Bill Gates' Open Letter

It has been 40 years since Bill Gates wrote his open letter to the software industry complaining that computer hobbyists were stealing his BASIC program. That was so long ago that Wikipedia has a picture of the source code for "Micro-Soft" BASIC on paper tape. A lot of things have changed since then.

In the 1970s when Microsoft was getting started, it was common for people to copy, swap or donate software simply because they could. Especially in the hobbyist community such as the Homebrew Computer Club, people bought hardware and they got software in any way possible. It was easy because there was no security on the distribution media, and there were so few devices that could read the media it really didn't matter.

Lenovo's Yoga Book Aims for Top Shelf

   

Lenovo's recently unveiled 2-in-1, the Yoga Book, is available in Android Marshmallow and Windows 10 Home versions.

Reviews have been mixed, with some praising its look and feel, but some considering its capabilities not up to scratch. Its Intel Atom processor doesn't provide enough power for a workhorse device, they have argued.
The Android version costs US$500 and the Windows version goes for $550.

Inside the Covers

The Yoga Book runs on a quad-core Intel Atom x5-Z8550 with a 2-MB cache that goes up to 2.4 GHz. It has 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of ROM, and a microSD card with up to 128 GB capacity.
The Atom processor "was a cost-saving measure, because Lenovo hasn't yet shown that its customers will shell out top dollar for a device with a sixth- or seventh-generation Intel processor," said Eric Smith, a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics.

Gadget Ogling: Google Embraces a Hardware Future

  

Welcome to Gadget Dreams and Nightmares, the column that's taken just enough time away from pondering how many major email providers have built tools to let the government scan everyone's messages to pore over Google's latest hardware.

Microsoft Sees 3D Future for Everyone

Microsoft last week unveiled its new vision for bringing 3D to the masses through a modernized version of its Paint application for Windows 10. Paint 3D will be available in the Windows 10 Creators Update.

Anyone who would like to start creating and sharing in Paint 3D can do so by joining the Windows Insider Program -- available for PC and Phone -- the company said.