OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Dell Overhauls Server Line

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-07 Hardware 6 Comments

Dell launched on Wednesday a new generation of servers with Intel's latest dual-core server processors and new management tools. The new PowerEdge servers make up Dell's second batch of products that use dual-core Xeon chips from Intel. However, the earlier generation of servers, based on a chip code-named Paxville, weren't expected to be mass-market products. The PowerEdge 1950, 2900 and 2950, based on Intel's latest Xeon processor, known as Dempsey, will become the new bedrocks of Dell's server lineup.

KOffice 2.0, the Vision

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-07 KDE 11 Comments

KOffice is working on its future, one based on KDE4. KOffice is starting new initiatives with libraries like Flake and Pigment that are going to be used for all KOffice applications. For the users of KOffice those changes are invisible until the 2.0 previews actually start to appear some months from now. Therefore the KOffice crew wants to show you their goals of what KOffice 2 is going to look like.

Linux UMPC Updated

Submitted by anonymous 2006-06-07 Wireless 7 Comments

"Linux users who are looking for an alternative to the ultra-mobile PC may want to take a look at the new Pepper Pad. Yesterday Pepper Computer announced that it has updated the Pepper Pad to its third revision. The product is slated to be released on August 15th with a suggested retail price of $699. Though it is just 11.4"x5.9"x0.9"/290x149x23mm and 2.2 lbs/985 grams the Pepper Pad is touted as a full featured handheld device which is capable of surfing the internet, music/video playback, photo viewing, emailing, and more. This device is controlled with a split QWERTY keyboard and 7" (800x480) touch screen and also houses a 20 GB hard drive and built-in speakers."

Submitted by Moulinneuf 2006-06-07 Linux 30 Comments

"In days gone by, the personification of Linux might have conjured up the image of a hotshot college kid full of half-baked ideas and sharp edges. But that college kid has now graduated into the business world, and unleashed his furious entrepreneurial spirit. Today, Linux has a sharper, more refined edge than before, and has branched out into private, public, enterprise and governmental sectors. Linux also spans all manner of hardware platforms, and serves an incredibly wide variety of purposes."

Frenzy 1.0 Released

Submitted by Sergei Mozhaisky 2006-06-07 BSD & Darwin 5 Comments

Frenzy LiveCD 1.0, based on FreeBSD 6.1, has been released. This is a 'system administrator's portable instrument'; a LiveCD based on FreeBSD, which allows the administrator to boot from it and get a fully functional system with a wide variety of software for tuning, testing, and analyzing the network, testing computer hardware, and much more. Frenzy contains its own configuration center, can be installed on a hard drive as a fully functional operating system (USB Flash install is also supported).

Rotating Linux Log Files

Submitted by Marius Ducea 2006-06-07 Linux 1 Comment

"Any Linux system will generate many log files by default, containing various information about the operation of the system. If no rotation would occur on the various log files, then they will just grow bigger and bigger, filling up the space. This little how-to will show you how the default log rotation works, based on syslog and logrotate."

The Evolution of Eclipse Plugins

Submitted by anonymous 2006-06-07 Java 5 Comments

Most Java programming language developers are introduced to Eclipse through its function as an IDE. The Eclipse IDE actually consists of a collection of interacting components called plug-ins. This article traces the evolution of plug-ins from Eclipse V2.1 through today's OSGi-based implementation.

Windows Servers Beat Linux Boxes, But UNIX Beats All

Submitted by Ricus 2006-06-06 Rumors 140 Comments

Windows 2003 Server is a more reliable server operating system than Linux, a research firm said Monday. According to the Yankee Group's annual server reliability survey, only Unix operating systems such as HP-UX and Sun Solaris 10 beat Windows on uptime. Windows 2003 Server, in fact, led the popular Red Hat Enterprise Linux with nearly 20 percent more annual uptime. The Yankee Group made a point of stressing that the survey was not sponsored or supported by any server OS maker.

Where Are the Vista Killer Apps?

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-06 Windows 48 Comments

Microsoft will have showcase applications ready in time for the Vista launch, which is still set for January 2007, company officials said. But given recent lawsuits and public disagreements with the likes of Symantec and Adobe Systems - two of Microsoft's biggest independent software vendor partners - which vendors are likely to be leading the Vista charge?

Google Offers Spreadsheet Beta

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-06 Google 46 Comments

Google is launching an online spreadsheet that will let you load Excel files and share documents online. Up to 10 people can work on the spreadsheet at the same time - the names of people editing and reading it will appear in a chat window. Users can save the documents to their Google account or export them as .csv, .xls or html files. Like the launch of Gmail, Google is limiting the number of new users for software - still in beta - to avoid overloading its systems. Cnet wonders, should Microsoft be worried?

