Hitachi GTS Acquired by Western Digital for $4.3 Billion

Every now and then in the computer world we actually do hear about things that do not involve Apple or anything Apple related. It is rare, yes, but it does happen. One such instance is that Western Digital, a company known for their hard drives, has officially bought out Hitachi GST for a pretty $4.3 billion.

That's right, on Monday Western Digital told media outlets that they were buying Hitachi Global Storage Technologies for the equivalent of $4.3 billion. There were different things that comprised the entire deal which included a combination of $3.5 billion in cash with the addition of shares in the total amount of $50 million. Full terms of the deal included Western Digital's name remaining the same for the company and Hitachi GST CEO Steve Milligan joining Western Digital as President.

CEO of Western Digital John Coyne argued to media sources that the move was primarily for scale. Western Digital and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies would form a larger competitor company and would also have the advantage of better research as well as a wider range of products as Hitachi has focused primarily on fields like drivers for set-top boxes and a greater focus on mobile hard drives.

This move is an attempt by Western Digital to hedge their position and compete against a market that gets increasingly tougher each day. Hitachi has suffered with reduced influence whereas Western Digital has been battling it out with fellow American rival company Seagate. Western Digital's acquisition of Hitachi GST gives the company a improved position in the competition.

Source: Electronista - Western Digital to snap up Hitachi GTS for $4.3 billion

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Microsoft Launches Campaign to Kill Internet Explorer 6 for Good

Are you one of those people out there who only uses Internet Explorer for your web browser? If so, then you may also be a part of the large group of people that still uses Internet Explorer 6. Well, if you are one of these people, you have some bad news coming your way. Microsoft has officially launched a new web site that is aimed at increasing its campaign to move internet users off of Internet Explorer 6 forever.

This new site, known as the Internet Explorer 6 Countdown, went live today and is "dedicated to watching Internet Explorer 6 usage drop to less than 1% worldwide, so more websites can choose to drop support for Internet Explorer 6, saving hours of work for web developers," according to the site.

A lot of computers, mainly in the business world, continue to use Internet Explorer 6 due to internal-facing apps that are dependent on the 10-year-old, non-standards compliant browser from Microsoft. Thankfully, the web page has links to tools for businesses just like this that are stuck with Internet Explorer 6. Gartner analysts have complained in the past that Microsoft's current tools for moving business users off of Internet Explorer 6 have been far too pricey.

Another feature of the Countdown page includes a world map that highlights countries around the world who still have the most Internet Explorer 6 installations. Right now China holds the number one spot. In addition to focusing on the developer side of the Anti-Internet Explorer 6 campaign, Microsoft officials are also emphasizing the improved security Internet Explorer 6 users can receive from switching to Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8. Internet Explorer 9 is currently in the release candidate stage and is not mentioned on the page as a comparison point.

Source: ZDNet - Microsoft: Friends don't let friends use Internet Explorer

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