OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

SCO Warns Open Source Community

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-09 SCO 40 Comments

In an open letter, SCO Chief Executive Darl McBride tells open-source developers they need to do a better job of policing themselves and sets sights on SGI.

IBM Charges Forward with Power 5

Submitted by emo 2003-09-08 IBM 20 Comments

IBM has previewed the designs for its upcoming 64-bit Power 5 processor, which the company states will augment total system performance by 40 percent over its predecessor. At last week's Hot Chips Conference in Palo Alto, Calif., IBM disclosed that it was incorporating simultaneous multi-threading into Power 5; the process takes chip multiprocessing to a new level where each chip tackles two threads as opposed to one.

New Windows Update to Cover More Products

Submitted by emo 2003-09-08 Windows 18 Comments

The fifth revision of Windows Update is set to enter beta testing, as Microsoft continues efforts to improve its facility for keeping customers' systems up to date. Windows Update V5 is slated to be a significant upgrade, eventually extending the service's reach beyond Windows to all Microsoft products. The company will initially support updates to Office 2003, as well as SQL and Exchange.

Apple Releases Java 1.4.1-Update1

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-08 Java 11 Comments

MacMinute reports that Apple today released Java 1.4.1 Update 1, a new version of its Java implementation for Mac OS X. The update adds the following enhancements: improved Java applet support for Safari and other Web browsers that support the Java Internet Plug-In; improved drawing correctness and performance; changes to Java 1.3.1 that provide support for Oracle11i client applications on Mac OS X; and improved stability, memory usage, and correctness. The update is available via the Mac OS X Software Update preference pane.

Epiphany 1.0 Released, Gnome 2.4 Release Imminent

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-08 Gnome 17 Comments

Epiphany is a GNOME web browser based on the Mozilla/Gecko rendering engine and today reached 1.0 status. It will be included as the default browser on Gnome 2.4, due to be released Wednesday.

Sun Gets Real with Mad Hatter

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-08 Oracle and SUN 25 Comments

"The more interesting question is whether Apple's QuickTime will also be a part of Mad Hatter or other desktop Linux offerings," says Yankee Group analyst Dana Gardner. The end user ideally should be able to access content in any format with a minimum of hassles. Read the article at NewsFactor.

Symbian Vs Linux: Who Will Win in Wireless? First 2.6 Embedded Linux

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-08 Linux 9 Comments

From NewMobileComputing: Operating systems do make a difference in mobile phones, writes Wireless Center Editor Guy Kewney—and Linux is looking stronger every day, eWEEK says. On other embedded news, LynuxWork's BlueCat Linux 5.0, based on a 2.6-series Linux kernel, is now available for public beta testing, with a projected final release date set for November. LynuxWorks claims this to be the first public availability of embedded Linux based on the new kernel. Key new features include: improved kernel preemption; 0(1) scheduler; improved POSIX threading support.

Novell Eyes Role of Linux Champion

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-08 Novell and Ximian 19 Comments

Novell will be the "catalyst" for desktop and enterprise Linux, according to its chairman and chief executive Jack Messman. VNUnet and TheRegister report. Should Red Hat start to worry?

Intel Unveils Budget Itaniums; Apple Announces New iMacs, iPods

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-08 Intel 12 Comments

Intel on Monday released a pair of Itanium 2 processors designed for rack-mounted servers and clusters as it attempts to expand the chip family's reach. On other hardware releases, Apple released faster iMacs, bigger iPods.

Trolltech Gets 2D Graphics Hardware Acceleration for QTopia

Submitted by Andrew Bloo 2003-09-08 Qt 21 Comments

SciTech Software, Inc. today announced a collaboration with Trolltech AS to provide desktop quality 2D graphics acceleration and great chip level compatibility for embedded Linux developers. As part of the announcement, SciTech has released SNAP Graphics IES for Qt/Embedded, Trolltech's embedded Linux GUI toolkit. Additionally, Trolltech now provides built-in support for SciTech SNAP.

