ViReal

Microsoft's Windows Blue update to Windows 8  makes it increasingly clear that Microsoft wants to kill the Desktop.  That may seem self-defeating, but there's method in Microsoft's madness. Here are three reasons I think it wants to eventually kill the Desktop. Help Windows Phone and Windows tablets gain market share Unify the operating system Lock enterprises into future versions of Windows Read More

You might've read some headlines today—in  very  reputable  publications —saying that there's an online attack underway. The biggest in history. Enough to slow down the internet. This would be exciting and scary, except it's just not true. Read More

The following post is a comprehensive summary of the developer-facing changes coming in Java 8. This next iteration of the JDK is currently scheduled for general availability in  September 2013 . Read More

An ergonomic keyboard with mechanical switches that’s looking to attract users interesting in a high quality, highly ergonomic offering and don’t mind the rather steep learning curve or the price. The  TECK  isn’t the only such keyboard, of course, and I decided to see what other mechanical switch ergonomic keyboards I could get for comparison. Next up on the list is the granddaddy of high-end ergonomic keyboards, the  Kinesis Contour Advantage . I wanted to provide my first impressions of the Kinesis, along with some thoughts on the initial switch and the learning curve. This time, I also made the effort to put together a video of my first few minutes of typing. It actually wasn’t as bad as with the TECK, but that’s likely due to the fact that I already lost many of my typing conventions when I made that switch earlier this year. I’ll start with the video, where I take a typing test on four different keyboards and provide some thoughts on the experience, and then ...

Launching a new mobile OS is a difficult project since the market leaders, Android and iOS, have such  a big lead. Even Microsoft, with its near-infinite financial resources and vast ecosystem of complementary products, has struggled to gain traction. And new entrants face a chicken-and-egg problem: developers don't want to write apps for a platform without many users, while users don't want to buy a phone without many apps. Mozilla, the non-profit foundation behind Firefox, believes it can tackle this dilemma. In 2011, it announced a new project  called Boot2Gecko to build an operating system around its browser. Last year the project was  re-branded Firefox OS, and Mozilla began preparations for a major push into the mobile phone market. In February, Mozilla  unveiled an impressive initial list  of hardware and network partners. If all goes according to plan, Firefox OS phones will be available in a number of countries, mostly in the developing world, la...