the S2100-ES2 a larger model with nominal capacity up to 1 petabyte.
The two models share a common 3U module that can mount 500 GB SATA drives, and can double the nominal capacity using built-in hardware compression.
Customers can order the DeltaStor de-duplication software on both libraries, which should increase archiving capacity 25 folds as an average, according to Sepaton.
The two VTL lines are available immediately, at a suggested price starting at $18,000 for a DS2 with 3.5 TB, which becomes $30,000 with DeltaStor, and $59,000 for an ES2 with 7 TB, priced around $190,000 with DeltaStor.
The DeltaStor option is available also as an update for previous models at about $1 per GB, according to Sepaton.
Posted by Mario Apicella on February 12, 2007 06:58 AM
February 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)
BEA certifies Java EE 5 backing
BEA Systems has certified its upcoming WebLogic Server 10 Java application server as being compliant with the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition 5 (Java EE 5) specification.
BEA said its application server is the first to achieve this milestone. The company has subjected the application server to a compatibility test suite provided by Sun Microsystems, which founded Java.
A highlight of Java EE 5 is support for Enterprise JavaBeans 3.0 technology for simplified persistence of data to databases. Web services capabilities also have been enhanced to improve development of services.
WebLogic Server 10, available in a preview release here, features ease of development, Web services capabilities for SOA, high availability and tooling based on the open source Eclipse platform. General lease of verson 10 is planned for March.
BEA also has worked with Microsoft on interoperability with Microsoft's Weindows Communication Foundation technology for Web services.
Posted by Paul Krill on February 9, 2007 11:32 AM
February 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: Color multifunction printer reviews
Color-rific: Can your company's color printer make copies? Fax documents? Serve as a scanner? If you answered "no" to any of those questions and you want to change that, check out the Test Center's head-to-head comparison of four color MFPs. These systems from Ricoh, Sharp, Toshiba, and Xerox vary in speed and performance, so choose wisely. And if you want to see more color printer reviews, you'll find them in the Product Guide.
Is your storage ready for Vista?: Mario Apicella is exploring Vista's impact on storage over at the Storage Network blog -- and it looks like things are running about 50-50 in terms of good and bad news. Learn more about Mario's restore story here, and his personal storage tests here.
RSA Roundup: In case you missed the boatload of products, news announcements, company launches, and general hoopla coming out of this year's RSA show, we've got a full rundown in this special report. And don't forget the video interviews, too.
Posted by Stephanie McLoughlin on February 9, 2007 06:00 AM
February 08, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: On the road with Windows
Windows goes Mobile: Ever needed to write up those meeting notes, but have nothing around except your cell phone? The next version of Windows Mobile 6 will put the power of Office at your fingertips. Learn more from Ephraim Schwartz's news scoop.
Who are you?: Control over who can access what types of information is bound to be critical in the face of more federal data regulations and growing insider data-leak threats... can XML make a difference? Check out this video interview with Andrew Nash (formerly of RSA and Reactivity) and hear more about XML's role in identity management.
No more Minesweeper: Think your staff is productive? Think they could be more productive? Here are 12 productivity tips to help ditch the YouTube slacking and get back to work.
Posted by Stephanie McLoughlin on February 8, 2007 06:00 AM
February 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Review: MindTouch cleverly packs wiki in a virtual appliance
I'd just finished a several-month test of enterprise wiki solutions and was looking forward to exploring new topics. But then MindTouch released a novel version of its Deki enterprise wiki that deserves honorable mention.
Deki's been available for some time as a behind-the-firewall hardware appliance called the MindTouch DekiBox. However, this latest version (1.7.1) is a complete pre-installed and configured application and Debian Linux OS - a virtual appliance that runs under VMware's free VMware Player on your Windows or Linux server. With today's focus on virtualization to consolidate hardware, this alone should be welcomed by IT managers.
True to MindTouch's promise, the initial configuration required about 15 minutes and was totally hands-off. I was very pleased with the performance of Deki and VMware on my aging Pentium III Dell PowerEdge 1650 server; for example, page updates were saved in about one second. Like other virtual appliances, you can easily move both the application and content from one machine to another - portability that would be important in large organizations when you need to quickly scale up to many users.
Deki has most hallmarks of a business wiki. The intuitive interface helped me immediately create pages, organize them in the hierarchy I wanted, and edit content with the solid rich-text editor. There's the expected text and page formatting options, easy linking to other content, and ability to edit the source HTML code if you want. Deki, additionally, let me quickly attach files and images to pages. There isn't a check-in/check-out option for files. Still, full versioning, revision comparisons, and change notifications are provided for all wiki pages.
