SnapGear Embedded Linux Distro Boasts 2.6 kernel, Merged uClinux
Version 3.0 of SnapGear Embedded Linux, based on Linux kernel 2.6, is now available for free download. The latest SnapGear security-oriented embedded Linux distribution is claimed to be the "world's first production Linux system powered by the 2.6 kernel" -- but is also a watershed release in that for the first time, commercial developers can use a stable Linux kernel distribution, without patching, to build deeply embedded systems on devices without a memory management unit (MMU).
Windows XP MCE 2004 Released
Microsoft released Windows XP MCE 2004 today. Winsupersite published a review of Microsoft's new MCE. To coincide with todays launch of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004, Microsoft has also posted a few new PowerToys: "Alarm Clock" and "Playlist Editor" PowerToys.
OpenQNX: QNX News and Tutorials
OpenQNX has become the main news portal these days for the QNX fans. It includes some interesting news articles and also two tutorials: "QNX NC Install Without Burning a Disc" & "QNX & VMWare 4.0".
Apple’s New Powerbook Shines
Here is our review of the new 1.25 GHz 15" Powerbook G4.
FreeBSD 4.9-RC1 Available for Testing
Software’s Gentler Giant?
Microsoft is used to winning; Now CEO Steve Ballmer is trying to win some friends.
Microsoft Agrees to TRON tie-up
US software giant Microsoft will tie up with a Japanese non-profit group to develop next generation operating systems for everything from refrigerators to mobile phones. The tie-up would enable appliances, cars and other gadgets worldwide that operate on the group's free TRON operating system to eventually work like personal computers.
Lindows.com Responds To Microsoft
After Microsoft threatened to sue Lindows.com over the introduction of MSFreePC.com, a service provided to help Californians who are set to receive a settlement from Microsoft in their antitrust case, Lindows.com CEO Michael Robertson took the offensive with this letter to Microsoft. Anything but subtle, I'd say.
Ig Nobel Prizes Awarded October 2
The Ig Nobel Prize, awarded to "honor people whose achievements cannot or should not be reproduced," is coming up soon, and USA Today has a nice overview of the awards and their history . Don't miss the related story, Ig Nobel Lowlights Through the Years.
Commercial Trojan Horse Spyware
A company is maketing a product called Lover Spy, which allows the customer to send a "greeting" to an acquaintance. That greeting contains a hidden application that installs itself on the victim's computer and reports back information on that person's online activities. It's intended to be a way for jealous lovers to keep tabs on their partner. It's a remote version of the old "install a keystroke logger on your boyfriend" trick. It's also probably illegal in the United States.
Freedesktop.org’s HAL 0.1 Released
In the dawn of the renovation of freedesktop.org's web site, David Zeuthen announced the release of HAL 0.1. HAL is an implementation of a hardware abstraction layer, as defined by Havoc Pennington's paper. It encompasses a shared library for use in applications, a daemon, a hotplug tool, command line tools and a set of stock device info files. Carlos Perelló Marín also announced the design of a similar concept, but it is expected the two projects to merge. More people are encouraged to join this innovative project. Elsewhere, Gnome's Seth Nickell is giving us a first taste of his effort to replace the Init system.
Fortnightly Q&A with Fleecy Moss – Session 20
Session 20 of the Fortnightly Questions and Answers sessions with Amiga's Chief Technology Officer Fleecy Moss are now online.
Followup Interview with Gentoo/PPC Team
PPCnux published a followup interview with Pieter Van den Abeele, David Holm, Lars Weiler and Sascha Schwabbauer from the Gentoo/PPC team. They are currently working on out of the box cross compilation for OSX, Cygwin and Linux.
SuSE Plans Longer Linux Cycle
Linux distributor SuSE said last week that future versions of the open source operating system may arrive at a slower rate, a move designed to increase stability for users. UPDATE: SuSE Linux 9.0 offers sneak peek at 2.6 Linux kernel, 32/64-bit support, and easier Windows migration, the official press release says. Chris Schläger, Director of Distribution Development at SuSE, explains some details of the most important new features.
Microsoft to Reveal More Longhorn Details
Microsoft is expected next month to disclose more details on Longhorn, its planned upgrade to Windows, as the company looks to drive demand for the forthcoming operating system. At its Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles, the Redmond, Wash., software maker will detail Longhorn's underlying graphics and user interface technology, code-named Aero/Avalon.
AfterStep 2.00-beta2, Cairo 1.5 Released
AfterStep is an X window manager which started by emulating the NeXTSTEP look and feel and changed along the way. The new version fixes compilation bugs, shaped windows bugs, I18N bugs, move-resize bugs, Pager bugs, and more have been fixed. Mouse cursor changing has been reimplemented in different parts of the window. look.glass has been updated. Desktop session saving and restoring has been implemented. In other X releases, Cairo is an X11 vector graphics library with cross-device output support. Version 1.5 was released today.
Microsoft Buffs up its Media Center XP; Chinese to Study Source Code
With an upgrade to the Windows XP variant due Tuesday, the software maker aims to address critiques from its earliest customers. Dell, Sony and other PC makers are standing by. In the meantime, the Chinese government has set up a lab to study Microsoft Windows source code.
Longhorn To Get NUI Foundation Platform
Microsoft is working to add 'rich user interaction' to its next-generation Windows client.
Red Hat Linux Fights Off Worms
The forthcoming Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 suite will include a new feature to thwart worms & hackers.