What Google Wants

Google’s operating system project is probably the search giant’s most forceful attempt to hasten the end of the operating system era | IslamOnline.net

Technology rumor sites, and probably everybody else, were caught off guard. Google, which is the subject of an ever-revolving rumor mill, announced last Tuesday that it’s working on an operating system, dubbed Chrome OS.

And that was a surprise. After all, it’s no secret that Google has been working to elevate the web browser to be the center of users’ interaction with information. Whether you wanted to compose a formal letter or share your photos with family, Google made sure that a web browser (and a Google account) would suffice.

With Windows 7, Computing Goes Frugal (sort of)

Windows 7, now available as a stable trial version, is the first in the Windows dynasty to run at least as smoothly on hardware that ran its predecessor -- and that is no small shift | IslamOnline.net

Microsoft’s critics used to accuse the Windows company of forcing users to make expensive hardware upgrades with every new edition of the all-but-dominant operating system. And that was largely true. After all, Windows 98 could hardly run on the Windows 95 hardware, and the same was true of Windows Millennium (released in 2000) Windows XP (2001) and Windows Vista (early 2007).

[Thus the term "Wintel", carved out of the words Windows and Intel, to denote the perceived "alliance" between Microsoft and the microchip manufacturer in which each constantly upgraded its wares, leaving users with scarcely any choice but to buy the most recent stuff from the other company in order for their software and hardware to be compatible.]

Now Windows 7 appears to be a break with the family tradition.

The Rise of Middle East Technology Parks

The rapid growth of technology parks in the Arab world has so far created more expectations than outcomes, reports Waleed Al-Shobakky | SciDev.Net

Over the past few years, technology parks have been sprouting up all over the region: from Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia in the north, to Kuwait, Oman and Qatar in the east.

Recognising that their natural resources, particularly oil, are being fast depleted, and looking to emulate the success stories of technology parks in Asia, Europe and North America in creating jobs and successful businesses, countries like Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have constructed as many as seven or eight parks. But as the ranks swell, the question remains: will technology parks be able to prove their worth?