Is your printer stealing from you? Yes--if it's making you replace ink or toner constantly, or if you need to buy pricey special paper to get the best output. Maybe it's stealing your time or sanity by being a lot slower than it said it'd be, or having cheapo components that break or are just plain hard to use. PC World reveals some sinners-and saints-based on our recent printer reviews.

At the Black Hat security conference on Wednesday, former Google VP of Engineering Douglas Merrill gave the opening keynote presentation, and it wasn't a traditional security industry talk. The takeaway: Let users dictate enterprise security needs.

Merrill, who most recently served as Chief Operating Officer and President of EMI Records, started with a metaphor of placing sidewalks on a college campus to describe his view of security architecture. Campus planners, he said, come in and put down sidewalks and grass. Six months go by and they begin to notice patches of dead grass. In response, the planners would put up metal chains to keep the students on the pavement. If the students persist in walking on the grass, the planners put in planters to discourage such traffic once and for all.

Given the rumor mill chatter, it sounds like the mythical Apple tablet is all but a done deal. People seem to be talking with certainty about how, either later this year or early next year, Apple will unveil a multitouch tablet with a 10-inch screen, 3G wireless broadband, and iPhone OS possibly subsidized by a Verizon Wireless contract. It would basically be a big iPod Touch.

I’m no Apple hater, and I welcome an Apple device to the (don’t call it a) netbook market, but I've got to think this device would be a flop. This concept is such a train wreck from start to finish that I don’t know where to begin. (Image used here is from a 2008 article in Mac/Life)

With Intel introducing new faster and cheaper SSD drives coinciding with Windows 7's release to manufacturing, it might make sense to include one with your next computer purchase. After all, Windows 7 is the first Microsoft OS to include native enhancements for SSDs.

Serious geeks have been drooling over the prospect of SSD drives for years now. With their uber-expensive prices and glaring size limitations, it seems as though they’ve always been tomorrow’s technology. Intel makes some of the most coveted SSDs, but until now they’ve been priced like luxury items. Intel is introducing two new X25-M SSD drives that are faster and much cheaper. It might be time to take the leap. Since you’re going to put together a new computer to run Windows 7 anyway, why not include a solid-state disk?

Microsoft recently announced that its next Office suite will have a free online counterpart. It also just released Silverlight 3.0, which competes directly with Adobe Flash. While each of these products is competitive in its own right, they’re collectively part of a strategy by Microsoft to protect the future of Windows.

Silverlight 3.0 competes strongly with Adobe Flash for rich media content on the web. Microsoft is pushing it aggressively, and has already converted sites such as Netflix.com, which uses it for its “Watch Instantly” streaming TV and Movie service.

In one of the first talks at this year's Black Hat USA, Billy Hoffman and Matt Wood, both security researchers at HP, plan to demonstrate a darknet designed to run entirely within a browser.

Darknets, which allow decentralized, private peer-to-peer communications between clients, are not new; they are currently used in academic environments to share data among researchers. WASTE are two examples of desktop darknets. But Hoffman and Wood said both require configuration beyond the average user. For the last six months, they have been simplifying the process.

What Hoffman and Wood are showing at Black Hat is Veiled, a proof of concept browser. Using newer browsers--Internet Explorer 8, FireFox 3.5, Opera, Chrome, Safari, even the PS3 browser--all of which support javascript and HTML 5--Wood was able to build what previously existed only in a desktop application.

Darknets afford distinct advantages such as distributing content among all participants. Because of built-in redundancy, publishing to the darknet is resilient. Wood said if any client drops off and comes back, they'll be able to recreate lost content. When you close your browser you are removed from the darknet. When the last member leaves, the darknet, and all its content, disappears except for a few encrypted bits in the browser.

Among the cool features of the Veiled browser is Web-in-Web, which allows darknet users to create their own private Web pages with links to content only available within the darknet itself. Darknets enjoy zero footprints and can't be viewed by the greater Internet. For example, they would be perfect for protesters documenting an oppressive government, or students forbidden to post about teachers on FaceBook or MySpace.

"We want to lower the barriers so that people can use technology in ways never intended," said Hoffman, who sees darkents as a freedom of expression issue as well as a creative issue. Hoffman noted how Web hosting started around 2001 with sites like GeoCities, but that it took social networks, like FaceBook, before the average person could a Web page quickly, and upload pictures relatively easy.