While Deki doesn't provide a comment (blog) feature, I found customary wiki collaboration tools, which should not require more than a few minutes' training time for new users to understand. For instance, a click on the toolbar let me decide who could contribute to a particular page. Moreover, pages and sections are available as RSS feeds. I also setup a list of pages to watch for changes. The built-in indexing and search (of pages and attachments) worked very well, too.
Wiki pages are stored in XML format, which should make it easier to tie in with ERP, content management, and other enterprise applications. (An API's available for more elaborate customization needs). Further, users of the paid version can download a Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express Connector, which converts email messages and attachments into wiki pages with one step.
Deki has just the right amount of administration control, which ranges from changing sites' appearances using style sheets to managing users.
In all, I found Deki provides a very agreeable user experience, wiki features that should satisfy many workgroup (and often enterprise-wide) needs, and a forward-looking deployment method.
MindTouch Deki
Availability: Now
Pricing: Free (five-user, unsupported); starts at $995 for supported version with advanced features.
Verdict: MindTouch Deki's packaging as a VMware virtual appliance greatly reduces setup efforts and IT resources, while providing the security of in-house installation. As a business wiki, Deki's also notable, providing easy page setup and editing, multiple collaboration features, and the possibility of integration with other enterprise systems because of its XML underpinning.
Posted by Mike Heck on February 7, 2007 11:28 AM
February 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: To Barcelona and beyond
A trip to Barcelona: AMD has a big fan for its forthcoming x86 CPU: InfoWorld Chief Technologist Tom Yager. "Barcelona is genius," he writes, "a genuinely new CPU that frees itself entirely of the millstone of the Pentium legacy. It'll do the same for you." Intrigued? Read on!
MS's connectile dysfunction: What do you get when you put three tipsy geeks in a hot tub? A debate over the merits of Microsoft's and Google's collaboration wares. Enterprise Windows columnist Oliver Rist shares highlights from the debate with a focus on the improvements Microsoft has added to SharePoint.
Visiting Vista: Regular visiting to InfoWorld.com have likely seen at least some of Oliver's countless (and very informative) write-ups about Vista. Well, if you want some impressions from our other analysts, you should check out Paul Venezia's latest blog entry about his views on Vista, as well as Mac fan Tom Yager's dive into the OS (with more to come).
Posted by Ted Samson on February 7, 2007 09:29 AM
February 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Datacore touts a next level for virtualization
Perhaps no other vendor's history has a more profound intertwining with storage virtualization than DataCore Software, a company that if chaired by the former VP of the US Al Gore would probably claim to have "invented" storage virtualization.
Ziya Aral, Chairman and CTO of DataCore doesn't go that far but his comments are nonetheless pungent:
In our segment of the industry virtualization was so hot that produced over 200 companies in the US, most of whom had never got beyond the slideware stage- he tells me during our interview -
Mr. Aral doesn't shy away from self-criticism either:
We had a fairly competitive strategy in mind. When we first started to come out we were going to take on the major storage vendors. Instead we ended up allying or doing OEM with almost all of them. So we ended up in bed with our enemieshe jokes.
Our advantage is that we don't have to carry around a locomotive sized chunk of hardwareAral continues.
DataCore is announcing today version 6.0 of SANsymphony Enteprise that promises numerous interesting new features such as creating separate SAN domains to better manage resource allocations, discrete levels of service and security requirements.
It's worth visiting the DataCore site for a more comprehensive outline of the new release of SANsymphony.
DataCore characterizes the new release as the first step toward a new level of virtualization.
SANsymphony 6.0 is the first half of the re- architecting of the base kernel for 64-bit. We are going to shovel a whole lot of new technology at the top such as the Traveler CDP (continuous data protection) technology. That's the first of about half a dozen announcements we will do during the yearAral explains.
SANSymphony 6.0 Enterprise Edition is available immediately. DataCore suggests a starting retail price of $25,000.
Posted by Mario Apicella on February 7, 2007 06:50 AM
February 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Microsoft recently updated CodePlex, its collaborative portal for software development and sharing of source code, a Microsoft blogger reported.
A blog by James Newkirk, Microsoft product unit manager for CodePlex, notes the improvements, which include:
* Updated forums, including the ability to edit a post and received email notifications of replies.
