Specifications for hardware or software that are controlled by one company. When a proprietary standard such as Windows is widely used, it becomes a "de facto" standard even though it is not governed by a standards organization. Contrast with open standards. See closed system.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Obamicans rebranding NHIN-Connect as the Health Internet
- Having health records moved nationwide under a set of open, accessible standards is also great news for Personal Health Record PHR systems like Microsoft HealthVault and Google Health, which may soon have a single set of open standards every proprietary system is writing to. by Dana Blankenhorn
- Blog posts 2009-11-02
- Intel seeks new 'microserver' standard
- In September, Intel introduced its idea of tiny 'microservers'. Now the company wants to make the design into a standard others can use, too. In September, Intel introduced its idea of tiny 'microservers'. Now the company wants to make the design into a standard others can use, too. ...
- News items 2009-10-30
- Windows 7: An impressive upgrade
- Windows 7 review:Windows 7 review: 'New' OS is just Vista with small changesPerformance enhancements"We have already determined that W7 won't make your computer run any faster. And if you are upgrading from XP, it might run slightly slower, just as with Vista. ......But it's not really anything new. We hate...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-21
- Updegrove: Obama should give FOSS equal treatment
- ConsortiumInfo.org's Andy Updegrove urged President Obama to show more public support for free and open source software. In a blog featured on the site today, Updegrove said open source has made huge inroads in various government sectors, especially the Department of Defense, Â but it's high time that...
- Blog posts 2009-10-20
- How did IT fall so far behind the tech curve?
- Okay, butThey also go out and buy their own servers with some hidden budget line, then try to foist maintenance off on the CIO. And then we try to integrate the data - and the data isn't theirs, it's critical to the health, even survival, of the enterprise.Yes, we...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-19
- Is the Google Android platform the upcoming smartphone of choice?
- Android will winThe ATT exclusive and the other closed Apple policies for iPhone have kept the door open and now Google is in. The fact that Goole is behind it and that all the phone mfgs. and carriers will be using it bodes well for quick adoption and a buzzing...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-16
- Google challenges e-readers by taking e-books directly to browser
- Kindle Format?Did they also say how they propose to display Kindle's proprietary format in your browser?Oh myDunraven, go get a good strong cup of coffee, drink it down, and read the article again. You just aren't awake yet.This is cool!NTRE: Google challenges e-readers by taking e-books directly to browserAnyone...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-15
- Goodbye, Works!
- GoodThis will also make more people shift to Open Office and Google Documents at home: there are few things as loathsome as applications that contain ads. :-)Untill...They see that Open Office breaks the format in .doc files and that Google Docs are a nightmare to convert to .doc files...(PS: I...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-09
- How Verizon might ruin Android
- Okay Dana - how might Verizon ruin Android?By not actually writing an answer to the posited headline, it sure appears to me that you are trying to get comments from people like me to write your article for you. It might work a little better if you actually posited an...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-06
- Fourth type of cloud computing
- Close, but no cigarThere is no requirement that a cloud be publicly accessible. In many cases, corporations use cloud products to supplement existing production. In that case, the public access is via the existing security scheme and the cloud assets are never directly accessible via public IP.Also, there...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-05
- Vista/IE market share slide, Win 7/Firefox/Chrome surge
- IE "Hit"I never understood this...."Internet Explorer?s market share also took a battering, dropping by a massive 1.26%, taking its market share to a new low of 65.7%. This is a huge hit for Microsoft."What kind of hit? IE could go away and MS wouldn't lose a dime because it seems...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-02
- Celebrating 27 years of the Compact Disc: Does anyone really care?
- MP3 = Lo-fi , CDs for me!MP3s offer inferior, compressed, lo-fi, music. People who only listen to MP3s have no idea of what music sounds like.I buy CDs, and play them on a stereo system with nice speakers.Of course, CDs can also be ripped into a lossless format, for music...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-01
- The 2010 Productivity Tool Bonanza - Microsoft, Google, Zoho & Open Standards
- What Open Standards?Am curious to know what open standards you are referring to...if you are talking about Google's attempt to use html and javascript to render the user interface of their office productivity apps, this is a sad case of missing the forrest for the trees! The question that you...
- Discussion threads 2009-09-27
- The 2010 Productivity Tool Bonanza - Microsoft, Google, Zoho & Open Standards
- On the eve of what looks to be a major Microsoft productivity products year in 2010 with the Windows 7 operating system, Exchange 2010, Office 2010, MOSS/SharePoint 2010 and Azure it's interesting to look at how the market for these products serve has changed. ...
- Blog posts 2009-09-25
- Google Chrome Frame boosts IE speed up to Chrome levels
- If only it was for Firefox......but still astonishing results!Could this be the start of hybrid browsers? Will there be a FF version?irrelevantNobody uses IE 7 or 8 because of security.Making a bad product worse is not what windoze users need.This shows again the virtues of FOSS vs proprietary software.Corporate IT...
- Discussion threads 2009-09-24
- Can a Windows geek learn to love Snow Leopard?
- David Alison's BlogEd, have you seen David Alison's blog? He was a long time Windows developer that switched to Mac. His blog has a wealth of information about the trials and tribulations of switching. If you've not already, I suggest you have a look.http://www.davidalison.com/NoWhile I can't comment on Snow...
- Discussion threads 2009-09-23
- Watch Out for That Meteor, Stallman.
- Richard M. Stallman RMS the founder of the Free Software Foundation, has labeled prominent Open Source software developer Miguel De Icaza a "Traitor" for joining the Board of Directors of Microsoft's CodePlex Foundation as well as for his creation of the Microsoft .NET-compatible Mono software development...
- Blog posts 2009-09-22
- Zoho's Next Big Thing
- Moving the Point of AssemblyKudos to Zoho. Their efforts remind me of the early days of the Microsoft Productivity Environment where core MSOffice editors expanded their reach through DDE, OLE, rich copy/paste, data binding, merged content and data, VBA scripting and the infamous recorder, and a developer API that...
- Discussion threads 2009-09-22
- Students vs. Google Apps vs. Office Web Apps
- Buyer bewareBefore people get too excited about Office Web Apps, they need to remember that:- Google's strength comes from its ability to create quality, innovative products, based on open standards. Google has even established the "Data Liberation Front" (http://www.dataliberation.org/), to make it easy to migrate user data in & out...
- Discussion threads 2009-09-22
- Why I Can Never Be Exclusive to Linux and Open Source on the Desktop
- It uses WINEBut I've noticed a number of performance issues and stability problems with it.ActuallyAs far as I've ever able to tell there's no practical difference between Picasa on Windows and Linux. StevenActually, it uses WineLib, so that it is more like a native application.But there are still all the...
- Discussion threads 2009-09-20
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