Given the chance, who knows how people will use darknets, said Hoffman. But don't look for cool applications from the talk. "Matt and I aren't smart enough to come up with cool applications."

In fact, the two aren't releasing Veiled or any code at Black Hat. Hoffman said they only want to share details and show what can be done. "There is some secret sauce," Hoffman admitted, but by the end of the talk anyone with passing knowledge of Web technology should be able to walk out and create one.

Hoffman said mainstream security people are only now understanding that Web security is not a toy. "There are some serious things they should be paying attention to," such as the fact the Chrome browser has its own task manager. "They just don't understand how powerful browsers are today."

Robert Vamosi is a freelance computer security writer specializing in covering criminal hackers and malware threats.

Google Chrome OS is arriving just in time to take advantage of the perfect storm of cloud services, cheap hardware, and a new generation of platform-agnostic users. Unlike other Linux-based OSs, Chrome has brand recognition that even the biggest neophyte could get comfortable with.

Larry Ellison of Oracle was touting the benefits of the network computer back in 1996. He was ahead of his time. People weren’t ready for the network computer, and the network certainly wasn’t ready for the people.

Fast forward to 2009, when many people view computers as mere tools to connect to the Net. Typical uses for computers involve streaming media, social networking, managing photos and information consumption. When the typical home user uses a PC predominantly for communication and entertainment, the offline computer is nearly useless.

Chrome is also arriving just in time to take advantage of dirt-cheap hardware and super-broke consumers. The future for Chrome based netbooks is in the $200 and under space. At this price level, Microsoft would have to virtually give away Windows. Within a year or two, netbooks could hit the magical price of $99. For this price, people will happily purchase a computer that is nothing more than a simple and fast web-surfing device. While people might expect $300-plus computers to have full-featured OSs they may be less critical when netbooks fall into the impulse buy price range, especially when paired with lightning-fast performance.

Of course, this model doesn’t work very well for businesses, hard-core gamers, and media professionals. For these users, expect the full-featured OS to stick around, for now at least.

In a previous post, I argued that for Chrome to become the dominant operating system, it needs Windows compatibility. I’m not too proud to eat crow, and I maintain that businesses that rely on complex business tools and a legacy of homegrown apps will need Windows for a good number of years. However, if Chrome represents a compelling enough value proposition, these services can be handled by applications like Windows Terminal Services and Citrix.

Another driver for an OS like Chrome is youth. Netbooks appeal to a younger crowd for several reasons, not the least of which is price and portability. Younger people, already live on the web. The computer is merely a tool to get on Facebook and Twitter. The OS is inconsequential. They don’t care if it can run 10-year-old legacy apps. To them, the computer is like a television. Who cares if it’s a Sony or Magnavox, as long as it can get the channel you want.

Younger people also don’t have their brains polluted with 30 years of Microsoft legacy. A 14-year-old is better equipped to choose a system on face value rather than years of familiarity and comfort.

Chrome OS may be a victory for Linux, but probably not in the way that Linux proponents had hoped for. The problem with Linux is that it’s earned a reputation as the OS for geeks, which is a label that most people don’t identify with. Just the very mention Linux is intimidating. Google however is a name that provides comfort and familiarity. For many people, Google IS the Internet. They aren’t buying a netbook running Linux, they’re buying a netbook that runs Google.

If Google can find a large audience in the netbook category, application developers will focus more on Web apps that will work with Google Chrome. Developers code for the lowest common denominator, which for years has been Windows. If Google Chrome is successful, OS native apps will lose footing and Chrome could make a move for the desktop.

Michael Scalisi is an IT Manager for an SF Bay Area biomedical corporation. He has more than 12 years of experience in System Administration, Network Management, and Telecommunications. When he’s not in the data center, he’s out risking his life as an off-road unicyclist.

Google recently stated that it is developing a new Linux-based OS called Chrome to run on both netbooks and desktops. In order for Google to seriously challenge Microsoft’s dominance, it needs two things. First, it needs to be seriously awesome. Second, it needs to be compatible with Windows Apps.

