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Evolution

The computer and software industry is in a state of constant evolution, getting bigger, better, faster and more powerful almost by the hour.

The computer and software industry is in a state of constant evolution, getting bigger, better, faster and more powerful almost by the hour. Most of this change, however, is mere window dressing – updated versions of this or that with a few bugs ironed out here and there and a few new features that don’t mean all that much to the average user.

I defy anyone who isn’t a technophile, network administrator or Bill Gates to name 10 things that were significantly different between Internet Explorer 4.0 and 5.0, Windows95 and Windows98 and WindowsME, the last three Mac operating systems before OSX, Pentium II and Pentium III processors with similar speeds, SDRAM and RDRAM – you get the picture.

There are improvements, of course, but nothing that would quantify as a quantum leap or paradigm shift – a concept so new, a technology so radical, that it will change the way we work and play on the computer.

It turns out that the next big thing on the horizon is actually a combination of advancements in software, hardware and connectivity.

Separately, these new products aren’t all that exciting, but taken together they could constitute a bold new era in technology.

Faster computers

Back in 1965, just four years after the integrated circuit was invented, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore predicted that the number of transistors per integrated circuit would double every 18 months. This observation was branded as Moore’s Law, and a lot of computer types still take it fairly seriously – in fact he underestimated the rate at which transistors per integrated circuit would double, and we’re now at the point where we’ve reached our physical limitations. We’re at the point where we simply can’t stretch circuitry any thinner without it overheating and melting.

To get more performance within these limitations, chip companies are radically redesigning the architecture of the processor to get as much performance out of and experimenting with different elements in circuitry to increase speed and performance.

www.intel.com

Intel is getting ready to launch its Pentium 4 processors, capable of speeds up to 2 Gigaherz – more than double what was possible with the troublesome Pentium III chips that debuted a few short years ago. A lot of car analogies have been used to simplify what 2 GHz will mean to the average user, and quite frankly this is about as useful as a tortoise and hare analogy, and the old greased lightning simile. To understand what this means without a lot of analogies, visit the Intel site and watch the Flash presentation.

If that’s too fluffy for you, read a more detailed review on The Tech Report at http://www.tech-report.com/reviews/2001q1/pentium4/.

www.amd.com

For the least few years, AMD’s line of Athlon processors have been outperforming Intel chips in industry comparisons. They were the first company to break the 1 GHz barrier, and they will likely answer back with their own next generation chip in the next six months, or lose all the ground they’ve gained against Intel in recent years.

They are also cheaper on average than Intel. Before you rush out and get the fastest chip on the market you might want to compare performance and prices to make sure the cost to performance ratio is acceptable. Some tech experts are saying a 1.7 GHz Athlon chip is actually faster than Intel’s 2 GHz, but that has yet to be proven.

Cheaper Computers

If you’re in the market to buy a new computer, now is a good time. The prices of systems are already rock bottom and continuing to drop.

A downturn in PC sales, the likelihood of a global recession, industry competition, and the release of Pentium 4 processors are all credited for the drop in prices. The theory is that some would-be buyers are waiting until the next generation of computers is available to make their purchase.

There has been some consolidation within the industry – notably Hewlett-Packard’s purchase of Compaq for $25 billion – in an attempt to eliminate one of their main competitors. There’s no way this could ever result in higher prices, however; a new benchmark in price and value has been set, and companies are typically reluctant to raise prices after the fact.

Shop around at all the big online retailers; Dell, Compaq, Gateway, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, IPC, Futureshop, A&B Sound, and see for yourself.

Better Software

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/

You’ve got to hand it to Microsoft when it comes to nerve. After spending years in court defending themselves in the anti-trust case for bundling software and keeping their code a secret from developers, they are releasing a new kind of operating system that features all the bundling their previous systems offered and more.

Whatever your feelings are on the matter, when all is said and done every PC and Mac owner in the world is going to want XP on their computers. Why? In the words of Josh Taylor and John Morris, the reviewers for ZDNet (

www.zdnet.com) ) – "despite what you Microsoft haters would like to hear, Windows XP is simply the best OS that the company has come up with to date."

In a nutshell, the interface looks better, it works faster, it networks more easily, it doesn’t crash, it has Windows Media Player 8.0 built-in (which is better for music and multimedia), comes with Internet Explorer 6 (which is a better browser, by all reviews), and a lot of other neat features.

The one drawback is how complicated it is. It takes some casual PC users a few hours to set up, and other more demanding users a whole week – and by all accounts it’s worth it.

A footnote…

www.helping.org

Sometimes it feels like the clocks stopped and the calendar was frozen forever on Sept. 11. The images are still vivid and the reality of what took place is still sinking in. Personally speaking, it will be a long time before I will be able to come to terms with the events of that sad day.

Helping.org can help. There are links to Web sites offering psychological help and moral support – you didn’t have to live in New York to be traumatized by the footage.

If you feel helpless, you can also donate to one of the dozens of charities that have stepped forward to support the relief effort, and the families of those who were lost.