The past decade of home computing has created an almost universal stereotype of the personal computer - a large beige tower running a Microsoft Windows operating system. Yet increasingly over recent months there has been a growing trend away from this familiar and somewhat bland stereotype. Following in the footsteps of Apple, the home PC is increasingly coming in cases showing some level of aesthetic design and there are growing noises about the end of the dominance of Microsoft.

 

The move away from the beige case is largely the result of increasing competition amongst hardware suppliers, desperate to find a means of making their product stand apart from the competition. Computer cases are now available in a variety of materials, from elegant brushed aluminium to clear perspex, with designs ranging from a clean, almost puritanical box, through to artistic designs with references to the classic shapes of the art deco period.

In parallel to this much welcomed concern for the visual appearance of the computer, technology changes are allowing the computer to occupy less space. The last twelve months has seen a growing trend for more and more functionality to be integrated into the motherboard - networking, audio, video, Bluetooth wireless, RAID, USB, IEEE1394, and so on. Simultaneously, the older bulky standards such as ISA slots, PCI slots and parallel ports are being rapidly phased out and there is a growing trend to standardise on the new compact high-speed serial connections such USB 2.0 and IEEE-1394 (Firewire). Even the trusty IDE connector and 80-way ribbon cable is taking its curtain call, as motherboards begin to come supplied with the much smaller Serial ATA connector.

One of the most significant manufacturers to recognize and exploit this emerging trend has been Shuttle, with the launch and growth of their Shuttle XPC small form factor computing range. In addition to developing their own small form factor motherboard standard, Shuttle have focussed on developing a distinctively simple, but elegant, computer housing a quarter of the size of a standard PC. They have recognised the other major bug-bear of the modern computer - noise - and patented novel techniques such as the Integrated Cooling Engine (ICE) heat pipe cooler to allow great cooling with very little noise. However, despite the reduction in size and noise and the change in colour, Shuttle have been careful not to sacrifice performance over the beige box, and these elegant aluminium dwarves of the PC world perform just as well as their larger relatives, albeit with fewer expansion slots. It is clear that the small form factor PC as pioneered by Shuttle will become increasingly commonplace and may soon become as synonymous with home computing as the beige box.

The past twelve months or so has also seen a growing change in attitudes towards Microsoft and their Windows Operating System (OS). Microsoft clearly remain the dominant force in the OS marketplace and retain their almost complete monopoly over the home computer. It is easy to knock Microsoft, but the success of home computer and its penetration into the home on a scale unimaginable a decade ago is due, almost exclusively, to their vision of bringing computing to the masses. However, all great empires come to an end at some point, and there is growing evidence that Windows may not be the only dominant force in the OS market at the end of this decade.

The reasons for this are many and complex. Governments throughout the world have expressed concern and taken action against the perceived anti-competitive practices of Microsoft which they argue are stifling competition and innovation from smaller competitors. Recent changes in Microsoft’s corporate licensing rules have resulted in an increasing trend for large corporations and government departments to reassess their IT policies and consider open source alternatives.

Finally, however, many home users are becoming increasingly uneasy with what they perceive as an encroachment of Microsoft on their personal freedoms. Ironically, Microsoft’s most stable and user friendly OS to date - Windows XP - was the start of much of this concern. For the first time, software licensing is rigorously enforced with the Windows XP product activation process, requiring users to register with Microsoft within 30 days or the system refuses to operate. Just as many homes begin to have several computers, one for each family member, product activation means the user must buy a new licence for every computer in the home. Of course, this is absolutely within the rights of Microsoft to ask for this - but with an 85% profit margin on each license of Windows sold, it leaves a bitter taste in many peoples’ mouths. Together with product activation, Windows XP saw a much enhanced profile for the Microsoft Passport scheme, requiring you to register personal details with Microsoft to benefit from XP’s integrated support features. Windows XP has also adopted a much more paternal attitude, often refusing to install drivers or software if it doesn’t approve of them. This can normally be circumvented - but it adds to the impression of Microsoft taking control. Windows also retains its reputation for instability (largely unjustified with Windows XP) and for security holes and vulnerabilities (justified, but possibly no worse than anything else on offer).

