Stories by Katherine Noyes

10 ways Linux is making life better

Linux has long played a leading role in the world of servers, due in large part to its stability, security and lower total cost of ownership (TCO). What many don't realize, however, is just how ubiquitous it's becoming in other parts of life as well.

10 things to drool over in Firefox 4

Mozilla's Firefox 4 is now officially expected to debut on Tuesday March 22, following hard on the heels of Google's Chrome 10 and Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9.

Why I won't be using Internet Explorer 9

As is true just about any time Microsoft launches a new product, there's been no shortage of hype about Internet Explorer 9. And indeed, my PCWorld colleague Tony Bradley has no shortage of good things to say about the new browser.

Speedy 'wonder patch' debuts in new Linux kernel

Back in November I wrote about the 233-line patch that was expected to bring a huge speed boost to version 2.6.38 of the Linux kernel, and that's just what made its widely anticipated debut on Monday night.

Five tools to protect you from e-mail slip-ups

It's a rare e-mail user indeed who hasn't experienced the awful moment that can come right after hitting "send." It's the moment when you realize that you just said something you shouldn't have in the e-mail, and there's no way to get it back.

Six ways businesses are using tablets

Tablets like Apple's iPad 2 and Motorola's Xoom may be causing paroxysms of excitement among the world's consumers, but many businesses are still trying to figure out where such devices will fit into their computing platforms.

Work begins on Ubuntu 11.10 'Oneiric Ocelot'

The final release of "Natty Narwhal," or version 11.04 of Canonical's Ubuntu Linux distribution, may still be more than a month away, but project founder Mark Shuttleworth on Monday officially inaugurated work on its successor with the announcement that version 11.10 will be called "Oneiric Ocelot."

Three good reasons to buy an open-PC

For many small business users, all the rational arguments for using open source software like Linux make a great deal of sense: It's free, customizable, compatible, and it's free of vendor lock-in, to name just a few.

Why the iPad 2 leaves me cold

At the risk of offending Apple fans far and wide, I can't for the life of me see what there is to be excited about in Apple's new iPad.

Embedded Linux gets a boost in newly unified project

Whatever your opinion of Linux's desktop potential, few would dispute the value of the open source operating system in embedded devices such as mobile phones and personal media players. After all, it's fast, it's free, it's open source, it's customizable and it's extremely stable, among many other advantages.

LibreOffice software is here to stay

If there was any doubt as to long-term ability of LibreOffice to sprint ahead of Oracle-backed OpenOffice.org, those concerns pretty much just flew out the window. In a wildly successful fundraising effort, the Document Foundation has succeeded in collecting $68,800 (50,000 euros) in just eight days, effectively ensuring a future for the open-source productivity software suite.

[]