Software

I've just put the beta of OpenOffice 3 through its paces, and found that the office suite can do just about anything that Microsoft Office can do, supports a wide variety of formats...and, of course, is free. Given all that, who needs Microsoft Office? Check out my blog for details and screenshots.

When I recently explained one of the many reasons why I prefer desktop Linux to Windows, even over my favorite desktop Windows, XP SP3, I got a lot of people telling me I was full of hooey because I barely even mentioned Mac OS X.

Good enough, here's my take on Apple's Mac OS X.

I'm a long-time Outlook user, and I've tried more add-ins than I care to count. I just started using a free one called Xobni, and I'm here to report it's the best add-in I've ever tried. This is one of the few that actually delivers, and does it in a big way. I've got details in my blog.

Dear me. Just because I recently talked about Windows XP SP3's virtues and vices, some people seem to think I've turned away from my beloved Linux systems. Nope, I'm still a rock-solid Linux desktop user.

For good or ill, video for mobile handset users is getting closer and closer for more of us.

Worried about the explosive growth of Linux on inexpensive, ultra-portable PCs like the Asus Eee PC, Microsoft has launched a campaign to offer Windows XP at steep discounts to makers of low-cost portables. Insider documents reveal that Microsoft is also trying to make sure those portables don't become so powerful that they cannibalize sales from higher-end Windows PCs.

What can I say? For me, XP SP3 was the cat's meow, the best Windows client operating system ever. But, for other people 'upgrading' to XP SP 3 is like being fed to a roaring lion.

Oooh, it's IT Blogwatch: in which OpenOffice.org 3.0 breaks cover, to delight and frustrate in equal measure. Not to mention two new entries for the Uxbridge English Dictionary...

Peter Cohen reports:

Apple may be the darling of the hipper-than-thou crowd, but when it comes to climate change, it has one of the worse environmental records of any tech company, according to a new survey. Microsoft beats it by a considerable margin, and IBM is best of all the techs. I have all the results in my blog.

A SaaS supplier wants corporate IT to deploy their apps as a service to company users.

If the rumors are true, and Microsoft is indeed considering buying Facebook, Google can start the celebration now. Buying Facebook would hurt, not help Microsoft's battle with its online rival, and end up being billions of dollars badly spent.

Analyzing data from online and your network may be a little easier because of a new browser. Yes, a browser.

The first legal home PCs just went up for sale in Cuba, and it should be no surprise that they're Windows XP-based, not Macs. Macs or Mac-alikes would be far too pricy for cash-starved Cubans, who pay just under $800 for the machines. No Vista, either: The hardware required to run it costs too much money.

It's near the end of a month-long user acceptance test for a very big customer of this financial software vendor, and things are going well -- until one afternoon.

There are many issues to confront when choosing an archiving tool