Windows XP Starter Edition Review

In mid-2004, reports surfaced that Microsoft would soon ship an entry-level version of Windows XP, dubbed Windows XP Starter Edition, to customers in emerging markets such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia and India. Those markets, Microsoft said, needed locale-specific PCs that were easy to use, support, and sell. Read the review here.

The GNOME Journal, January Edition

The latest issue of The GNOME Journal has just been published. This second issue covers some technical articles, including CD/DVD creation, connecting to remote resources, and how to get help from the GNOME community. Also, will GNOME pass the Liberal Arts major test? Developer topic s are also covered, as Seth Nickell takes a look at the "Experimental Culture" surrounding GNOME development and Christian Hammond sheds light on the concept of desktop presence.

Apple Introduces the Mac Mini

Along with the iWork productivity suite ("Pages", a word processor with style) and the Shuffle Flash-based iPod, Apple introduced the Mac Mini: a small Mac Cube: 1.25/1.42 GHz G4, combo drive, 40/80 GB drive, fw/usb/ethernet/modem ports. This is the most affordable Mac ever, starting at $499. My Take: Very nice product, but I am dissapointed because it does not have Line-In and Mic connectors! The Mac Mini web pages advertise the product in conjuction to iLife big time but GarageBand feels pretty useless without such connectors! There is always the iMic of course, but hey.

Making the transition to 64 bits

As 64-bit PowerPC processors become more widely available, it becomes desirable to make applications run in the 64-bit computation mode, providing access to larger address space and faster 64-bit arithmetic. This excerpt from a longer Technical Library article covers some of the issues faced when porting existing 32-bit code to the new computing model -- or when embarking on new 64-bit development.

AvantGo 6.0: Overhaul Finally Arrives

The brand new AvantGo version offers improved wireless synchronization; an integrated Internet browser; real-time searching of AvantGo channels; a redesigned user interface with tabbed navigation, customized channel layout and small-screen optimized navigation. Also, users will now be able to add and remove channels directly from their device. Please note that OSNews fully supports most mobile browsers, including AvantGo (just create a custom subscription on your my.avantgo.com). Additionally, the text-only version of OSNews has been now optimized to look a bit better (3 weeks of slow dial-up in Greece forced me to use Firefox without "image loading" and so I took the time to optimize the site's looks for low-bandwidth usage). Here is a screenshot (subscriber's OSNews version is shown).