OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Another AmigaOS4 update available

Mike Bouma 2004-12-27 Amiga & AROS 35 Comments

Hyperion Entertainment and the Amiga OS4 development team have announced the immediate availability of another update of the Amiga OS 4.0 Developer Pre-release for all registered users. Also in addition to AmigaOne hardware and older BlizzardPPC / CyberstormPPC equipped classic Amigas, new AmigaOS4 supported PPC hardware for classic Amiga 1200 computers has recently been announced.

Calling Components Safely

Eugenia Loli 2004-12-27 Privacy, Security 11 Comments

Clicking on a hypertext link while viewing a PDF file shouldn't be a security problem as long as you trust the viewer it invokes. But users of xpdf version 0.90 discovered that this assumption was an extremely bad one. When an xpdf user clicked on a hypertext link, xpdf started up a viewer (Netscape by default) and sent the URL to the viewer. So far, so good. But the xpdf developers decided to start up the viewer by using the system() call. That was the bad idea..

Firebird 1.5.2 is Released

Submitted by Juarez Rudsatz 2004-12-27 Databases 31 Comments

Firebird V1.5.x is the first release of the Firebird 2 codebase and represents a significant milestone for the developers and the whole Firebird project, but it is not an end in itself. With these release, major development continues toward the next point release on the journey to Firebird V2.0.

Debian Installation with the Net-Installer RC2

Guest post by Luis Lima 2004-12-27 Debian 34 Comments

There are many ways of installing Debian, this is just how I do it. This guide is dedicated to all the newbies out there, and users with old boxes. Update: Screenshots here.

Great Moments in Microprocessor History

David Adams 2004-12-27 Hardware 28 Comments

The microprocessor changed the world: how did we get from the first 4-bit models in the 1970s to today's 64-bit multicore monsters? This article covers the history of the micro from the vacuum tube to today's dual-core multithreaded madnes.

Windows XP Service Pack 2: The Inside Story

Eugenia Loli 2004-12-27 Windows 51 Comments

In early December, Paul Thurrot sat down with Todd, Ryan Burkhardt, and Jon Murchinson to discuss XP SP2 and the virtual team that made it happen. Here is their story.

MenuetOS 0.77 Released

Submitted by Sergey 2004-12-27 OS News 7 Comments

In the newly released 0.77 of MenuetOS you will find Dosbox, ScummVM and Doom I ports; 3Com and Sis900 ethernet drivers; Improved protection, hd and floppy support. Additionally, 0.78-pre versions were also released.

Qtopia PDA Edition Released Under GPL License

Eugenia Loli 2004-12-27 Qt 37 Comments

Mobile News Qtopa 2.1 PDA Edition, the latest version of Trolltech's development platform and user interface for Linux-based personal digital assistants (PDAs), is now available for download under the open source GNU general public (GPL) license. If someone installs it, please send us a screenshot of how its browser renders OSNews.

Keeping FreeBSD Applications Up-To-Date

Submitted by TTF 2004-12-27 FreeBSD 5 Comments

This article is a sequel to the author's previous work "Keeping FreeBSD Up-To-Date".

Domains and Objects in Windows Server 2003

Eugenia Loli 2004-12-26 Windows 13 Comments

Jesse Smith reviews two of the new features of Windows Server 2003 Active Directory 1.1: raising domain functional levels and using saved queries to simplify administrative tasks.

Java 2D Progress on BeOS & Video Footage

Submitted by Chris Simmons 2004-12-26 Haiku 39 Comments

Bryan Varner has created a video which shows Java2D working on BeOS. A mini-interview is also featured which details what has happened during the past few months, and where Java on BeOS is headed.

Linux kernel 2.6.10 released

Submitted by J@F 2004-12-25 Linux 55 Comments

The Linux kernel 2.6.10 was released, full details here.

HawkinsOS Update

Submitted by Tim Hawkins 2004-12-25 BSD & Darwin 36 Comments

An Update has been posted on the HawkinsOS web site. It discusses the purpose of the operating system and why it has been delayed.

GNOME 2.9.3 Released

Submitted by Philipp Esselbach 2004-12-25 Gnome 28 Comments

GNOME 2.9.3 Development Release is now available, more info here.

Opera Browser Beta Adds Voice, More

David Adams 2004-12-24 Opera 56 Comments

According to an article at DesktopLinux.com, the first public beta of Opera 8 is available for free download. It adds voice input/output and a host of other niceties. Key new features include improved RSS handling, fit to window or paper width, a start-bar for easy access to the most commonly used functions, and automatic update checks. The beta release supports Windows only, but a general release is scheduled for early 2005.

Craft a load-balancing cluster with ClusterKnoppix

David Adams 2004-12-24 Linux 12 Comments

The cluster, a collection of computers that work together, is an important concept in leveraging computing resources because of its ability to transfer workload from an overloaded system (or node) to another system in the cluster. This article explains how to set up a load-balancing Linux cluster using Knoppix-based LiveCDs.

Exploits Released for New Windows Flaws

Submitted by danjr 2004-12-24 Privacy, Security 33 Comments

A Chinese company has released sample code that exploits new vulnerabilities in the Windows operating system. The LoadImage function and Windows Help program are both affected.

Xfce 4.2 Release Candidate 3 Released

Submitted by Metin Amiroff 2004-12-24 Xfce 25 Comments

The third Release Candidate of the new version 4.2 of Xfce is now available for download. This third Release Candidate provides several bugfixes over the second Release Candidate. Also see the graphical installation wizards and changelog.

Novell Open Enterprise Server Public Beta available

Submitted by Bert Plat 2004-12-24 Novell and Ximian 6 Comments

A public beta for Open Enterprise Server has been released. A fresh install is necessary, as they do not support an upgrade from Beta 4.

Autopackage 0.7 Released

Submitted by Rahul Sundaram 2004-12-24 General Development 35 Comments

Autopackage, a Linux distribution neutral binary packaging framework has released a new version. New features include: First API stable release, Self contained Installers, Multi architecture support, Better documentation, Support for internationalisation, Support for Gconf schemas, A brand new graphical management software for easy uninstallation of autopackaged apps. A 1.0 release is expected by Feb 2005.