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Microsoft aims for Vista SP2 before Win 7

Mary Jo Foley: The Windows team is readying second service packs (SP2) for Vista--and for its server complement, Windows Server 2008--and is aiming to deliver these SP2s before it releases Windows 7.

• The Windows 7 name game, continued
• Microsoft plays up 'less is more' as its holiday retail message
• R.I.P. Apple matte screen displays
• MacBook Air gets Penryn and MBP17 gets minor bump
• MacBook (Late-2008) unboxed and disassembled

• All About Microsoft
• The Apple Core
• Community, Inc.
• Ed Bott's Microsoft Report
• Linux and Open Source
• Managing L'unix
• The Universal Desktop

Top 10 technologies
to watch

Jason Hiner: Gartner analysts gave a crowd of IT leaders at the Gartner Symposium ITxpo 2008 a list of the top 10 technologies that will provide important strategic advantages to IT over the next three years.

• Larry Dignan: IT's challenges: The end of device charging; ROI; Super programmers
• Larry Dignan: How green is your vendor?
• More news from Gartner

• Constellation Wines (maker of Mondavi, Wild Horse and other big U.S. wine brands) goes solar
• On IT failure: IDC group vice president Mike Fauscette [podcast]
• High-tech manufacturers rev up Oregon e-recycling program
• What drives customer demand for Solaris/x86? Fear of failure
• Social CRM: Interview with Oracle SVP Anthony Lye [podcast]

• On Sustainability
• IT Project Failures
• GreenTech Pastures
• IT Services & Outsourcing
• Managing L'unix

Intel barely beats for Q3

Sam Diaz: Intel's Paul Otellini says there were mixed signs for the outlook into the fourth quarter, largely because of the uncertainty surrounding the current market conditions.

• The Windows 7 name game, continued
• Microsoft plays up 'less is more' as its holiday retail message
• R.I.P. Apple matte screen displays
• MacBook Air gets Penryn and MBP17 gets minor bump
• MacBook (Late-2008) unboxed and disassembled

• All About Microsoft
• The Apple Core
• The BlackBerry Beat
• Ed Bott's Microsoft Report
• Googling Google

Beware: Fake Microsoft patch malware

Dancho Danchev: Malicious attackers are once again taking advantage of event-based social engineering attacks, and are currently mass mailing fake notifications for Microsoft's Patch Tuesday

• Adobe ships fix for clickjacking, clipboard hijack threats
• Secunia: popular security suites failing to block exploits
• Fake Microsoft Patch Tuesday malware campaign spreading
• Lead, melamine, and backdoored routers
• Debate around 'partial disclosure' heats up

• Zero Day
• Threat Chaos
• Between the Lines

Apple notebook hits and misses

Robin Harris: Like other industry watchers, Storage Bits looked into its crystal ball to predict what it would look like. Overall, Apple did OK, with some surprising omissions and changes.

• Larry Dignan: Apple's new MacBook line: Affordable enough?
• Mary-Jo Foley: I'm a PC. A $999 MacBook still doesn't tempt me (or does it?)
• Jason D. O'Grady: New notebooks: What Apple didn't announce

• Firefox 3.1 raises the browser bar ... again
• Apple notebook hits and misses
• HybridSLI a pain no matter the OS
• Thoughts on Apple's new products
• Jobs: 'Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt'

• Storage Bits
• Hardware 2.0
• The Core Truth
• Laptops & Desktops

OpenOffice definitely good enough

Christopher Dawson: There is a reason that the OpenOffice.org 3.0 servers are struggling to keep up with demand. OO.org 3.0 really is a serious upgrade over version 2.4 and makes NeoOffice irrelevant for Mac OS X users.

• Paula Rooney: OpenOffice 3 launch timed perfectly but will Sun, IBM exploit opportunity?
• Dana Blankenhorn: What OpenOffice site crash means
• Gallery: Enhancements for OpenOffice 3

• SAP TechEd: what do geeks get out of conferences?
• ManageFusion 2008
• Conversation with Richard Muirhead of Tideway Systems
• Cast Iron takes 'integration as a service' to cloud-based or on-premises deployment
• SAP's EcoHub, here's the rub

• Between the Lines
• BriefingsDirect
• Enterprise Anti-matter
• Enterprise Web 2.0
• Irregular Enterprise
• IT Project Failures
• Service Oriented
• Software as Services

New pulseless total artificial heart

Roland Piquepaille: Two University of Houston engineering professors have received a $2.8 million federal grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a new artificial heart technology.

• It's not easy being green--Optimizing eco-friendly packaging
• Workout for brain just a few clicks away
• Starcraft II splits into trilogy
• Opera 10 will be 'prettier'
• Enterprise web 2.0 costs set to plunge

• Emerging Technologies
• Between The Lines
• All About Microsoft
• The Core Truth
• IT Facts
• Tom Foremski: IMHO

Google blocking Chrome from some countries

Garett Rogers: Why would they do this? Apparently it has to do with trade agreements that prevent them from doing business in those countries.

• Google opens up your profile to search engines
• 360 degree virtual reality training RIA
• Apple vs. Dell: Battle of the 13-inch notebooks
• Gartner Top 10 embraces the Cloud
• Can the Semantic Web help education?

• Googling Google
• Dev Connection
• The Semantic Web
• The Social Web
• The Universal Desktop
• Web 2.0 Explorer

Apple vs. Dell: Battle of 13-inch notebooks

Ed Burnette: Apple and Dell have both come out with even smaller notebook computers to tempt you away from your old fashioned desk-bound workstation. How do they stack up against each other?

• Larry Dignan: Apple's new MacBook line: Affordable enough?
• Mary-Jo Foley: I'm a PC. A $999 MacBook still doesn't tempt me (or does it?)
• Jason D. O'Grady: MacBook Air and MBP17 get minor bumps

• Iomega StorCenter ix2 NAS device features Bluetooth, EMC software
• New Wi-Fi chipsets promise up to 2x throughput of current 802.11n devices
• Details on Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro updates
• Obama appears on in-game Xbox 360 advertisement
• Poll: Best personal finance software?

• Digital Cameras
• Laptops & Desktops
• The Mobile Gadgeteer
• SOHO Networking
• The ToyBox

MobileTechRoundup: More netbook talk

Matthew Miller: MobileTechRoundup show #150 celebrates its third year of podcasting about mobile tech. Hear about the netbook MSI Wind.

• MobileTechRoundup show #150, More netbook talk
• Can the REDFLY and WM device match the Motorola VC6096 functionality?
• First impressions of the Dash Express connected GPS device
• MobileTechRoundup show #149, Netbook talk, WiMAX available, new phones in the house
• Sony announces new Reader eBook device with integrated LED and touch screen

• The BlackBerry Beat
• IP Telephony
• The Mobile Gadgeteer
• The Social Web
• SOHO Networking
• Team Think