First up, an article that addresses the old saw that open source software only imitates existing proprietary software, rather than innovating new concepts. Microsoft loves to throw that idea around, but it really doesn’t hold much water. To prove it, I dug around to find a collection of active open source projects that really don’t have any proprietary software analogues. Click through to learn more about innovative open source in 2010.

Next we turn our gaze forward. Considering how far we’ve come since the beginning of the PC era, it’s always hard to predict what will come next. Rather than presaging any massive tech revolutions, then, InfoWorld decided to look to the near term, by examining up and coming technologies now in the labs. Are you ready for seven-gigabit WiFi or racetrack memory? Read on.

The problem had been growing for some time, to the point that a loud, very noticeable buzzing would commence whenever my Eee PC’s fan kicked in. A Google search revealed a possible cause: a piece of plastic tape dipping into the fan blades as it spun. After cracking the case, disassembling, and reassembling the netbook, I can confirm that this was in fact what was happening.

Taking apart a netbook isn’t exactly easy. Just for starters, it voids your warranty (though this wasn’t a problem for me, as my Eee PC was already over 12 months old). You’ll need one or two sizes of small, precision Philips head screwdrivers. My favorites are by Wiha, but I’ve bought acceptable tools from Ace Hardware. Just make sure you get ones with magnetized heads to help you lift out the tiny screws. You’ll also want some kind of stiff plastic object to help you pry open the case, such as a guitar pick or a credit card (though don’t use a card that you can’t risk chewing up).

Exactly how to get the case open wasn’t immediately obvious. I relied on advice from here and here to get the job done. There were a couple of moments when I was afraid I might crack the plastic — make sure you don’t overlook the one screw dead center of the metal plate that’s covered by a yellow piece of tape.

The hardest part, after loosening all the tabs around the sides of the case, was reinserting the flat, ribbon-like cables for the keyboard and trackpad. You might want to try booting the machine with the case still open, to make sure your input devices are working before you screw in all the screws on the bottom of the case.

The whole process probably took me about 45 minutes. But now that it’s done, I can confirm that the buzzing noise is gone and my Eee PC has new life as a device to take to the library, coffee shops, or anywhere else where people might have shot me dirty looks when my laptop started up its fan.

Bold words, but I hear them echoed a lot lately. Microsoft, people argue, has made most of its money through underhanded business dealings and by driving its competitors out of the market. Its products aren’t competitive because it doesn’t need to compete. It’s the largest company in its industry today simply because it was the largest company in its industry yesterday; no other reason.

I’m not sure I agree. There’s a new challenger in town — Google — and there’s every sign that its presence in the market has given Microsoft a much-needed kick in the pants. Ray Ozzie, Bill Gates’ successor as Microsoft’s chief software architect, has put in motion an ambitious plan designed to beat Google on every front — and it just might work. Read my complete analysis in my latest article at InfoWorld.com. This one’s a biggie (single-page version here) but I think it will be worth your while.

Note: This fix involves changing the Registry. If you’re not comfortable with that, you may have to just put up with wonky search results. As always, you should backup your Registry before making any changes, and I take no responsibility for any damage these instructions may cause.

I should also mention that I’m doing this on Windows 7 Ultimate x64. Other versions might require a different fix.

As I said, the problem is that the OneNote Search Connector DLL isn’t registered properly. On Windows x64, Explorer needs to know to look for the 64-bit version of the DLL, found in the “Program Files” folder (not “Program Files (x86)”). On my machine, the appropriate keys were simply missing from the Registry. These are the keys you’ll need to create:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0875DCB6-C686-4243-9432-ADCCF0B9F2D7}]
@="Microsoft OneNote Namespace Extension for Windows Desktop Search"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0875DCB6-C686-4243-9432-ADCCF0B9F2D7}\InprocServer32]
@="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\ONFILTER.DLL"
"ThreadingModel"="Both"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0875DCB6-C686-4243-9432-ADCCF0B9F2D7}\ProgID]
@="OneIndex.ShellFolder.1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0875DCB6-C686-4243-9432-ADCCF0B9F2D7}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=dword:20180000
"WANTSFORPARSING"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0875DCB6-C686-4243-9432-ADCCF0B9F2D7}\VersionIndependentProgID]
@="OneIndex.ShellFolder"

To make your life easier, you can download the appropriate registry file here. Just save the file to your desktop and double-click it to create the appropriate Registry keys.

Note: If your copy of Office 2010 Beta is installed on a drive other than C:, you’ll need to edit the Registry file to reference the correct drive before it will work.

Once you create the Registry keys, clicking on OneNote search results should take you to the appropriate page in OneNote. You should not need to reboot or rebuild your search index.

On my machine, however, there was one more problem. The “heading” under which the search results appeared in the Start menu was still labeled with a long, meaningless codename, prefixed with “oneindex14–”. It turns out the fix for this is easy, too.

Just open the start menu, type “%UserProfile%/Searches” and hit Return. In this folder, you should see a couple of items under the heading “Search Connector.” Find the one that’s named after the weird code, and simply rename it to “Microsoft OneNote,” like you would rename any other file. Your OneNote search results should now appear in the Start menu under that name.

Thanks to John Guin at the OneNote Testing team at Microsoft, whose original blog post about Office 2007 led me to cook up this solution.

Visitors to the Googleplex are invariably stunned by these displays of Larry and Sergey’s nigh-prodigal largess. At most of their own offices, they’re lucky to score a free newspaper for the train ride home.

