Legit Reviews News History

ABIT AV8 Under Fire

" Many Abit motherboard users didn't have a quite so merry christmas this year according to the Abit support forums.

There seems to be a problem with the new Abit AV8 motherboard for the socket 939 Athlon64. From what I've read in the numerous forum posts it appears to work fine with the old 130nm Newcastle core Athlon64, but if you put in a new 90nm Winchester core Athlon64 the motherboard reads "9.0." on the digital display and just sits there, not even sending a signal to the video card to turn on the monitor. What does this mean? If you ordered a Abit AV8 motherboard and new Athlon64 processor online to build a new PC it won't work.

According to members of the forum a bios upgrade fixes the problem, but you can't upgrade what you can't see and Abit doesn't say a bios upgrade will fix the problem in it's description of the bios revisions and in the facts it says that POST code "90" (do they mean 9.0.?) means a failed overclock. In fact no where on the Abit site does it even admit there's even a problem except for in the forums."

fastsilicon.com

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 11:43 PM

DDR2 vs. DDR: Revenge Gained

"DDR2 memory tests, which we have performed earlier, showed that its higher latency is exactly the reason why it gets defeated by the regular DDR SDRAM. However, now the situation is changing. The leading memory manufacturers offer DDR2 modules with improved timings, which make DDR2 look completely different from what it used to be."

X-Bit Labs

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 11:40 PM

Presler ? Intel?s Mainstream Dual-Core Desktop Chip

"While Intel?s code-named Smithfield microprocessor set to be released in mid-2005 will open the doors to dual-core computing on desktops, the mainstream market will only get chips with two processing engine in 2006, along with the microprocessor code-named Presler.

Presler ? Smithfield with Vanderpool, LaGrande?

According to a report from Japanese web-site PC Watch, the code-named Presler microprocessor will be released sometimes in mid-2006 and will be made using 65nm process technology. The die size of the chip is projected to be around 140 square millimeters. From the architectural standpoint, the Presler may be a shrunk version of the chip code-named Smithfield, Intel?s first dual-core desktop product, however, it may sport a lot of improvements over the current computing engines."

X-Bit Labs

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 11:34 PM

Dual everything PC makes for dual wonders

" HKEPC, one of the leading chinese PC websites has a review of the new kid on the block, the Geforce 6200 TC. It pitted a 32-bit version of it against a 64-bit one, a plain Geforce 6200 and an ATI X300SE.

The results are here here and even if they are in chinese tell you a lot of things indeed, especially as ATI and XGI are on the verge of adopting that offboard shared memory architecture - essentially mimicking a processor's L1, L2, L3 cache, am I right?"

The Inquirer

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 11:31 PM

Dual core Opteron speeds, power revealed

" SOURCES TOLD the INQ this week the likely power specifications and other specifications of dual core Opterons AMD will release in 2005.

AMD has already sampled some dual core chips to a select few of its customers. HP is a favoured case in example, but some members of the X64-32 coding community are believed to have samples as well.

The preliminary info that AMD supplies is aimed at manufacturers of power supplies, heatsinks, mobos and systems - these vendors all need the information early.

Although the list we scribbled down contains frequencies of processors, this does not, AMD cautions to its partners, that it guarantees it will release the chips at these speeds."

The Inquirer

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 11:28 PM

Microsoft readies burst of 2005 products

" A WEB SITE has published a list of products and projects Microsoft is readying for 2005.

The report is lengthy and according to Steven Bink, who runs website bink.nu, the list is based both on facts and on assumptions.

Highlights include Antivirus and Antispyware 2005, Longhorn Server beta one and the client beta, Office 12 beta, and Istanbul Voice over IP client.

A number of 64-bit products are being readied too, including Biztalk 2004 and the awfully long awaited Windows XP 64."

The Inquirer

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 11:27 PM

ATI to introduce X300 with Hyper Memory

" ATI TOLD US ALL about its Hyper memory marchitecture quite some time back. Nvidia was the first to present its Turbo Cache marchitecture but ATI's approach is slightly different. ATI told us first about it but Nvidia showed an actual product first.

