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May
2005
TECHNOLOGY
by R. C.
Everyone loves America Online Instant Messaging; it is
a way to stay in touch with long distance friends and a
way for kids to keep up with what is going on in their
friend’s lives.
However, it’s not all fun and games when the bullying
and harassment stats. This usually happens when adults
sign on and pretend to be teenagers.
A teen will sign on and the two will begin talking, innocent
enough. Then, after getting to know each other, the adult
will suggest the two should meet in real life, and the
teen, not knowing any differently, goes along with the
idea.
by Z. G.
For the past two years, Apple Computer has been making
considerable improvements in computer technology. Apple’s
iPod is so popular that it accounts for 92.1% of all hard-drive
based mp3 players (A hard drive based player can store
more songs than flash-based players such as the iPod shuffle
which uses flash memory). Apple is now aiming to increase
their product sales in the personal computer market, which
they now own less than 10% of.
Microsoft is another software company which produces
the Windows operating system. Windows is much more popular
because of it’s universal compatibility with the
vast majority of computers since it has saturated the computer
market. Microsoft allows other companies to produce software
for Windows, therefore there are millions of corporations,
small companies, and individuals who create software for
Windows. Microsoft does not directly manufacture or sell
the actual computers or hardware on which Windows runs.
Computers that run Windows are available from Dell, IBM,
Sony, HP, Compaq (which is owned by HP), and many other
companies. Windows is a prime choice for business because
of its popularity and the wide variety of software that
Windows runs. Since the majority of computers use Windows,
there is more software that is designed for it.
For the most part, Windows is still a popular choice
for everyone. Windows is compatible with almost all games
that are available, and it is also a good choice for productivity,
because of the many software packages that are available
for it. The Microsoft Office Suite (which includes word
processing, spreadsheets, and, depending on the package,
Power point, and some other organizational software), is
the popular choice, but it is very expensive. There are
other less expensive choices, such as WordPerfect: they
do the same things, but are made by a different company,
but designed for Windows. Better yet the OpenOffice suite
is a free alternative which is compatible with both Windows
and Mac. Windows-based computers start at $300 without
a monitor making them an economical choice for families.
Macintosh OS X is obviously much better designed than
its previous operating system OS 9. First of all, it is
based on the UNIX operating system, making it much more
stable than Windows. Graphically, OS X blows away Windows
XP. But the software is only half of it. Apple’s
new Imac is an obvious show of how Apple is revolutionizing
the computer hardware industry.
Macintosh can be a good choice for many people. It is
by far the most user-friendly system. It has engaging graphics
and, in many ways, appears to be more developed. Unfortunately,
because of Mac’s complete control over the Macintosh
codes, there are fewer programs available for it. On the
other hand, all of these programs are fully compatible
with the operating system, and hardware, and as a general
rule, tend to be more developed. Also, many programs for
PC only do have Mac equivalents. Macintosh OS X also has
much greater security from viruses and spam which can devastate
a Windows machine.
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