Researchers try to put new byte into old computers.(Business)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), April, 2003 | by Mawhorr, S.A.

Byline: S. A. Mawhorr Daily Herald Business Writer Mainframe computers have a reputation as reliable but old- fashioned and clunky, kind of like your father's Oldsmobile. Networks of interconnected personal computers connected to the Web through servers are modern, nimble and sleek. But you can't discount the mainframes, with their "dumb" terminals and dark screens filled with green text, just yet.

Two DePaul University professors are studying ways to update mainframe systems inexpensively using Web tools. "This gives old systems new life," said Thomas Muscarello, an assistant professor at DePaul's school of computer science. Muscarello teamed with Howard Kanter, associate professor in the business school, to conduct three studies over the past...