XP Service Pack Pushed So Far, It Barely Even Matters
XP Service Pack 3 is coming --
in
two years. For many people, it won't matter, as they'll be on Vista, Mac
OS10 or Linux. But for those creaky old XP boxes, a service pack would be very
much appreciated. I'm still looking for help with all my Windows 98 machines.
HP Up, Dell Down
Hewlett-Packard may be horrible at corporate spying, but apparently it's pretty
darn good at making PCs, or at least selling PCs. HP
is now No. 1 in PC sales, bumping off Dell. I'm not sure how many folks
decided not to buy from HP after the spying scandal, but I'm pretty confident
that the battery-bursting-into-flames brouhaha cost Dell more business. The
unsung hero was Apple, which boosted shipments some 30 percent and now has 6
percent of the market share!
Did Dell Dig its Own Ditch?
Dell's share is falling, and its
reliability is worse than that its competitors' -- coincidence? Once again,
as Denis Leary would say, "I DON'T THINK SO!"
Word gets around as to what works, and what breaks. Dell is a superb company,
but if I was spending my own money (as opposed to Redmond magazine's cash) I'd
shy away from the dudes from Dell. I've had too many of their machines, and
too many motherboard replacements. Of course, I'm saving my change for a Mac
laptop. I'm waiting for Leopard and Vista to both ship and I'll be dual-booting
in style.
YouTube 30,000 Times More Legit
When Google announced plans to spend the equivalent of half Donald Trump's net
worth on YouTube, I knew the video site would have to clean up its act -- the
rules are too loose, and too much junk and material covered by copyright end
up on the site. The cleansing process has begun as the site just yanked
some 30,000 Japanese videos. Apparently, YouTube has a policy where it only
pulls down files after someone complains. Isn't that like a burglar who only
returns the goods after he's been caught?
About the Author
Doug Barney is editor in chief of Redmond magazine and the VP, editorial director of Redmond Media Group.