Solaris Express Developer Edition is a free, quarterly release of Sun's next generation Solaris Operating System built from the source code repository at OpenSolaris.org. The release includes the latest tools, technologies, and platforms to create applications for the Solaris OS, Java Application Platforms, and Web 2.0. "Major highlights: new Solaris installer - the first major rewrite of the Solaris installer since Solaris 8 makes installation much easier; D-Light, the GUI tool to bring the power of DTrace to a broad developer audience; service offerings have been augmented with the addition of installation and configuration support." Update: Review here.
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Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2005-06-29
CDE might look like a non-wiped ass after a ten minute diarrhea session, but by god, usability-wise, it is such a good desktop environment. Everything makes sense, everything is exactly there where you expect it to be, and there are never any surprises. It has some really cool gimmicks and features.
Seriously, use it sometimes, and look beyond the exterior. I used it extensively on my Ultra V machine (Solaris 9) and would love to see CDE with a modern appearance - but with the same excellent usability.
Edited 2007-09-25 13:37 UTC
Member since:2006-10-08
"CDE might look like a non-wiped ass after a ten minute diarrhea session, but by god, usability-wise, it is such a good desktop environment. Everything makes sense, everything is exactly there where you expect it to be, and there are never any surprises. It has some really cool gimmicks and features."
Indeed, it is. It may look very old fashioned, but I found out that especially "computer illiterate" users who were introduced to CDE (using Sun Sparcs and Ultras running Solaris in our old psychological testing cabinet) didn't have that much problems using the desktop and the apps as their colleagues had in the "Windows" department. CDE has been in use on the HP servers running HP-UX, too - two different OSes, similar look and feel.
"Seriously, use it sometimes, and look beyond the exterior. I used it extensively on my Ultra V machine (Solaris 9) and would love to see CDE with a modern appearance - but with the same excellent usability. "
You can (nearly) get a clue about how CDE is if you install XFCE version 3 on a Linux or BSD system, and apply some of the CDE look and feel. It even may run faster because it does not use the Motif toolkit. :-)
Member since:
2005-07-07
I'm glade to see the changes in the installer, if for nothing more than to remove the last vestiges of CDE.