Features

• 2

  Hackintosh vs. Macintosh

  If you're thinking of buying a computer from Apple and opt for its cheapest "Mac mini" line, you'll be presented with several upgrade options at checkout.

• Cloud computing showdown: Amazon vs. Rackspace (OpenStack) vs. Microsoft vs. Google

  It wouldn't be a mischaracterization to equate the cloud computing industry to the wild, wild west.

• Tablet smackdown: iPad vs Surface RT in the enterprise

  IPads are already making their way into businesses via bring-your-own-device efforts with Microsoft Surface RT tablets hoping to follow suit as employees lobby for their favorite devices. But which one makes more sense from an IT perspective?

• Online holiday shopping at work may be huge suck on time, bandwidth

  With Black Friday just a week away and the nagging feeling that we need to get our holiday shopping done, the question is how much online buying will actually be done at work?

• Most memorable tech industry apologies of 2012: From Apple to Google to Microsoft

  Tech vendors have been as bombastic as ever promoting the magical and amazing things their latest smartphones, cloud computing wares and network gear can do. When things go wrong, they're naturally a little less visible, but plenty of companies have sucked it up and done the right thing this year (perhaps with a little legal prodding here and there) and publicly apologized for minor and major customers inconveniences.

• IT jobs on the other side of the cloud

  As more and more companies migrate to the cloud, corporate IT staffers wonder if they'd have better opportunities working for a service provider. IT veterans who've made the jump discuss the pros and cons of working for a cloud service provider.

• Surprise -- the iPad Mini doubles as business tablet

  The iPad Mini's small size doesn't hinder many apps, whereas the fourth-generation iPad adds little value

• IT employment will finish year in the black

  If there is one word that has defined this year, it's "uncertainty." It has been hanging over almost every economic and job growth analysis related to IT. Blame the elections, the fiscal cliff and Europe.

• Opinion: The new Microsoft

  Microsoft seems to have gotten its groove back, putting forward a hip, Apple-esque branding effort for the Windows 8 products that reflects new energy in Redmond.

• Tablet deathmatch: iPad Mini vs. Nexus 7 vs. Kindle Fire HD

  A new generation of small tablets has reinvented entertainment on the go, but which is best? Find out now and gear up for holiday gift-buying

• Passwords are the weak link in IT security

  Three decades into the digital revolution, passwords are still complicated, ineffective and a drain on IT's resources. What gives?

• Windows 8 faces a slow road to the enterprise

  Having finally launched its next-generation operating system, Windows 8, Microsoft now faces what may be its most daunting marketing challenge ever.

• A first look at the iPad mini

  Apple's iPad mini went on sale across Australia this morning. Here's out first thoughts.

• How to cope with the end of FireWire

  Mac shops with significant FireWire investment may not need a total Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 makeover, but staying put with current hard drives and devices will come at a price

• Analysts praise Apple's exec overhaul, see hints of future sea changes

  Apple's executive shake-up this week is a sign that design is the 'tip of the spear' for the company, but the reorganization won't disrupt the firm's product delivery and may produce groundbreaking moves, analysts said today.