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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

"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.

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.

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.

Collaborating with co-workers in the same office is painful enough, but it's nigh impossible over a network. Now researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have designed a new system that cleverly blends a video-conference feed with a transparent image of a computer desktop into one full-screen window.

A video (20MB, DivX) made by an OS4 betatester, demonstrating the native graphics drivers has been made available. This is not an official OS4 demonstration, just one users machine. The picture quality is low, but it gives an idea of the current graphics speed.

The first release candidate shows strong virtual machine management—from Windows 2003 servers.

Preproduction models of Apple’s recently announced 2.5GHz liquid cooled Power Mac G5 computers are running a new version of the Mac OS X operating system, according to sources. UPDATE: More info about the 10.3.5 version.

This article is a quick overview of scheduling in operating systems and presents Bossa, a research project on operating system schedulers and domain-specific languages.

The VAX system at Triumph Components has been in use since about 1996, and information systems manager Dan Blackshear couldn't be happier with it. There's just one problem: He's got to scrap it. The system is fast, works well with Windows and "fits into the modern environment very cleanly" at the El Cajon, aerospace parts maker, said Blackshear. "But it's a dinosaur, and eventually it has to go".