August 2007

A Brief History of AMD v. Intel

S.Hogan / August 30, 2007

In the beginning

Intel was founded on July 18, 1968 and produced its first microprocessor, the 4004 microcomputer, at the end of 1971. The processor used 2300 transistors, and was capable of executing 60,000 operations in one second. Shortly after the release of the 4004 the 8008 microcomputer was released and as the name implies, it was capable of executing twice as many operations per second. Eight years later on July 1, 1979, the Intel 8088 was introduced. It was IBM’s choice for their first PC and guaranteed Intel a viable future.

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The Gateway Blues

chengrob / August 20, 2007

Hi Everyone,

I’ve been working hard at PC Pitstop trying to get out our new products. I love this challenge, but my work flow has suffered a major interruption. Acer is buying Gateway, and I received 10, count ’em, 10, emails, asking for my thoughts. Rather than respond to all 10 emails, it is a far more efficient use of my time to write a blog.

How does this make me feel? Two basic and extremely visceral feelings, mad and sad.

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PC Matic Cybersecurity / August 15, 2007

Vista Migration – 4 Months Later
Summer Fire Season
The World of Processors – Part II
Bits from Bill: Customize Application Sounds
PC Pitstop & WinPatrol Announce Partnership
Tip: Valuable Vista Tweaks
Tip: Speedy Flash Drives
Tip: PC Health Check
New Survey: Phishing
Survey Results: Windows Accessories
Research: Vista Migration Trends

August 2007 Read More »

Battery Recall Links

PC Matic Cybersecurity / August 13, 2007

Battery recall programs by manufacturer.

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PC Pitstop Window’s Accessory Usage Survey Results

Lyle / August 9, 2007

The PC Pitstop July 2007 survey took a look at how people make use of the Windows accessory tools, services and applications. These accessories are generally included as part of the Windows operating system with each providing some specific functionality for PC users.

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Vista Trends

Lyle / August 9, 2007

Microsoft launched Vista Business in late 2006 and Vista Home in early 2007. Our research shows that in July 2007, Vista was found on 12% of the PCs running the PC Pitstop online tests. Our research also shows that Vista is significantly lagging the historical XP launch ramp by almost 57%. In the six months following the XP launch in 2001, the operating system had grown to be found on over 28% of all PCs. Vista’s prevalence, after six months from its consumer Vista Home launch, sits at 12%.

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CPU Clock Speeds

PC Matic Cybersecurity / August 6, 2007

The processor clock speed is only one of several factors that will ultimately determine the productivity of a given computer system. The micro architecture of the CPU itself, the number of instructions per clock cycle, the speed of the disk storage system, the design of the software in use, etc, will all play a contributing role. But raising the clock speed of the CPU has traditionally been one sure way to get more work done in the same amount of time.

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P2P Programs: Popular and Perilous

PC Matic Cybersecurity / August 1, 2007

by Robert P. Lipschutz and John Clyman

It’s time for a confession. Many of us have peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software on our home PCs. Teenagers most often use P2P to search for and download the latest songs from their favorite artists and adults can find the songs of their youth. PC Pitstop research has shown that many of us have P2P programs such as Kazaa, Grokster, and Morpheus.

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