OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Beginning Mac Development

Eugenia Loli 2005-05-07 macOS 52 Comments

A request we have gotten a few times in our inbox concerns how to develop software for the Mac. Usually the person writing is a switcher from the Windows world who has dabbled in Basic, C# or maybe some C++. Once they get their first Macintosh, they realize that they can’t use Visual Studio on the Mac, and pretty much have to start over.

Myth of Linux Hobby Coders Exposed

Eugenia Loli 2005-05-07 Linux 57 Comments

Stuart Cohen, CEO of the Open Source Development Labs, does a short piece on the myth of renegade hackers coding in their parent's basements to create the Linux OS. He suggests this hasn't been the case for many years and goes on to claim that of the top 25 core developers, more than 90% of them are fully employed with some of the largest technology companies in the world.

Windows Server 2003 R2 Trial Software

Submitted by Philipp Esselbach 2005-05-07 Windows 8 Comments

A trial version of Windows Server 2003 R2 is now available for download: "Windows Server 2003 R2 trial software is available to download for evaluation in both x64 and x86 versions. Both trial software versions require Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1). Installing the trial software for Windows Server 2003 R2 does not extend the time that you can use the trial version of Windows Server 2003 SP1."

Worldwide PDA Shipments Jump By 25 Percent

Eugenia Loli 2005-05-06 Wireless 18 Comments

Worldwide PDA shipments totaled 3.4 million units in the first quarter of 2005, a 25 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Gartner, Inc. Microsoft Windows Mobile has become the No. 1 PDA operating system, as it accounted for 46 percent of worldwide shipments. RIM assumed the second position, as Palm OS slipped to the No. 3 ranking, due to Palm OS shipments declining 38.8 percent. Nokia in the fourth place.

WinHEC afterthoughts: Windows Longhorn Build 5048 Review

Submitted by Rugbuz Pafnuti 2005-05-06 Windows 67 Comments

Longhorn build 5048 is hugely disappointing from an end user perspective because it shows how far behind Microsoft is in delivering the next client version of Windows. Also, expectations were high that Microsoft would hit a home run with this build, because it was the first public Longhorn release in a year, says Paul Thurrot.

Apple’s ‘Tiger’ a Serious Enterprise OS; 10.4.1 Seeded

Eugenia Loli 2005-05-06 macOS 65 Comments

Once the problems that occur with any major OS update have been ironed out, Mac OS X 10.4 is going to be viewed as a pivotal release for Apple, and one that will go a long way to making it an even better player in the enterprise, says ITManagement. In the meantime, Apple released the first seed of Mac OS X 10.4.1 to developers this week. The update, specified as build 8B9, corrects nearly two dozen bugs that have cropped up since Tiger's release last weekend, sources said.

Linux Use In U.S. Federal Agencies

Submitted by Tom Adelstein 2005-05-06 Linux 25 Comments

Linux Insider has a short article detailing how various government labs and agencies have used Linux as the backbone of various projects: some truly skunkworks, and some large and high-profile. Projects range from early clustering work at Goddard to the FBI's Emergency Response Network.

Gcc 4.0 Vectorizer

Submitted by Carice 2005-05-06 General Development 18 Comments

The new gcc 4.0 compiler shipped with Apple's Mac OS X 10.4 makes use of a new component, the loop vectorizer. This allows gcc to compile code that will take advantage of altivec optimizations without the need for the developer to explicitly use altivec code.

OSNews Troll Succeeds Beyond Wildest Expectations

Submitted by Will Senn 2005-05-06 Humor 65 Comments

An anonymous commenter on OSNews posted the snarky comment, "There is no OpenSolaris. Show us the code or quit mentioning it." That made a couple of Sun engineers angry enough to fight back on their blogs, and the battle is now immortalized in a ZD Net article. Well, Mr. Anonymous commenter, you have been inducted into the OSNews Troll hall of fame. A plaque of a blank face representing you will be posted in our Troll hall of fame, under the bridge.

OpenOffice Gets Some Mainstream Press

Submitted by Aaron Benedict 2005-05-06 Office 50 Comments

The Associated Press has run a short review of OpenOffice.org 2.0 Beta. They ran into some beta-type problems with installation and stability, but overall found it to be a good alternative for casual Office users.

Rapid Prototyping using OS X Tools

Eugenia Loli 2005-05-06 macOS 18 Comments

In a continuing look at the Mac mini as an embedded development platform, this article shows how to rapidly prototype a simple application, looking at the variety of tools and glue available natively in Mac OS X.

PalmOne hard drive-based handheld on horizon

Eugenia Loli 2005-05-06 Wireless 32 Comments

PalmOne plans to announce later this month its first hard drive-based product line, broadening its device portfolio and leading another trend in the handheld market.

Desktop Virtualization: End of the Traditional Operating System?

Eugenia Loli 2005-05-05 OS News 86 Comments

"What Xen is, is a very thin layer of software that essentially presents to the operating system an idealized hardware abstraction," said Simon Crosby, vice president of marketing for XenSource. The OS is no longer glued to the hardware but floats above it, talking to Xen as if it were the machine.

Mono 1.1.7 Released

Submitted by Jon Davidson 2005-05-05 Mono 67 Comments

Mono 1.1.7 is out, more information here.

Fortress, next Fortran?

Submitted by ahmetaa 2005-05-05 General Development 33 Comments

Fortress is a new language for from a team that includes Guy Steele, Common Lisp guru and contributor of Java. Language is introduced as the "next Fortran". Fortress language spec and an early overview.

initng – or how to boot Linux faster

Submitted by Andre Eisenbach 2005-05-05 Linux 72 Comments

Jimmy Wennlund has been doing to Linux what Apple has done to Tiger: Make it boot faster. Jimmy wrote initng, a replacement for the Sys-V style "init" application. It allows for better service dependency checking and will start services in a highly parallel fashion, dramatically speeding up the Linux boot process.