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Focuses on the management of wireless computer networks. Creation of folders; Enhancement of performance; Network security; Audio connections; Use of setup wizards to ease installation. INSET: Answers to Common Network Problems.

Provides tips and information in upgrading personal computers. Verification on the nature of the central processing unit of the computer; Network adapter checking in ensuring good lighting; Use of antistatic wrist strap in preventing static damage while working in the computer. INSET: BEFORE YOU START....

Focuses on the effort of United States telecommunication companies to spend billions of money to prepare high-speed mobile wireless networks. Technical and regulatory arguments over which emerging communications protocols to use; Frustrations of users of the wireless World Wide Web.

Focuses on outsourced infrastructure providers (OIPs), which charge businesses for the maintainability of their computers, software and local-area network. Thought that OIPs are good for small to medium-size businesses; Description of the OIPs, CenterBeam and Everdream; Advantages and disadvantages; How OIPs guarantee high-quality service. INSETS: Doing the Math;The Pros and Cons of PC Makers' Service Plans.

Offers examples to corporate users on proper use of wireless handheld devices, such as palmtop computers. The benefits these devices offer, in gathering data in the field. The problems with hooking the devices into the corporate computer network; The types of businesses which need wireless handheld devices the most. INSETS: Staying in Sync for Better Health Care;Case Study: Flexjet;Case Study: Ingram Micro.

Presents computer products that won `PC World' magazine's 1996 annual World Class awards. Dominance of Gateway 2000 in the business and home desktop categories with its Professional and Family lines; Popularity of International Business Machines Corp.'s (IBM) notebook computers; Dominance of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s printers. INSETS: New arrivals share the glory, by E.K.;Windows 95: Love to hate it, by E.K.;Is it world class yet?, by Stephen Manes..

Presents test results of Intel's OverDrive chips, which can upgrade Pentium personal computers (PC). The different speeds and costs of the chips; Application test times for each chip; The amount that RAM performance was boosted; Diminishing returns for more expensive chips; Ease of installation.

Evaluates several hard disk drives. Includes DynaMO 230 Parallel Port; Iomega Bernoulli 230 Transportable; Iomega Zip; Olympus PowerMO 230; SyQuest EZ135; SyQuest SQ3270.

Gives advice on how to choose a personal computer and presents first looks at the latest and greatest processors from Intel, Cyrix, NexGen, and AMD. Pentium Pro as the biggest and fastest; Comparing speeds; Memory caches; AMD K5; Cyrix 6x86; Intel Pentium; Intel Pentium Pro; NexGen Nx586. INSETS: Bargain-basement PCs: Which CPUs will they use?.;The holy war: CISC versus RISC..

Evaluates Intel's Pentium Pro PCs. Features; Views of Lew Pacley, Intel's marketing director, about the advantages of running Windows 3.1 and 95 applications on Pentium Pro; Details. INSETS: 150-MHz Pentium Pro PCs trail Pentium-133s under Windows 3.1.;Pentium Pro PCs hold their own with 32-bit Windows NT..

Presents tips on the upgrading 486 processor-computer systems up to speed. Central processing unit (CPU) upgrade products for systems with 486 processors; Value of a clock-tripling DX4 upgrade; Evaluation on the gray market chips; Evaluation on clock doublers; Loading Intel's Pentium OverDrive chips. INSETS: Peripherals and performance.;The mother of all upgrades..

Discusses the compatibility of computer equipment from Intel Corp. with its Pentium OverDrive computer chip. Description of Pentium OverDrive's features and functions; Write-back cache function; Incompatibility of Intel's past computer equipment with the OverDrive; Market reception.

Presents information on Plug and Play computer operating systems. Evaluation of Plug and Play systems in the market; Ease in using the technology; Compatibility with old computer products; Description of plug and play device capabilities. INSET: A plug and play buyers' guide..

Evaluates 30 laser printers. Reduction in the prices; Complications in choosing the right printer; Print resolution; Output quality; Speed rating; Definition of a network printer; Retail prices of the printers. INSETS: Best buys.;Ink jet options..

Focuses on the challengers to Intel's Pentium chips. Chips by NexGen, AMD and Cyrix; Benefits of competition; Price war between manufacturers; Compatibility problems; Marketing strategies; Advantages of AMD's K5 and Cyrix's M1 chips over NexGen's NX586; Superior performance of Pentium systems. INSET: The Pentium goes into overdrive..

Tests a 386DX-33, a 486SX-25 and a 486DX2-66 by feeding into them a system benchmark suite. Price and performance comparisons for upgrades; Cases when upgrading a RAM is not viable; How to upgrade a 386 with a new graphics card. INSETS: Playing the slots (T.S. MicroTech's FanCard-Combo-VL).;Faster than you can say 'PCMCIA' (SwapBox Classics).;Seven free upgrades.;A new dimension in PC Graphics, by Michael Desmond.

