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GCN Home > 12/11/06 issue

The top six of 2006

GCN Lab: Year in review

By John Breeden II, GCN Staff

In 2006, the GCN Lab reviewed hundreds of products. In the end, only 40 contenders received the coveted reviewer’s choice designation. Of those, six really were the best of the best. Either they blazed a new trail or they vastly improved an existing one. You can find the full list of 40 products on GCN.com. But here are the top six:

Apple iMac with Intel Core Duo

Hardly anyone would argue that Apple computers are not stylish. But while that style has helped the company enjoy a resurgence in the consumer market, a slick look won’t cut it with number-crunching government users who need raw power.

The iMac with Intel Core Duo changes all that.

Apple’s groundbreaking decision to adopt a dual-core Intel processor for the $1,699 Core Duo iMac over the IBM PowerPC line of chips really boosted processing power. And it did so without compromising any of the features that make Apple computers so great. Moreover, this iMac plays well with Windows networks.

In short, Apple got everything right with the new Core Duo iMac, earning it a spot on the best of the best list this year, and perhaps reopening the world of government service to Macs.

iMac, Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, Calif., (800) 692-7753, www.apple.com

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition

Although it has always been a popular database program, SQL Server never really experienced the kind of enterprise deployments that competing products like Oracle or IBM DB2 enjoyed.

The major problem with SQL Server 2000 was not the back end, but the user interface. And that is where SQL Server 2005 really shines. We found its Management Studio to be easier to use, allowing us to create a new database quickly. Connecting to external databases is much easier, and once you drop into the database, there are a ton of new features as well.

Management of the database is also a snap, thanks to interesting additions like a new technique called taking a “snapshot.” This is a read-only view of the database that takes up much less disk space than a full copy. It’s a replication method that adds options to your choice of backup procedures and rounds out the vastly improved product in ways that make it highly attractive for large enterprises and overtaxed administrators.

More news on related topics: Hardware, Software Applications, IT Security



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