OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Solaris 10 Review: Sun’s Linux Killer Shows Promise

Thom Holwerda 2005-08-17 Solaris 177 Comments

If Sun gets very serious about Solaris 10 on x86 and the Open Solaris project that it hopes will nourish it, Linux vendors had better get very worried. That's because, in the many areas where Linux is miles ahead of Solaris, Sun stands a good chance of catching up quickly if it has the will, whereas in the many areas where Solaris is miles ahead, the Linux community will be hard pressed to narrow the gap.

Experts See New Variants of Windows 2000 Worm

David Adams 2005-08-17 Windows 115 Comments

Security vendors have reported several new variants of the worm infecting PCs running Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system. Groups of virus writers are competing to cause the most damage, according to one security company, although the worm appears less severe than some first feared.

Novell to Open Linux-Oriented Beijing Center

David Adams 2005-08-17 Novell and Ximian 10 Comments

Novell Inc. will open a Linux research and development center in Beijing by the end of this year, focusing on Linux on the desktop, international and localization issues and high-performance computing. Novell's expanded Chinese presence will apparently serve both as a development and support arm for Novell's current business, as well as an attempt to create new business opportunities within China.

Submitted by rft183 2005-08-17 Zeta 18 Comments

"We are continually working on ZETA and many improvements and bug fixes are ready before we are ready to release a ServicePack or update. As we don't wish our customers to wait, we have decided to publish a selection of these on our website. This will give customers early access to updated drivers and applications." You can access the download section here.

IBM Makes Biometric Breakthrough

David Adams 2005-08-17 Privacy, Security 13 Comments

One of the weaknesses of biometric security systems is that you can't just replace your finger or your eye if someone figures out how to compromise the system, like you can with a password. IBM researchers have applied more sophisticated cryptographic theory to the problem, providing a way to "construct a kind of technological screen separating a user's actual biological identification information from the records stored in profile databases."

Latest OS X Update Breaks 64-bit Support

Submitted by G.S. 2005-08-17 macOS 44 Comments

The most recent Mac OS X security update from Apple Computer includes a glitch that prevents users from running 64-bit applications on the company's new Tiger operating system, AppleInsider has confirmed.

Copy-protection Enters the Mainstream

Submitted by Jophn Deo 2005-08-17 Privacy, Security 29 Comments

A USA Today article briefly covers the debut of several new consumer-oriented technologies that contain copy-protection technology, including tech for digital textbooks that can't be copied and "expire" after a year. It also touches on copy-protection tech that failed in the marketplace.

Submitted by Ben2040 2005-08-17 Legal 65 Comments

Creating a surprise twist in the portable music wars, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has denied Apple's application to patent its method of using hierarchical menus to navigate through the iPod's contents. The basis for the denial: a similar method outlined in a Microsoft researcher's patent application, filed after the iPod was introduced but before Apple sought its own patent.

Should Microsoft Release Patching Worms?

Submitted by anonymous 2005-08-17 Windows 28 Comments

The internet is full of hosts running unpatched versions of Windows. Should Microsoft release patching worms to fix every vulnerable system on the Internet in a matter of minutes? That's one of the hot questions that security researcher Jose Nazario, famous for his WormBlog, answered in this interview on SecurityFocus. It's a nice read, especially when they start comparing computer worms to nature phenomena.

Modern History of Cryptography Techniques

Submitted by anonymous 2005-08-17 Privacy, Security 2 Comments

The encryption scheme you rely on today might be full of holes just a few years down the road. Learn how far we've come in the last few decades, and why your apps need to be ready for change. This article builds on a previous article about Enigma, Germany's WWII-era encryption system.

An In-Depth Look at Vista, Part 2

Adam Scheinberg 2005-08-17 Windows 20 Comments

O'Reilly's DevCenter continues its foray into all things Vista by investigating Aero Glass, presentation broadcast tools, UAP and RDP security, and more. Here's part 1 for those of you that missed it.

Intel Swaps Clock Speed for Power Efficiency

Thom Holwerda 2005-08-16 Intel 56 Comments

Intel, which next week is expected to announce plans to move to a new processor architecture, is switching to a new yardstick to measure processor performance: performance per watt. Intel's announcement will publicly signal an internal shift that's already taken place. After years of promoting clock speed, it's now emphasizing overall performance and power-efficiency.

Tips: Porting Applications From Windows and Unix to Linux

Submitted by Jan Stafford 2005-08-16 Linux 35 Comments

Security, cost-savings, performance and innovation are the primary reasons to move to Linux, says Novell Linux developer evangelist Darren R. Davis, stating what is to him the obvious. Rather than dillydallying with that question, he'd rather help IT shops and developers get moving to Linux. Davis explains how to port Unix and Windows applications to Linux and how to make those Linux apps support multiple distributions in this interview.

Tour the Successful Geronimo Deployment Architecture

Thom Holwerda 2005-08-16 Java 4 Comments

Geronimo is one of the more complex projects undertaken by the open source community, comparable to Linux in its intricacy. One of Geronimo's principal goals is J2EE 1.4 certification - a time-consuming effort. Nevertheless, Geronimo has already issued several milestone releases and is moving steadily toward the magical 1.0 release. Peek behind the curtain and see how the Geronimo deployment model brings a number of different open source projects under one umbrella.

Macs Are Too Expensive

David Adams 2005-08-16 Humor 104 Comments

In Virginia, patrons waiting in line to buy county school surplus iBooks for $50 started a riot when the doors opened, with an old man getting trampled, people crushing a baby stroller, and someone trying to run people down with his car. One iBook hopeful admitted that he used his folding chair as a weapon to fight off people who were trying to cut in line. Take a lesson from Steve Jobs, Henrico County: make them a little more expensive, and prevent the bloodshed. (Editor's note for the humor-impaired: no, I don't really think Macs are too expensive. I'm making fun of people who do)

Windows on the PSP

David Adams 2005-08-16 Games 34 Comments

An intrepid hacker has got Windows 95 running on a Sony Playstation Portable. The PSP uses a MIPS R4000 CPU and Windows is actually running emulated on Bochs, so it's probably not that useable, and it's no substitute for the ongoing effort to get Linux running natively on the Sony gaming handheld.

Submitted by rft183 2005-08-16 macOS 21 Comments

An OSX security update includes fixes for the following: AppKit, BlueTooth, CoreFoundation, cups, Directory Services, HIToolBox, Kerberos, loginwindow, Mail, OpenSSL, QuartzComposerScreenSaver, Security Interface, Safari, X11, and zlib.

Submitted by anyweb 2005-08-16 Fedora Core 245 Comments

This light hearted review is a look at how a girl who uses Windows (and is non-technical) deals with using Fedora Linux instead. In fact, she likes it so much, she uses it all the time now. If she can use Fedora Linux, anyone can.

VLOS 1.2 PPC

Adam Scheinberg 2005-08-16 Linux 11 Comments

An anonymous reader writes "One thing should be mentioned - the VLOS Installer is cool." Here's a review of VLOS PPC, which seems to indicate that while there are still some issues, it's certainly coming along at a nice pace.

An In-Depth Look at Vista, Part 1

Adam Scheinberg 2005-08-16 Windows 40 Comments

O'Reilly's DevCenter is featuring an in-depth look at Windows Vista Beta 1. Their conclusion? "Surprisingly, this build of Windows Vista is pretty stable, and the performance is quite good."