Digitimes has claimed that ATI will present the X300 version with Hyper Memory marchitecture. We told you before that ATI will use the same architecture able to address system memory and use it for graphics.

Digitimes expects it in early 2005 and we are looking forward to seeing them in action."

The Inquirer

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 07:36 AM

ATI's X850, X800XL available in weeks

" AS HAPPENS in this business, companies are preparing first batch of sample cards for the press, the ones that are suppose to boost its card sales later. Consumers get the next batch.

In this light, one of the Taiwanese companies is doing the last touches to X850XT PE cards. The company has the R480, X850 XT PE chips and it is making the cards as we write.

Samples might be ready either by the end of the week, or in the first week of January. The same goes for X800XL cards based on the 110 nanometre R430 based core. Still, this card might easily slide to the middle or to the end of January we are told. It's new architecture, and a new core so it might come a bit later. "

The Inquirer

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 07:31 AM

The XP Service Pack 2 Survival Guide

" Give me a choice between chopping onions and installing Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, and I'll be in the kitchen in a nanosecond--either way I'll be crying. I finally managed the upgrade, but not without a few bumps that I'll show you how to avoid.

There are enough good things about SP2 to make the upgrade hoops worth jumping through. SP2's strength is behind the scenes: more protection against Internet thugs. For instance, the new ActiveX warning in Internet Explorer--called the Information Bar--alerts me whenever a site tries to download software to my system. But the browser's new pop-up blocker is too little and way too late. (The free Google Toolbar is a better pop-up popper.)"

PCWORLD.com

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 05:30 AM

The Top Tech Stories of 2004

"If there were any lingering doubts that we are in the post-PC era, several big stories this year should have cleared them up. The sale of IBM's PC business to China's Lenovo Group and the death of Comdex were powerful reminders that technology is in a transitional stage.

 Here are the top 10 IT stories of the year, not necessarily in order of importance...................."

PCWORLD.com

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 05:29 AM

ASUS targets 10-12 million videocards for 2005

" Asustek Computer??s goal of shipping 10-12 million graphics cards in 2005, up about 33-62% from the 7.4-7.5 million units estimated for this year, will mean more competition for OEM and clone orders among Taiwan graphics-card makers in the coming year, market sources said.

If realized, Asustek will replace Micro-Star International (MSI) as Taiwan??s largest graphics-card maker, the sources noted.

MSI, currently the No. 1 graphics-card maker, will only retain its position for 2004, with projected shipments of 7.5-7.6 million units, the sources said.

However, MSI??s graphics-card shipments are expected to grow about 5.3-5.7% on-year and reach eight million units in 2005, lagging far behind Asustek??s shipment target, the sources added."

DigiTimes Daily IT News

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 04:52 AM

Google worm targets AOL, Yahoo

" Days after Google acted to thwart the Santy worm, security firms warned that variants have begun to spread using both Google and other search engines.

The Santy problem originally flared up a week ago as bulletin board Web sites found their pages erased and defaced by the worm's own text. The worm spread by targeting pages that used vulnerable versions of the PHP Bulletin Board (phpBB) software, and used Google to locate those pages.

After Google took measures to prevent the worm from executing Google searches for the faulty bulletin board software, Santy variants are making the rounds using AOL and Yahoo search, according to security firms, and are still targeting Google as well."

CNET News

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 04:48 AM

Linux found under the tree

" IF YOU received a TiVo (www.tivo.com) DVR or a Linksys (www.linksys.com) router for Christmas, the open source people should sing praises to your name. Linux is appearing in households around the world in millions of nice devices and is so well-hidden under GUIs and web interfaces that the average user doesn't even know it is there. This quiet proliferation of dedicated Linux devices has gone unnoticed by both the open source crowd (who should be standing up and shouting about it from the rooftops) and SCO's lawyers (who could stand to collect a tidy sum if they could win a case and collect a dollar per box shipped). "

The Inquirer

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 04:45 AM

Intel rushes to fix Alviso bug

" THERE IS A MINOR, and I mean mino,r bug in Alviso that won't be fixed before launch. The DDR subsystem doesn't like to power down the way it should, so if you look at the initial numbers, DRR2 will end up looking much better than it really is.