However, perhaps the most significant factor in recent discontent with Microsoft is talk of a feature that’s not yet even been implemented - Palladium. Palladium - Microsoft’s contribution to the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TCPA) and a method for enforcing Digital Rights Management (DRM) - potentially gives Microsoft’s Windows control over everything you do on your computer. Marketed as a means of allowing users to trust the software they run on their computer, TCPA/Palladium will combine hardware encryption with the ideas of XP’s product activation to allow third parties to control access to any music file, picture, document or executable on your computer. They will even be able to remotely “deactivate” your ability to access a file, or cause them to expire after a period of time. Precisely how TCPA/Palladium will be used remains the matter of some speculation, but Microsoft’s reputation goes before them, and many people are starting to look for alternatives to the next Windows release.

Ironically, just as Microsoft Windows is becoming less attractive to many home users, an alternative is emerging from the wings. Linux. The history of Linux is well documented, and is the brain child of Finnish hacker Linus Torvalds beginning in 1991. However, it has taken over a decade for Linux to emerge from the obscurity of the geek’s bedroom and the hacker’s lab to reach a sufficiently mature and user-friendly state that it is feasible to discuss its use for a home computer. The growth of Linux is far from slowing, and it is becoming increasingly commonplace for manufacturers to now directly provide Linux support for their products. In addition, several big names in the computer industry such as IBM and Sun Microsystems are donating considerable resources to the Linux development process, resulting in a system that rivals Windows in many areas. That said, it would be premature to pretend that Linux is yet as suitable for the average consumer as Windows - but the gap is closing rapidly. Arguably the greatest barrier remaining to the mainstream success of Linux is its support for computer gaming, an area being actively addressed.

And so, it is quite feasible that whilst the beige box and Microsoft dominated home computing in the 1990’s, the first decade of the 21st century may see the growth of a new model for computing: the small form factor PC and Linux.

Sorting out your web fonts

One thing you'll immediately notice when browsing the web under Red Hat Linux 8.0 is that the fonts on many web sites look dreadful. This is because many sites use the Microsoft True Type core fonts for the web, that cannot be distributed with Linux due to licensing reasons. However, it is possible to legally download and use these fonts, and the method is described here. In summary you must do the following:

• Download and install the cabextract utilility from here.
• Download the latest mssttcorefonts specification file from here
• Edit the mssttcorefonts file to choose the nearest server to you and change the define HAS_WINDOWS_LICENSE to 'yes' to install the tahoma font (assuming you do have a Windows license in your possession somewhere).
• Build the font binary by typing, rpmbuild -bb msttcorefonts-1.3-3.spec. This will automatically download the fonts from the server you chose and then build an rpm that can be installed. The download is about 5MB.
• Install the newly built rpm using, rpm -ivh /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/noarch/msttcorefonts-1.3-3.noarch.rpm
• Reload the X font server configuration using, /sbin/service xfs reload
• Restart any browsers you have running to allow them to use the new fonts

Bingo! Wonderful web fonts as you are used to under Windows.

By default Red Hat 8.0 uses the Mozilla browser, which is derived from the once-popular Netscape. I find it quite adequate, but must admit I do prefer Internet Explorer - although maybe that's because it's what I'm used to. You should also check out the Opera browser which is available for Linux as well as Windows, and which many people prefer to both Internet Explorer and Mozilla.

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• Installation of Red Hat Linux 8.0 (0 of 25)
• Configuring GAIM (0 of 25)
• Configuring your Internet connection (0 of 25)
• Personalising the installation (0 of 25)
• Dual booting Windows XP and Linux (0 of 25)
• Sorting out your web fonts (0 of 25)