OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Opinion: A User’s Journey to Linux Concludes on Xandros

Guest post by Xeta Prime 2004-01-29 Oracle and SUN 36 Comments

Before I add 'my' two cents worth upon the current heap of Xandros reviews, let me introduce myself... rather my Linux self. I am a noobie. Perhaps not such a newbie as a newbie could be since I have been playing with and learning Linux since 'Corel Linux' (1999-2000?). Before Corel I'd purchased a copy of a 1998 Turbo Linux in a discount store and was beyond elated to find something to mess with.

Yellow Dog Linux 3.0 for AmigaOne

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-29 Linux 24 Comments

Here you can download Yellow Dog Linux 3.0 version for the AmigaOne/Teron series of motherboards, AmigaWorld reports.

Microsoft Exec Discusses Company’s Embedded Roadmap

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-29 Microsoft 3 Comments

WindowsForDevices has published an extensive interview with Scott Horn, director of marketing for Microsoft's Embedded Devices Group, in which Horn discusses the embedded marketplace in general and Microsoft's strategic roadmap. The interview is interesting to developers for its discussions of the embedded market as a whole, and for the view it provides of Microsoft's competitive strategies.

Longhorn Overview at MSDN TV

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-29 Windows 24 Comments

For almost 20 years, Windows has been an ever-evolving graphical environment which has focused on providing users, as well as developers, easy access to the latest technologies, hardware, and services. "Longhorn", the codename for the next version of Windows, represents a significant jump in the definition of what a Windows Application is, and is capable of achieving. In this episode of the .NET Show, MSDN TV provides a general overview of the larger technology "pillars" of Longhorn, introducing their concepts, as well as showing some of the coding techniques for gaining access to them. Use Windows Media Player on Mac/Windows or Win32_Codecs on Unix/Linux to view the videos.

New Age Dawns at Eclipse; .NET Windows Forms from Java SWING

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-29 Java 25 Comments

Eclipse, an increasingly influential open-source development tools project, will kick off its first programmer conference next week amid strong industry momentum and lingering questions regarding its future direction. Elsewhere, learn how an application in Java SWING can invoke and display a Windows Form, pass parameters to the form and wait for a return value when the form is closed. This type of technique shows how organizations can introduce new forms and controls based on Windows Forms into an existing Java SWING environment and helping them to rapidly deploy .NET applications without having to rip out existing infrastructure or wait until new replacement applications are written.

Having Bitten the Forbidden Fruit, it Bit Me Back. Six Times

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-29 macOS 67 Comments

"I'm a long time Linux user. Let there be no mistake. I have Linux servers out the ying yang. But, two years ago I was smitten with OS X and the easy wireless connectivity that iBooks could give me. Two years later I'm abandoning OS X and Apple. Let me paint the picture." Read the the article at OSDir.

Native Code Sharing in Java 1.5

Submitted by Ruediger Klaehn 2004-01-29 Java 25 Comments

The respected German computer news site heise.de reports that the next version of java (java 1.5) will have a mechanism to share native code between multiple virtual machines. The feature, which is called class data sharing, will improve start times and reduce memory consumption for people who run multiple java VMs at the same time. This is especially important for client side java programs which use large gui libraries such as Swing.

GNU GCC versus Sun’s Compiler in the SPARC Platform

Guest post by Tony Bourke 2004-01-28 Benchmarks 38 Comments

When doing research for my evaluation of Solaris 9 on my Ultra 5, I kept running into one comment over and over again: Sun's C compiler produces much faster code than GCC does. However, I couldn't find one set of benchmarks to back this up. (If you know of any, drop me an email.) Could this be yet another case of rumor-taken-as-fact?

Sun Preps Second Version of Java Desktop; Review at MadPenguin

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-28 Oracle and SUN 34 Comments

Sun Microsystems Inc. plans to release midyear the second version of its Java Desktop System, featuring new tools for centralized management of client systems -- and a higher price tag. Sun released last year the debut version of the Java Desktop System (JDS), its attempt to win a share in the desktop operating system (OS) and applications market away from Microsoft Corp. The software is currently selling at a promotional price of $50 per user, per year, but the cost will rise to the product's planned selling price of $100 per user with JDS' second release, according to Peder Ulander, Sun's desktop products marketing director. MadPenguin posted a review with screenshots of JDS.