Reports that tests of the first PCs with NexGen's Pentium-compatible CPU show the Nx586-P90 matches Intel's Pentium-90. Cost of the chips of the Nx586VL; Compatibility of the Nx586 with any software the Pentium can run; Lack of a floating-point unit (FPU) in the Nx586.

Discusses PC World Test Center's test drive of Pentium personal computers (PCs) from Acer, ALR, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard. Tests of prototype Pentium systems; Premium=riced box; Features; Prices; Intel's 82496 external cache controller; ALR ProVeisa V; AcerFrame 3000; I/O performance and memory capacity; EISA expansion buses; Software situation.

Analyzes the dilemma of either upgrading personal computers or simply buying a completely new system. Interviews with business people who struggled with the upgrade question; Pros and cons of upgrading; Upgrading side by side with buying new systems; Cost-effectivity; OverDrive-type upgrade chips; Local-bus technology for peripherals; Comment on search for eternally youthful machines. INSET: Top ten things to do with a 286..

Discusses central processing units (CPU) and how they affect the computer system's performance. CPU manufacturers; Upgradable CPUs; Results of hundreds of system benchmarks; Standard 1-2-3 and Windows benchmarks; Clock speed measured in megahertz; Replaceability; Classes of 486 chips; Difference between OverDrives and DX2s; System compatibility; Portability; Intel's P5, successor to the 486; Desktop PC purchasing strategies.

The article focuses on edge computing of intermediating infrastructure and critical services between core datacenters and intelligent endpoints. It mentions edge computing provides a vital layer of compute and storage physically close to internet of things (IoT) endpoints. It also mentions analytics processing to satellites that capture geospatial imagery, cutting the amount of data transferred to the ground and edge architecture is also shaking up one of the original IoT area.

Presents information on the performance of Cyrix's M II-300 chip. It's performance in the CyberMax ValueMax B8 personal computer (PC); It's speed versus cost; Whether a big-name PC company will market an M II-based system; Statistics on application test time and playback tests. INSET: Is a $400 PC on the horizon?.

Presents answers to queries on personal computers (PC). Includes recycling of 486 memory in Pentium PC; Protection of PC with a surge suppressor and backup power supplies.

Presents questions and answers relating to computer hardware. Whether the Iomega Zip drive is fast enough; The debate between EIDE disks and SCSI disks; Price and performance of NexGen chips, in comparison to Pentium chips; Stacking of SIMMs.

Discusses standards used in testing information display monitors. Ergonomic functions; Image adjustment capabilities; Power efficiency and safety; Technical back-up services.

Presents a question-and-answer advisory on computer hardware. Upgrading a 286 system to a 66-MHz 486DX2; Attachment of a second IDE hard disc to the system's motherboard; Overriding a password; Problems with CorelSCSCI. INSET: More power to you, by Paul Stephen..

This article discusses the development of service-oriented architecture (SOA) by business enterprises. Developing SOA can be difficult, especially when it comes to messaging infrastructure and redrawing the business processes that provide the basis for the architecture. The easiest decision that information technology professionals face is the selection of a platform on which to build services. Individual needs and inclination of the organization must be considered to determine whether to use or not to use an ESB, which is a messaging bus and service platform.

This article discusses the growth of software as a service (SaaS) strategy, the evolution of applications through the Internet. SaaS maybe on the verge of much faster adoption owing to the arrival of the big enterprise-softwares, the emergence of integrated business communities and the increasing problem of minimizing application deployment and maintenance hassles. Benefits offered by the strategy includes time-to-market and low maintenance core, escape from the application-upgrade routine and letting a service provider shoulder the burden of software deployment, maintenance and availability.

This article addresses issues pertaining to the unsatisfactory performance of the information technology (IT) infrastructure project of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as of March 2005. Some FBI agents ruefully refer to the trilogy project, a massive initiative to modernize the aging technology infrastructure of the FBI, as the Tragedy project. It certainly has all the earmarks of tragedy: the best intentions, catastrophic miscommunication, staggering waste. Trilogy, as the name suggests, had three parts: an enterprise-wide upgrade of desktop hardware and software; deployment of a modern network infrastructure; and an integrated suite of software for entering, finding, sharing, and analyzing case information. In a congressional hearing in February 2005, FBI Director Robert Mueller was careful to note that the first two parts of Trilogy have been completed: no less than 30,000 computers, 4,000 printers, 1,600 scanners, 465 servers, and 1,400 routers were deployed as of April 2004. After more than four years of hard work and half a billion dollars spent, however, Trilogy has had little impact on the antiquated case-management system of the FBI, which remains a morass of mainframe green screens and vast stores of paper records. INSET: A Peek at the Plans.

