Panasas To Add Windows Support For HPC Files

According to the latest news we hear from the industry, the high performance computing storage specialist Panasas is going to enter into the Windows market. The company in their latest blog post announced that their PanFS 5.5 operating system for high performance computers would now support enterprise grade Windows operating systems. The earlier versions of the PanFS operating system that runs on Panasas ActiveStor scale-out network-attached storage (NAS) appliances has support for Linux, Oracle Solaris, and IBM AIX operating systems. However, with the new update in place, they now have support for Windows servers too.

Even though most of the high performance computing systems mainly use Linux operating systems, with Windows support from Panasas in place, all that is to change. We say this as working with Windows operating system gives the files system’s storage better interoperability. The senior director of product marketing at Panasas Geoffrey Noer commented about the new support for enterprise grade Windows operating systems by saying the following.

"The biggest step is Panasas has become a Microsoft licensee, with access to the source code and technical documents. Most IT environments have different compute servers with different OSes. The 5.5 version is for mixed-workload environments. It's typical that high-performance applications work on Linux, but the researchers have laptops and workstations that often run on Windows. "When Windows clients talk to storage, they need to communicate with the Windows protocol. Now, with a commercial implementation, we can be up-to-date with Microsoft. Samba was close, but not 100% there."

Being a Linux customer, if this addition of Windows support for Panasas bothers you, Steve Conway of Framingham cajoles you with the good news. Steve sates that this news is done for merely expanding the service horizon of the company and it does not mean that Panasas is changing their focus. He commented about the issue in his latest blog post saying, "Microsoft is a relatively small piece of it. But there are some segments like finance and life sciences that use Microsoft software. Panasas is not moving out of what they do. They are just adding to it. If you can access 10% more of the market, that's important."

Since most HPC file systems are based on Linux, there is no need to worry for Linux customers, as they will always be the primary customers. However, with the addition of support for Windows operating system, people may find porting to Windows a much better option due to better interoperability and other features.

Things To Keep In Mind When Upgrading From Windows XP

So, the Windows XP support has officially expired. Now, it’s about time you upgraded to Windows 7 or Windows 8. The whole Windows 7 vs Windows 8 argument is slowing tilting in favour of the latest Windows 8 operating system. With the new Windows update – Windows 8.1 – Microsoft has fixed some of the problems in the latest operating system.

System requirements for Windows 7 and Windows 8

You can make a Windows 7 vs Windows 8 comparison, if you like. Both operating systems have almost the same system requirements. Windows 8 would run even without the touch screen. You need a 1 GHz or faster processor, a minimum RAM of 1 GB for 32-bit OS and 2GB for 64-bit OS, free hard disk space of 16 GB for 32-bit and 20 GB for 64-bit, and a DirectX 9 graphics card or higher with WDDM driver.

Now, Microsoft has released an application called Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant, to make upgrading to the new OS smoother. Download and install this application. When you run this application, it will generate a system compatibility report for Windows 8. This will tell you whether your system is Windows 8-ready or not.

Create a backup of all your important files

A simple OS upgrade that leaves your files and data intact is not possible, when you are upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 or Windows 8. This means all your hard disk data would be wiped out. So, make sure that you create a backup of all your important files before you install Windows 7 or Windows 8.

However, if you are upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8, then you can choose an installation option that would preserve the compatible applications as well as your files and data.

Create an OS backup for your system

One of the best precautionary measures you can take is creating a recovery disc or an OS backup for your system. In case of an error, you can use this disc to recover the system back to its initial state.

These are some of the things, which you need to keep in mind while upgrading to Windows 7 or Windows 8. You can upgrade directly to either Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. Windows 8.1 is available as a free update to all the Windows 8 users. So, if you are installing Windows 8, you can easily upgrade it to Windows 8.1 by visiting the Windows Store.

Microsoft Integrates Outlook 2013 With Windows RT, Surface Pro And Surface RT

Windows RT users have more reasons to celebrate the release of Windows 8.1 update, which has brought about a number of changes as well as new features to the ARM operating system. The update will integrate Outlook 2013 standalone email client application with Windows RT. Apparently, Windows RT users will be able to enjoy technical support from Outlook help desk whenever they come across a problem. Microsoft had integrated Office suite products like MS Excel, MS Word, MS PowerPoint and MS OneNote with Windows RT, since the very beginning of this ARM operating system.

Windows RT Sans Outlook a hard sell product

Although a good number of average smartphone users found Windows RT to be useful, the operating system didn’t impress corporate users as it didn’t have a premier e-mail client application in it. About 50 percent of the negative reviews Microsoft received after the release of Windows RT were about the lack of a premier email client application in it. One must understand that the software giant was ready to make necessary and customer friendly changes to make Windows RT popular. The prospective changes going to be introduced to Windows RT is a sign for this.

