OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Plan A for Microsoft

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-06 Windows 44 Comments

Is Microsoft's new version of Windows a radical innovation or a return to the company's winner-take-all software strategy from a decade ago? Read the report at News.com.

Book Review: Linux Kernel Development

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-06 Linux 10 Comments

The Linux phenomenon gets bigger by the day and more developers are drawn into developing for it. The heart of this very phenonmenon is its kernel and as time goes by it becomes more mature but also bigger and more complex. New developers would have trouble diving in and code for it, hence the "Linux Kernel Development" book by well known kernel hacker Robert Love (of preemptive-patch fame).

First Impressions and Screenshots from Fedora Core 1

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-06 Fedora Core 119 Comments

After a few coasters because of the bad quality CDs we bought at Fry's for 8 bucks some time ago (avoid the "GQ, Great Quality" brand at all costs, they only seem to work well with selected burners no matter the burning speed used), I burned and installed Fedora Core 1 successfully. Update: Get mp3 support for your Fedora's XMMS 1.2.8 from here (mirror). Also, here are four screenshots:

Microsoft To Release Virtual PC 2004 To Manufacturing Next Week

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-06 Microsoft 18 Comments

Microsoft's acquisition of Connectix's assets is beginning to bear fruit on the Windows side of the market. The software giant Monday plans to announce the release to manufacturing of its newly branded and enhanced Microsoft Virtual PC 2004, formerly known as Connectix Virtual PC.

Linux Kernel “Back Door” Attempted

Submitted by Jeremy Andrews 2003-11-06 Linux 29 Comments

KernelTrap has a very interesting article about a recent attempt to sneak a "back door" into the Linux 2.6 kernel. Evidently someone managed to break into the CVS server that mirrors the kernel source tree and add a small patch allowing one to locally obtain "root" super-user access. Fortunately, during an export from the master BitKeeper version of the kernel source tree into the CVS mirror, the change was detected and quickly removed.

Introducing REBOL with Amazingly Easy GUI Programming

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-06 General Development 12 Comments

"I like REBOL for many reasons. In this article I'll focus on one, the integrated GUI system, and I'll show you how to build a front end for a small email-based survey and feedback system." Read the article at OnLamp by Gregg Irwin.

Novell And Red Hat Poised For Linux Battle

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-06 Linux 21 Comments

Red Hat plans to push a similar open-source infrastructure stack as part of its recent debut of Enterprise Linux 3. However, the Raleigh, N.C.-based company, which did not offer comment on the Novell-SuSE merger, lacks a global channel and a scaled-up technical-support organization of Novell, whose NetWare networking software continues to serve more than 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies, Novell executives said. Read the report at Yahoo! news.

Apple Says Could Move to Intel, but Happy with IBM

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-06 Apple 67 Comments

The latest version of the Mac OS X operating system could easily run on Intel chips, but Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs said on Wednesday that the company has little interest in changing processors. "It's perfectly technically feasible to port Panther to any processor," Jobs said at a meeting with financial analysts. But Jobs said the company is happy with IBM's PowerPC family of chips and feels the performance is "quite competitive."

How can Free Software Compete with Commercial Developers?

Submitted by Datschge 2003-11-06 Open Source 26 Comments

"The amazing thing about the free vs. proprietary software race is that free software is in it at all. With all the resources larger proprietary software companies have at their command, you'd think their products would be unfailingly easy to use, virtually bug-free, and priced so low that no one would mind paying for them. But this is not the case. Why isn't it?" Read the article at NewsForge.

Details on the over 140 Sessions Presented at PDC 2003

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-06 Windows No Comments

Get details on the over 140 sessions presented at PDC 2003, including slides and source code downloads for many of the sessions.

One User’s Thoughts on FreeBSD 4.9

Guest post by Corey Holcomb-Hockin 2003-11-05 FreeBSD 41 Comments

I've been using computers since I was quite young and have been using Unixlike OSes for about two years. Most of my life I've used Macs and only started using Windows and Unixlike OSes recently for programming. I'm good at learning OSes as long as they are documented. I've been using FreeBSD for about a year and a half.

Red Hat-sponsored Fedora Core 1 Released

Submitted by Redhat follower 2003-11-05 Fedora Core 78 Comments

The first release of Fedora Core is now available. Download from here or use BitTorrent. Changelog.

Linux [Is/Is Not/Soon to be] Ready for the Desktop

Submitted by kanezfan 2003-11-05 Linux 138 Comments

Here is your almost daily dose of different views on the subject of Linux desktop readiness: "Linux is Desktop Ready", "Why desktop Linux can't succeed in its present state" and "Is the Age of Desktop Linux Approaching?" Enjoy the diversity!

Mono Roadmap; GTK# 0.12

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-05 Mono 8 Comments

This document describes the high-level roadmap for Mono. Mono 1.0 is expected in 2004 and 2.0 in 2006. Mike Kestner released Gtk# 0.12 recently.

XAML: Create Real Apps Using New Code and Markup Model

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-05 General Development 16 Comments

The new presentation subsystem in the next version of Windows, code-named "Longhorn," offers powerful new capabilities to developers. This new subsystem, code-named "Avalon," allows developers to take advantage of its capabilities through a language—Extensible Application Markup Language (code-named "XAML"), as well as through modern object-oriented programming languages such as C#. Because most applications written to Avalon will probably be a mix of XAML and programming code, this article discusses XAML tags used to control page layout along with the procedural code written to respond to events.

Novell, SuSE Execs Detail Linux Plans

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-05 Novell and Ximian 16 Comments

"Linux: A new balance of power" an analysis at ZDNet is titled, while eWEEK has a report on Novell, SuSE execs detailing their plans.

Intel Mulls Metal Over Silicon for New Chips

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-05 Intel 8 Comments

Moore's Law is alive and well, but Intel is changing its basic semiconductor recipes to make sure that it stays that way.

Longhorn Videos Show Latest Aero UI

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-05 Windows 40 Comments

Longhorn WMV videos at WinSuperSite: Longhorn user experience scenarios: "Longhorn addresses the needs of all users, whether beginner or advanced." Latest Aero prototype: Cool Start Menu animation and media player Sidebar tile."

The Old GNU

Guest post by Tom Onoma 2003-11-05 Editorial 82 Comments

Microsoft's new version of the Windows operating system, code named Longhorn, is scheduled for release in 2005/2006. I believe that this new version of Windows is Microsoft's trump card in its, yet early, battle against Linux on the desktop and the Open Source Software (OSS) movement in general.

Novell’s SuSE Purchase in Perspective

Eugenia Loli 2003-11-05 Novell and Ximian 51 Comments

"We listened to the inevitable "We all love each other and everything is going to be wonderful" press conference, looked at readers' reactions to the original Novell buys SuSE announcement, monitored and asked questions in assorted IRC channels, and talked to contacts at Novell, SuSE, Ximian, and elsewhere. But whatever we say (or anyone else says) this week, don't expect the full effect of Novell's SuSE purchase to be visible for at least two months; the purchase isn't expected to become final until January, 2004." Read the article at NewsForge, while check here for an analysis at ZDNews about it too. Update: See detailed comments from former-Ximianites Miguel de Icaza and Nat Friedman.