This article focuses on a service-oriented architecture platform designed to control services purchasing called Employee Business Services (EBS) developed by Rearden Commerce as of February 28, 2005. The product of Rearden executive Patrick Grady's singular vision, Rearden Commerce extends enterprise purchasing control to business services and sets a high-water mark for Internet applications with its unique SOA platform. Delivered through the browser, Rearden's EBS is capable of automating the purchase of many everyday services, including shipping, conferencing, meals, entertainment, and even travel. Yet Rearden's lineup of corporate customers is enough to make a believer out of anyone. Officially launching after five years in stealth mode, Rearden has already snagged Cingular, Genesys, JDS Uniphase, Motorola, Warner Home Video, and Whirlpool, all of which have signed up for enterprisewide deployments of EBS. This SaaS (software as a service) application goes where no enterprise software has gone before: to control spending on non-PO (purchase order) services, all according to identity-based business rules. Moreover, Rearden has partnered with American Express and Hewlett-Packard, which will resell EBS worldwide. INSET: Grady's Calculated Debut.

This article contemplates on the future of enterprise application software and on-demand services. Halsey Minor, CEO of Grand Central Communications, believes that in 4 years, the whole notion enterprise application software is going to be dead. He believes application functionality will instead be available as hosted, pay-per-use services delivered by companies such as Salesforce.com. This view is held similarly by March Benioff, CEO of Saleforce.com, and many others. And with the enterprise solution's death comes the birth of the on-demand software. One explanation for the sudden openness to the on-demand model has to do with licensing. Paying for what you consume rather than paying up front for a lifetime of usage fits better with todays downsized information technology budgets. Poor visibility is another factor for moving to an on-demand model, suggests Todd Johnson, president of Jamcracker. Not everyone is biting of course. Topping the list of doubts is whether hosted offerings can be properly integrated with internal enterprise applications, and skepticism over the efficacy of adapting on-demand over the efficacy of adapting on-demand. And some IT managers bristle at relying on an outside host's ability to run its datacenter impeccably, not to mention maintain a solvent business.

This article explains that business process management brings together business analysts and application developers for better enterprise integration at the push of a button. The intersection between business and information technology (IT) is where the action is. It is the point where business requirements morph into enterprise systems. It is where consultants and software vendors make money. And it is where most big IT problems begin -- or dissolve before they gum up the works. Business process management (BPM) seeks to impose order on the chaotic crossroads between business and technology. A BPM system -- software that combines graphical process modeling with application development to exploit an existing EAI fabric -- encourages both sides to get their ducks in a row. Business analysts must rationalize and ultimately optimize workflow by parsing and describing the processes underlying business functions, and IT must get its EAI act together so that the existing application functionality necessary to create process-based applications can be stitched together across the enterprise. The idea of using BPM to build reconfigurable meta-applications is taking on a ife of its own, thanks to the increasing popularity of the service-oriented architecture paradigm, which advocates exposing discrete bits of important application functionality as services. INSETS: A Developer's Perspective on BPEL;BPM in Six Steps.

This article examines technological advances that may allegedly indicate mobility. High-speed 3G bandwidth would allegedly hover in the air everywhere, enabling one to whip out a wireless personal digital assistant (PDA) and turn the backseat of a taxicab into a rolling office with seamless access to enterprise applications. The mobile revolution allegedly became something of a joke, supplanted by the more modest goal of providing Wireless-Fidelity network access across the corporate campus. Although ubiquitous 3G remains an indeterminate number of years off, carriers are allegedly in the process of rolling out dial-up speed wireless data services. As for security, Research In Motion and Good Technology have allegedly developed security solutions, primarily for electronic mail, that ease enterprise worries. Meanwhile, enterprise server software vendors have allegedly gobbled up mobile application servers and development tools, folding them into the stack and reducing development and deployment costs. According to Todd Kort, a principal analyst at Gartner Dataquest, the convergence of better processors, better displays, and better operating systems is allowing enterprise applications to become more acceptable for use on PDA.

This article focuses on several integration tools for exposing mainframe-derived services. Presently, enterprises seem intent on disseminating the core business value that extols to a wider audience. As companies draw up plans for service-oriented architectures that treat applications as reusable services, mainframes promise to play a central role. However, the key is in selecting the right integration tools for exposing mainframe-derived services. One of the options is to deploy software that emulates a 3270 mainframe terminal and roll mainframe applications into Web applications. Fortunately, new tools from companies such as WRQ and NetManage are taking this approach to a new level. According to Benoit Lheureux, a Gartner research director, terminal emulation approach is mostly foolproof. In addition, he says that it is nonintrusive. The downsides are performance limitations and brittleness, for instance, if a mainframe application changes without warning, any application that depend on the 3270 connection break. WRQ's Verastream product is an example of how sophisticated the terminal-emulation approach can get. Although terminal emulation solutions may go as far as exposing 3270 streams as Web services, they are primarily designed for human interaction through a browser. INSET: Is It Time to Retire Big Iron?.