I say this is a minor problem because you would pretty much have to me a moron to buy an Alviso machine with DDR anyway. The 15 or so minutes of battery life when you use DDR2 is well worth the price premium, especially considering it is probably not going to be in cheap laptops to begin with."

The Inquirer

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 04:43 AM

Intel to keep lead on notebook technology

" 2005 IN LAPTOPS WILL NOT be the steamroller of a year many predict for Intel, but it will be close. Intel has far and away the best laptop chip out there, the Pentium M. It also has some nifty marketing and branding campaigns surrounding it when you bundle it with the wireless chip. If I ever find anything out about it, I will write it up immediately. If Intel gives out M&Ms, I might even go to the press conference.

The Pentium M parts are in a class of their own, and have been since launch. In fact, there is nothing else in the same league. The 533FSB Dothan parts have a TDP of 27W, and it only goes down from there. Even at this low wattage, they perform quite well. Via has comparable power figures, but not for the same level of performance. AMD has better performance but 35W is a hefty 30% more, which translates into battery life of hours less. Not cool, pun intended."

The Inquirer

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 04:41 AM

XGI makes dash for graphics cache

" SOURCES CLAIMED it's not only Nvidia and ATI experimenting with the "turbo cache" idea.

XGI is also experimenting with products using this technology, to improve the performance of lower end graphics cards.

The graphics player will introduce a similar technique to Nvidia in the first to second quarter of 2005, in its XG47 design.

But, the sources added, it wants to see how its own tech is performed, and how the market receives it, before it implements it throughout its product range."

The Inquirer

Posted by | Tue, Dec 28, 2004 - 04:39 AM

One Core Is Good. Two Cores Are Even Better!

" One of the major events of the upcoming year 2005 in the CPU market should inevitably be the release of the dual-core processor architecture. To cut the long story short, the idea behind dual-core CPUs is very simple. One processor physically based around a single semiconductor die will feature two equally functional processor cores.

 In other words, it will be a dual-processor system packed into a single processor casing. Right now the processor developers consider this way of increasing the processors performance and functionality to be very promising. As a result, not only the two leading CPU developers, such as AMD and Intel, but also the VIA Company are planning to start introducing single-silicon dual-core CPUs in the upcoming year 2005."

X-Bit Labs

Posted by | Mon, Dec 27, 2004 - 11:42 PM

Abit is "financially fine"

" WE MANAGED to talk to Abit and we have finally gotten its answer on earlier financial allegations. We read that, financially, the company is not doing so well.

Abit denied all of those claims and said that it stands by its financial reports. The company is ready to clear things out for the Taiwan Stock Exchange in order to help it better understand some financial transactions that it made in 2004.

The company claims that Abit has experienced rapid growth this year, with sales revenues increasing 77% to a total of US$558,000,0000 for the first 11 months."

The Inquirer

Posted by | Mon, Dec 27, 2004 - 11:35 PM

Some Fear Virus Threat to Cell Phones

Malicious programs that can delete address books. Junk messages that flood a cell phone's inbox. Stealthy code that uses Bluetooth wireless technology to sneak onto handsets. Scared yet? Security experts say plagues like these will target mobile phones, but others contend cell phone viruses are the tech equivalent of smallpox: To the best of anyone's knowledge, they exist only in labs.

"We've had no reports of people actually seeing these viruses in their daily use," said Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with London's Sophos PLC. "The only reports we've seen documented are antivirus researchers sending them to each other in their labs."

Yahoo

Posted by | Mon, Dec 27, 2004 - 02:37 AM

What Will the PC of 2005 Look Like?

