Ajax - the new buzz word in IT

Hi all

I hope you have tried google maps. If not then , it is a must try web site , www.maps.google.com.

These guys have really done a wonderfull job by coming up with such a site. It allows browsing of maps same as you do a PC software.

The main idea behind this is AJAX (Asynchronous java and Xml), which retrieves the data from the server without re loading the page. Ajax has now become a buzz word amoung software developers and it professionals.

The latest news on ajax is researchers at Brown University have created a new programming language for developing Web applications, known as Flapjax.

I also have done some coding on Ajax using .net platform. Microsoft has released "Atlas",which is a library to develop ajax type codes. www.http://atlas.asp.net.This runs in .net 2.0 platform. I had downloaded the library and tutorials in C# last week and it was a real fun to play with it.

I will be soon writing a technical article on the development of ajax enabled programs.

By the way, windows has also launched an ajax enabled map site, check out www.local.live.com
These guys also have a lot of hard work to complete this site (we can understand it by looking at the site). But as a review, I would rate google maps better than windows. But I am sure windows will be coming up with more interactive web sites like this.

As I said yesterday, the firefox browser 2.0 is now ready for download. You can download them from the below link

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/2.0/releasenotes/

sijith

Firefox 2.0 getting ready for release

At last, the much awaited firefox 2.0 version is now getting ready for public release.
Tomorrow we would be able to download the latest release candidate of firefox.

This release will be followed by release candidate 3 which will be represent final code for the long awaited 2.0 browser.

Firefox, a browser from mozilla, has captured about 15 % of the global browser market.
It is said that even though firefix 2.0 is yet to be released, work is in full swing for the development of version 3.0, whose expected date of release is late next year.

And I have one more news today. Microsoft has agreed to open the source code of vista kernal to antivirus companies like McCafee and Symmantic so that they can develop their softwares accordingly. This was announced today by Steve Balmer today. He also said that this move will increase the compliance with the European Commission's demands.

Patch guard feature to be shipped with 64 bit version of windows vista

Microsoft always consider security breaching of their software a main problem and patch guard is a feature introduced by windows in their up coming windows vista operating system 64 bit version. This feature restrict program access to the operating system kernel, which is also called the heart of the operating system.

Security software vendors Symantec Corp. and McAfee Inc. say the Patch Guard technology prevents the use of certain features in third-party tools that would make Windows safer from hackers. McAfee last week took out a full-page advertisement in London’s Financial Times newspaper and charged that Microsoft’s use of Patch Guard is anticompetitive behavior.

Microsoft, meanwhile, contends that the technology itself closes the 64-bit Windows kernel to unauthorized access.

Anyway this feature is now available to 64 bit versions only and not the normal 32 bit version available for desktop users.

Will google take on Microsoft ?

Over the past few weeks, there is an heated discussion going on in the web community regarding whether microsoft will be able retain the title as the "leading software company". If you look at the history of microsoft ,we can find that they visioned the future and worked out to acheive it. Bill gates and paul allen know where they are heading to. The target was clear. And due to this they were able to take on the rivals IBM and began to lead the market.

The idea of softwares selling as a "BOX" is now coming down. It is now called "Software-service" , where the softwares are actually installed in remote systems (huge server machines) and the users just needs a browser to access those services. Users could save their docs in the server space provided by the companies and access them where ever they want. With the huge improvement in bandwidth speed and internet facilites, computers are now becoming as a terminal to the main computer network (Internet).

There are many rivals for microsoft , eg google, yahoo, apple, IBM,etc , but we all know that google is the main rival for microsoft. Bill gates and Ray Ozzie (Current chief software architect of microsoft) current issues memos which confirms the above fact.

But the fact to be considered is google was a company established in 1998 and within 8 years, there are now head to head with the worlds largest software company. The main success behind google is they know where they want to go. They want to give service free to users and get money from advertisers. This is like a Win-Win scenario.

They made their search engine the worlds best search engine. They come up with google earth, google maps, gmail ,google code search, and the recently launched docs and spread sheet. They are quickly adapting the Web 2.0 to all their applications and this is a good decision they made.

The recent aquiring of youtube.com makes the message more clear. If microsoft needs to remain on top , they have to quickly adapt and come up more innovative softwares which run as services and get the acceptance of the users. Windows live.com is a good initiative from them, but need to see how they will be able to carry it forward.

Welcome to sijith's blog space

Hi all, welcome board to sijith's blog space

This is sijith salim here from United states . I did my graduation from India and reached US on sept 1st 2006.

I am a student of University of New Haven , Connecticut doing masters in computer science.

This blog will be mainly containing latest technology news and updated happening in the world.
We will talk about software companies, their latest products and ventures and the news on various new technologies being introduced in the IT world. Also Iwill discuss on latest webcasts and IT events happening in the world.

I hope this will be a nice experience for me and you all. I am available in the email id
sijith101@hotmail.com

Sijith