OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Solaris on Course to Merge with Linux?

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Solaris 18 Comments

"When I interviewed Sun chief engineer Rob Gingell last August, he hinted at a blurring of the lines between Linux and Solaris, if not an outright merger. Said Gingell: "Five years from now, when all the tribes intermarry, who is going to know what's Solaris and what's Linux, and who's going to care?" Read the editorial at ZDNews.

Windows Server 2003 Editions Compared

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Windows 18 Comments

"Sure, Microsoft has its own table comparing the various Windows Server 2003 editions, but that version is incomplete, hard to read, and poorly organized, especially if you're interested in the features that are specific to the 64-bit editions of this product family. So here is my own comparative table, which I think you'll find to be much more readable." Check it out over at WinSuperSite.

Does Apple Still Have a Future?

Guest post by Tim Jiaqi 2003-04-10 Apple 109 Comments

I was desperately looking for something to write about when I happened to chance upon Apple’s new shipping system – a dual 1.42GHz Power Mac G4. A new system, a faster system, but does it mean a brighter future for Apple?

Microsoft Grants “full access” to Windows CE Source

Submitted by Jill 2003-04-10 Windows 18 Comments

Microsoft Corp. "dropped the other shoe" today, as it were, announcing the first source code sharing program for its Windows CE embedded operating system that allows developers and manufacturers to actually redistribute modified OS code in real products. Read the report at WindowsForDevices.

Gentoo 1.4-RC4 Released

Submitted by David Sinclair 2003-04-10 Gentoo 45 Comments

The Gentoo project released today the fourth RC of their upcoming Gentoo 1.4.

Apple Service Price Structure… and the 459 USD Plastic Clip

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Apple 29 Comments

OSNews' sister web site NewMobileComputing posted the experiences of a reader with Apple's service department over the support of an iBook.

Solaris 10 to Get Zoned

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Solaris 5 Comments

It's still a ways off, but when Solaris 10 arrives, Sun Microsystems will ship the OS with a new type of partitioning technology called Solaris Zones. Read the report at TheRegister.

OmniWeb 4.2 released; 4.5 to Use Safari’s WebCore

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-10 Internet 9 Comments

The Omni Group has released OmniWeb 4.2, an update to their web browser for MacOSX. OmniWeb 4.5 will be based on Apple's WebCore and JavaScriptCore frameworks, the KHTML-based technology that Apple has developed for its own Safari browser. Elsewhere, Opera released 7.10-TP4 for Linux.

Getting to Know FreeBSD 5.0

Guest post by Carl G. Mathisen 2003-04-09 FreeBSD 102 Comments

I have read many OS/distribution reviews in the last couple of years, but it always seems like it is distros like Red Hat, SuSe and Mandrake (and the fairly new distro, Lindows) that get all the attention. The light has sometimes moved towards other less "user friendly" distros as Slackware, Debian and so forth, but the main concern of the authors has always been the distros meant to be used by Joe User.

.NET Framework SDK v1.1 and Visual J# .NET v1.1 Released

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-09 .NET 27 Comments

The Microsoft .NET Framework SDK version 1.1 includes everything developers need to write, build, test, and deploy .NET Framework applications—documentation, samples, and command-line tools and compilers. You must install the .NET Framework Redistributable Package version 1.1 prior to installing the .NET Framework SDK. The Microsoft Visual J# .NET version 1.1 Redistributable Package includes everything you need to run your Visual J# .NET applications on a computer that already has the Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1 installed.

FreeBSD 5.x Boots on x86-64; Shatters 4GB RAM Barrier on IA32-x86

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-09 FreeBSD 12 Comments

Daily Daemonnews reports that support for PAE and bigger than 4GB Ram on x86 has been committed to FreeBSD -current. Also, Peter Wemm posted a message showing a dmesg output of a real AMD Clawhammer x86-64 processor booting up 5.0-CURRENT.

ExtremeTech Review: Red Hat 9 Marks Strategic Shift

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-09 Red Hat 39 Comments

"Red Hat has become one of the most widely deployed Linux distributions in the Enterprise space, and has long been a favorite of Linux devotees. Red Hat 8 introduced a new Gnome-based GUI that gave the OS a unique look and feel, and the company has continued to add more proprietary configuration tools designed to make system tweaking a graphical, rather than a command-line process." Read the article at ExtremeTech.

Microsoft Announces Support for AMD Opteron and Athlon 64

Submitted by Dennis 2003-04-09 Windows 14 Comments

Microsoft plans to deliver two specialized versions of its Windows operating system software for AMDs' forthcoming 64-bit processors. Full announcement here.

Sun Rolls Out Trusted Solaris for x86

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-09 Solaris 4 Comments

Sun Microsystems Inc. last week rolled out two new commercial versions of the Trusted Solaris operating system for the x86 platform. The decision to make Trusted Solaris available on Intel-based servers is part of a larger overall strategy to renew the company's commitment to the Unix-based OS on that platform.

Interview with Fink’s Project Leader Max Horn

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-09 Original OSNews Interviews 20 Comments

Today, we host a mini-interview with Fink's project leader, Max Horn. The Fink project wants to bring the full world of Unix Open Source software to Darwin and Mac OS X. They modify Unix software so that it compiles and runs on Mac OS X and make it available for download as a coherent distribution. Fink uses Debian tools like dpkg and apt-get to provide powerful binary package management and you can choose whether you want to download precompiled binary packages or build everything from source.

Inside the World of Secure Operating Systems

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-09 Privacy, Security 10 Comments

On a normal system, if an attacker gains root or administrator access, he or she can run rampant. Not so on a trusted system -- at least so long as it is properly configured. Read the article at NewsFactor.

Sun Sets a New Course; Sun to use AMD Opteron?

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-09 Oracle and SUN 6 Comments

Sun looks to spice up its product lines with new "Enchilada" servers, a storage management component for its N1 Data Platform and collaboration software that includes its own instant messenger. Can CEO Scot McNealy chart his company out of the shadows?

AMD Bets the House on Opteron

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-09 AMD 19 Comments

Dirk Meyer helped rescue Advanced Micro Devices from a tight spot once before. Now the company is hoping he can do the trick again. In his interview to ZDNet, he talks about the Opteron version of Windows, the Linux support for it, Athlon64 and more.

Getting Linux to your Workplace: A Small Business Guide

Eugenia Loli 2003-04-09 Linux 12 Comments

"Organizations can beneficially and successfully make the switch to Linux on the Desktop by keeping in mind two core factors. By applying the foundational principals behind two factors, even the most techno-phobic and proprietary software entrenched small sized companies can painlessly move to Linux on the Desktop." Read the story at ReallyLinux.

Porting The PF Stateful Packet Filter

Submitted by KernelTrap 2003-04-09 OpenBSD 8 Comments

KernelTrap offers an in depth look at the recent efforts to port OpenBSD's stateful packet filter, pf, to other operating systems.