OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

64-bit Windows Dual-Core Shootout, Part II

Submitted by mikemuch 2005-09-19 Intel 9 Comments

"Last week in Part I, we took a look at the AMD dual-core Athlon 64 X2 4800's performance on 64-bit Windows. As it turned out, Windows XP Pro X64 ran most 32-bit applications just fine on the X2 4800, and 64-bit code showed a few modest performance gains." This week, they focus on Intel.

Audio Stack in Vista To Move Out of Kernel Space

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-19 Windows 57 Comments

In previous Windows releases, the entire audio stack ran in Kernel space. Vista will put an end to this. "The first (and biggest) change we made was to move the entire audio stack out of the kernel and into user mode. Pre-Vista, the audio stack lived in a bunch of different kernel mode device drivers, including sysaudio.sys, kmixer.sys, wdmaud.sys, redbook.sys, etc. In Vista and beyond, the only kernel mode drivers for audio are the actual audio drivers (and portcls.sys, the high level audio port driver)."

OpenBSD 101

Submitted by Nix_User 2005-09-19 OpenBSD 26 Comments

"OpenBSD is an ultra-secure, freely available, multi-platform BSD-based UNIX-like operating system. And is arguably the most secure operating system in the world. After using OpenBSD for over 9 years I decided to place online some useful information for first time users of OpenBSD. The information here covers the current release of OpenBSD."

Submitted by kellym 2005-09-19 macOS 13 Comments

"I find Tiger to be a good release in terms of its stability and some of the new features that it offers but I don’t think it is as much of an upgrade as Panther was. Gaming performance under Tiger seems better, but not much, while other parts of the system seem more sluggish." Read the review here.

Review: HP iPaq rx3115 Mobile Media Companion

Eugenia Loli 2005-09-19 Wireless 14 Comments

Last year HP embarked into the mobile media market with its iPaq rx3xxx line of PDAs, a product sold primarily to consumers who prefer an all-in-one PDA/video/audio device. They released two versions of the series, the rx3115 and the higher-end rx3715. Geeks.com sent us the rx3115 and we put it to test.

Submitted by Rahul 2005-09-19 Red Hat 2 Comments

Red Hat announced on Monday at Oracle's OpenWorld in San Francisco that Oracle, EMC and Network Appliance now support its Global File System. The file system is based on the several technologies obtained by Red Hat in its 2003 purchase of Minneapolis-based Sistina Software. Red Hat then worked on the code and open-sourced it in June 2004.

Mono Brings .NET Apps to Linux

Submitted by Eli M. Dow 2005-09-19 Mono 92 Comments

Build applications for Linux while maintaining cross-platform capabilities using .NET languages.

Database Testing from Rational Scripts

Eugenia Loli 2005-09-19 Databases 2 Comments

This article is for developers or testers interested in testing a database directly from their Rational Functional Tester scripts. The information is explained using examples and detailed instructions.

Submitted by vinref 2005-09-19 Open Source 46 Comments

"The growing popularity of open-source browsers and software may be responsible for the increasing gap between the exposure of a vulnerability and the provision of patch to fix it, security software vendor Symantec has said."

QuickFox for BeOS: Firefox Made Quick

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-19 Mozilla, Gecko 28 Comments

Over at BeBits there's some buzz as people download and try out a modded up version of Firefox titled QuickFox. "QuickFox is a 'mod' of mozilla/firefox bleeding edge. From order of importance: speed, useability, looks, reliability. It runs and loads in a RAM filesystem. It sports a fully automatic installation that will take care of everything for you. It includes auto setup on boot and shutdown to save your settings." Thanks to HaikuNews for pointing this out. As you are probably aware of by now, QuickFox is BeOS-only.

Submitted by kellym 2005-09-19 Microsoft 45 Comments

Microsoft' professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles last week was perhaps the company's most important event of the year, as officials try to sell developers on the value of creating new applications for the company's next generation of products. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer talked with eWeek Senior Editor Peter Galli at the show about these upcoming products.

Preview: Microsoft Office 12; PDC Slides Available

Submitted by Sandy Miller 2005-09-19 Office 13 Comments

"Microsoft has tried to radically change the design philosophy behind its office suites from 2003 to office 12. The difference between the interface of Office 12 and Office 11 (2003) is nothing short of staggering. The attempt has been to enhance the user’s ability to actually get to the function he wants to use quickly and without getting lost in the labyrinth of toolbars and menus." You can find info on beta testing Office 12 here. In related news, the slides from the PDC presentations are now available for download.

The Mini-ITX Project

Submitted by Swank1 2005-09-19 Hardware 18 Comments

This article outlines the designing and building of a Mini-ITX computer which runs off of a USB flash drive. The designer's goal was to build a system which was silent and as simple as possible. In the end it was little more than a USB drive, a VIA motherboard, and a case. Puppy Linux was used for an operating system due to its light weight and ability to boot off of a USB drive.

What if Microsoft Gave Away Vista?

Adam Scheinberg 2005-09-19 Windows 89 Comments

The news has been around, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says the development process at Microsoft has to change after Windows Vista. The time between releases is just too long, and Microsoft has to show profit to keep shareholders happy. Some say the Redmond empire is due for a slow collapse, but I think there exists an amazing opportunity.

Linux vs. Linux: Which Distro?

Eugenia Loli 2005-09-18 Linux 108 Comments

You're ready to be a card-carrying Linux geek, but with several different Linux distributions available, you don't know where to start. Which one offers the best balance of tools, performance, and price? Bryan Hoff takes you through the most popular Linux distros and introduces you to a brave new world without Windows.

Workflow, Tomorrow’s Application Logic

Eugenia Loli 2005-09-18 Windows 16 Comments

At the PDC last week, Microsoft announced Windows Workflow Foundation as a key component of WinFX in conjunction with Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Presentation Foundation. This chapter describes the motivation behind Windows Workflow Foundation and provides an overview of its features

Software Plasticity with Aspect-Oriented Programming

Eugenia Loli 2005-09-18 General Development 39 Comments

Most software is rigid in nature, making it difficult to reconfigure and modify without costly upgrades. Can software be made more plastic or malleable? Stephen Morris demonstrates how aspect-oriented programming provides an important tool in the race to achieve plastic software. If IBM's on-demand computing spreads across the industry, this requirement will become the rule rather than the exception. Will you be ready?

The Trouble with Open Source

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-18 Open Source 79 Comments

"From its humble origins in the 'hacker' culture of US computer science laboratories in the 1970s, open source software has grown to become arguably the most influential and talked about phenomenon to hit the computer industry since the invention of the microprocessor. Many of the proponents of OSS seem to have been captivated by the idea of a free lunch and may have failed to consider the longer-term effect of OSS on our fragile software ecosystem. Let us examine some of the issues surrounding OSS that aren't normally aired in public."

Announced at PDC: The LINQ Project

Thom Holwerda 2005-09-18 .NET 11 Comments

LINQ stands for Language INtegrated Query and in a nutshell, it makes query and set operations, like SQL statements, first class citizens in .NET languages. Watch an interview about LINQ here.

Opening the Potential of OpenOffice.org

Submitted by Jono Bacon 2005-09-18 Office 31 Comments

"I would go so far as to say that a feature complete, high performing and integrated OpenOffice.org is key to the success of the Linux desktop. This importance is key, and I get concerned when I hear that there is a lack of hands. So, what can we all do? How can we help? How can we make OpenOffice.org into the office suite that is not only capable, but has a strong vitality?"