* Source code browsing, in which anyone can view source code directly.
* Sponsored ads.
* Automated project creation.
* Granular RSS feeds, in which users can subscribe to a feed for just the wiki, releases, issue tracker, discussions or source code.
Posted by Paul Krill on February 6, 2007 03:47 PM
February 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: Mobile mashups
Smash it up: Mobio's Mobile 2.0 puts personalized mashups on mobile devices. Could be just the thing for that intern who gets lost on the way to get coffee. Check out the video of Mobio's Demo presentation and see for yourself if this widget is worth waiting for. (And take a peek at all our other Demo videos, too.)
Off the hook: A new anti-phishing feature in IE7 caught Roger Grimes' interest. Called "High Assurance," it color-codes the addres bar for safe links, adding another layer of verification to potentially thwart phishing schemes. Find out more on the Security Adviser blog or the Spyware Sucks blog.
Into the wild blue yonder: Tom Yager's Vista voyage begins with this post. That's right - InfoWorld's resident Mac man is tuning in and booting up. Follow the adventure as Tom enters the world of Microsoft's newest OS on the Enterprise Mac blog.
Posted by Stephanie McLoughlin on February 6, 2007 06:00 AM
February 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Tripwire tightens grip on configuration changes
As the saying goes, change is good. But ... in IT it ought to happen under the strictest controls. Tripwire Enterprise 6.0 is designed to be a harsh mistress when it comes to detecting and preventing unauthorized changes, which can lead to any number of hazards, particularly the ones frowned-upon by executive and legal types. The new version of Tripwire, which was released on Monday, appears to be timed just right as IT outfits far and wide strive to implement a fully functional CMDB, the blueprint for how the entire IT infrastructure is structured and how the whole metasystem functions. But there's plenty of room for improvement when it comes to those shiny new CMDBs, just ask someone over at Gartner, which warned in recent a report that on the CMDB front there's tremendous room for improvement. Tripwire 6.0 now includes automated techniques to filter and classify changes, enabling IT staff to treat a change differently based on the type of system, type of change, and its level of severity. In this age of data security and segregation of duties, it's all about integrity. Stealthy monitoring, dashboard views and real-time alerts go a long way in helping to secure any loose cannons.
Posted by Richard Gincel on February 5, 2007 02:53 PM
February 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
ChainBuilder ESB leverages JBI
Bostech on Monday announced general availability of ChainBuilder ESB, an enterprise service bus tuned for Java Business Integration (JBI) and SOA.
Featured in the product is a graphical user interface for configuring JBI-compliant components via a drag-and-drop capability. Users also can accommodate non-XML message formats such as X12 EDI.
The ChainBuilder ESB Component Flow Editor allows for users to lay out an SOA and view all integration components. Layout is done via an Eclipse IDE interface.
Run-time components can be controlled in a production environment through an AJAX-based (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) Web interface that also features statistics and runtime logs.
ChainBuilder is ESB is available either via a common GPL (GNU General Public License) or via a subscription featuring training, support and a warranty. A commercial license is available in situations where GPL is not available or for users who do not release source code for their applications.
Posted by Paul Krill on February 5, 2007 02:49 PM
February 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Preview: NextPage Document Retention works well with users
Compliance and records retention can be real pain points for businesses. Fortunately, companies like NextPage continue to deliver relief with the newest version of its Document Collaboration product, a managed, hosted service called NextPage 2 Document Retention.
NextPage says that only 30 percent to 40 percent of documents end up in corporate repositories. Document Retention provides a solution to corporate archival problems that will actually get used. Document Retention knows what documents are sitting on PCs and laptops, manages the clean-up of intermediate files, and stores the final version in corporate repository.
Like Document Collaboration, Document Retention doesn't rely on a central document management repository to function; instead, it uses a distributed architecture to work with users rather than against them. Because of its unique architecture, users create, edit, and share documents using the same tools and in the same way they always have. Meanwhile, Document Retention sits in the background, tracking actions on managed documents.
Suppose you're the project manager for a project. Once you've created the project in Document Retention, anyone on your team can enter documents into the project. If you create a Word or Excel document and e-mail it to others on the team, they might save it to a drive, edit it, and send it to others. All the while, Document Retention is tracking where each copy of the document ends up.
