OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Sun Gives Unix Giants a Plus

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-18 Oracle and SUN 14 Comments

Sun on Monday began selling its highest-end Unix servers with new 1.5GHz UltraSPARC IV+ chips. Sun used its milestones and monster servers as fodder for bashing IBM, which recently began a Unix server upgrade. IBM has slotted the Power5+ chips into low-end systems but won't give higher-end servers the same boost until 2006. Even then, IBM isn't expected to have a system comparable in size to the E25K.

Intel Cuts PC Boot Time

Submitted by Dave 2005-10-18 Intel 18 Comments

Intel is showing off a future technology called Robson that could cut that annoying boot-up time. With Robson, a PC pulls data and applications off an add-in flash memory card and Intel software, rather than the PC's hard drive. Flash reacts more quickly than hard drives, thus cutting down the time it takes to launch an application. Potentially, notebook users could experience a longer battery life because the hard drive, which is spun by a motor, wouldn't have to work as hard.

Why Software Sucks (and What To Do About It)

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-17 Office 89 Comments

"No one makes bad software on purpose. No benevolent programmer has ever sat down, planning out weeks of work, with the intention of frustrating people and making them cry. Bad software, or bad anything, happens because making things is hard, making good things doubly so."

Interview: Bill Gates

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-17 Microsoft 197 Comments

The world's richest man talks about developing new drugs to combat AIDS, open-source software and why Microsoft's still cool after all these years. Gates: "We encourage everyone to develop in our environment. Free software's nothing new... There was an early browser, an early mail program. But as times moved on, it's been the commercial programs that get the support, get the richness."

Warpstock Europe 2005: Social Event

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-17 OS/2 10 Comments

As every OS/2 and eComStation user should know by now, Warpstock Europe 2005, will take place in the city of Dresden, Germany, from November 18th to 20th. OS/2 and eComStation users come to Warpstock Europe because of interesting presentations and because they can meet and talk to people that they only know by their eMail addresses. The Warpstock Europe 2005 event team has worked in both directions to make sure that every visitor will enjoy and benefit from Warpstock Europe.

Macromedia Opens Incubation ‘Labs’

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-17 Graphics 41 Comments

Macromedia on Monday opened the doors to a new incubation site that hosts unfinished technology and early software releases. The goal of Macromedia Labs is to involve developers in the creation of new products, enabling them to provide feedback that can shape the company's future moves. Specifically, Macromedia Labs will offer documentation, code samples and technical articles, along with community services such as forums and wikis.

Using Ruby Development Tools Plug-in for Eclipse

Submitted by anonymous 2005-10-17 General Development 20 Comments

Ruby is a single inheritance language, but it offers some advanced features that Java technology does not, such as closures (think anonymous inner classes on steroids) and mix-ins. This article introduces using the Ruby Development Tools plug-in for Eclipse, which allows Eclipse to become a first-rate Ruby development environment. Ruby developers who want to learn how to use the rich infrastructure of the Eclipse community to support their language will benefit, as will Java developers who are interested in using Ruby.

Microsoft Windows Vista Build 5231 Review

Eugenia Loli 2005-10-17 Windows 91 Comments

While Build 5232 was released today to testers, WinSuperSite continues its review of build 5231. "Windows Vista Build 5231 could have been horrible and I'd still be happy about it, because we're finally getting regular Windows Vista builds. That build 5231 is not horrible, and includes a number of exciting new features, is just the frosting on the cake. After a rough beginning and a particularly bad 2004-2005, Windows Vista is finally on track."

How Apple Does It

Submitted by Hakime Seddik 2005-10-17 Apple 88 Comments

"This is partly a story about a company called Apple Computer. It’s also partly a story about a fancy new iPod that plays videos as well as music and that could dramatically change the way people entertain themselves. But it’s mostly a story about new things and where they come from, about which there are a few popular misconceptions."