This article discusses the U.S. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Application Spending Report for the fiscal 2003-2004, which was launched by AMR Research. It predicts that the number of enterprise managers planning to upgrade or buy new ERP licenses will increase slightly in 2004. At the same time, to modernize their products, top ERP vendors incorporate XML, Web services, and Java to foster easier customization and improve integration with the rest of the enterprise. During the Internet boom, ERP programs seemed inflexible, overpriced, and mired in client-server deployment. Currently, the ERP systems have migrated from client/server to Web-based technologies. Sixty-five percent of respondents to the 2004 InfoWorld ERP survey say they would be likely to choose the same vendor, while a mere 6 percent complain they're not at all satisfied. Jim Shepherd, vice president of research at AMR Research and co-author of its recent ERP report, believes that ERP's drawbacks have always been overblown and that recent product improvements have made deployment and maintenance simpler. On the other hand, only 23 percent of respondents say they are very satisfied with their ERP implementation, which suggests the absence of a viable alternative. INSET: In the Trenches With an SAP Developer.

Focuses on the increasing importance of computer enterprise portals. Maturity of portal server offerings; Information on the range of B2E portals; Comment from Greg Crider, director of product marketing for enterprise portals at SAP, on integrating portals with other parts of technology infrastructure.

Focuses on the efforts of different enterprises in the U.S. to implement a Web service- oriented architecture (SOA). SOA vision; Tools to help developers design and build service-oriented architectures; Security protocols required by service-oriented architectures. INSET: Six Tips for SOA Design.

Presents the results of the 2003 InfoWorld Programming survey on Web-based applications. Statement issued by Katie Barnes, an independent developer in Oakland, California; Significance of scripting to departmental or small business applications; Conflict between guerrilla and information technology-sanctioned technology. INSETS: .Net and the Smart Client;Jakarta and the Java Pro.

Focuses on interactive television (iTV) advertising. Challenges for advertising agencies in relation to iTV; Problems with iTV advertising; Examples of iTV advertisements.

This article deals with BEA Systems Incorporated's acquisition of Plumtree Software Inc. According to Shane Pearson, vice president of product management at BEA, the company sees the acquisition as complementary to its services infrastructure plan. The Plumtree portal has made a point of avoiding platform lock-in. It runs on Java application servers and on Microsoft.Net. This degree of versatility dovetails with BEA's AquaLogic Enterprise Service Bus, which is designed to be a lightweight, standards-based integration solution for service oriented architecture deployments. With the Plumtree portal, AquaLogic would gain a presentation layer and bragging rights as fairly complete SOA solution. The Plumtree portal offers other amenities, including a collaboration server, enterprise search, a development kit for creating cross-platform Web services and more.

Focuses on upgrading the graphics card in a microcomputer. Who will benefit most from a graphics card upgrade; The importance of video random access memory (RAM); Tips for upgrading; Products for those seeking to watch television on their computer; Recommendations.

Offers tips on how to replace a computer's motherboard. Points to consider when purchasing a motherboard; Steps in replacing a motherboard.

Presents a question and answer advisory on problems relating to microprocessors. Underperformance of a Pentium-166 system; Tip on how to remove the drive shaft sticking to its bearings; Elimination of the Disk Manager. INSET: Unsticking a frozen hard drive..

Presents readers' questions about computer hardware and provides answers to them. The necessity of a new computer motherboard if a one lacks a PnP BIOS to run Windows 95 Plug and Play; Whether or not Windows 95 has hidden tools to help recover from total hard disk crashes; Checking to see if a computer has a write-back cache and whether or not this is necessary for using Pentium OverDrive; Other questions.

Presents answers to questions related to computer hardware. Includes booting of microcomputers; Windows 95 computer operating system diagnostic utility; Updating of a motherboard.

Answers questions regarding microcomputer hardware. Inability to use the Ensoniq Soundscape card after upgrading to Windows 95; Utility that creates a reference disk in case the CMOS information is lost; How to uninstall Disk Manager.

Answers reader-sent questions related to computer hardware. Shuffling notebook cards; Flicker factor and Windows 95.

Evaluates Intel's Pentium Pro 150, 166 and 200 personal computers. System; Central processing unit/bus speed; Random access memory; Secondary cache.

Presents solutions to reader's queries related to computer hardware. Installing graphics card under Windows 95; Swapping drive designations; Installing 72-pin SIMMs in Pentium systems.