Thursday, July 2, 2009

Family Pack for Windows 7; Cut the crapware; Best PC components [TECH UPDATE]

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ZDNet Tech Update Today
charles | Thurs., July 2, 2009
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Editor's Note:
Tech Update Today will not be published on Friday, July 3 in observance of the Independence Day holiday weekend.

The newsletter will resume on Monday, July 6.

Microsoft to offer Family Pack for Windows 7

Microsoft to offer Family Pack for Windows 7 Ed Bott: Apple's defenders point to the OS X Family Pack as one of the biggest differentiators between their favorite OS and Windows. That difference is likely to go away when Windows 7 is released. The Proof: Text of a near-final license agreement for Windows 7 Home Premium.

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Some users fume as rose-colored discounts fade
Windows 7 versus Snow Leopard: How much do upgrades really cost?
Do you need more than Windows 7 Home Premium?
Robin Harris: Why Windows 7 should be free
Survey: 45% of IT departments will move to Windows 7, eventually
ZDNet Special Report: Windows 7 nearing the finish line

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PC OEMs: Please cut the crap!

PC OEMs: Please cut the crap! Jason Perlow: Buying a new PC from one of the Tier 1 OEMs can often be a frustrating exercise in crapware removal. The operating system build on a brand new retail-purchased PC should not deviate tremendously from a retail DVD virgin install of Windows. But it always does.

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Conficker: A good excuse for an early spring cleaning
Support.com: We'll kill your crapware for free
Dear OEM: Ditch the crapware, you'll make up the revenue elsewhere
The New Adventures of Christine's Old PC
My experience with Dell's Namastechnical support

Build it! Best PC components now available

Build it! Best PC components now available Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: My Hardware 2.0 "Very Best Kit List" -- updated and revamped for July/August -- includes the best high-end, mid-range and budget components currently available. If you're thinking of buying, building or even upgrading a PC, this list is a must-read.

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Put together a solid barebones system for $350
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: When (and why) do you buy a new PC?
Building a "High Performance" Windows 7 PC
Extreme PCs and homebrew systems: Dead or alive?
Monster PC upgrades - Without the monster price tag

Apple forecast: 12% Mac sales growth quarter to quarter

Apple forecast: 12% Mac sales growth quarter to quarter Andrew Nusca: Apple will sell 2.5 million Macs in the second calendar quarter, a 12 percent increase and a marked uptick from the 4 percent decline last quarter, according to a new forecast issued by Morgan Stanley's Kathryn Huberty.

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Nielsen: Average Apple.com visit lasts 74 minutes
Should you really buy new gear or look for almost new?
Building high-performance, luxury computers in a recession
ZDNet Reviews: Apple's new Macbooks

Oracle's Fusion middleware master plan starts coming together

Oracle's Fusion middleware master plan starts coming together Larry Dignan: Oracle on Wednesday launched its Fusion 11g middleware family and the effort is aimed at linking the technological underpinnings of all of the company's acquired applications, owning the market, creating one fundamental software stack for the enterprise and laying the foundation for a cloud strategy.

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Dana Gardner: Oracle closes in on 'any'-ware with debut of middleware behemoth 11g suites family
Dennis Howlett: Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g: turkeys voting for Christmas?
Get ready for Oracle's 100 days of press releases aka innovation

Sponsored

How much do IT professionals earn?

Find out in the 2009 activeTechPros IT salary & skills report. Be a member and get free access.

* * * * * * * * * * * *
How much do business professionals earn?
Take our salary survey and find out once the salary benchmark wizard is completed.

Why one CIO is migrating all Treos to iPhones

Why one CIO is migrating all Treos to iPhones Jason Hiner: A longtime friend recently admitted to me that his IT department is converting the entire organization over to iPhones. If CIOs like him are doing this, then it's a pretty good indicator that the iPhone is becoming a very viable and tempting option for a lot of companies out there.

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Business intelligence comes to Kindle. Will companies care?
RIM: Is the BlackBerry OS the weak link?
Five tips for conserving iPhone battery life
Turn your iPhone into a mobile office productivity tool

Featured TalkBack Blog

Are economic conditions changing how you manage server turnover?

Scott Lowe: Between cloud computing, virtualization and economic conditions, the data center has certainly changed form over the past ten years. What, if anything, are you doing differently now than you were before with regard to your server and data center infrastructure?

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What do you think?
Post Your Thoughts in TalkBack


Reader TalkBacks
Steve Jobs nearly died and lied about it
"If you are a consumer then Steve Jobs death should mean little to you for your choices remain the same." -- James Quinn

Average insecure program per PC rate remains high
"Get updates for all programs through 1 interface. For that reason, I believe Linux is the only one that would do relatively well were it ever to get 90% marketshare." -- NonZealot


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ZDNet's 10 most popular galleries so far, 2009 We've published hundreds of galleries so far this year -- images of the products, people and events that matter most to business. Here are images from the 10 most popular.

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Videos and Podcasts

Dell: Selling a new backbone for SMBs

Dell: Selling a new backbone for SMBs ZDNet Senior Editor Sam Diaz talks about the company's effort to sell its products to the SMB market. He says Dell executives are hoping to gain ground on the competition by retooling offerings to be more customizable.

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Is AT&T slowly dethroning the almighty iPhone?

Is AT&T slowly dethroning the almighty iPhone? ZDNet Senior Editor Sam Diaz shares his views on the release of Apple's new iPhone 3G S. Diaz says there is a dark shadow being cast over the new device because of its exclusive relationship with carrier AT&T, while users complain about two-year contracts and lack of support for MMS messaging.

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Capital flowing into green

Capital flowing into green At Greentech Media's Green Building Summit in Menlo Park, Calif., Cascadia Capital CEO Michael Butler discusses three subsectors of the green-building industry that recently began receiving the most capital from the stimulus plan and private sectors.

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Speeding up construction on 'green' homes

Speeding up construction on 'green' homes At Greentech Media???s Green Building Summit at SRI International in Menlo Park, Calif., Serious Material Chairman Marc Porat discusses the challenges associated with building green residential homes. He believes it's important for the green industry to persuade governments to mandate environmentally sustainable buildings in order to speed up construction.

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Daves Computer Tips

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