Why First Generation Apple Products Suck, Part II

Submitted by Tommy Bremer 2006-06-06 Apple 56 Comments

"Originally, I had never intended to write a follow-up to 'Why First Generation Apple Products Suck'. But after receiving exceptional feedback on my thoughts, I think I need to make few things clear. Many of you thought I was unfairly singling out Apple even though defective first generation products are a common occurrence across the technology sector – software or hardware. Just to be clear, let’s not mesh software and hardware together. Neither I nor anyone else should ever expect software to be perfect. On the opposite end, with hardware, it is possible to perfect the craft of developing tangible products, such as the iPod music player."

Novell’s Fight for Respect

Submitted by anonymous 2006-06-06 Novell and Ximian 29 Comments

Ron Hovsepian explains how his outfit aims to regain investors' confidence and turn the tide against Linux leader Red Hat. "Our core Linux business grew 20% quarter-over-quarter. Why? Our strategy is different than Red Hat's. They are approaching this as an edge server play, and it's an enterprise play."

Debian Joins Carrier Grade Linux Lineup

Submitted by anonymous 2006-06-06 Debian 2 Comments

The Open Source Development Labs announced today that Debian has registered the Sarge release as compliant with its Carrier Grade Linux 2.0.2 specification. The move brings Debian in line with offerings from commercial vendors such as Red Hat, Novell, and Motorola.

Open Source Software Quality in Limelight at Red Hat Summit

Submitted by Jane Walker 2006-06-06 Red Hat 2 Comments

While some just talk about the quality of open source software, Red Hat said it's actually doing something about it. Commercial Linux vendor Red Hat announced at the company's annual Red Hat Summit last week that it is launching a project directed squarely at quality assurance.

The Emerging ODF Environment: Spotlight on StarOffice 8.0

Submitted by Andy Updegrove 2006-06-06 Oracle and SUN 6 Comments

"In this third in-depth interview focusing on ODF-compliant office productivity suites, I interviewed Erwin Tenhumberg, Sun's Product Marketing Manager, Client Systems Group. This series of interviews, and the other activities I have planned to follow, are intended to illustrate the rich environment of applications and tools that are evolving around the OpenDocument Format specification developed by OASIS, and now adopted by ISO/IEC."

Submitted by Hakime 2006-06-06 Games 3 Comments

"In this article, you'll learn about four powerful but easy-to-use game engines that will handle the heavy lifting for you, freeing you to concentrate on the fun parts of game development. You don't need a large budget, big teams, or awe-inspiring artistic and programming skills. All you need is a Mac running Mac OS X, a game engine, and a willingness to jump in and try out some ideas to see if they can gel into a fun and exciting game. With these tools, you're closer than you think."

Can Microsoft Make Vista Less Annoying?

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-05 Windows 52 Comments

Microsoft plans to make several significant tweaks to the next beta of Windows Vista to make a key security feature less annoying to users. In response to widespread criticisms that the implementation of the UAC (User Account Control) feature triggers too many privilege elevation prompt pop-ups, the software maker will make changes in Windows Vista RC1.

Lenovo Denies Ditching Linux

Thom Holwerda 2006-06-05 Hardware 18 Comments

Chinese computer supplier Lenovo has denied a report that it is planning to stop offering Linux on its range of PCs and laptops. On Friday, CRN reported that Frank Kardonski, Lenovo's worldwide product manager for its 3000 series, had indicated that Linux support was being dropped. But Lenovo made strenuous efforts on Monday to set the record straight, emphasizing that Kardonski provided incorrect information to CRN and that the company plans to continue to offer Linux on ThinkPads.

Fedora ‘Re-Spins’

Submitted by Emanuele 2006-06-05 Fedora Core 13 Comments

"The Fedora Unity Project is proud to announce the release of DVD ISO Re-Spins of Fedora Core. These ISOs are based upon Fedora Core and contain all updates released as of the Re-Spin date. They are available for i386 and x86_64 architectures as of Wednesday, May 31st, 2006 via BitTorrent. The x86_64 Re-Spin is currently available for testing only."

Microsoft’s New Fonts

Submitted by anonymous 2006-06-05 Microsoft 64 Comments

Vista and Office 2007 have many new fonts. NeoSmart takes a look at the ten most popular Vista and/or Office 12 fonts with screenshots, sample usages, and a critique of each font, one-by-one. These 10 fonts are the latin-based scripts that ship with Vista and/or Office 2007. My take: Microsoft has created some very beautiful fonts here. I especially like Segoe UI; it looks stunning when in use in Vista.