ExtremeTech Staff

Sony Electronics has announced the next generation of its DRU series DVD burners, adding both two-layer recording support for both popular drive formats. The internal DRU-800A is currently shipping for about $130, while the external DRX-800UL drive is expected to ship in late May for around $210. Both drives can write data at 4X speeds […]

Samsung Electronics said it had begun shipping the worlds first Serial ATA II disk drives. Three drives—an 80-Gbyte model priced at $89, a 120-GB version priced at $120, and a 160-GB version for $150—are all currently shipping, the company said. According to Samsung, the drives all contain the 3-Gbit interface characteristic of SATA-II drives. However, […]

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that it has released a number of 64-bit operating systems to manufacturing, including Windows XP Professional, in time for a scheduled release in late April. As expected, the company also released Windows Server 2003 Server Pack 1, the basis for the 64-bit updates. Specifically, Microsoft said that Microsoft Windows Server 2003 […]

Gentoo Linux published version 2005.0 over the weekend, complete with a new security system. Available at a number of file mirrors across the world, the software is also available for download via the BitTorrent file protocol. Documentation for the new release can be found at Gentoos Web site. The release includes new installation media for […]

SEATTLE—The creative juices are flowing at the Windows hardware conference here this week. Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, among others, have shown off updated concepts of consumer and business PCs, plus offered a peek into the future of the Media PC. From Hermes and Troy to the Windows Home concept PC, our own Mark Hachman is scouring […]

According to Murphys Law, your favorite DVD will be scratched, broken, or lost sometime soon. Thats life. In order to be safe, you really should keep backups of your DVD collection. But, unlike backing up CDs or software, the shadowy world of DVD-copying leaves many of us bewildered. First, the legality of copying DVDs has […]

Forget the newspaper. MSNs U.K. division has created something new to do while on the john–surf the Internet. MSN U.K. has taken roaming (and communal hygiene) to a new level with the “iLoo”, an Internet-enabled toilet that the software giant hopes will debut at various concerts in the U.K. this summer. Users will be able […]