The central focus of any computer company is technology. Our business is staying in touch with the newest technology, evaluating it's applicability to our business, and applying it in a manner that makes it a sound investment for our customers and ourselves.
There are many areas of the computer field that we keep a close eye on.
Operating systems - Any computer is worthless without a stable, reliable and fast operating system. The operating system provides access to the memory, to the cpu, and to the rest of the hardware. The operating system also provides the filesystem, which stores data and keeps track where it's at. Without the operating system, a computer is just a bunch of microchips and circuit boards that does nothing.
For many years, Microsoft DOS/Windows was the only offering for the Intel x86 cpus. If an organization wanted a UNIX or UNIX-like operating system, they were required to purchase an expensive computer from SGI, Sun, IBM, or Hewlett Packard. Well, this has changed. There are many different UNIX-like operating systems for the Intel x86 family of CPUs.
The most popular operating systems for this family include Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD. These operating systems have been created in the last ten years and have proven that they are more stable and more powerful than any offering from Microsoft. These operating system are generally more scalable than the latest Windows. This means that you can use that old 486 PC in the corner as a WWW server or as an in-house file server for the office. Try that with Windows 2003!
Particularly near and dear to our hearts is a
little known operating system simply called the "BeOS". BeOS, or the Be
Operating System, was the product of Be, Inc. and was an operating system ahead
of it's time. Unfortunately, thanks to Microsoft's monopoly, Be Inc. went
bankrupt a few years ago. All hope isn't lost though. There are many people
that are creating free alternatives of the BeOS that will run BeOS programs. If
you are current or former user of the BeOS, we sure would like to hear from.
Feel free to contact us if you are interested in trying out the BeOS. We think
you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Software - Even with a solid operating system, you need software to get things done. It's like having a great running automobile engine, but not having a car to run it in. We use computers everyday of the year, so we are constantly evaluating new software titles and updates to current titles.
We are constantly evaluating software for the desktop, for file servers, and of course for web servers. So if you are looking to outfitting your office or home and want to spend your money wisely, feel confident that we've done it already.
Hardware - Contrary to the general public's idea that only AMD and Intel cpu's, we here at Tuna Can are aware of the many different platforms of computers. These can include the PowerPC (commonly found in Apple Macintoshes and IBM servers), MIPS (commonly found in Silicon Graphics Inc. UNIX workstations), and SPARC (found in Sun Microsystems workstations and servers).
Tuna Can makes it a point to keep track of progress in these and other platforms. Knowing what exactly is available from many different vendors, their strong and weak points, and costs allows us to evaluate your needs and suggest to you a well informed recommendation.
