Each time we sit down at our computers, many of us are working with a Microsoft program called the Windows operating system.  It is no secret that Google and Microsoft aren’t exactly good friends as companies go.  Well, last week, Google has announced that they are developing their own operating system and that it will be free.  This move hits Microsoft in the gut and hard. Ouch.

Microsoft is reported to hold 90% of the market and sells about 400 million copies of its operating system each year for around $45 a pop.  Did I mention that Google will give theirs away?  When we buy a new computer that is made by Dell or HP or many others, it comes with the Windows operating system.  Now, Google is meeting with computer manufacturers regarding offering their operating system in addition to or instead.

Google is targeting a release of their system in the second half of 2010 and will initially focus on an offering for Netbooks.  A Netbook is a small computer that is built to work with the internet specifically and these little pint sized computers don’t have many of the additional offerings (e.g., DVD player) you would find in a typical laptop.  Netbooks are very popular these days and carry a very small price tag.

Why is Google taking on Microsoft again? Well, Google thinks that they can build a better mousetrap.  They believe that their new operating system will be faster, easier to use and have fewer lines of code.  Google’s goal is to offer a simple operating system that is not weighed down with all the issues that continue to plaque Microsoft regarding performance and security.  Google is starting with a blank sheet of paper and Microsoft has to deal with legacy code that was written in the past.

Converting most people away from Microsoft will be a daunting challenge as people tend to resist change, and especially so when it involves something that they don’t truly understand like the inner workings of their computer.  Most people just want it to work, so Google will face the challenge of getting people to care enough to want to change.  Some folks will switch immediately, however getting the majority of the market to move will be difficult.

In case you have missed it, Google and Microsoft have been battling for years.  Prior to this latest salvo from Google, Microsoft released a new search engine called Bing in an effort to take market share from Google.  Google, which by the way is the most visited website in the world, released Chrome last year as a replacement for Internet Explorer.

For those Mac-o-philes that are reading this, I am sure you are wondering what happens to Apple in all of this?   Well, analysts see Apple getting hurt by Google as well.  A Google Netbook could be sold for as little as $300 and this will hurt Apple’s entry level machine that is priced around $999.

Regardless of what happens, this should be good for the consumer as all three companies… Google,  Microsoft and Apple are going to need to up their game a little as consumers get more choices on what to buy.

Happy Birthday to the Walkman! 30 years ago this week, the Sony Walkman became the hottest “must have” gadget for music lovers. If you had one, you were part of the IN crowd. They were so popular that it could take as long as a month to get one. These days the IPod is the hot thing, but the Walkman laid the groundwork.

With the Walkman, Sony started a personal music revolution for how people enjoy music. Until we had the Walkman, people had to carry around big Boom Boxes and blast the music for everyone to hear. Remember that? Not fun. With the Walkman, you could have great sound that you can listen to at anytime….at work or play.

The first Walkman cost around $200 in the U.S. This was a hefty price tag in 1979, but the Walkman was still sold out in a month. Interestingly enough, a vintage Walkman is for sale on eBay for $210 right now.

Since its initial launch, Sony has sold 385,000,000 units. Sony sold 7 million Walkman digital music players in their last fiscal year. This was up from up from 4.5 million the previous year. The current forecast down to 6.3 million units and is related primarily to the down economy.

The Walkman had some very cool features for its time…..the most popular of which was dual headphone jacks with separate volume controls…….with an IPod, you need to use a splitter, but not the Walkman. The Walkman also had a “hotline” button that turned down the music so that you could talk to someone. Once the button is released, then the music goes back to the previous volume. Pretty handy feature.

You may not realize that they Walkman started out being branded as the Soundabout. Sony felt that the Walkman name wasn’t proper English and might not be well received. However, in 1980, the name Walkman was the official global brand.

Believe it or not, the Walkman was the first digital personal music player. The digital version was launched in December 2000, with the iPod being launched in 2001. Unfortunately for Sony, the Walkman was based on the proprietary ATRAC format and this slowed adoption. Apple also has a proprietary format, however the iPod was supported by iTunes, which was really the one/two punch for knocking out the Walkman. The iPod became the standard quickly since it was easy to use, music was readily available for $1 per song and Apple does a great job with design.

Happy Birthday Walkman. I wonder what we will all be listening to in the next 30 years!

CIO.com is reporting the latest in one of the fastest growing trends facing our industry – web hacks.

According to the article, thousands of legitimate web sites were hacked over the weekend.  Malicious scripts were inserted and legitimate organizations’ websites were taken control by criminals.  The script re-routed users to a malicious site, which in turn downloads and launches a multi-exploit hacker toolkit that perpetuated the problem.

This is just another reason why it’s imperitive to know all of the scripts running on your site, as well as any vulnerabilities your web software has to hacks.  Even if you’re just a small business with a simple website – you could be part of an attack like this, and you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars in clean up costs.

That’s just not worth it – especially when monitoring starts at about a dollar a day.  Don’t be the next headline.