IBM Launches New AIX Version
The previous version of AIX, version 5.1, had static partitions, which meant administrators had to reboot after making changes to system resource utilization, Giga's Brad Day said. In a competitive move against Sun Microsystems, IBM has released new eServer software designed to let customers harness the untapped power within their Unix systems.
KDE 3.0.4 Released
The KDE project just released KDE 3.0.4 for Mandrake (8.2, 9.0 and Cooker), Debian, SuSE (7.3, 8.0 and 8.1), Slackware (under the contribution dir) and TurboLinux. Read the ChangeLog here, however it is important to note that this is bugfix release. Update: Read regarding the recent KDE League issue.
WindowWatch Reviews Libranet GNU/Linux 2.7
"Libranet is Canada's foremost Linux distribution. They have succeeded where others have failed. As far as I know, they are the only commercial distribution based on Debian left standing. Perhaps their success is due to the added value they provide to what is essentially an easier to use Debian 3.0 release, or perhaps it's their attention to detail; making the small things easy for new users. They have actively fostered a growing and enthusiastic user community that willingly participates in their beta releases and in educating users new to both Libranet and Debian. People from Libranet also interact very openly with the user community paying attention to their praises and concerns. Whatever it is that they do right it seems to be paying off." Read the review at WindowWatch.
Microsoft Adds XDocs to Office Family
Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday will announce XDocs, the working code name for the latest addition to its Office desktop productivity family. Steve Ballmer, CEO of the Redmond, Wash., software company, will use the Gartner ITxpo in Orlando, Fla., to announce this latest Office application. Microsoft officials are promoting XDocs as a smart client like Office. "Think of it as a hybrid information gathering tool for organizations that blends the benefits and richness of a traditional word processing program with the data capturing ability and rigor of a forms package into the XDocs templates," Scott Bishop, an Office product manager, told eWEEK.
Interview with Taylor & Pennington from Red Hat’s UI Team
Arguably, the new unified UI on Red Hat 8 was the talk of the town for the whole summer since the Limbo betas. Today we talk with two of the leading people behind Red Hat's enhanced usability and UI found on 8.0-Psyche, Havoc Pennington (also known for his work on the Metacity window manager) and Owen Taylor (lots of cool stuff on XFree's side). We discuss about XFree and its capabilities, about Linux's ability to fullfil a modern desktop for every user, about the unification of Qt and GTK+ and more.
SGI Comments on IRIX’s Release Model
We ran a story the other day regarding the future patches for IRIX that would only be available via special contracts. SGI sent OSNews the following statement regarding the patches/maintance releases and feature streams (==updates that include new features) for IRIX 6.5.
Sun Appeals to Large Server Users with Solaris Update
Sun on Tuesday released an incremental upgrade of its Solaris Unix operating system for the Sparc platform, improving memory management and quality of service and adding developer versions of it portal and Web servers. Solaris 9 9/02 features Memory Placement Optimization (MPO), which optimizes memory placement in large multiprocessor servers to take advantage of local memory and thereby improve performance, according to Sun.
Dell to Pitch $199 Handheld at Comdex
Dell Computer is planning to unveil two handhelds--one priced at $199--based on Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 OS this fall, according to sources. This possibly will be the cheapest PocketPC to date, which can create lots of market and sell problems to Palm's new products. In the meantime, Sharp is preparing the new Zaurus. A great place to stay in touch with mobile computing, would be InfoSync.
A Closer Look at MorphOS on the PEGASOS
Last Saturday I attended a MorphOS demonstration in Rotterdam. MorphOS is a PPC AmigaOS clone capable of executing many 68k and PPC classic AmigaOS software titles through seamlessly integrated emulation. This article takes a close look at MorphOS' current state of development and includes some recent screenshots of the PPC native Ambient GUI environment.
