OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Windows XP Service Pack 2 – Security Information for Developers

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-12 Windows 9 Comments

With Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Microsoft is introducing a set of security technologies that will help improve Windows XP-based computers' ability to withstand malicious attacks from viruses and worms. These technologies include: Network protection, Memory protection, improved email security, safer browsing.

A Global Naming Schema for Menu Items

Guest post by Dennis Heuer 2004-08-12 Graphics 33 Comments

Last week the GNOME project released the second edition of their Human Interface Guidelines (HIG 2.0). The HIG is an effort to push a more consistent look and feel on the GNOME desktop, and it's worthwhile reading for other projects as well.

Mono: Core .NET

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-12 Mono 19 Comments

Light on theory and long on practical application, "Mono: A Developer's Notebook" book bypasses the talk and theory, and jumps right into Mono 1.0. Here is a PDF sample chapter of the newly released Mono book (we will have a review in a couple of weeks).

Differentiating Among BSD Distros

Submitted by BSD_User 2004-08-12 BSD & Darwin 33 Comments

Organizations that want to use a public Unix variant have two solutions from which to chose: Linux and BSD. The much talked about Linux camp contains a variety of distributions that include different utilities and tool sets. The same is true of the less frequently covered BSD camp. This article compares and contrasts the four main BSD variants and offers recommendations for both server/desktop solutions.

James Gosling’s own DE

Submitted by joe van meter 2004-08-12 General Development 23 Comments

"A couple of years ago I wrote a paper about what I'd do if I were asked to design a window system today. I never published it other than to hand it around to a few friends. So now, it's here," Java's James Gosling writes.

Installation step by step of Slackware 10.0

Submitted by William da Rocha 2004-08-12 Slackware, Slax 36 Comments

An article written for Geyson Rogério L. Silva was published in the site LinuxIT, showing Installation step by step of Slackware 10.0, Read article.

OmniWeb 5.0 now available

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-12 Internet 29 Comments

Following months of beta testing, the Omni Group today announced the availability of OmniWeb 5.0, a major update to its Mac OS X Web browser.

Beagle is Shaping Up on Novell’s Desktop

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-12 Novell and Ximian 40 Comments

Nat Friedman posted recently some new screenshots from within his Novell Desktop showing Beagle, the Dashboard evolution. Beagle indexes the file system for intelligent searches similar to Apple's Spotlight solution. It is also capable on searching the internet while integrates well with many Gnome apps like Evolution and Gaim, including file selectors. Notice how the spatial Nautilus opens a new window for each search, containing only the search results.

Microsoft lets companies block SP2 upgrade

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-12 Windows 35 Comments

Although Microsoft recommends that consumers turn on Automatic Update to get the latest version of Windows, the company is offering to let companies temporarily block such upgrades.

Waldo Bastian on Kiosk and the Linux desktop

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-11 KDE 7 Comments

For the third interview in the DOT's series previewing aKademy they approached Waldo Bastian, whose most recent major project has been the Kiosk framework. They talked to him about Kiosk, the new Kiosk Admin Tool, Linux on the corporate desktop and what we can expect from his talk at aKademy.

Why Games Matter

Guest post by Ian McKenzie 2004-08-11 Games 77 Comments

Nowadays most kids are introduced to computers at quite a young age and understand that their future careers and lives are going to involve using them substantially. For many of them, computer games are an important part of their learning computer skills and can lead to an interest in finding out more about computers, operating systems, software and so on.

Absoft Announces Pro Fortran Compiler Suite 9.0 for Macintosh OS X

Submitted by Jeff Livesay 2004-08-11 General Development 10 Comments

Absoft Corporation has announced immediate availability of its new high performance Pro Fortran tool kit version 9.0 for Macintosh OS X. Absoft’s Pro Fortran Compiler Suite is the most complete Macintosh Fortran tool kit available from any vendor and includes: Fortran 95 and C/C++ compilers, a powerful Integrated Development Environment, the market-leading Fx2™ Debugger, and free graphics libraries.

Trolltech Releases Qt 3.3.3

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-11 Qt 10 Comments

Trolltech released Qt 3.3.3, a bug fix release. Announcement, changelog.

Microsoft Announces Windows XP Starter Edition Pilot Program

Submitted by OSNews Witness 2004-08-11 Windows 41 Comments

Microsoft announced Wednesday it would offer a low-cost starter edition of its Windows XP operating system in Asia starting in October, as it strives to hold onto market share facing erosion from the open-source Linux system and software piracy.

Mac OS X Tiger to add OpenGL enhancements, PDF Kit, SQLite

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-11 macOS 13 Comments

Some of the less publicized features of Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" are beginning to emerge as developer sources compile notes from Apple's recent World Wide Developer Conference and preliminary tests of the next-generation operating system. Although the majority of the features are based on additions to less apparent and underlying technologies, the advances will aid developers in producing more feature rich and streamlined applications in shorter periods of time, sources said.

Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition Development Kit 1.7

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-11 Windows 3 Comments

The Windows XP Tablet PC Edition Development Kit facilitates building ink-enabled applications for Tablet PC. The combination of software and hardware in a Tablet PC enables these methods of user interaction and allows for a rich, interactive, and productive computing experience for users.

Interview with Ben Collins-Sussman of Subversion

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-11 General Development 2 Comments

This is an interview of Ben Collins-Sussman (of Subversion fame) conducted by Shlomi Fish. The next major version of Subversion, 1.1.0, is scheduled to be release on September.

Torvalds steps into Linux trademark fight

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-11 Linux 7 Comments

Linus Torvalds has been called on to help Australia's peak Linux association in a battle to stop local companies from trying to trademark the word "Linux."

Using advanced widgets in Perl/Tk

Eugenia Loli 2004-08-11 General Development 10 Comments

Perl is one of the most popular languages out there, and is used for everything from mission-critical projects to Web applications to "glue." It is not, however, often used for GUI programming and prototyping. The author thinks it should be, and you probably will too -- after this look at some of the more complex widgets available for Perl/Tk.

Building The Next Generation, Part 4: Usability

Guest post by Nicholas Blachford 2004-08-11 Editorial 47 Comments

Computers are complex systems but it's a mistake to assume they need to be complex to use. However, usability is not as easy as it may first seem. It is a different discipline from software development lacking the strict logic or having a "right way". There are only differing requirements and differing collections of guidelines. Making things easy is difficult.