Motorola, IBM Endorse Genesi’s Open Desktop Workstation

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-28 Morphos 44 Comments

A new product arises from Genesi: The Open Desktop Workstation is based upon the Genesi Pegasos, a CHRP based motherboard. Integrating selected Open Firmware and running multiple (15+) operating systems, the Workstation is an extremely efficient, very expandable hardware solution for personal and business computer requirements. Both IBM and Motorola feature the new product in their pages.

Spawn of Debian faceoff: LibraNet 2.8.1

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-28 Debian 6 Comments

This is the fourth in a series of reviews of Debian-based distributions. The first three have covered the best known commercial distributions. LibraNet is aimed more at existing Linux users - including Debian users - than those from the Windows world. Read the review at NewsForge.

YellowTAB Zeta RC2 Review at ZetaJournal

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-28 Zeta 19 Comments

ZetaJournal posted parts 1 and 2 of their YellowTAB Zeta 1.0-RC2 review. Part 3 of the review will be published freely later today (already available in their forum -- to view, requires free login).

CodeTek Ships VirtualDesktop 3.0

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-28 macOS 15 Comments

CodeTek Studios is now shipping version 3.0 of VirtualDesktop, software that lets Mac OS X users work on multiple projects on separate—as the name implies—"virtual desktops." The latest version, which runs on both Mac OS X 10.2 and 10.3, adds support for Apple's X11, Panther's Expose feature, an auto-hide pager, enhanced hotkey support, improved AppleScript support and more. Check the differences between Lite and Pro versions here and read the rest of the report at MacMinute.

Windows Sequel Gets Set to Entertain

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-28 Windows 14 Comments

Microsoft plans to start testing a new version of its Windows XP Media Center edition, a customized operating system designed for entertainment-oriented PCs.

PCBurn on AMD64 Mandrake: Worst. Install. Ever.

Submitted by Travis Tilley 2004-01-28 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 27 Comments

"For those of you expecting a rundown of all the features in Mandrake 9.2 or a large number of screenshots, this is probably not the right article for you.

GNU/Linux Home Desktop Kit PC Project Part 5: User Defaults

Submitted by Kelly McNeill 2004-01-28 Linux 5 Comments

Linux has a unique opportunity to take advantage of its open source nature by offerings its users greater integration than even proprietary software can due to the fact that developers have access to both the code from the operating system as well as a large assortment of bundled applications. The following osViews editorial contribution is the fifth piece to a multipart series, ( | | | ) which outlines the framework for a consistent, full-featured Linux desktop platform that would help grow the operating system's desktop install-base among new users and Windows converts.

FreeBSD 5.2 Lacks Polishing In Some Areas but Rules in Others

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-27 FreeBSD 122 Comments

FreeBSD 5.2-RELEASE is the third major 5.x release for the next generation of the FreeBSD Unix system (release notes). For the last few years I only used the 4.x stable releases, waiting for a mature 5.x release to come out before trying it. I felt that the time had come with 5.2, but has it?

European Commission Reaches Decision To Fine Microsoft

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-27 Microsoft 86 Comments

The European Commission has reportedly reached a decision that Microsoft broke anticompetitive law and will face stiff fines, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Microsoft would not comment on the report but maintained that negotiations with the European Commission are still ongoing.

Microsoft Shines More Light on Longhorn

Eugenia Loli 2004-01-27 Windows 31 Comments

As Microsoft prepares developers and independent software vendors for Longhorn, the next version of its Windows operating system, the company wants to wean them off older Windows programming models. Elsewhere, Microsoft's Bill Gates took centre stage at yesterday's software developer day in London to convince UK software developers to stick with Microsoft, even though Longhorn, its next-generation operating system platform, is two to three years away.

KOffice 1.3 Released

Submitted by Waldo 2004-01-27 Office 34 Comments

Today, the KDE Project released KOffice 1.3 for Linux and Unix operating systems. Big improvements have been made in KOffice 1.3 with respect to interoperability with other office file formats. It is now for example possible to import as well as export OpenOffice.org documents. Also new is the ability to import PDF files into KWord and make changes to the document. Support for Microsoft document- formats has improved as well.