Month: December 2006

While it’s fair to say that there is a piece of software that covers virtually every computing requirement, it seems some people are still left wanting when it comes to performing certain tasks. Despite the rise of online photo-blogging services like Flickr and applications such as Web Photos Pro, one Indian paediatrician was disappointed at the lack of tools for his personal requirements and decided to take the matter into his own hands by creating his own piece of software.

In order to help him set up his bird photography site, nagpurbirds.org, first-time developer Tarique Sani turned his hand to a spot of PHP programming and conjured up his fully featured photo blogging creation, CheeseCake Photoblog, in just three weeks. Like many before him, Sani believes that the open source PHP and MySQL platform is proving to be the perfect launchpad for bringing bespoke web applications to life.

The doctor-turned code junky explained: “PHP has a phenomenal potential for India. There’s money to be made provided it is built up properly. Now it’s making inroads into the enterprise class of code, which was earlier dominated by Java. That’s good news.”

Though it’s unlikely that CheeseCake will ever come near to toppling Flickr, it’s certainly a decent application with plenty of tailor-made features such as buzzwords, specifically designed for blogging, and is open to expansion by bolting on plug-ins. With PHP authors such as PHP Designer and DzSoft PHP Editor becoming ever easier to manipulate, we’re bound to see more part-time developers making in-roads into extremely niche areas within the software world that the big players simply don’t have the inclination to explore.

After two years of hype and expectation, Windows Vista is finally upon us. No sooner has the somewhat muted launch been made and already analysts are queuing up to dismiss the chances of Microsoft’s latest puppy making a major impact on the computing world. Undoubtedly the OS has made major strides in plugging security holes, improving mobile communication links and making the desktop look all pretty, but will consumers be excited enough to rush for an upgrade?

The IT boffins at Gartner think not, predicting that by this time next year, Vista will be running on a mere 10% of PCs, arguing that home users and businesses do not see a benefit in an immediate upgrade. According to the analysts’ blog:

“Microsoft promotes Vista as a remedy to a myriad of mobility challenges – power management, network awareness, offline access to important data, multiple displays, grab-and-go docking and readability – and the new features do make headway in these areas. Although Vista’s mobility features are useful, they are not essential. None of them, nor the sum, constitute an immediate “must have” for any organization. As a result, organizations should resist the idea of early migration ahead of desktop computers, unless specific business issues are being addressed.”

However, not everyone is so pessimistic about the chances of the latest version of Windows, including UK-based analysts Ovum. Software practice head David Mitchell predicts that 15% of PC users will adopt Windows Vista during its first year, compared to between 12 and 14% for Windows XP, which launched in October 2001. “That would make it the fastest moving operating system ever,” according to Mitchell.