In its recent blog post, the software giant said that it the latest Outlook version, Outlook 2013, is a refined one focusing both corporate users and personal users. While the application helps corporate users to do their day to day works without delay, it caters for the requirements of laypeople via its simple and user friendly features.

Built-in Mail application not a substitute for Outlook

In fact, Microsoft had thought that the built in Mail application with Windows RT would meet the emailing requirements of its customers. But, we have come to know from the past reports that there is no better email application to substitute Outlook. With its impressive features, Outlook has managed to make a strong influence on users. There is no doubt that the addition to Outlook 2013 to Windows RT will certainly be a great step Microsoft is taking towards making this ARM operating system more acceptable to the public.

Microsoft introduces Outlook 2013 to Surface RT and Surface Pro

Along with Windows RT, Microsoft has integrated Outlook 2013 with Surface Pro and Surface RT devices.

What users are looking forward to seeing is the integration of a well organized Outlook help desk, the fairly recently formed Outlook 2013 service. We have no doubt that the software giant will not compromise on this.

Severe Security Risks Await Banks And ATMs Running XP OS

Microsoft officially ended the support for Windows XP on April 8 as it has said months ago. However, this has not made much impact on the number of XP users. A rough estimation shows that XP users still account for about 28 percent of the total Windows market share.

Security issues XP users may face

Along with Windows XP, Microsoft ended support for Office 2003. Users with these outdated Microsoft products are at severe security risk. Since Microsoft has stopped supporting these products, there won’t be any patch updates for Windows XP or Office 2003. Consequently, these products will grow vulnerable to security issues, day by day. There are many reports suggesting that hackers were waiting for the end date of Microsoft support for Windows XP.

Expert suggested that hackers wouldn’t have to struggle a lot to get through Windows XP systems. They are quite advanced even to get through latest Windows operating systems. Once Microsoft ends support for XP, the outdated operating system will become the most comfortable and secure ecosystem for hackers.

Banks and ATMs are alerted about higher security risks

Microsoft has alerted banks and ATMs that still run Windows XP operating system about the potential security risk they might come to face. According to some statistics, almost 50 percent of the ATMs in USA are running Windows XP operating system. The proportion is even higher in Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe. ATMs and financial institutions running Windows XP operating system could easily be susceptible to the attacks of hackers as there is no Microsoft support.

How to avoid security risks while using Windows XP operating system?

There are no permanent options to protect Windows XP from security risks. The operating system is fast becoming the hub of vulnerability. However, by not connecting Windows XP machines with internet, users could avoid the spread of virus infection and other online threats. There is no way for hackers to attack your system unless you are connected to the internet.

Avoid accepting external data storage devices like pen drives, external hard disc or memory cards from other users to connect to your XP machine. Even if they seem to be void of viruses while scanning, they could have elements that could potentially endanger your Windows XP machine.

The bottom line is that, if you can’t avoid using Windows XP for any reasons, try not to connect it with internet.

Mozilla To Introduce Changes To Firefox Browser Soon

Firefox is a perfect alternative web browser for Internet Explorer users. It has a user friendly interface. Moreover, there are quite a few options to personalize the web browser. Extensive Mozilla Firefox support round-the-clock is another feature that makes this web browser unique. The Mozilla foundation, the developers of Firefox, are ready now with a set of modifications for the web browser. The news has gone viral in the tech world. What seems to catch the most attention from users is Mozilla’s decision to introduce ads in the browser. We don’t have any detailed information about this yet. However, we are happy to tell you what we have come to know from the blog post of Darren Herman (VP of content services at Mozilla Foundation).

According to the Darren Herman, the modifications being planned for Firefox are “an exploration to transform the user’s content experience.” Although the new changes being brought to Firefox is to monetize the browser, there is a clear indication that Mozilla won’t do it at the cost of the inconvenience to users. As per the new plans, Firefox will display ads on its new tab page. As of now, when users open a new tab in the browser, they will see nine blank tiles. These tiles will be populated with the most visited sites by the end of user’s browsing session. When the ads filled Directory tiles are introduced, there won’t be any blank tiles. The tiles will be populated in advance with a list of websites that you are most likely to visit. The choice of websites will be made on the basis of your geographic location and website-visiting trend in your location. There will also be a list of sponsored contents. The choice of these sponsored contents is made by Mozilla’s ecosystem.

According to Mozilla Firefox support team, the decision to introduce ads in the browser will help the firm pursue its mission effectively. However, the content will not be forcibly loaded into the web browser. User’s priorities and interest are always taken into consideration before ad placements.

The Mozilla team has not yet given any date for the launch of the ad-filled Directory tiles. The blog post from Darren Herman suggests that the launch date will be decided only after the completion of the product roadmap. Mozilla is also working on options to help users resist third party ad cookies.