Consumers thinking about buying a new computer in 2005 might be better off putting off their purchase until 2006. With few major changes in PC hardware or software due over the next year, the PC of 2005 is likely to look awfully similar to the PC of today.

Big changes aren't due until 2006, when the Longhorn operating system from Microsoft, 64-bit applications, and optical drives based on the Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD formats will become available to the average user.

Still, that doesn't mean there are no technologies worth looking out for if you do plan to upgrade in 2005."

PCWORLD.com

Posted by | Mon, Dec 27, 2004 - 02:32 AM

2004: Good and Bad for Security

Experts agree: 2004 was the best of times and the worst of times for those concerned about security. It was a year with high-profile arrests of virus authors, and the explosion of online crimes, from cyber-extortion to identity theft, a year in which ISPs won millions in damages from spammers, and spam messages increased by 40 percent.

In hindsight, 2004 may be looked back upon as the year that a long tradition of hobbyist hackers and flashy, but harmless, viruses gave way to shadowy, professional online crime syndicates. The professionals were armed with virulent new threats designed to separate Internet users from their cash, according to interviews with leading security experts.

With that in mind, here's a look at some of the most important technology security stories and trends of the last year:....

PCWORLD.com

Posted by | Mon, Dec 27, 2004 - 02:30 AM

Nforce 4 SLI has disappeared again

" WHILE SOME of you are still "resting" from Yule parties, some others are still expecting their SLI boards. Our Japanese birdie told us that you can get some MSI boards and that Asus SLI boards are mostly gone. That??s just Japan.

Rest of the world still cannot get enough Asus SLI boards, but we heard more than once that those boards will be available again in January."

The Inquirer

Posted by | Mon, Dec 27, 2004 - 02:26 AM

DFI readies 533MHz Pentium M desktop board

" IN A WEEK or two, Intel will release its updated 533MHz system bus Pentium Ms, and it looks like DFI will be ready for the processors and new chipsets.

The firm is releasing a board - the 852GME-MGF, which will be bundled with heatsink and fan for the Pentium M, use DDR-333 memory and AGP4X, and support both Dothan and Banias cores.

The board will support Celeron Ms as well, and dual bus speeds of 400 and 533MHz. It uses the 852GME chipset, comes with two sockets for the DDR memory, uses an Award BIOS, supports ACPI specs, wake on LAN and the like."

The Inquirer

Posted by | Mon, Dec 27, 2004 - 02:25 AM

PCI-Express Roundup: Mainstream Video Card Mania!

The fine people over at MadShrimps have put out a pretty good article on some PCI-E video cards. check it out if you are in the market for a PCI-Express card

" PCI-Express if firmly upon us, Intel has seen to this and AMD will be joining the fray shortly. A few select individuals have been able to obtain high end samples of PCI-Express cards, however for most people these cards are simply priced out of their reach. This leaves the mainstream segment, and as this name suggests, the mainstream cards are targeted at the average consumer. So will "average" do for you? Let's find out! "

MADSHRIMPS

Posted by | Sun, Dec 26, 2004 - 03:30 AM

Newspaper: Naughty kids lose gifts to eBay

It's kind of sad, but then again, maybe there should be more parents like this......

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- -- The kids were naughty, Dad put the presents on eBay instead of under the tree -- and Mom's been crying ever since.

Now, even the tree's down.

Saturday morning was sure not to be very jolly for three brothers -- 9, 11 and 15 -- who didn't straighten up when their father told them Santa wasn't too please with their fighting, cuss words and obscene gestures.

Dad and Mom had warned their sons that the Nintendo DS video system -- and the three games that go with it -- were headed for the auction block if they didn't get their act together.

"No kidding. Three undeserving boys have crossed the line. Tonight we sat down and showed them what they WILL NOT get for Christmas this year. I'll be taking the tree down tomorrow," the man announced in his eBay posting.

"If you don't buy them, we'll return them to the store," the seller known online as magumbo--2000 reported on the site.

