OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Second Thoughts about Intel in Macs

Submitted by Prognathous 2002-09-28 Apple 56 Comments

"A deluge of reader mail has opened my eyes to some very sound reasons why the Motorola PowerPC chip's days may be numbered I love nothing better than stirring up a hornet's nest. And that's just what I did with my recent column about whether Apple should abandon its current PowerPC microprocessor for a Pentium-family chip, like those that power most Windows PCs (see BW Online, 9/11/02, "Mac and PC: Ne'er the Twain Will Meet")." Read the new editorial at BusinessWeek. Update: iSync beta!

FreeBSD 4.7-RC2/i386 Now Available

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-28 FreeBSD 8 Comments

FreeBSD Release Engineering Team's Bruce Mah announces that FreeBSD 4.7-RC2 (the second release candidate for FreeBSD 4.7) is now available for the i386 architecture from the usual FTP sites. Both an FTP site and a "disc 1" ISO image are available. FreeBSD 4.7-RC2 for the alpha architecture is being built and should be available shortly.

Sun Challenges Microsoft on the Desktop

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-28 Oracle and SUN 10 Comments

As executive vice VICE president of Sun's software group, Jonathan Schwartz heads the company's new unified software business and is leading the charge to promote the Linux open-source technology. Schwartz met with InfoWorld Test Center Director Steve Gillmor and Technical Director Tom Yager to discuss Sun's recently announced Linux desktop strategy and to explain how it's in the industry's best interests to develop an alternative to arch-rival Microsoft.

Battle of the platforms

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-28 Rumors 2 Comments

The delivery of Microsoft's Visual Studio .Net IDE (integrated development environment) marked the beginning of the next battle phase for platform supremacy. Organizations must determine a directed approach toward platform selection and not get caught in a mire of ad hoc use. Business impact: Organizations' technology choices must reflect availability of skills, or they will risk enormous cost overruns. Read the article at TechUpdate.

Debugging Atomicity in Kernel 2.5

Submitted by Jeremy Andrews 2002-09-28 Linux 3 Comments

Robert Love, author of the kernel preemption patch, has written an informative article for KernelTrap on debugging the Linux kernel. He says, "Recently, a lot of work has gone into the 2.5 development kernel to facilitate better debugging. Starting with the 2.5.39 kernel, an infrastructure is in place for tracking down a wide range of atomicity/sleep bugs."

First Look: UnitedLinux Open Beta is Here

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-27 Linux 22 Comments

"For some reason, UnitedLinux attracts FUD the way a dog does fleas. But, now that the public beta is out, we can see that, well, its basically a GPL-compliant, high-end Linux server operating system. In short, this isn't a Linux for playing with at home or running a small business. It, as the developers promised, is a Linux for business customers high-end needs. Now, the question is can UnitedLinux deliver on that promise. And, that is what well see in the coming weeks as potential business customers put this beta through its paces." Read the article at LinuxPlanet.

The Persistence Principle: An Inside Look at Microsoft’s Strategy

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-27 Microsoft 81 Comments

It can be argued that Microsoft has changed the way everyone does business in the last 20 years. What you may be surprised to learn is that the company’s success is as much about perseverance and endurance as it is vision and talent. Yes, Microsoft has been blessed with the brilliant minds of leaders like Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer.

Do we Really Need a New Windows Operating System so Soon?

Submitted by Byron Hinson 2002-09-27 Windows 67 Comments

"With Windows XP already reaching its first birthday, it is already time to start thinking about what is round the corner for the next release of the Windows operating system. While the chances of us seeing a major new release of Windows before 2005 is highly unlikely, there is a high possibility that there will be, as predicted on ActiveWin earlier in the year, a minor update to the Windows XP operating system sometime within the next 2 years. The question is, do we really need a new operating system quite as soon as that? Why not just wait a while before releasing another one? Or at least make sure the one you have released as bug free as possible." Read the editorial at ActiveWin.

Report from PalmSource’s Open House Day

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-27 Wireless 45 Comments

PalmSource, Inc. today featured their OpenHouce day (with the Sunnyvale mayor cutting a ribbon and all), a number of press releases and a few insights. OSNews was there, so here is our mini-report and a few pictures of the event.

Preview of Red Hat 8.0: Bluecurve’s Debut

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-27 Red Hat 60 Comments

"Red Hat 8.0 is scheduled to be formally released on Sept. 30 and many in the Linux user community are watching the development of the new "Bluecurve" desktop design very closely. In the retail edition of Red Hat that's coming out this Monday, the Linux vendor is replacing the traditional GNOME interface with Bluecurve, a Red Hat-created GUI theme combining elements of both GNOME and KDE, the major rival to GNOME." Read the article at LinuxPlanet.