At the end of the project, the project owner sends an e-mail through the system with a "clean up" action attached. The e-mail is automatically routed to anyone with a copy of the document. When the recipient clicks on the action, old versions are automatically cleaned up and the final version is saved in the corporation's designated archive.
NextPage 2 Document Retention includes a client piece that sends cues to the server about user actions. There are also "shared data services" that work with applications such as Lotus Domino, Groove, and shared drives on SMB file servers.
Companies might understandably be concerned about sending data to a hosted service that could be used to sniff out corporate activities. NextPage uses a hashed tracking code for documents that uniquely identifies the document, even when its name and contents change, without sharing any detailed information about the document's contents.
NextPage 2 Document Retention
Pricing: Base cost is $100/user/year with volume discounts (minimum price of $25,000)
Verdict: NextPage 2 Document Retention provides a method for versioning, tracking, cleaning up, and archiving corporate documents that users will actually use.
Posted by Phil Windley on February 5, 2007 10:25 AM
February 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: Four-way NAC attack
A NAC for security: In this day and age, you don't just want any ol' system connecting to your company's network; that innocent-looking device could be packing a fistful of wormy or viral unpleasantness. InfoWorld Analyst Steve Hultquist looks at a quartet of NAC (network access control) solutions, Enterasys Sentinel Trusted Access, McAfee Policy Enforcer, Symantec Network Access Control, and Trend Micro Network VirusWall Enforcer, to determine which was best delivers policy-based NAC. We did find a winner -- but all the vendors have work to do.
Can Oracle do MySQL? Late last year, Oracle stirred up the IT industry with its offer of low-price support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. This week, InfoWorld Open Enterprise Columnist Neil McCallister contemplates whether Oracle may be poised to develop its own branded version of popular open-source database MySQL -- and more important, could the company compete.
WLW woes: Martin Heller, InfoWorld's Strategic Developers, decided to try out Microsoft's Windows Live Writer (currently in beta) for blogging. Alas, the path from creating a blog entry to posting it via Movable Type (InfoWorld's blog-publishing system of choice) proved rocky, to say the least -- but at least there were lessons to be learned.
Posted by Ted Samson on February 5, 2007 08:25 AM
February 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Fujitsu unveils "portable" media eraser
How do you dispose of old magnetic media such as disk drives and tapes? Crushing the media with a sledge hammer may seem a good approach but that and other similarly crude methods may not guarantee complete erasure.
Interestingly, that seems to be the approach that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee chose before handing the keys to his successor.
He didn't erase software. He didn't shred documents. He smashed the hard drives.
that article reports.
Crushing the disk drives of servers and personal computers apparently worked for Mr. Huckabee, but if you have to dispose of old media routinely and safely using a degausser is probably a better choice.
In coincidence with the RSA Conference in San Francisco, Fujitsu Computer Products of America is announcing today the Mag EraSURE P3M, a new model of degausser that works without electricity and can erase any kind of magnetic media up to 1" deep, including the latest disk drives with perpendicular recording, in 20 seconds or less.
According to Fujitsu, with its internal permanent magnets the ME-P3M can generate a magnetic fields of up to 1.4 Tesla .
The M3-P3M is available immediately at a list price just below $47K.
Posted by Mario Apicella on February 5, 2007 06:21 AM
February 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
VMware woos SMBs with VirtualCenter Lite
VMware Server runs on Windows or Linux, supports Windows and Linux and Solaris guests, and it's free. These are all nice qualities. About the only knock against it has been the absence of a centralized management system, and VMware filled that hole today.
VMware VirtualCenter for VMware Server is a stripped down version of the management system in VMware's enterprise platform, VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3). In addition to host and VM resource monitoring, and the ability to start, stop, and suspend VMs across the network, VirtualCenter for VMware Server provides a VM library and cloning for rapid provisioning, and it allows you to set alerts on predefined events such as a CPU utilization threshold or a VM failure. It does not include the live VM migration capability found in VI3.
Of course, licensed at $1,500 for three physical, dual-processor servers (plus $400 per each additional host agent), VirtualCenter for VMware Server weighs in at about one-tenth the cost of VI3. The price point is more in line with Xen-based server virtualization offerings from Virtual Iron and XenSource.
According to VMware's Ben Matheson, director of product management, the new bundle is aimed at SMBs running 10 physical servers or more. Matheson said that, among the 1.2 million downloaders of VMware Server, about 70 percent have been SMBs -- companies with fewer than 1,000 employees or fewer than 100 servers.