I must confess that when I heard about the OS, my first thought was “Oh great, just what we need, another Linux distro.” Then I realized two things: Apple has already demonstrated that its possible to build an awesome and unique OS based on UNIX, and, this is Google we’re talking about.

I believe that the Chrome OS can be awesome. That it’s named Chrome is telling. For those who haven’t used the Chrome browser yet, it’s incredibly fast, extremely simple and intuitive, yet strangely powerful. It gives you what you need before you ask for it based on what you’ve done in the past. All within an attractive, simple interface.

The Google Chrome OS is likely to be just like that. I’d expect the file system to resemble Gmail, using labels instead of folders. I’d expect eye-candy to be at a minimum and for performance to be highly optimized. I’d expect bloat to be ripped out by its roots and hastily discarded. It will capitalize on the cloud-computing model and leverage Google’s existing Web services. Imagine turning your computer on, and within 10 seconds you’re browsing the Web. That would be awesome.

All this might be enough to make a dent in the netbook market. After all, people might be willing to sacrifice the ability to use their Windows apps on a computer that was never meant to be anything more than a cheap and small web appliance. Never mind that consumers have already rejected Linux on the netbook.

Even if Chrome OS is utterly mind-blowing, if it lacks Windows application compatibility, it will merely be competing for a share of the high single-digit to low double-digit market share that Apple and Linux currently battle over. I highly doubt this is Google’s intention.

Windows dominates because it has become the lowest common denominator for application compatibility. The vast majority of commercial desktop application developers write for Windows because that’s what 90 percent of all consumers use. Consumers choose it because they invariably need to use some application that runs only on Windows. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle that needs something more than just a better competing OS to break.

As great of an idea cloud computing is, it isn’t going to eliminate the need for local apps anytime soon. If Google wants the Chrome OS to have any shot at desktop dominance, it needs be able to run Windows apps.

There are a couple of different ways to approach this. One possible alternative is to dump all sorts of resources into Wine development. This would be great since it would also give Linux and OS X a boost. Unfortunately, it will be nearly impossible to improve Wine to the point where it achieves anywhere near 100 percent Windows application compatibility.

The more likely alternative is to enable the Chrome OS to run Windows apps virtually like what is currently possible with VMware Fusion or Parallels. Of course the challenge here is that this will still require a Windows license.

The way I envision it, people will install the Chrome OS on their Windows PCs. Chrome will then repartition your drive, install its own boot loader, and set itself as the default OS. This is what most Linux distributions do already.
Users will then boot their computer into Google’s OS, and within seconds be able to use the Chrome browser and web-based apps. When the user needs a Windows app, they click on the icon for it and Chrome loads Windows in the background. The app might take a minute or so to load, but the process will be transparent otherwise. Just like VMware fusion or Parallels.

After Chrome OS finds its way onto a few million desktop computers, application developers will start porting Windows apps over to Chrome. Once Chrome is available on a majority of computers, developers will develop for Chrome first and Windows will quickly slip into obscurity. Give this process about a decade.

Michael Scalisi is an IT manager based in Alameda, California.

Attention road warriors: Would you like to get to your e-mail immediately on your netbook or laptop without waiting for it to boot? Wouldn’t it be a relief to stop worrying about the data on your portable computer, should you lose or break the machine on the go? How about accessing your information wherever you are—wouldn’t that be cool?

The above are three benefits Google is promising with the development of its Chrome operating system . The Chrome OS is a lightweight, Linux-based OS. It will initially be available for netbooks beginning next summer and will also run on more powerful computers.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a critical post about, among other things, of the iPhone’s battery life. Since then, reports have poured in of new iPhone users who are displeased with the device's longevity, indicating that the new 3GS does little to alleviate the problem.

Putting my money where my mouth is, I headed to the Apple store in Emeryville and picked up a Mophie Juice Pack Air for $80.

While Mozilla lights a fire under competing browsers with support of emerging Web standards with Firefox 3.5, it can still improve its performance, reliability, and usability.

Firefox has the misleading status of second most popular browser. Two-thirds of all sites are still visited by some version of Internet Explorer. It’s no secret that Microsoft only wins because the majority of computer users run Windows and aren’t quite savvy enough to make a conscious decision about which browser to use. In fact, when 50 people in Times Square were asked, “What is a browser?”, most confused it with a search engine.