Windows XP to Get Bluetooth Support

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-27 Windows 4 Comments

Microsoft releases to manufacturers an update that would allow PCs running Windows XP to connect to peripherals, handhelds and cell phones without wires. Read the report at C|Net.

Darwin 6.0 Released and DarwinPorts Initial Release

Submitted by Brian Mastenbrook 2002-09-27 BSD & Darwin 11 Comments

A few days ago Apple announced the release of Darwin 6.0.1. This release of Darwin is in sync with Mac OS X 10.2 aka Jaguar and includes "enhancements from FreeBSD 4.4" and is built with GCC3.1. Seperately, the OpenDarwin project today announced an initial beta of the new DarwinPorts system, designed by Jordan Hubbard formerly of the FreeBSD project.

The World’s First AOL Computer?

Submitted by Patrick Alvarez 2002-09-27 Linspire 15 Comments

"This computer could turn out to be a very big deal. Not so much because it’s the first under-$200 new PC to hit the marketplace or because it runs a version of Linux which can run some Windows programs; but because the idea had been embraced by the No 1 online service." Read the article at MSNBC. OSNews recently carried out an in-depth review of the LindowsOS system.

rc5-64 Project Completed

Guest post by Mike Bouma 2002-09-27 Benchmarks 26 Comments

After almost five years and with over 330,000 participants Distributed.net has finally solved the RC5-64 64-bit encrypted key Challenge. The best day was equivalent to the power of "32,504 800MHz Apple PowerBook G4 laptops or 45,998 2GHz AMD Athlon XP machines"! To solve this challenge huge teams were formed, the most powerful team was assembled by the Dutch Tweakers.net website, while my personal favorite, Team RC5 Amiga, earned a honorable 7th place.

The BSDs: Sophisticated, Powerful, and (Mostly) Free

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-26 BSD & Darwin 54 Comments

What is BSD? If you ask a typical computer "expert," he or she is likely to reply (incorrectly!) that it is "an operating system." The correct answer, however, is more complex than that. BSD is -- among other things -- a culture, a philosophy, and a growing collection of software, most (though not all) of which is available for free and with source code.

Flirting With Mac OS X

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-26 macOS 43 Comments

"Regular readers of this column already know there is no lost love between me and GUIs. In fact, I rarely use them; I do most of my work from the regular console, using a variety of tools to do all the things I'd ever need from a GUI: Multiple terminal sessions (screen, Linux virtual terminals, Emacs, vim) and a good e-mail client (nothing beats pine)." Read the article at Byte.

Windows XP One Year On

Submitted by Byron Hinson 2002-09-26 Windows 48 Comments

It is hard to believe that Windows XP is only just coming up to its one year anniversary; it feels like it has been with us for a lot longer than that. Perhaps it is due to the long running beta that took place before its release or maybe I have just managed to settle down with Windows XP far quicker than I have done with any of the previous Windows operating systems. Read the rest of the editorial at ActiveWin.

The State of Linux in 2002

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-26 Linux 9 Comments

Sun in August joined IBM, HP and Dell in offering Linux as a server operating system. A month later, IBM expanded its prepackaged Linux server offerings. Even Apple computers can be purchased with Linux preinstalled. Clearly, the Linux bandwagon is gathering speed -- Sun has said it anticipates a 30 percent annual growth rate -- but where is it going? For the first time in years, Microsoft’s unassailable lead in computer operating systems is being challenged by manufacturers offering Linux software. Even a puny challenge is better than none. Read more at Economist.

Microsoft Ponders Windows Upgrade for 2004

Submitted by sunlit mechanism 2002-09-26 Windows 12 Comments

According to developers close to the Redmond, Wash., company, a proposal to deliver a Windows 'Yukon' release—timed to tide over Microsoft and its users until the long-awaited Longhorn debuts—is on the company's drawing boards. Microsoft executives have held fast to their promise that Longhorn will be the version of Windows designed to follow Windows XP on the desktop, and Windows .Net Server 2003 on the server. In recent weeks, however, company representatives have taken to calling Longhorn the next "major" version of Windows.

Autonomic Computing Changes Gear

Eugenia Loli 2002-09-26 Geek stuff 3 Comments

Unanswerable questions of our time, number one: If you're so smart, why ain't you rich? And number two: If your new PC's so much better than your old one, how come it don't work properly? Having a gigabyte of fast memory and a 2GHz processor is, for a computer, like having a Mensa-grade IQ is for us humans: looks great on paper but in practice it just means you get into more trouble faster. Read the editorial at ZDNet.