Thursday night, the auction wound down with bidding at $465.01 -- below the price the man had set. He said he would probably list the items again.

A single day of particularly bad behavior set the Christmas crackdown in motion.

"These are normally really good kids," said Dad, who asked the Houston Chronicle not to reveal his name."

CNN

Posted by | Sun, Dec 26, 2004 - 03:23 AM

Merry Christmas!

Everyone at Legit Reviews would like to wish everyone a great X-Mas and safety for those who are traveling great distances to be with their family.  Turn off those computers and spend some time with family or friends while you have a few days off work. 

I've been spending the past couple days hanging out with friends and catching up with family.  Okay --  I've been shopping too, but doesn't everyone wait till the last minute to pick up those gifts? 

Posted by | Sat, Dec 25, 2004 - 11:53 AM

Hackers Aim to Sabotage Holiday Computing

I hope Santa treated all of you very well. Merry Christmas everyone.  If you gave or got a new system or components, take a few minutes and update your protection....there seems to be more than a few "Grinches" out there.

"Hackers, spammers and spies go into overdrive in December and January, when unsuspecting neophytes unwrap new computers, connect to the Internet, and, too often, get hit with viruses, spyware and other nefarious programs.

"People want to get on the Net right away, just like they want to put together and start using any Christmas present," said Tony Redmond, chief technology officer of Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer giant Hewlett-Packard Co., whose new PCs ship with 60 days of virus and adware protection. "They should be warned that the Net is a very, very dangerous place."

The New York City fund-raiser clicked on a happy-face attachment in a friend's e-mail last year. The virus crashed her computer within an hour."

Yahoo

Posted by | Sat, Dec 25, 2004 - 04:25 AM

TSE denies Abit??s request for resumption of normal stock trading

" The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) yesterday denied a request from Abit Computer to allow its stock to be traded on the TSE under normal conditions, given that the motherboard maker has still failed to provide documents that would clarify its sales in 2003 and the first half of this year, the TSE said in a statement.

The TSE downgraded Abit??s stock, on December 16, to requiring full delivery in cash due to erratic sales transactions and investments recorded in the company??s financial reports.

Following the downgrading, the price of Abit??s stock has fallen by its 7% daily limit for seven consecutive sessions, to close at NT$5.30 yesterday, according to the TSE.

Abit had stated that it bought NT$6 billion (about US$182 million)-worth of products from three affiliate companies of the Kobian Group in India in 2003. The India-based company recorded revenues of just NT$4.3 billion (about US$130 million) for these transactions, the TSE pointed out.

The TSE said that Abit had also failed to explain how it evaluates its long-term equity investments. According to the TSE, Abit had invested US$40 million in an offshore company that has a book value of only US$3.3 million."

DigiTimes Daily IT News

Posted by | Fri, Dec 24, 2004 - 07:34 AM

Exploits released for new Windows flaws

A Chinese security group has released sample code to exploit two new unpatched flaws in Microsoft Windows.

The advisory comes in the week before Christmas, a time when many companies and home users are least prepared to deal with the problems. Security firm Symantec warned its clients of the vulnerabilities on Thursday, after the Chinese company that found the flaws published them to the Internet.

One vulnerability, in the operating system's LoadImage function, could enable an attacker to compromise a victim's PC when the computer displays a specially crafted image placed on a Web site or in an e-mail. The other vulnerability, in the Windows Help program, likewise could affect any program that opens a Help file.

Because the flaws are in a library used by Windows programs, almost all browsers and e-mail clients are likely affected by the flaws, said Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering at Symantec.

"They are rather serious," Huger said. "Both can be exploited by anything that processes images or reads help files."

CNET News

Posted by | Fri, Dec 24, 2004 - 07:30 AM

Mozilla's Lightning to strike Outlook?

"The Mozilla Foundation is hatching yet another software project to challenge a key Microsoft title.

The new project, code-named Lightning, aims to integrate Mozilla's calendar application, Sunbird, with its recently released Thunderbird e-mail application. That integration is aimed right at the heart of Microsoft's widely used Outlook software.

