OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing - Page 1688

New Versions for Netscape and Opera

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-08 Internet 5 Comments

Netscape has released their latest browser, Netscape 6.21 which is based on the Mozilla technology, containing a number of bug fixes. There is a version for Linux, MacOS and Windows. In the meantime, Opera released the second technology preview for Linux for version 6, while MacOS only recently got their second beta for Opera 5.

WindowsNT Server 4.0 to Disappear in July 2003

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-07 Windows 2 Comments

"Microsoft on Friday released its retirement schedule for NT Server 4.0 operating system. All sales will end by July 2003, and companies will start having to pay for support. The company stopped selling Windows NT Server 4.0 volume licences for both the Standard and Enterprise editions on 1 October this year. Client versions of NT 4.0 were also discontinued in October." ZDNews reports.

Making Linux Look Harder Than It Is

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-07 Editorial 25 Comments

"Many 'gurus' teaching new users about Linux make it look harder than it needs to be, and apparently fail to explain that yes, you can make PowerPoint-style presentations in Linux, you can view Web Pages that use Flash animation and other "glitz" features, and that you can manage all your files though simple "point, click, drag and drop" visual interfaces. Could the biggest problem with Linux usability be that most of the people teaching newbies to use Linux are too smart and know too much?" Robert Miller's excellent editorial found on NewsForge.

Source Snapshot of RTMK Released

Submitted by Johan Rydberg 2001-12-07 OS News 3 Comments

A new source snapshot of RTMK was released today, the first in ten months. This new release includes a totally rewritten kernel and a PowerPC port as well. RMTK is still in early development stages, but the GUI for it is already underway. Crust is its name, developed by the same person who writes RTMK.

Apple Signs Quanta to Build Next-Generation iMac

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-07 Apple 16 Comments

Apple has hired Taiwanese contract manufacturer to produce one million iMacs with built-in 15in LCD screens, the United Daily News, a Chinese language newspaper, has reported." Get the rest of the story at TheRegister. Our Take: I just wish Apple could also upgrade the iMacs to a low-end G4, with 512 MB RAM (memory is so cheap these days!), a better 3D graphics card and a CD-RW/DVD combo, all for $999. I would definetely get one of these!

Apple: Microsoft Should Pay $1 billion–Cash

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-07 Legal 11 Comments

Apple's CEO Steve Jobs said Thursday that Microsoft should give $1 billion in cash to help schools, instead of software and some money, to settle more than 100 consumer lawsuits. Jobs' statement came one day before Apple plans to file a supplemental legal brief further contesting the legitimacy of the proposed settlement of the suits.

MenuetOS 0.62 Released

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-07 OS News 8 Comments

A new version for the MenuetOS project. Version 0.62 came out today and it features a new memory model and free-form window shapes (non-rectangle windows). In the meantime, RootLinux 1.3 is ready for its prime time, but its developer needs some FTP space where he can upload the ISO image (around 650 MB) and asks for people who can provide such FTP space.

Motorola Readies G5 Processors

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-06 Hardware 2 Comments

"After more than two years, Motorola Inc., late last week revised its road map for the company's PowerPC processors, the chips that lie at the heart of many embedded devices as well as Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh computers. Though the new information is slight, for many it reinforces speculation that Apple will release new desktop computers based on Motorola's "G5" family of processors, perhaps as early as January's Macworld Expo/San Francisco trade show, sources said." Get the rest of the story at ExtremeTech.

Borland & SleepyCat Deliver New DB Versions

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-06 Databases 2 Comments

Borland released a new Interbase version. New features include VLDB Support (Very Large Database: 64 bit I/O), enables the creation of large files without creating a multi-file database and XML Data-generation, allows InterBase developers to generate XML documents directly from InterBase. In the meantime, Sleepycat Software released version 4.0 of the Berkeley DB just a few days ago. This version adds support for replication, so apps can survive single- or multi-node hardware or software failures without interruption in service.

MacOS 9.2.2 Released

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-06 Apple 18 Comments

Apple released today MacOS 9.2.2 and the upgrade is available fo download. The new version improves Classic application compatibility in MacOSX and delivers updated support for Macintosh systems that are based on the PPC G3 or G4 CPUs. MacSlash also reports that "John Siracusa, author of many great in-depth articles on OSX at ARSTechnica has begun a petition to try to convince Apple to continue using metadata in the filesystem. Basically, without the metadata OSX relies on file extensions to know what type of document each file is, just like Windows. For a more in-depth explanation read John's 'Metadata, The Mac, and You'..." Sign the petition.

Win Trumpet Software’s Promotional Items

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-05 Gifts, Contests 9 Comments

Trumpet Software, makers of the well known Trumpet Winsock and the PetrOS, to celebrate 10 years of the release of their first product, sent us promotional items: caps for women and men, mousepads etc, items which we will send to ten OSNews readers. There is nothing particular we ask you to do, just email us on this email address with the subject line 'Trumpet Software Give Away' and we will randomly pick ten people to be sent the goods. The offer ends on Thursday 6th of December 2001 at 09:00 AM Pacific Time, so hurry up. Update: The offer is over! Please do not email us anymore. The winners will be announced on this web site very soon.

