On Jan. 3, 2005, the InfoWorld Test Center revised its scoring procedures for all products to be reviewed in 2005. Click here for a detailed explanation of the new scoring procedures.
Joomla, written with PHP and back-ended by a MySQL database, is appropriate for external Web sites and intranets. The system's caching provides good performance on higher-volume sites while various extensions cover essential CMS functions; these plug-ins include news, blogs, polls, search, and internationalization. To further expand functionality, such as site backup, both free and commercial components are readily available. >> Full review >> Go to Open Source Matters' Web site
The Plone CMS, which is built on top of the Zope application server, performs well for intranets – as well as a document management server and team collaboration tool. The system is easy to use and also notable for its multi-lingual capabilities. Additionally, Plone powers a number of high-traffic Internet sites, though this configuration should included additional components, such as Squid caching. >> Full review >> Go to Plone Foundation's Web site
Written in PHP, Drupal's Web application framework anchors a content management system that includes modules for e-commerce and workflow. Drupal, unlike other systems, also has a taxonomy system to classify content – but this does take extra work to configure (as does setup). Themes are created with the standard PHPTemplate engine. A blogging system makes this system good for building online communities. >> Full review >> Go to Drupal's Web site
Written in VB.Net, DotNetNuke is an extensible content management system suitable for intranets, extranets, and public Web sites. The core distribution includes three dozen CMS modules, including a skin system (based on simple templates) that separates design from content, personalization, and search; other modules range from e-commerce systems and photo galleries to blogs, forums, and wikis. Commercial publishers offer other components. >> Full review >> Go to DotNetNuke's Web site
This very inclusive offering, developed using Java, sits on top of a JSR-170 content repository. Out of the box Alfresco provides a Web portal framework; CIFS (file share) interface that works on Windows and Linux clients; and a Web-content management system –- plus document, imagine, and records management. Further, Alfresco scales well with options for deploying content to multiple servers. >> Full review >> Go to Alfresco Software's Web site
Nexaweb's toolkit allows you to grab data from throughout the server farm and deliver it to either AJAX or Java clients. A full "bus" migrates data from server to client with little work, and a good collection of wizards make basic integration pretty simple. On the downside, the options for server manipulation of data are limited without custom code, and some widgets work in only one or the other client environment, not both. >> Full review >> Go to Nexaweb's Web site
JackBe Presto provides a sophisticated set of tools for mashing together your data on the server before delivering it to a JavaScript client. A dashboard delivery mechanism lets end users create their own mashups from data services on the Web, or consume pre-built mashups from the Presto server. The Presto back end can work with any client you might create, as long as it runs in the latest Internet Explorer or Firefox browser. >> Full review >> Go to JackBe's Web site
Silverlight 1.0 has a small footprint and is useful for streaming audio and video and simple animations on Web sites, but its use of JavaScript limits its performance for applications that require significant client-side computations. Silverlight 1.1 has higher performance and supports compiled .Net languages, at the expense of a larger footprint. Developers familiar with Windows Presentation Foundation will find Silverlight easy to learn. Excellent development and design tools will make building Silverlight applications go quickly, as early adopters have seen. >> Full review >> Go to Microsoft's Web site
As the little brother to the Sun Blade 8000 series, the 6000 series offers plenty of expansion, and more blade options than any other blade system. With SAS/SATA SFF disk support, optional RAID 0,1,5,10 on the Intel blades, CompactFlash support, and a well-designed expansion card layout, it’s a solid system for a nice price. >> Full review >> Go to Sun Microsystems' Web site
Bottom Line: Thinstall continues to deliver a no-frills solution that makes the process of packaging and deploying virtualized applications almost trivially simple. The completely self-contained virtualization environment requires no client agent or back-end server, and it delivers excellent runtime performance. However, the acquisition of competitors Softricity and Altiris has left Thinstall as the lone pioneer in a rapidly maturing market. Previously overlooked deficiencies, like the lack of client-side caching and the inability to stream over non-SMB connection types, will become magnified in the light of this newly competitive landscape. >> Full review >> Go to Thinstall's Web site
What's the 411 on GOOG-411? Just as Google has become synonymous with "performing a Web search," 411 is understood to mean "information" -- as in "what's the 411?" I was thus surprised to discover, from a billboard, no less, that the king of search is taking on the ...
Apple HTML source reveals 'iPhone Extreme' "This one's a stretch..." reports AppleInsider.
Um, yeah. Reporting on HTML code sightings of product names could be called a stretch, but iPhone Extreme has a ring to it.
Now, that sounds like the product Apple should have released first, rather ...
BRINGING PERFORMANCE VALIDATION "INTO THE LIFECYCLE" Today's enterprise apps are complex and ever-changing, which makes delivering high performance difficult. By virtualizing the behavior of application services and data in a VSE, teams can answer this challenge with validation best practices and test tools to ensure solid performance throughout the lifecycle. Register now to attend this webcast! Sponsor: ITKO
The Data Protection You've Been Looking For
Enterprise data is of supreme importance. If you can't find it quickly, it's worthless. If you lose it, it's a crisis. This IT Strategy Guide explores how to keep your data safe.
The Power of Two with SOA and BPM
Agility. Efficiency. Faster time to market. These are business requirements that spell the difference between winning and losing. See the combination of SOA working in close concert with business process management (BPM) to make these words a reality. Sponsored by Oracle
Protect Your Data with SSL - Discover how to increase customer confidence in your site with the latest solution in SSL, Extended Validation (EV) SSL ...
Virtually Limitless Virtual Storage - Do you need virtualization space savings of 50% or more with virtually no performance impact? You might be able to get storage...
Invisible IT? - The goal of IT is to become an invisible entity within a larger organization. Eliminating visibility and road blocks IT ...
It Really Is Easy to be Green - "Green IT" is a popular concept. And IT organizations are learning the influence that IT purchase decisions have on data...
Key Strategies For SOA Testing - SOA requires a unique approach to testing. Unless you're willing to reorient your testing procedures and technology now,...
Computers break down less often: survey
Computers have become more reliable in recent years as manufacturers have improved designs, but one in every six new ...