Be-Microsoft Settlement Puts The Thumb Back On PC OEMs

Submitted by Kelly McNeill 2003-09-08 Haiku 42 Comments

"Should Be Inc. settle with Microsoft or should it hold out and wait for Massachusetts attorney general Tom Reilly to press for a fair settlement or penalty for the software giant? Assuming Massachusetts is sucessful, Be's task of being reinbursed for losses would be much easier. If Be settles, Microsoft would not have to admit wrongdoing." This means that Microsoft would be given a proverbial license to pressure PC OEMs to not install alternatives to Windows, the editorial states.

SkyOS Update and GUI Contest Round One Voting Open

Submitted by Hexydes 2003-09-08 SkyOS 46 Comments

SDL is now available for SkyOS. The popular cross-platform graphic/gaming library was ported to the operating system. Additionally, the complete TCP/IP stack was heavily bugfixed, resulting in much more reliable services like Web Browsing with SkyKruzer, domain name lookup and DHCP. Proxy support for SkyKruzer has been improved. Additionally, round one of the SkyOS GUI ReDesign Contest has begun. Over 30 entries were sent in, and the entries will be whittled down to 3 by way of an open community vote. Everyone is encouraged to view the designs and cast their votes.

First Sale vs. “Fair Play”: The iTunes Music Store Gets Tested

Guest post by Paul Cesarini 2003-09-08 Multimedia, AV 44 Comments

Thanks to a provision in the 1976 Copyright Act, U.S. law allows the first purchaser of copyrighted material (a book, CD, etc) to subsequently re-sell that item without the copyright owner's consent. In this age of online distribution and the budding, halting attempts at legitimizing it, is the the right to re-sell going to be upheld?

Analyst Predicts Breakup of Hewlett-Packard

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-08 In the News 23 Comments

A few weeks after Hewlett-Packard disappointed Wall Street for the first time since its $19 billion mega-merger with Compaq, an influential stock analyst has told clients he sees the eventual breakup of the company. Steve Milunovich, who follows big computer companies for Merrill Lynch, said he thinks HP will have to spin off its printer business or separate its consumer business from its corporate business.

Moving from Visual Basic to ASP.NET

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-08 .NET 4 Comments

Learn the similarities and differences between Web application development using ASP.NET and classic desktop application development. This article is aimed toward Visual Basic 6.0 developers who are interested in getting started with creating ASP.NET Web applications, and examines the differences between creating desktop applications with Visual Basic 6.0 and creating ASP.NET Web applications with Visual Basic .NET.

Portable.NET 0.5.12 Released

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-07 .NET 11 Comments

Portable.NET 0.5.12 has been released, and is available for download. This is mostly a bug fix release, heading up towards 0.6.0, but with substantial improvements throughout the system, particularly WinForms. The release date for DotGNU 0.1 has been fixed at end-September. For Portable.NET the goals are to get pnetC to basic usefulness, fix as many system.xml bugs as possible, and make the core button/textbox/scroll widgets work in WinForms. Screenshots available.

InfoWorld: Moving to a Mac

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-07 Apple 65 Comments

Chad Dickerson, CTO at InfoWorld, takes a ride with a forgotten 450 Mhz G4 Mac on his workplace and moves it home. Soon, he would be so impressed that the Mac would replace his Linux home server and one of his two Windows PCs. Last week, Chad gave us his opinion regarding Linux too.

The Age of Corporate Open Source Enlightenment

Submitted by Anonymous Coward 2003-09-07 Open Source 16 Comments

What will happen as more corporations see the open source light? Paul Ferris editorializes: "Like it or not, zealots and heretics are finding common ground in the open source holy war."

Plugging The Holes In Windows

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-07 Windows 38 Comments

Microsoft isn't known for the security of its software. But that's something the company is trying to change. Read the article at Forbes.

RISC OS Select 3i2 Update Available to Subscribers

Eugenia Loli 2003-09-06 RISC OS 12 Comments

Version 3i2 of RISC OS Select has been published online this evening by developers RISCOS Ltd., for Select subscribers. The install includes RISC OS 4.37 and this week's Toolbox release. Select 3i2 is described as the "final release version of Select 3" and is presumably the stabilised online release that will precede the eventual CD distribution in a few weeks. For more RISC OS news, make sure you visit the Drobe and IconBar sites daily.