Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 18th Oct 2012 18:15 UTC
Ubuntu 12.10 has been released, sporting the rather... Interesting tagline 'Avoid the pain of Windows 8'. Two main features are that websites can now be treated as actual applications, integrating them into Unity. The divide between local and online content when searching has also been softened, which, they claim, makes it easier to find what you're looking for. On the server side, it includes the Folsom release of OpenStack, "Cinder, for block storage and Quantum, a virtual networking API. Ubuntu's Metal-as-a-Service bare-metal provisioning tool has been updated and now supports Calxeda hyperscale hardware based on ARM".
Permalink for comment 539142
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/16/13 9:29 UTC
The day has finally come: Google has started shipping Google Glass to the lucky few early adopters. Now that it's shipping, Google has also unveiled a lot more about the API and the specifications of the device itself. While the company had already given out substantial details at earlier occasions, there are still a few surprises here.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/15/13 22:44 UTC
Almost exactly three years ago, I wrote about why OSNews was no longer OSNews: the alternative operating system scene had died, and OSNews, too, had to go with the times and move towards reporting on a new wave of operating systems - mobile, and all the repercussions that the explosion of smartphones and tablets have caused. Still, I was wondering something today: why aren't we seeing alternative operating systems on mobile?More Features »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2007-02-17
That's kind of illogical as most of the same software is actually also available for Windows. If you're happy running GIMP, LibreOffice, Firefox etc. etc. on Linux there is no reason why you couldn't use those on Windows, too. As such you should compare the prices with that in mind, not compare Linux+LibreOffice+GIMP+etc to Windows+Office+PhotoShop+etc -- you should compare Linux+LibreOffice+GIMP+etc to Windows+LibreOffice+GIMP+etc which quite really doesn't match your "half of that of a Windows 7" and so on. "
This is the current Office Suite best integrated with a KDE4 desktop:
http://www.calligra.org/
It happens to be the only desktop suite for Linux which happens to have a functional alternative to Microsoft Visio diagramming software.
http://www.calligra.org/flow/
The Office Suite is major component of the desktop software, this particular suite is not available on Windows.
I also have occasion to use mathematical desktop software.
http://edu.kde.org/cantor/
I use a GNU Octave backend for Cantor, so I get a functional clone of MATLAB. MATLAB itself is, of course, available for Windows, but it is quite expensive.
Speaking of expensive, I am merely an amateur when it comes to photography, so I cannot justify expensive software such as photoshop. I do find GIMP is a little clumsy, so instead I tend to use the combination of the following applications:
http://www.digikam.org/drupal/about?q=about/features
(for digital photo management)
http://krita.org/
(for creation of raster graphics)
http://www.calligra.org/karbon/
(for vector graphics)
Also not available for Windows.
As part of the very nice KDE4 default desktop, I get to use very capable, very nice essential desktop utilities such as:
http://dolphin.kde.org/features.html
http://gwenview.sourceforge.net/
http://kate-editor.org/about-kate/
http://www.kdenlive.org/features
http://qalculate.sourceforge.net/
... none of which are available for Windows, as far as I know.
To get the equivalent power and functionality on a Windows box, one would have to spend more on software than one had spent on the hardware alone.
Then again, even if some of this excellent desktop software were available for Windows, to run it on a secure Windows box, one would also have to get anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. Now whilst it is true one can get good Windows software in this area for no cost, it is also true to say that one has to know what one is doing, lest one ends up in the very trouble one was trying to avoid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_security_software
So I repeat, the point stands, to get a great system for half the cost and none of the pain or timewasting, the best approach is to avoid Windows and go with a Linux distribution targeted for desktop users.
Edited 2012-10-19 13:49 UTC