The new offering suggests that VMware Server management tools might be integrated into VI3 soon. "We do recognize we need to get that functionality available," Matheson acknowledged. "We know when we plan to deliver it, but I don't know if I can talk about that."
Posted by Doug Dineley on February 5, 2007 03:00 AM
February 05, 2007 | Comments: (0)
HP is making a handful of storage announcements as the Asia Pacific StorageWorks Conference opens its doors in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Don't let the esoteric location of the announcements sway you: The new products and features announced today will be available, shortly, not only in Asia but worldwide .
If you are sold on the c-Class BladeSystem from HP perhaps the most interesting piece of news today will be the availability of the Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric Switch on that platform.
The MDS 9124e comes in a 12 and a 24 FC ports version. Both models push their ports up to 4G, are VSAN capable and should be available starting March 1st. Expect a price around $6,000 for the 12-port model, $9,500 for the larger unit.
ProLiant DL585 G2 Storage Server should immediately evoke the convergence of Microsoft Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003 and HP gear, an expected development after a similar recent announcement from Dell.
The DL585 G2 mount 64 bit dual-core AMD processors and connect to back-end storage via FC ports. Among other features, the new Microsoft OS offers iSCSI target and simultaneous file serving capability. Availability is February 12, for a price just shy of $19K.
Probably the less surprising, but certainly not the least important, part of the announcement relates to Data Protector, HP beloved backup application. Starting sometime in February, version 6 of Data Protector will offer the possibility of encrypting backup data directly at the client using AES 256.
On this most sensitive issue of software implemented tape encryption, HP follows closely the footprints of Symantec and IBM that recently added a similar capability to their flagship backup apps. Data Protector with 10 licenses should sell for about $3,000.
Posted by Mario Apicella on February 5, 2007 12:05 AM
February 02, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: Who's the most insecure OS of them all?
Debunking security myths: Roger A. Grimes, InfoWorld's Security Adviser, counters critics who declare Windows the most difficult OS to keep secure. To that, Grimes says, "Unless you're running OpenBSD, this statement is usually untrue. All of those other OSes end up with a fair amount of published vulnerabilities that need to be patched."
See DEMO run: If you couldn't make it to DEMO this year, fear not; you needn't miss out on all the glitz and techno-glamor. We got plenty of videos from the event featuring products like "the poor man's Blackberry" and Mobio's Mobile 2.0 product for creating personalized mashups on mobile devices.
It's the little things: Strategic Developer Martin Heller discovers that Ruby in Steel, a Ruby programming environment for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, will run on Windows XP, but not on Vista, for rather suprising reasons.
Posted by Ted Samson on February 2, 2007 09:59 AM
February 01, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Mainsoft forges Visual Studio ties to Linux, Unix
Mainsoft this week announced general availability of a plug-in to Microsoft's Visual Studio 2005 IDE for the Mainsoft C++ application porting platform.
The plug-in links the company's Visual MainWin for Unix and Linux, Version 5.1.1 to Visual Studio. Visual MainWin enables ISVs to port C++ applications to a multitude of platforms, including Solaris, IBM AIX and Linux variants from Red Hat and Suse.
With the plug-in, ISVs can use Microsoft's development environment to develop functionalities for Visual C++ applications and deploy these applications on Windows, Linux and Unix.
Version 5.1.1 offers a single code base to support both 32- and 64-bit requirements, new operating systems and compilers.
Posted by Paul Krill on February 1, 2007 01:57 PM
February 01, 2007 | Comments: (0)
Test Center Tracker: Live from Demo
On the floor at Demo: With new technologies whizzing about their ears, both Ephraim Schwartz and Steve Fox are blogging from the 2007 Demo show - you'll find their latest postings on the Reality Check and TechWatch blogs. From inkless printing to someone calling SaaS old school to a slideshow of presentation tidbits, we've got your Demo needs covered.
A whale of a tale: Martin Heller is still fiddling around with Orcas. After getting more RAM and doing some image work, it looks like the beta of the next version of Microsoft Visual Studio is playing nice again. That doesn't mean it's all peaches and cream, though i- Heller thinks his original instincts were right about waiting for the next drop. (P.S. Check out Heller's REST posts for more app dev insights.)
Talking heads: Two recent interviews that are worth a read: Matthew Szulik discussing Red Hat's future, and Bill Gates getting grilled about Vista on NPR.
Posted by Stephanie McLoughlin on February 1, 2007 06:00 AM