Apple Mac, Microsoft Windows, and Cloud Computing

Recently a friend in the market for a new laptop told me that all new Macs now have the ability to have a Windows operating system installed on them thanks to a built-in utility program called Boot Camp. So now Mac users don't have to worry about incompatibility with Windows programs. The catch is that you have to buy a separate license for the Microsoft Windows operating system. You also have to restart your laptop if you want to switch between the two operating systems. But for only $80, you can invest in VMware Fusion or Parallels virtual software that lets you run Windows on your Mac Snow Leopard system or whatever cool cat-named OS Mac system you have. Although Macs have always been pricier, they have always trumped IBM-compatibles in the coolness dept of looks and they are the darlings of graphics & video geeks.

Another competitor eating away at Microsoft's world domination is Google. They are busy making the revolutionary Chrome Operating System. The Google operating systems would have no hard drive and all your data will stored on the Internet, otherwise known as cloud computing. Cloud computing has been garnering a lot of attention lately. OCLC is working on creating an integrated library system ILS based mostly on cloud computing. My first impression of cloud computing was negative. The thought of relinquishing control of private data into the Internet is frightening. However, even private local networks can be hacked and OCLC would probably have better security and redundancy than our local IS team could ever provide. In these times of dwindling budgets, cloud computing has some real attractions. I wouldn't have to worry about viruses, hackers, or backups anymore - someone else with more resources and expertise can take care of that. I would just have a hard time with ever putting anything confidential in the cloud.