Questões de Concurso

Is Windows 7 Worth It?
Harry McCracken, PC World
Monday, October 19, 2009 10:00 AM PDT

    Reading about a new operating system can tell you only so much about it: After all, Windows Vista had far more features than XP, [CONJUNCTION] fell far short of it in the eyes of many users. To judge an OS accurately, you have to live with it. Over the past ten months, I've spent a substantial percentage of my computing life in Windows 7, starting with a preliminary version and culminating in recent weeks with the final Release to Manufacturing edition. I've run it on systems ranging from an underpowered Asus EeePC 1000HE netbook to a potent HP TouchSmart all-in-one. And I've used it to do real work, not lab routines. Usually, I've run the OS in multiboot configurations with Windows Vista and/or XP, so I've had a choice each time I turned the computer on: [MODAL] I opt for Windows 7 or an older version of the OS? The call has been easy to make, because Win 7 is so pleasant to use.
    So why wouldn't you want to run this operating system? Concern over its performance is one logical reason, especially since early versions of Windows Vista managed to turn PCs that ran XP with ease into lethargic underperformers. The PC World Test Center's speed benchmarks on five test PCs showed Windows 7 to be faster than Vista, but only by a little; I've found it to be reasonably quick on every computer I've used it on - even the Asus netbook, once I upgraded it to 2GB of RAM. (Our lab tried Win 7 on a Lenovo S10 netbook with 1GB of RAM and found it to be a shade slower than XP; for details see "Windows 7 Performance Tests.").
    Here's a rule of thumb that errs on the side of caution: If your PC's specs qualify it to run Vista, get Windows 7; if they don't, avoid it. Microsoft's official hardware configuration requirements for Windows 7 are nearly identical to those it recommends for Windows Vista: a 1-GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of free disk space, and a DirectX 9-compatible graphics device with a WDDM 1.0 or higher driver. That's for the 32-bit version of Windows 7; the 64-bit version of the OS requires a 64-bit CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 20GB of disk space.
    Fear of incompatible hardware and software is another understandable reason to be wary of Windows 7. One unfortunate law of operating-system upgrades - which applies equally to Macs and to Windows PCs - is that they will break some systems and applications, especially at first.
    Under the hood, Windows 7 isn't radically different from Vista. That's a plus, since it should greatly reduce the volume of difficulties relating to drivers and apps compared to Vista's bumpy rollout. I have performed a half-dozen Windows 7 upgrades, and most of them went off without a hitch. The gnarliest problem arose when I had to track down a graphics driver for Dell's XPS M1330 laptop on my own - Windows 7 installed a generic VGA driver that couldn't run the Aero user interface, and as a result failed to support new Windows 7 features such as thumbnail views in the Taskbar.
    The best way to reduce your odds of running into a showstopping problem with Windows 7 is to bide your time. When the new operating system arrives on October 22, sit back and let the earliest adopters discover the worst snafus. Within a few weeks, Microsoft and other software and hardware companies will have fixed most of them, and your chances of a happy migration to Win 7 will be much higher. If you want to be really conservative, hold off on moving to Win 7 until you're ready to buy a PC that's designed to run it well.
    Waiting a bit before making the leap makes sense; waiting forever does not. Microsoft took far too long to come up with a satisfactory replacement for Windows XP. But whether you choose to install Windows 7 on your current systems or get it on the next new PC you buy, you'll find that it's the unassuming, thoroughly practical upgrade you've been waiting for - flaws and all.

(Adapted from http://www.pcworld.com/article/172602/windows_7_revi...)

