Microsoft’s latest search engine BING was launched a few days back and its has already started creating ripples worldwide .BING is the much touted replacement to the now defunct Windows Live search. I experimented with it one whole day and the results were quite surprising and quite pleasing in many cases .For instance when I typed a part of my blogsite address and searched not only did it show the site and the post in that site but also the entries I had made on Facebook regarding those blogposts .Apart from that I had published an article in DIGG which I had long forgotten ,I got its link too from the search results .Another feature of its which i liked is the preview mode where by just moving the cursor over the web page address or link will give you a short preview of whta is in store there
Though it is too early to say that it a replacement for Google its definitely shows a lot of promise .SO friends what are u waiting for just BING!!!!!
Linux is an operating system -- very much like UNIX -- that has become very popular over the last several years.
Operating systems are computer programs. An operating system is the first piece of software that the computer executes when you turn the machine on. The operating system loads itself into memory and begins managing the resources available on the computer. It then provides those resources to other applications that the user wants to execute. Typical services that an operating system provides include:
A task scheduler - The task scheduler is able to allocate the execution of the CPU to a number of different tasks. Some of those tasks are the different applications that the user is running, and some of them are operating system tasks. The task scheduler is the part of the operating system that lets you print a document from your word processor in one window while you are downloading a file in another window and recalculating a spreadsheet in a third window.
A memory manager - The memory manager controls the system's RAM and normally creates a larger virtual memory space using a file on the hard disk.
A disk manager - The disk manager creates and maintains the directories and files on the disk. When you request a file, the disk manager brings it in from the disk.
A network manager - The network manager controls all data moving between the computer and the network.
Other I/O services manager - The OS manages the keyboard, mouse, video display, printers, etc.
Security manager - The OS maintains the security of the information in the computer's files and controls who can access the computer.
An operating system normally also provides the default user interface for the system. The standard "look" of Windows 98 includes the Start button, the task bar, etc. The Mac OS provides a completely different look and feel for Macintosh computers.
Linux is as much a phenomenon as it is an operating system. To understand why Linux has become so popular, it is helpful to know a little bit about its history. The first version of UNIX was originally developed several decades ago and was used primarily as a research operating system in universities. High-powered desktop workstations from companies like Sun proliferated in the 1980s, and they were all based on UNIX. A number of companies entered the workstation field to compete against Sun: HP, IBM, Silicon Graphics, Apollo, etc. Unfortunately, each one had its own version of UNIX and this made the sale of software difficult. Windows NT was Microsoft's answer to this marketplace. NT provides the same sort of features as UNIX operating systems -- security, support for multiple CPUs, large-scale memory and disk management, etc. -- but it does it in a way that is compatible with most Windows applications.
The entry of Microsoft into the high-end workstation arena created a strange dynamic. The proprietary operating systems owned by separate companies and the lack of a central authority in the UNIX world weaken UNIX, but many people have personal problems with Microsoft. Linux stepped into this odd landscape and captured a lot of attention.
The Linux kernel, created by Linus Torvalds, was made available to the world for free. Torvalds then invited others to add to the kernel provided that they keep their contributions free. Thousands of programmers began working to enhance Linux, and the operating system grew rapidly. Because it is free and runs on PC platforms, it gained a sizeable audience among hard-core developers very quickly. Linux has a dedicated following and appeals to several different kinds of people:
People who already know UNIX and want to run it on PC-type hardware
People who want to experiment with operating system principles
People who need or want a great deal of control over their operating system
People who have personal problems with Microsoft
In general, Linux is harder to manage than something like Windows, but offers more flexibility and configuration options.
The Indian IT services sector may see up to five per cent layoffs -- amounting to more than one lakh job cuts -- over the next six months as companies focus more on cost-cutting due to persisting weakness in global demand, experts say.
Companies may reduce workforce in this fiscal, mostly based on stringent performance criteria, experts added.
"We expect the knowledge industry (IT) to see 3-5 per cent non-voluntary exits in the first two quarters of the financial year mainly in senior and middle levels," Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Senior Director (Management Consultancy Services) P Thiruvengadam said.
Given the fact that more than 22 lakh people work in the IT industry, five per cent non-voluntary exits would mean more than one lakh employees being shown the door by September.
Nasscom estimates more than 22 lakh people were working in the Indian IT-BPO sector in FY2009 (till February), while indirect job creation is estimated at about eight million.
International Management Institute (IMI) Director C S Venkata Ratnam said, "The IT sector is better off but it may see up to 4-5 per cent job losses in the first two quarters of this fiscal."