New Hopes From Sun’s Idea Factory

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-17 Oracle and SUN 48 Comments

While it's way too soon to say Sun is back on track, the return of Bechtolsheim, aggressive improvements in products and a healthy dose of humility among Sun's executives mean the troubled company and its investors have more cause for optimism than they've had in years.

Using an A3010 As Central Heating Controller

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-17 OS News 6 Comments

Many people rely on RISC OS and its software to look after their email and browse their favourite websites. But could you trust RISC OS to make sure you wake up to a warm shower every morning? Electronic engineer Dave Higton describes his RISC OS powered central heating system.

OSDL To Push Linux for Mobiles

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-17 Linux 10 Comments

The Open Source Development Labs, an industry consortium devoted to improving Linux, plans to launch an initiative on Monday to bring the open source operating system to mobile phones. OSDL's Mobile Linux Initiative is intended to improve Linux for the small, but increasingly powerful, devices.

NetBSD Summer of Code Summary

Submitted by Jan Schaumann 2005-10-17 NetBSD 7 Comments

The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce the results of its participation in Google's "Summer of Code". After Google announced this program to introduce students to the world of open source software development at the beginning of June, the NetBSD Project was happy to join the approximately 40 other open source groups as a mentoring organization and compiled a list of suggested projects.

HP Recalls 135 000 Battery Packs

Submitted by Ian 2005-10-17 Hardware 3 Comments

Hewlett-Packard on Friday recalled 135 000 battery packs sold with its notebook computers shipped globally from March 2004 to May 2005. The product is being recalled following 16 reports of batteries overheating due to an internal short circuit, the company said.

GPRS Calls Through Infrared Under Linux

Eugenia Loli 2005-10-16 Internet 15 Comments

A few days ago I wrote a tutorial on how to connect your Mac to a GPRS service via Bluetooth and a Bluetooth-enabled phone. However, not everyone owns a Mac or a higher-end phone. And so here is a quick tutorial on how to connect your Linux laptop to a GPRS service using an infrared-enabled phone. For this article we used a Sony Ericsson K700i phone, a Sony Vaio N505VX laptop (which has an onboard IrDA) running the latest Arch Linux and Cingular's GPRS. In the following weeks I will also be publishing two more tutorials showing how to do the same thing under Linux but via Bluetooth and the USB port.

Submitted by dylansmrjones 2005-10-16 Office 77 Comments

According to Andy Updegrove, Microsoft seems to be reconsidering support for OpenDocument. A quote from the blog: "So there is no line drawn in the sand, nor (to put it another way) has Microsoft painted itself into a corner. If OpenDocument picks up steam, a back door for support is ajar."

The Ubuntu Juggernaut

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-16 Ubuntu 150 Comments

"Various reviews I've seen about Ubuntu have attacked the release names (Hoary Hedgehog, Breezy Badger and upcoming Dapper Drake), or the 'ugly' brown GNOME screen background (which is easily changed). I consider such "flaws" to be trivial. When push comes to shove, I want my operating system to 'just work', and in this department Ubuntu delivers."

XP SP3 Preview Package a Fake

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-16 Windows 56 Comments

A few weeks ago an "unofficial" preview release of windows XP SP3 hit the web. Now, Microsoft has responded and warned users of this preview package. "You would be well advised to stay clear of this FAKE SP3 package. It is NOT suitable for testing as it is NOT SP3."

Mockup 0.2.0 Alpha 1 Released

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-16 Linux 45 Comments

Mockup 0.2.0 alpha1 has been released. Just like v0.1.0, this release is focused on the underlying foundation, "this means that it's useful only for developers and it's not easy to install."

OpenOffice.org Releases Third RC of Its 2.0 Suite

Thom Holwerda 2005-10-16 Office 28 Comments

OpenOffice.org made available for free download a third release candidate of Version 2.0 of its popular open-source office suite Friday. The release includes bug fixes only and no new features.