The Great Geek Manual News

Google may be the de facto leader in search today, but will its lead last forever? With services like Mahalo and Cuil gaining attention and Microsoft willing to pour continued billions into its quest for online dominance, Google’s rivals are legion, and they’re hungry, but that doesn’t mean the Big G needs to elevate its corporate blood pressure; Google’s dominance is assured far into the future.

According to comScore’s latest figures, Google commanded 61.5 percent of the US search market, while Yahoo owned 20.9 percent and Microsoft trailed with 9.2 percent. Both Ask.com and AOL follow far behind the big three. And where are the hot startups? Smaller search engines like Mahalo, Powerset, and Quintura didn’t even make the list.

A search engine can be an extremely lucrative endeavor when it’s popular. But with Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft commanding more than 90 percent of the market, is it even possible anymore for a small company to be anything more than the nichest of niche players?

The answer is “no” and the reason is simple: if a search service is good enough to make significant headway, deep-pocketed Google or Microsoft will acquire it before it even has a chance to hit the mainstream. Case in point: Microsoft acquired Powerset just a few months ago to bolster its search business as it tries to live up to Ballmer’s lofty goals for the future of Live Search.

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Source: Ars Technica

The free Linux operating system handles big tasks like running supercomputers and ATMs. Now Linux has a chance to finally crack Microsoft Corp.’s hold on computing’s most visible domain — mainstream PCs — because of the rise of innovative, inexpensive machines.

Of course, prognosticators perennially say Linux is on the verge. It gets high marks for security and stability and is widely used behind the scenes in corporate servers, making it a natural candidate to steal desktop thunder from Microsoft’s dominant Windows. And yet Linux PCs still represent less than 2 percent of the market.

This time, though, there’s actually evidence of momentum.

While the best features in the latest Windows release, Vista, require top-notch configurations that can quickly ramp up a PC’s price, one of the hottest segments of the industry involves inexpensive computers.

Laptops under $400 are real possibilities now, and some of the most buzz-worthy use Linux, such as Asustek Computer Inc.’s EeePC and the One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s $200 ”XO” computer for schoolchildren. Linux also is available on slim little ”netbooks” being pushed by Intel Corp.

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Source: The New York Times

Welcome to The Great Geek Manual’s new News feed!

Each week, I spend an enormous amount of time surfing the web, reading blogs and news articles. I end up discussing what I read in other people’s forums and comment threads, when it’s this site where I want my content. So, my solution is to try starting my own news feed this year. To be clear, nothing here is original. Everything is taken from another source. The service is that I’m picking and choosing reading that will be of interest to Geeks like me.