"I think Outlook leaves a lot of room for a fast competitor," said a Mozilla volunteer involved in the project, who asked not to be named. "There's a lot of user dissatisfaction out there, and it will be interesting to see what the market looks like once there's a strong open-source alternative."

After years of delays and miscues, Mozilla has made some market inroads this year with its Firefox Web browser. Web surfers have downloaded more than 12 million copies of the software since its version 1.0 launch last month, nudging Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer browser below the 90 percent market share mark for the first time in years, according to one survey.

Whether Thunderbird, released this month, can have a similar impact on the Outlook juggernaut depends in large part on how quickly Mozilla can match some of the calendar features Outlook ties into the e-mail application."

CNET News

Posted by | Fri, Dec 24, 2004 - 07:07 AM

ATI close to bridging PCI-E to AGP

" One area that ATI are receiving a fair element of criticism over is their current support for the AGP market. Whilst ATI??s transition to native PCI Express parts has seen their OEM business do fairly well, since the technologies introduction ATI haven??t yet released any further AGP graphics configurations; in fact this year they have produced seven desktop ASIC??s and only one of which, R420, has been available for AGP. During the conference call ATI??s CEO noted that they still prefer native solutions in both PCI Express and AGP (potentially leaving the door open for more AGP ASIC??s) but acknowledged that they will have a bridge to enable a PCI Express chip to operate in an AGP platform within ??the next couple of months?. ATI have long since stated that such a bridge would be produced, however they have been fairly coy over its eventual introduction timeframe. "

The Tech Report

Posted by | Thu, Dec 23, 2004 - 11:31 PM

Opera releases voice-enabled browser

" Opera has released a new beta version of its popular web browser. The major changes include better support for RSS newsfeeds and voice functionality. Yes, you heard that right. Opera's voice technology requires a headset and microphone and only works in Windows XP and 2000. There is a link to download the new beta from Opera's front page. Thanks to TR reader Tech for the original tip. "

The Tech Report

Posted by | Thu, Dec 23, 2004 - 11:27 PM

Longhorn Transformation Pack 8

If you are tired of WinXP Themes, give this a shot, very well done and very complete. I like it alot....except for the sidebar!!!!

 With Longhorn Transformation Pack you can transform your Windows XP into the upcoming Longhorn (the new Windows edition from Microsoft). This is version 8 and includes support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 as well as a lot of other enhancements.

 Download: Longhorn Transformation Pack 8

 Discuss: Longhorn Transformation Pack

TechConnect Magazine

Posted by | Thu, Dec 23, 2004 - 07:56 PM

Intel to Remove DDR2 Support from Forthcoming Mainstream Chipsets

" The world??s largest supplier of computer chips Intel Corp. is reportedly planning to introduce its new chipsets that feature PCI Express interconnection, but lack DDR2 support. The introduction may emphasize lukewarm welcome for DDR2 SDRAM by the industry and Intel??s desire to improve its positioning on the chipset market.

Intel??s forthcoming i915PL and i915GL chipsets will support dual-channel PC3200 (400MHz) memory only, instead of supporting both DDR and DDR2 which is a standard for the i915P and i915G chipsets, but will still boast with support for LGA775 processors and PCI Express interconnection, according to a DigiTimes report. Santa Clara, California-based Intel reportedly plans to introduce the 915PL and 915GL chipsets on January, 22, 2005."

X-Bit Labs

Posted by | Thu, Dec 23, 2004 - 07:51 PM

OpenOffice 1.1.4 Final

" OpenOffice.org is the open source project through which Sun Microsystems is releasing the technology for the popular StarOffice productivity suite. It is an international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based APIs and an XML-based file format. The OpenOffice.org project establishes the necessary facilities to make this open source technology available to the developer community."

