2006 Updates

A & E content updated:

New article on Number Systems added, covering decimal, binary, and hexadecimal. Includes an online Javascript number base coversion tool.

GUIDES' content updated as follows:

Storage > Hard Disks: Section on Hitachi's "Microdrive" expanded and updated to reflect the currently available storage capacities;
Multimedia > Graphics Cards: Guide reorganised, including relocation of the section on "DVI" from the Panel Displays guide, and new sections on the "HDCP" copy protection scheme, the "HDMI" interface which has become the de facto standard on consumer A/V products and the two contenders vying to become the long-term successor to the venerable VGA interface in the PC arena, "DisplayPort" and "UDI";
Input-Output > Digital Cameras: Section on "Disk storage" updated to reflect the current storage capacities of Hitachi Microdrive devices.

GUIDES' content updated as follows:

Storage > Hard Disks: New sections added on "Longitudinal recording", the method of recording to hard disk used for almost 50 years, and the new "Perpendicular recording," technology, which promises to push back the superparamagnetism barrier and allow for the continued growth in the areal density of magnetic disk media for a couple of decades to come.

A & E content updated as follows:

A & E content updated as follows:

Web Development and Design > Getting Dedicated - Moving to a Dedicated Server article extended to cover basic Linux familiarity, including the basic Linux directory structure and essential Linux commands.

GUIDES' content updated as follows:

Components > Chipsets: New section added on the "Intel 965 Express chipset", announced in the summer of 2006, shortly before the release of the first Intel Core microarchitecture processors they're designed to be used with, with the "Comparison chart" updated to compare the new chipset with a number of its recent predecessors - the 955X, 945P and 915P Express chipsets;
Components > Memory: New section added on "DDR2 SDRAM", the natural evolution of the original DDR memory technology which emerged in 2004, featuring faster speeds, higher data bandwidths, lower power consumption and enhanced thermal performance;
Processors > Architecture: Section on "Intel Core microarchitecture" expanded to more fully describe Intel Wide Dynamic Execution, one of the most important features responsible for the new architecture's improved efficiency and performance;
Processors > Intel Core CPUs: New category added, for the new processors which signal the end of the line for both Intel's long-running brand of Pentium CPUs and its NetBurst microarchitecture, initially comprising sections on the "Intel Core Duo", "Intel Core Solo" and the first "Intel Core 2" chips to be designed in accordance with the new Intel Core microarchitecture;
Processors > AMD technology: New section added on "Socket AM2", the fourth generation of AMD's Hammer architecture which introduces memory controller support for DDR2 memory, update of the "Sempron" section to reflect the budget CPU's transition to 90nm process technology and subsequently to the new platform, and deletion of the "Roadmap" section in view of AMD's failure to publish any official information on this since March 2005;
Input/Output > Digital Cameras: New section added on "PictBridge", the universal direct-print standard adopted by most digital camera manufacturers, which allows digital camera users to connect directly to printers supporting the feature, to allow printing without the use of a computer liaison;
Mobile Computing > CPU technology: New section on "Intel Core 2" added, identifying the principal differences between the mobile version of the first Intel Core microarchitecture CPU, launched in the summer of 2006, and it's predecessor, the Intel Core Duo;
Mobile Computing > Mobile Comms: Section on "WiMAX" updated in light of Intel's launch of its much-anticipated mobile WiMAX chip in the summer of 2006, and new section added on "HSDPA", the new mobile telephony protocol vying with WiMAX to become the technology of choice for enabling high-speed, long-range wireless connectivity to laptops and other mobile devices.

MAJOR UPDATE involving several major developments.

• site moved to a dedicated server with new sponsor hosts Fasthosts.
• Markup upgraded from HTML4 with table layout to XHTML and CSS layout
• Complete visual redesign of the site
• Content Management System introduced using MySQL database

This has been a six month development, and has included the addition of some new features to the site.

A & E: The new Articles and Editorials section is a place for miscellaneous PC technology articles on a wide range of topics.

To kick off the A&E section, there are four new pieces.

• Non-technical web development guide
• First instalment of Getting Dedicated - moving to a dedicated server
• An outline of the Waterfall Software Project Lifecyle
• An introduction to a series on Object Oriented Programming

Blog: The new PCTechGuide blog provides informal platform for reflections and views on topical PC technology related issues, and the occasional quick tip or helpful code snippet.

Product compare and review: A products database has been built of hand-picked products relevant to the PC Technology Guides. You can follow links to reviews across the web, and find the best prices from price comparison sites local to your country. You can click on the products shown in the right hand page panel for more details.

Books: A books database has also been hand built, with hundreds of books listed for you to peruse. They can be found listed in the right hand page panel.

Even with all this, the Guides themselves haven't been forgotten!

Communications > Mobile Comms: New section added on "IEEE 802.11n", the draft standard designed to meet the performance requirements of next-generation wireless applications by supporting 4x the data transfer rates of current Wi-Fi technology.

And finally, the running of the site was handed over from the site's founder and long-time single-handed supremo Dave Anderson to me, Neil White, your new host. My greetings can be found at the blog!

Input/Output > Input Devices: New sections added on:
- Ergonomic keyboards
- Opto-mechanical mice
- Optical mice
- Cordless devices
- Laser mice
- Trackballs
- Joysticks
- Interfaces

MAJOR UPDATE, involving the reorganisation and wide-ranging update and expansion of Guides information, and the formalisation of the "free-to-access" nature of the site content, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

The reorganisation has seen the number of Guide categories increased from five to seven, with existing material being elevated into the new "Processors" and "Mobile Computing" categories. A number of new images have been added.

Page names have been updated to reflect the new organisation, so regular visitors will need to update their bookmarks.

Components > Processors: New section added on the "Pentium D", covering the introduction of Intel's second generation dual-core processor, expected to be the final processor to carry the Pentium brand name that has been at the forefront of the company's products since 1993 and the "Roadmap" of future planned desktop processor developments updated accordingly;

Components > Mobile Computing: New section added on "Centrino Duo", the third generation of the Intel's Centrino mobile processor technology platform, which provides the foundation of a new unified microarchitecture to replace both the NetBurst and Pentium M architectures and steer the direction for the company's desktop, mobile and mainstream server processors going forward.

Storage > DVD: New sections added on "Next-generation DVD", "Blu-ray Disc" and "HD-DVD", updating the situation regarding the rival technologies' ongoing battle to be the successor to the current DVD format;

Storage > Removable storage: Section on "Holographic data storage" relocated from the Hard Disk guide and updated in light of recent standardisation efforts and product announcements;

Multimedia > Digital Video: Section on "HDTV" updated to reflect the current situation regarding its worldwide deployment and new "24p" section added on the HDTV standard, which appears set to become a universal mastering format, allowing the creation of a single master that can be used to produce any of the other high-definition formats, PAL, NTSC, PAL and even film.