But there is one thing Google is less willing to provide, as I learned this week while covering the Chrome OS announcement. Next time you have a chance to visit the Google campus, just you try getting a drink of water.

I don’t own a car. So for me, schlepping down to Silicon Valley to cover a tech industry event means riding Caltrain. In Google’s case, the main campus is about two miles from the Mountain View station, or just a few minutes by bicycle.

On this particular Wednesday I forgot to bring a water bottle, so when I parked my bike at the Google Visitor Building at 1950 Charleston Way, I was feeling a little parched. Since there was still time before the press conference began, I asked the receptionist if he could point me to some water.

The receptionist’s brow furrowed slightly. “Well,” he began, “there’s a cooler with bottles of juice, if that’s OK.” He pointed to a little refrigerator on the other side of the room lined with shelves of Odwalla — free for the taking, of course.

Since it was the only option offered, I figured it would have to be OK. Anyway, juice sounded fine for the moment. And free Odwalla? Who was I to turn down the fabled Google generosity? I grabbed a SuperFood and chugged it down while I waited for the event to begin.

Once inside the conference room, however, my bewilderment increased. They had the usual concession table full of croissants, fruit, and little snacks. There was a decanter of coffee. There was a decanter of orange juice. There were supplies for making tea. But one thing that wasn’t there was anything resembling plain, cold water. Reluctantly, I poured myself a second glass of juice and sat down.

The event happened. I won’t go into it here, because it was about as exciting as such events ever are. But by the time it was over, I realized that I was actually what I would describe as thirsty. Moreover, the sun was high in the sky, and now I needed to ride my bike back to Caltrain.

Back out in the lobby, I approached the receptionist again. “So,” I said, pointing toward the little refrigerator. “Juice. But no water.”

He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, then suddenly a little light went on behind his eyes. “No,” he said. A look that can only be described as utter satisfaction spread across his face. “Google is going Green,” he said proudly. “We don’t do bottled water anymore.”

I said, “How is it ‘going Green’ to make me drink bottled juice instead of bottled water?”

He frowned.

“Do you have any of the other kind of water, maybe?” I asked. “The non-bottled kind?”

His look was now one of heartfelt sympathy. “If it was up to me, there would be a drinking fountain right here in the lobby.” He pointed, and my eyes followed his finger to a spot along the opposite wall where there was no drinking fountain.

“But there isn’t one,” I said.

“No.”

“So let me get this straight. Google is ‘going Green,’ which means nobody at Google is allowed to drink water anymore. Only juice. I mean, it’s water, you know? It’s 95 percent of what people drink,” I said, adding weakly, “It’s good for you.”

At this, the receptionist’s sympathy evaporated into contempt. This was Google, after all. How dare I imply that Larry and Sergey would fail to provide something for their beloved employees?

“Google has installed water delivery systems near employee workstations,” he intoned with measured patience, “that decant filtered water into glasses and other receptacles.”

A water delivery system — imagine that! And he emphasized the word “filtered” — as if to say that one day, I too could be lucky enough to have a job at Google, and then I wouldn’t have to scoop my water out of a rotting, pre-Roman aqueduct with an algae-covered gourd anymore.

(Google is changing the world, after all. Freeing suburban Californians from the twin scourges of cholera and amebic dysentery is just one small part of the plan.)

“But,” the receptionist continued, looking at a spot in the air just above my shoulder, “they’re all upstairs.”

I turned. Behind me was a steel staircase painted navy blue, the kind Google installs in its buildings to make everybody feel like they’re working in a vast Soho loft. Up above, I could just make out a few Googlers moving around, going to and fro in their Googley jobs — all well-hydrated, no doubt.

I turned back to the receptionist with a look that said, So that’s that?

“If you want,” the receptionist continued flatly, after a moment, “I could go upstairs and get you a glass of water.” He seemed to perform a mental calculation, then added, “If you want to wait.”

“Thanks anyway, man,” I said. “I think I’ll live.” And then I left.

Postscript the First: I’ve since come up with a plan for the next time I have to cover something at the Google campus. I won’t bother to ask about water. Instead, I’ll ask for the men’s room — because I’m pretty sure OSHA regulations require companies to provide those. Once inside, I’ll bend down and wave my hands at the sink’s motion sensors while I lap from the faucet like a dog — the Google Way.

Postscript the Second: Receptionist at Google Building 1950, if you’re reading this: You’re a total wanker.

InfoWorld was invited to participate in the press conference, so they sent me down to check it out. You can read my coverage at InfoWorld.com (and on various other sites, via IDG Syndication).

I can’t say I’m totally convinced. The idea of an instant-on Web browser appliance is interesting, but Google isn’t the first to propose it. After all, don’t a lot of people use iPhones for that? And while Apple has backed away from its stance that all iPhone apps should be based on the Safari browser, Google continues to insist that the future of all computing lies on the Web. Sorry, but I just don’t see the trend being as “very, very clear” as Google’s Sundar Pichai claims it is.

Nonetheless, I’ll be following this project with great interest, and you can expect more coverage from InfoWorld as details emerge.

ARM Holdings of Cambridge, UK has been manufacturing power-efficient chips for the embedded systems and digital device markets since the mid-1980s. Intel hopes to win away ARM’s customers with its newest, low-voltage Atom CPUs. But to do that, it will have to contend with a company whose business model is substantially different from the Intel Way. Click on over to read how the contest is shaping up, and be sure to leave your comments.