OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

DIY, Windows Preinstallation Environment CD “WinPE”

Submitted by Dennis Baptista 2003-05-21 Windows 30 Comments

Bart Lagerweij has created an easy way for users to create his/her own version of Microsoft's Windows Preinstallation Environment with his new PE Builder. Windows will then run off the CD-rom, without a needed hard drive installation.

3000 USD for First Programmer to Port Mozilla to AmigaOS

Mike Bouma 2003-05-20 Amiga & AROS 34 Comments

The CEO of DiscreetFX will pay 3000+ USD to the first developer(s) to port the current version of Mozilla to AmigaOS. Read the announcement for the details and people can provide Bill suggestions here at the AmigaWorld.net portal. Update: The money pot is now at $3000+ and rising.

Lindows 4.0 Due Next Month

Adam Scheinberg 2003-05-20 Linspire 72 Comments

With today's "Michael's Minute" comes the first official announcement of LindowsOS version 4.0. This humorous take does not include details about the OS improvements, but does seem consistent with their strategy of targetting Windows users looking to make the switch by promoting programs like gaim, Evolution, and Mozilla, which are very similar to their Windows-based competition.

Xr: X11 Cross-device Rendering for Vector Graphics

Submitted by someone 2003-05-20 Wayland 31 Comments

Xr, the 2D Postscript-like graphics library for X is near completion. Xr is a device independent API, and can theoretically be layered upon an API like OpenGL.

Perspective: Windows vs. Mac OS X

Submitted by Andy Satori 2003-05-20 Rumors 63 Comments

Yet another head to head review, this time from the perspective of a developer that's spent 10+ years with Windows, "who views the Mac zealotry with a wary eye", as he says. The same author also wrote "On Switching to the Mac" editorial in the past.

Mac OS X Filesystem Performance Comparison

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-20 macOS 17 Comments

"These are the results of a series of tests I did using IOZone to determine the performance of various filesystems under Mac OS X. I tested HFS+, HFS+ w/ journaling, HFS, UFS, and Ext2 . Due to wide variation in the results, I did at least 4 runs of each configuration and then used the best score for each test." Read the benchmarks here.

Why I Ditched MacOSX for Linux – A Yellow Dog Linux 3.0 Review

Guest post by Jon Atkinson 2003-05-20 Linux 148 Comments

I entered the world of Apple hardware about 3 months ago now, with a second-hand iBook2. It was a 500mHz, 256mb, ATI Rage 128 model, with a standard CD-Rom drive. I spent the first few days trying to tweak Mac OS X to my liking, then a few further weeks installing and learning to use the applications I thought I'd need. Chimera, BBEdit, the developer tools, even the Fink X server so I could use Gaim.

eCosCentric Delivers eCos 2.0

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-20 Hardware 1 Comment

eCosCentric Limited, the eCos and RedBoot experts, working in conjunction with the eCos maintainers, today announced the release of eCos 2.0, the latest version of the eCos real-time operating system.

DirectX 9.0a SDK Developer Runtime Released

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-20 3D No Comments

DirectX 9.0a is an updated version of the DirectX 9.0 runtime which includes bug fixes and improves performance in the graphics and networking components. There are no new or modified APIs in this release. What's new or fixed:

Interview with IBM Software Group’s Steve Mills

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-19 IBM 7 Comments

On its 10th anniversary, IBM Software Group, led by Steve Mills, is taking its winning middleware formula to small business. eWeek also features a long and interesting interview with the Mr Mills.

The Fear War Against Linux

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-19 Linux 87 Comments

"Microsoft's connection to the anti-Linux campaign being waged by the SCO Group is becoming clear", Bruce Perens writes in his editorial at C|Net.

Sun, Oracle Team for Low-End Server Onslaught

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-19 Oracle and SUN 12 Comments

Sun has ample reason to tout low-cost computing. Its Solaris is the leading Unix OS, running primarily on the company's proprietary servers. But Sun faces the erosion of its server business as lower cost Intel-based servers become the industry standard. Sun will replace its own Sparc processors with Intel and AMD chips to create a 'budget' range of blade servers, running on Solaris x86. Also, Sun is to distribute Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat is to distribute Sun's Java.

Linux Clustering with MOSIX

Submitted by Frank 2003-05-19 Linux 6 Comments

This tutorial explains what it is, how you go about cluster-enabling your Linux system, and how you can benefit from setting up a cluster. By the end of this article, you will have set up your own MOSIX cluster.

Pegasos: An Interesting & Sexy New Platform

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-19 Morphos 91 Comments

Genesi was very kind to send us in a fully featured Pegasos-based computer with MorphOS and Debian pre-installed. Here is our review with a number of screenshots of the supported OSes. Update: That machine has now being donated to the Computer History Museum in the Bay Area.

HP Rolls Out New HP-UX for Itanium

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-19 Unix 11 Comments

Hewlett-Packard on Monday plans to ship the latest version of its Unix-based HP-UX operating system for Intel's family of Itanium processors. The company also plans to announce commitments from 40 developers to deliver applications for the platform.

Mandrake Linux 9.1 Download Edition Review at LinuxWorld

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-19 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 27 Comments

"Mandrake Linux 9.1 is the first significant update to the popular Linux distribution in some time. New features of the distribution include a revised user interface, tighter integration with Windows and improved networking support." Read the article at LinuxWorld.com.au.

KDE 3.1.2 Released

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-19 KDE 25 Comments

The KDE Project released maintainance release KDE 3.1.2. Announcement, information, changelog.

Microsoft to License Unix Code

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-19 Microsoft 75 Comments

Microsoft is licensing the rights to Unix technology from SCO Group, a move that could dramatically impact the battle between Windows and Linux in the market for computer operating systems, News.com says. Update: Please note that Microsoft simply licenses the rights of Unix (the same way as Sun and SGI have done in the past) and does NOT become the owner of Unix IP. SCO remains the owner.

Installing Red Hat Linux 9 (the Manual Way)

Guest post by Maynard Kuona 2003-05-18 Red Hat 16 Comments

This may not be of much use to those of you who dread text based installs, and those in the know, but a bit of useful information I came across when I installed Red Hat Linux 9 recently.

The Top 8 Operating Systems According to Google

Eugenia Loli 2003-05-18 OS News 59 Comments

Google, one of the most visited sites worldwide, posted their OS results for April 2003. In the No1 spot, Windows 98 is steadily losing 1% every month to the always rising Windows XP, while MacOS is down to 3% from the 4% of the previous month. Linux is steady at around 1%. The "Other" OSes are also steady at 4% (note that the "other" section also includes other Microsoft OSes, like Windows ME).