Articles by Staff Writer

Although databases have been a fundamental component of the enterprise IT stable for decades, they now seem to be multiplying faster than ever before, both in number and importance Many enterprises now rely on hundreds or thousands of databases, and administering them has become a major challenge, Noel Yuhanna, senior industry analyst at Forrester ...

For many businesses, the allure of no-name PCs, called "white boxes" in industry parlance, can seem almost irresistible. Today's typical white boxes are equipped with industry-standard Intel motherboards and processors, avoid the software incompatibility that used to plague even makers of name-brand PCs, and are usually cheaper than their branded counterparts...

Microsoft has released a security bulletin warning that a flaw in the DirectX graphic interface in a majority of Windows computers leaves users vulnerable to buffer overruns The vulnerability allows hackers to execute code on a user's PC at the user's security level, according to Microsoft. It affects PCs running Windows 98 and higher on the client...

Macromedia Flash technology garnered a somewhat shaky reputation at the height of dot-com mania in the 1990s, when it was often associated with Web site splash pages that effectively served as brick walls barring users from accessing a site's useful content But Flash has grown up -- or, more precisely, those who use this now-ubiquitous technology h...

Sprint (NYSE: PCS) on Monday announced plans to offer PCS WiFi Access, a broad-based service that will let customers connect wirelessly to the Internet via either WiFi hot spots or its own Nationwide PCS Network Sprint PCS spokesperson Suzanne Lammers told the E-Commerce Times that the new service is expected to launch before September 30th, which ...

PeopleSoft has completed its tender offer for ERP vendor J.D. Edwards. Both companies noted that PeopleSoft now owns 88 percent of J.D. Edwards' outstanding shares and will buy the remaining 12 percent by the end of August PeopleSoft estimated the transaction was worth about US$1.8 billion in total. The merged company boasts $2.8 billion in annual ...

Apple's new server OS, known as Panther, is slated to launch before year's end with new capabilities that will be "awesome solutions for an awful lot of customers," according to Apple server software director Tom Goguen While it is not surprising to hear Apple referring to its products as "awesome" or "cool," the company's new Panther offering may ...

For many years, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have collaborated to make their products work together. Recently, for example, Microsoft chose HP ProLiant Servers as the development platform for Windows Server 2003 and the bulk of Microsoft's enterprise applications In addition, HP has boasted that it is the only Worldwide Prime Integrator of Microso...

A little over a year ago, an international consortium of four vendors announced they were pooling their talents and resources to create a new, standardized flavor of the open-source Linux OS. The initiative was known as UnitedLinux, and the goal was to create a version of Linux that businesses and other organizations could trust for uniform reliability...

Dell and AT&T Wireless have announced a joint agreement that will allow Dell's mobile computer customers to access the Internet wirelessly using AT&T's GSM (global system for mobile communications)- and GPRS (general packet radio service)-based technologies AT&T's offerings can be accessed by purchasing the tri-band Sierra AirCard 750 Wireless GPRS...

Dell and AT&T Wireless have announced a joint agreement that will allow Dell's mobile computer customers to access the Internet wirelessly using AT&T's GSM (global system for mobile communications)- and GPRS (general packet radio service)-based technologies AT&T's offerings can be accessed by purchasing the tri-band Sierra AirCard 750 Wireless GPRS...

Dell and AT&T Wireless have announced a joint agreement that will allow Dell's mobile computer customers to access the Internet wirelessly using AT&T's GSM (global system for mobile communications)- and GPRS (general packet radio service)-based technologies AT&T's offerings can be accessed by purchasing the tri-band Sierra AirCard 750 Wireless GPRS...

Apple Computer has unveiled its next-generation Power Macs, based on IBM's new 64-bit processor chip, the PowerPC G5. "The 64-bit revolution has begun, and the personal computer will never be the same again," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco According to Apple sources, the G5 Power Macs wil...

In macro terms, the hostile takeover has been a common, if generally reviled, tactic throughout human history. But does this art of war hold up over the long term in the business world? Are there times when such shotgun marriages turn out to be the right decision for the parties involved? Amid the Oracle-PeopleSoft-J.D. Edwards melee, now seems like the right time to ask this pressing question...

Ignoring a personal entreaty (and a 15 percent licensing discount) from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, the city of Munich, Germany, decided recently to migrate its 14,000 PC desktop users from Windows to the Linux platform Laura DiDio, senior analyst of application infrastructure and software platforms at the Yankee Group, told the E-Commerce Times t...

Apple Computer has accomplished a raft of goals since Steve Jobs returned to its helm in 1997. It has revolutionized the consumer PC with two generations of iMacs; pioneered the so-called digital hub concept, which gives consumers the ability to assemble movies as well as catalog and manipulate digital photographs; introduced the iPod, considered by many Mac and Windows users to be the best digital music player ever developed; and recently launched the iTunes Music Store, which allows users to pay for and download songs without being tied to complicated subscription agreements or limitations on how purchased media can be played...

When Hewlett-Packard merged with Compaq just over a year ago, the combined company surpassed Dell in PC sales -- but with continued yearly growth rates of more than 20 percent, Dell had regained the top spot by the first quarter of this year. Moreover, just last week, Dell reported its worldwide shipments had increased by nearly 30 percent year over year and revenues had jumped 18 percent in the same time period...

In recent months, a few large e-tailers, including Target.com and Walmart.com (NYSE: WMT), started charging sales tax on purchases made through their sites. Although this event took place largely without fanfare, it marked a watershed moment in the history of online commerce. If more e-businesses hop on the bandwagon in coming months, the trickle...

Apple's new iTunes Music Store might be justifiably called Napster's legitimate heir. Unlike competing music services like PressPlay or Rhapsody, the iTunes Store does not entail complicated subscriptions, mandatory fees or inconsistent pricing schemes. Instead, users may choose from a catalog of more than 200,000 songs encompassing selections from all of the "Big 5" record labels -- and once a song is purchased for a flat 99-cent fee, it can be burned to a CD or copied to another computer or iPod device with few restrictions...

As Microsoft ramps up its Windows Server 2003 launch, enterprises large and small are trying to decide whether to upgrade to the new platform. Analysts interviewed for part 1 of this article agreed that, on the whole, Microsoft's latest server OS is solid, stable and offers useful new features. However, as Gartner analyst Tom Bittman noted, enterp...