OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Opinion: The Annoying World Of Computing

Guest post by Thom Holwerda 2004-07-12 Editorial 108 Comments

This article describes some of my annoyances in computing. If you had any problems reading this article, then skip this one. It will only be a waste of your time. There are a lot of annoying things in the wonderful world of computing. Of course, nothing is perfect, but that doesn't mean we are not allowed to complain and scream and throw our keyboards at our monitors when yet another irritation pops up.

Better quality AmigaOS4-beta Video demo

Mike Bouma 2004-07-12 Amiga & AROS 68 Comments

Due to criticism regarding Crisot's first video, the beta-tester created a new video (24.7 MB file) to demonstrate the speed of OS4 running with a native version of P96 combined with an accelerated Voodoo 3 driver. This version shows almost no flickering and also shows Quake launching and running. Like with the previous video this is not an official OS4 demonstration.

XFce 4.0.6 Released

Eugenia Loli 2004-07-12 Xfce 31 Comments

XFce is an easy-to-use and easy-to-configure environment for X11 based on GTK+ 2. Various bugfixes including cropped icons with recent GTK+ 2.4 releases were fixed in this new version.

Microsoft launches new developer support program

Eugenia Loli 2004-07-12 Microsoft 22 Comments

Microsoft is launching new initiatives intended to make the Windows operating system a more attractive target for software developers.

A Talk by Bruce Eckel: Java Issues & Directions

Submitted by TTF 2004-07-11 Java 37 Comments

A very interesting talk by Bruce Eckel (author of "Thinking in C++" and "Thinking in Java") on Java issues and directions, at UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business on 25-Jun-2004. Link for Real streaming video here.

Isn’t Now the Time to Try a Linux Desktop?

Eugenia Loli 2004-07-11 Linux 146 Comments

The crackers currently have the whip hand over Windows, and Microsoft's assertion that Internet Explorer is now part of the operating system shows its flawed reasoning. Worried sick about the latest rash of Internet Explorer security problems? I have the perfect solution for you, one that's even better than switching to Mozilla, Firefox or Opera. Switch operating systems: Go to Linux, says eWEEK.

EkkoBSD released version 1.0 Beta 2

Submitted by Low Kian Seong 2004-07-11 BSD & Darwin 15 Comments

Fresh back from their break, the EkkoBSD team has released another beta of their BSD flavour for general consumption.

Apple Makes a Play for Windows NT Orphans

Eugenia Loli 2004-07-10 Apple 46 Comments

Apple hopes to woo stranded Windows NT 4.0 migrators with a migration tool it's building into the Tiger Server, due out in the first half of 2005.

New BSD Development Company

Submitted by David Rhodus 2004-07-10 FreeBSD 20 Comments

SilverOS is a stable version of FreeBSD 4.x based on an early preview of the upcoming DragonFly BSD 1.0 release. SilverOS exists to be the convergence point of stablity and innovative design, drawing from successful research collaborations including IBM's K42 Research Project. SilverOS is a commercially supported BSD system from a company that has a proven track record in innovative BSD design, development, and deployment. http://www.crescentanchor.com.

The Avalon Control Content Model: What Happened to Control.Text?

Eugenia Loli 2004-07-10 General Development 6 Comments

Jeff Bogdan explores Avalon's control content model, a concept that can be nearly missed by the developer on first encounter, but one that provides extreme flexibility when meeting the demands of richer scenarios.

How to Write a Basic Gtk# Program with Mono

Eugenia Loli 2004-07-10 Mono 28 Comments

O'Reilly's upcoming Mono: A Developer's Notebook walks you through nearly 50 mini-projects that will introduce you to the most important and compelling aspects of the 1.0 release. This article, which shows you how to install Mono on Windows, how Gtk# works, and how to write a simple Gtk# program, is just the sort of mini-project you'll find in the book.

DragonflyBSD, the Innovator

Submitted by Low Kian Seong 2004-07-10 FreeBSD 30 Comments

This bit of interview with DragonflyBSD's core from ONLamp's BSD advocacy page will give you a nice introduction into what is DragonflyBSD, how it evolved from FreeBSD's 4.x series.

LWN: A look at Slackware 10.0

Submitted by anonymous coward 2004-07-10 Slackware, Slax 42 Comments

The long-awaited Slackware 10 release has hit the streets, so to speak. Though Patrick Volkerding's Slackware wasn't the very first Linux distribution (it was originally based on the SLS distribution) it has outlived all of its predecessors. First released on July 16, 1993, Slackware has come a long way since its floppy-based origins -- though in some ways, it has also remained very much the same. More here...

GLib/GTK+ 2.4.4 released

Eugenia Loli 2004-07-10 GTK+ No Comments

The bug-fixed GLib-2.4.4 is now available for download here. UPDATE: And here is GTK+ 2.4.4.

Mac OS X Jaguar, Panther, Tiger Benchmarks

Eugenia Loli 2004-07-09 macOS 9 Comments

GeekPatrol put together some benchmark results (using XBench) for the last 3 versions of Mac OS X (only read the numbers, the percentages are calculated wrong). Tiger is close to Panther overall, but the final version will probably be faster as it will be further optimized and without debug symbols.

Editorial on Open source Software Usability

Eugenia Loli 2004-07-09 Editorial 54 Comments

"Poor usability is a huge barrier to wider open source adoption. Our backends have matured and we consistently achieve technical excellence. Usability is the one area we have not yet mastered. For some reason, we treat it as a mystery instead of looking at it as a problem we can solve the same way we solve all other technical problems." Read the editorial at NewsForge.

Next X.Org Foundation release plan

Submitted by Josh 2004-07-09 Wayland 43 Comments

Discussions for the future of XOrg are up at Freedesktop.org.

A Six-Step Plan for Apple

Eugenia Loli 2004-07-09 Apple 50 Comments

While iPods sizzle, Macs and laptops are sluggish, says Alex Salkever. It doesn't have to be that way. Here's how to get that computer market share surging.

Back Up Linux

Eugenia Loli 2004-07-09 Privacy, Security 21 Comments

The loss of critical data can prove devastating. Still, millions of professionals ignore backing up their data. While individual reasons vary, one of the most common explanations is that performing routine backups can be a real chore. Because machines excel at mundane and repetitive tasks, the key to reducing the inherent drudgery and the natural human tendency for procrastination, is to automate the backup process.

Defining and Using Generics in Visual Basic 2005

Submitted by jayson knight 2004-07-09 .NET 10 Comments

This article provides an overview of the generics feature in Visual Basic 2005, and explains the basic concepts involved in defining and using generics and their usefulness to the Visual Basic developer.