House G.O.P. Leaders Agree to Extension of Payroll Tax Cut

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: December 22, 2011

    WASHINGTON - Under a deal reached between House and Senate leaders, the House will now approve as early as Friday the two-month extension of a payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits approved by the Senate last Saturday, and the Senate will appoint members of a House-Senate conference committee to negotiate legislation to extend both benefits through 2012. House Republicans - who rejected an almost identical deal on Tuesday - collapsed under the political rubble that has accumulated over the week, much of it from their own party, worried that the blockade would do serious damage to their appeal to voters.
    The House speaker, John A. Boehner, announced the decision over the phone to members on Thursday, and did not permit the usual back and forth that is common on such calls, enraging many of them.
    After his conversation with lawmakers, the speaker conceded to reporters that it might not have been "politically the smartest thing in the world" for House Republicans to put themselves between a tax cut and the 160 million American workers who would benefit from it, and to allow President Obama and Congressional Democrats to seize the momentum on the issue.
    The agreement ended a partisan fight that threatened to keep Congress and Mr. Obama in town through Christmas and was just the latest of the bitter struggles over fiscal policy involving House conservatives, the president and the Democratic-controlled Senate.
    Under the deal, the employee's share of the Social Security payroll tax will stay at the current level, 4.2 percent of wages, through Feb.29. In the absence of Congressional action, it would revert to the usual 6.2 percent next month. The government will also continue paying unemployment insurance benefits under current policy through February. Without Congressional action, many of the long-term unemployed would begin losing benefits next month.
    In addition, under the agreement, Medicare will continue paying doctors at current rates for two months, averting a 27 percent cut that would otherwise occur on Jan.1.
    The new deal makes minor adjustments to make it easier for small businesses to cope with the tax changes and prevents manipulation of an employee's pay should the tax cut extension fail to go beyond two months.
    Mr. Obama, who has reaped political benefits from the standoff, welcomed the outcome.
    "This is good news, just in time for the holidays, " he said in a statement. "This is the right thing [VERB 1] to strengthen our families, grow our economy, and create new jobs. This is real money that will [VERB 2] a real difference in people's lives."

(Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/us/politics/senate-republican-leader-suggests-a-payroll-tax-deal.html?_r=1&nl=
todays hea dlines & emc=tha2&pagewanted=all)

House G.O.P. Leaders Agree to Extension of Payroll Tax Cut

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: December 22, 2011

    WASHINGTON - Under a deal reached between House and Senate leaders, the House will now approve as early as Friday the two-month extension of a payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits approved by the Senate last Saturday, and the Senate will appoint members of a House-Senate conference committee to negotiate legislation to extend both benefits through 2012. House Republicans - who rejected an almost identical deal on Tuesday - collapsed under the political rubble that has accumulated over the week, much of it from their own party, worried that the blockade would do serious damage to their appeal to voters.
    The House speaker, John A. Boehner, announced the decision over the phone to members on Thursday, and did not permit the usual back and forth that is common on such calls, enraging many of them.
    After his conversation with lawmakers, the speaker conceded to reporters that it might not have been "politically the smartest thing in the world" for House Republicans to put themselves between a tax cut and the 160 million American workers who would benefit from it, and to allow President Obama and Congressional Democrats to seize the momentum on the issue.
    The agreement ended a partisan fight that threatened to keep Congress and Mr. Obama in town through Christmas and was just the latest of the bitter struggles over fiscal policy involving House conservatives, the president and the Democratic-controlled Senate.
    Under the deal, the employee's share of the Social Security payroll tax will stay at the current level, 4.2 percent of wages, through Feb.29. In the absence of Congressional action, it would revert to the usual 6.2 percent next month. The government will also continue paying unemployment insurance benefits under current policy through February. Without Congressional action, many of the long-term unemployed would begin losing benefits next month.
    In addition, under the agreement, Medicare will continue paying doctors at current rates for two months, averting a 27 percent cut that would otherwise occur on Jan.1.
    The new deal makes minor adjustments to make it easier for small businesses to cope with the tax changes and prevents manipulation of an employee's pay should the tax cut extension fail to go beyond two months.
    Mr. Obama, who has reaped political benefits from the standoff, welcomed the outcome.
    "This is good news, just in time for the holidays, " he said in a statement. "This is the right thing [VERB 1] to strengthen our families, grow our economy, and create new jobs. This is real money that will [VERB 2] a real difference in people's lives."

(Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/us/politics/senate-republican-leader-suggests-a-payroll-tax-deal.html?_r=1&nl=
todays hea dlines & emc=tha2&pagewanted=all)

House G.O.P. Leaders Agree to Extension of Payroll Tax Cut

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: December 22, 2011

    WASHINGTON - Under a deal reached between House and Senate leaders, the House will now approve as early as Friday the two-month extension of a payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits approved by the Senate last Saturday, and the Senate will appoint members of a House-Senate conference committee to negotiate legislation to extend both benefits through 2012. House Republicans - who rejected an almost identical deal on Tuesday - collapsed under the political rubble that has accumulated over the week, much of it from their own party, worried that the blockade would do serious damage to their appeal to voters.
    The House speaker, John A. Boehner, announced the decision over the phone to members on Thursday, and did not permit the usual back and forth that is common on such calls, enraging many of them.
    After his conversation with lawmakers, the speaker conceded to reporters that it might not have been "politically the smartest thing in the world" for House Republicans to put themselves between a tax cut and the 160 million American workers who would benefit from it, and to allow President Obama and Congressional Democrats to seize the momentum on the issue.
    The agreement ended a partisan fight that threatened to keep Congress and Mr. Obama in town through Christmas and was just the latest of the bitter struggles over fiscal policy involving House conservatives, the president and the Democratic-controlled Senate.
    Under the deal, the employee's share of the Social Security payroll tax will stay at the current level, 4.2 percent of wages, through Feb.29. In the absence of Congressional action, it would revert to the usual 6.2 percent next month. The government will also continue paying unemployment insurance benefits under current policy through February. Without Congressional action, many of the long-term unemployed would begin losing benefits next month.
    In addition, under the agreement, Medicare will continue paying doctors at current rates for two months, averting a 27 percent cut that would otherwise occur on Jan.1.
    The new deal makes minor adjustments to make it easier for small businesses to cope with the tax changes and prevents manipulation of an employee's pay should the tax cut extension fail to go beyond two months.
    Mr. Obama, who has reaped political benefits from the standoff, welcomed the outcome.
    "This is good news, just in time for the holidays, " he said in a statement. "This is the right thing [VERB 1] to strengthen our families, grow our economy, and create new jobs. This is real money that will [VERB 2] a real difference in people's lives."

(Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/us/politics/senate-republican-leader-suggests-a-payroll-tax-deal.html?_r=1&nl=
todays hea dlines & emc=tha2&pagewanted=all)

Making Performance Budgeting Work: New IMF Book

October 04, 2007

    Member countries will find valuable advice on how to reform their budgeting practices to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public expenditure in a major new work on performance budgeting produced by the Fiscal Affairs Department. The book, Performance Budgeting: Linking Funding and Results (500pp), came off the presses of the top UK publisher Palgrave Macmillan in September.
    Edited by FAD staff member Marc Robinson, the book contains a comprehensive treatment of contemporary performance budgeting practice and theory. In a series of thematic chapters and case studies, the book discusses:
    - The key forms of performance budgeting which [TO IMPLEMENT] around the world - how they differ, and what they have in common points.
    - Lessons from the experience of governments around the world - ranging from OECD nations to developing, middle-income and transition countries - about what forms of performance budgeting work, under what circumstances, and with what implementation strategies.
    - How successful performance budgeting can improve aggregate fiscal discipline.
    - The information requirements of performance budgeting, and
    - The links between performance budgeting and other budgeting and public management reforms.
    Many of the contributors to this work are leaders in performance budgeting implementation in their countries. Others are respected academics and technical experts from the International Monetary Fund and other international organizations. Countries covered in the case studies include the UK, USA, Australia, France, Chile, Spain, Russia, Colombia and Ethiopia.
    One major focus of the book is performance budgeting as a tool for improved expenditure prioritization - that is, for helping to shift limited public resources to the services of greatest social benefit. A key finding is that this type of performance budgeting will only work if the budget process is fundamentally changed so that top politicians and bureaucrats systematically consider expenditure priorities when formulating the budget. This means more than just considering the priorities for new spending. It requires also having mechanisms to systematically review existing spending programs to identify what is ineffective and low priority and can, therefore, be cut. This is what countries such as Chile and the United Kingdom have successfully done, and the United States is currently attempting to achieve with its Program Assessment Rating Tool instrument. Conversely, it is a mistake to believe that merely changing the budget classification and developing performance indicators will in itself improve the allocation of resources in the budget.

(Adapted from http://blog-pfm.imf.org/pfmblog/2007/10/making-performa.html)