Download:

OpenOffice for Windows
OpenOffice for Linux

TechConnect Magazine

Posted by | Thu, Dec 23, 2004 - 07:23 AM

Firefox Ad Boosts Downloads

" Last week's two-page advertisement in the The New York Times paid for by fans of Mozilla's Firefox browser is bringing in more downloads, a Mozilla employee said Wednesday in an online blog.

The ad, which ran in last Thursday's edition of the newspaper, celebrated the November launch of Firefox 1.0, the alternative browser which has been nibbling at Microsoft Internet Explorer's dominance. The advertisement featured the names of the thousands of people who contributed to the Mozilla Foundation's fundraising campaign.

"While it's not always easy to see the direct impact from one particular ad (or any source of popular press), there is no doubt that we're seeing an uptick in the downloads since the ad ran," said Asa Dotzler, a staff member of Mozilla.org. "This weekend we broke 200,000 downloads on both Saturday and Sunday (probably the strongest weekend we've had since the first weekend after the release) and we've seen over half a million downloads for Monday and Tuesday, the strongest showing for a Monday and Tuesday in several weeks."

Mozilla claims that over 12 million copies of Firefox have been downloaded so far.

Recent reports from web monitoring firms such as the U.S.-based WebSideStory and Amsterdam's OneStat.com have tracked the ongoing success of Firefox, which according to their numbers, now accounts for 4 to 5 percent of the global browser share."

Yahoo

Posted by | Thu, Dec 23, 2004 - 07:21 AM

Apple's Operating System Tiger Leaked

Apple is suing several developer's of it's latest MAC OS X v10.4 given the moniker Tiger, which was allegedly leaked onto BiTorrent sites.

"Apple offers pre-release versions of its operating system to some of its registered developers under strict non-disclosure rules. These rules prohibit the developers from sharing Tiger with others. Apple alleges in a lawsuit that these three developers released the software on a Web site that uses BitTorrent, the peer-to-peer file sharing technology."

MacCentral

Posted by | Thu, Dec 23, 2004 - 07:05 AM

Lilliputian 9700

Cutest thing I ever did see, and what a stocking stuffer this literal baby would make! Pictures at AKIBA PC HOTLINE.

The Inquirer

Posted by | Thu, Dec 23, 2004 - 06:46 AM

nVidia Guru David Kirk Answers Your Questions

"David Kirk has an insatiable need for power. Graphics rendering power, that is. He's fond of saying, "Why use a screwdriver when you can use a sledgehammer?" As nVidia's Chief Scientist, Kirk has overseen development of architectures including the original GeForce, GeForce 2, GeForce 3, GeForce 4, GeForceFX, and most recently, the GeForce 6 series. nVidia has had a very impressive run of successes with its GPUs, though the FX series brought the company some unanticipated headaches. The GeForce 6 series has reestablished the company's position as a contender for the 3D performance crown, with the new SLI technology cementing its place at the top of the heap. "

ExtremeTech

Posted by | Thu, Dec 23, 2004 - 05:47 AM

Asustek and MSI to support SiS756

"Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) recently confirmed that its SiS756 northbridge has already moved into mass production and motherboards using the chip will be available in the first quarter. The company officially announced this northbridge chip in the middle of March and it recently passed PCI-SIG PCI Express (PCIe) compatibility certification.

The SiS756 supports the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Athlon64, Athlon64 FX, Opteron and Sempron processors and offers a PCIe x16 interface for discrete graphics. In combination with the SiS965 southbridge, the solution comes with an integrated SATA 1.0 controller (with RAID functions), Ultra ATA/133 controller (2 channels), PCIe x1 bridge (250MB/s bandwidth in each direction), USB 2.0/1.1 host controller (up to 8 ports), Gigabit Ethernet MAC controller, AC'97 audio interface and V.90 modem support.

The SiS 756 is promised to be pin-to-pin compatible with the forthcoming SiS761. This chip includes integrated graphics and is scheduled for mass production in the first half of next year."

DigiTimes Daily IT News

Posted by | Thu, Dec 23, 2004 - 05:41 AM

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