According to the FTC, 10 million Americans will be the victims of identity theft this year
The fourth track from the PC Pitstop Tachometers addresses the hardship and pain felt by victims of this crime.
Back in May 2006, when Microsoft announced Vista system memory requirements of 512 MB for "Vista Capable" and 1 GB for "Vista Premium Ready" classifications, the average XP system had 833 MB and 659 MB of installed memory for Desktop and Portable systems respectively. Once Vista was released in early 2007, most users determined that "more memory was better" as the average installed desktop memory rose relatively quickly to over 2 GB on Vista systems. In recent months, it is not uncommon for PC manufacturers to market Vista systems with 3 GB of RAM. The emergence of 64-bit architecture has also likely played a role in the increase of average RAM.
Earlier this month, Google and Salesforce.com announced a partnership to embed Google Apps into their CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software. The next thing you know the media is having a feeding frenzy about SaaS (Software as a Service). Then it struck me. That's what PC Pitstop is all about. We are SaaS and here's why.
The results of our April 2008 Search Survey are in. What search engine dominates? How many respondants have plugged their own name into a search engine?
From bloatware to craplets seems like a logical progression for unwanted waste. Are computer manufacturers finally taking this logical approach to removing the crap-lets they've been dumping on us?
Yesterday I was setting up a new laptop for a friend. I wanted to get it out of the box and make sure there were no problems accessing the Internet. After testing and timing the laptops used for our last look at bloatware, I was worried that my friend would end up with a mess. Surprisingly the first boot went smoother than I expected. There was no flood of pop-ups or junk. Humph!
Recently my focus has been on how the computer manufacturers are clogging our machines with boatware and craplets. My most recent look at this problem was disheartening to say the least. Instead of continuing to whine, I decided to see what I could do about the problem.
I started with a Sony VAIO VGN-NR185 laptop. The same one used in the �From Bloat To Craplet� article. This first laptop uses an Intel Core2 Duo 1.6 GHz processor and 1024 MB of memory. I've always liked the VAIO from Sony but the recent problem with craplets and Sony's position on DRM has led me to safer alternatives. I wanted to see how much time it took to clear this machine of the headaches installed by Sony.
THIS WEEK'S HOT MICROSOFT STORY:
Windows PC users are reacting to the news that beginning in June...
...Microsoft is going come over to your house and beat you with a stick if you don't start using their new (but horribly slow and flawed) operating system called Windows Vista.
And this is no joke:
Because after Microsoft REFUSES TO ALLOW COMPANIES TO SELL COMPUTERS WITH WINDOWS XP INSTALLED in June...
...they're going to stop SUPPORTING the copy of Windows XP you have on your EXISTING computer on April 14, 2009, just a year from now.
The next time you fly...
...how much EXTRA would you be willing to pay:
To be able to TALK on your cell phone during the flight?
To be able to USE THE INTERNET for limited web surfing, EMAIL, and TEXT AND INSTANT MESSAGING during the flight?
Rob Cheng
Dave Methvin
Steve Hogan
Lyle Schuknecht
Bill Zahren