Red Hat 8.0: The New Ease and Power Linux Champ
"Recently, I tried out Red Hat's new version 8.0 ("Psyche") on my testing machine -- a machine whose purpose in life is to prevent me from making stupid mistakes with actually important data, equipped with a hard drive that's frequently wiped and refilled from scratch. Without trying to strain your credulity, I will say up front that Psyche's installation process (and the finished, freshly-installed system) is the best combination of ease and power that I've seen yet in any version of Linux to hit my hard drive." Read Tim's review at NewsForge. Also, TheRegister hosts a RH review, titled "Red Hat 8.0's bid for the simple, easy to use Linux desktop".
Microsoft Faces 64-Bit Challenge
Datacenter update promises performance boost and new roads for software developer. Microsoft's first operating system designed for the corporate data center has garnered sparse acceptance since its release last year, but the software is on the verge of a performance upgrade that experts say could put it on the road to corporate recognition. Read it at PCWorld.
FreeBSD 4.7-RC3 Final Release Candidate Available
FreeBSD Release Engineering team's Murray Stokely announces that FreeBSD 4.7-RC3 (i386) is now available for FTP network installs. This includes the recent LDT patch and the final package set that will be used on the CDROMs/DVDs. Read the announcement at BSDForums.
Sun CEO: We’re “Good Enough”
McNealy, speaking at a technology conference sponsored by market research firm Gartner, attempted to explain Sun's position of supporting both the open-source Linux operating system and its own Solaris Unix operating system. He said Sun may have erred by pushing customers to adopt complex Sun systems built on Solaris and a 64-bit architecture, when more slimmed-down systems would suffice.
Countdown Begins for .Net Server 2003
Microsoft is putting the finishing touches on the second release candidate, or near-final testing version, of Windows .Net Server 2003, sources said. The clock is ticking for Windows .Net Server 2003, an operating system that is used to run high-end computers that manage everything from checking passwords to keeping track of a corporate payroll. The new system is also the foundation of Microsoft's .Net Web services initiative, geared to power advanced Internet operations. Also, Microsoft is considering charging for additional security options, and admits it didn't move on security until customers were ready to pay for it.
Is Linux Taking Over the Enterprise?
"In recent years, Linux has proven itself a credible alternative server operating system, and application support has also improved greatly. These days, the question is not whether you can use Linux, but where you can best use it. Is there more to Linux than Apache and file and print serving? If you've spent any time hanging around Linux-friendly discussion sites such as Slashdot in the past few years, you could be forgiven for thinking that Linux is still poised to take over the world. Reality is not quite as kind." Read the article at TechUpdate.
Red Hat 8.0 for KDE Users (and Newbies)
I know what you're thinking, but don't worry. This article isn't 'Yet Another Red Hat 8.0 Review'. This article is primarily about using Red Hat 8.0 if you happen to be a newbie, but it's also about using Red Hat 8.0 if you happen to be a KDE user. Why? I happen to be a KDE user, so it makes sense I'd focus more on what I know the most about. Plus, I still remember the frustration of staring with something akin to terror at a blank command line with lots of ideas about what I'd like to do and very little knowledge of how to do it.
GNOME Development Series Snapshot 2.1 Released
A snapshot release of GNOME 2.1, the development release series leading up to GNOME 2.2 is out. Lots of nice little features like improved font control (control AA on the fly via the new, great, FontConfig as found on Red Hat 8.0), window manager selector in the control panel, panel multiscreen support, return of gdialog and lots of other goodies.
Novell Embraces Linux Across Product Lines
"Novell is breaking from tradition and quietly working to add Linux throughout its product and service lines. The move is part of a new multiplatform strategy that de-emphasizes its NetWare-centric vision." Read the report at eWeek. Update: Novell Inc. is currently evaluating its product suite to determine which of those it wants to open source and will be making a decision on this in the near future.
Review of SuSE 8.1 Professional
If there are two things in this apartment that I don't like, that would first be the dog upstairs which barks at 5 AM almost every morning, and the fact that UPS almost never deliver things on our door. They never bother to check if we are in. The SuSE people were very kind to send us the Professional version of SuSE 8.1, but unfortunately, I received it 10 days later after it arrived in the apartment's complex. But now we got it here, we gave it a spin for almost a week, and here is what we think about it.