Dreams of the Perfect UI Platform

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-05 Editorial 41 Comments

From the latest Open BeOS Newsletter: "Imagine this. GUIs designed completely outside of the realm of the application. Something like, say, SoundPlayer, coming with a default interface. You can do more than "make a skin", you can redesign the whole UI, so long as you send the right messages. Applications basically become servers. The GUI becomes a client. It shouldn't be too hard to make an add-on to a web browser that could display this hypothetical solution. And, if BMessages could be sent across a network, one could run their apps from anywhere in the world. Imagine that." What are your throughts on the subject? Discuss.

Palm Plans To Create 32-Bit OS

Submitted by JoeT 2001-12-05 OS News 23 Comments

"Palm Inc. has revealed that it will release a 32-bit operating system and devices next year, and that it is gearing up for a fight against Microsoft Corp. to maintain its lead in the enterprise." It seems that Palm is going full speed, with the help of the Be engineers and the Be IP they bought recently from Be, Inc.

QNX Real-Time Performance & Robustness Evaluation Report

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-05 QNX No Comments

"This report is a real-time performance and robustness evaluation of the QNX v6.1 RTOS from QNX Software Systems Ltd. Aside from the standard performance tests, the test suite has now been expanded with several stress tests. The evaluation report covers the following topics: Theoretical study of the architecture, API, tools, development method, Interrupt Handling, Thread Handling (thread creation, thread switch latency, Synchronization mechanisms (semaphores, mutexes, priority inversion), File system performance, Network stack performance, Advanced Interrupt Handling (two simultaneous interrupts, nested interrupts, maximum sustainable interrupt frequency, ...), Memory leak detection, Real-time performance monitoring with varying system loads." Download the free report at Dedicated-Systems.com.

Apple Launches Final Cut Pro 3

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-05 Apple No Comments

Apple has announced Final Cut Pro 3, a version of its professional video-editing program designed to run under Apple's Mac OS X operating system. With the latest version of Final Cut Pro, Apple is introducing a new format, OfflineRT, which can store 40 minutes of video per gigabyte of hard drive space. Final Cut Pro 3 will be available later this month for $999, or $299 for registered owners upgrading from an earlier version of the software. The software requires Mac OS X version 10.1.1 or Mac OS 9.2.2, a 300 MHz or faster PowerPC G3 or G4 processor, a built-in FireWire port and at least 256MB of RAM. In related news, rumours want the new QuickTime 6 to be built around Mpeg.

Review: eComStation OS/2 1.0

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-04 OS/2 66 Comments

IBM's OS/2 has a great history as a workstation operating system, it was a major alternative OS in the '90s. At its peak time in the mid-'90s OS/2 had about 2 million users but the Windows NT and Windows 95 releases broke its further development. This year Serenity Systems has released a new client version of OS/2. This article will introduce you to what OS/2 is all about. You will learn its history, its user interface, and its power under the hood. The article is also accompanied by a number of screenshots.

MacOSX 10.2 Delayed to Summer 2002

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-04 macOS 15 Comments

"Mac OS X 10.2 may not make it to Macworld Expo San Francisco early next January. Sources close to the development of Apple's Unix-based operating system, cited by eWeek, claim that the major update won't be released until the summer, to cash in on the back-to-school period. In its place, Apple will roll-out more minor updates, just as it did a little while back with Mac OS X 10.1.1. A further update, 10.1.2, is expected early this month, having recently been seeded to developers. Then, in early spring, Apple will release what will presumably be known as version 10.1.3, the source said." TheRegister reports. In related news, thanks to cracking details posted on the Web, Mac diehards discovered a way to turn a complimentary MacOSX 10.1 upgrade CD into a free copy of the operating system itself.

Cleaning Up Your FreeBSD Ports

Submitted by Peter Schultz 2001-12-04 FreeBSD 6 Comments

"Despite all the praise the FreeBSD ports system gets, it has limitations. One of these limitations is actually related to one of FreeBSD's other strengths -- the upgrade system. The two interact in a very clumsy way." Michael Lucas discusses how to go over the potential FreeBSD ports problems by unveiling the 'portupgrades' application.

Hot News Soup as Found on the Web

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-04 In the News 3 Comments

NewsForge holds a preview for Opera 6.0, Linux edition. BitStream, the world leader in Font Rendering engines, suggests opening their PFR technology to Mozilla. Zope founder Paul Everitt gives an interview to Zopera.org. WinPlanet features two reviews on office suites. One for the Software602 office suite and a brand new article, a preview for gobeProductive3. On WindowPlanet you will also find a short review of VMWare 3.0 Workstation.

Top-Ten Virus Chart for 2001

Eugenia Loli 2001-12-04 Bugs & Viruses 1 Comment

Sophos, a world leader in corporate anti-virus protection, has revealed that just two viruses, Nimda and Sircam, accounted for almost 50% of the reports received by Sophos's helpdesk during 2001. Code Red, the most hyped virus of the year, does not even appear in the top ten. Sophos has detected 11,160 new viruses, worms and Trojan horses to date this year, bringing the total protected against to almost 70,000. On average, the Sophos virus labs produce detection routines for over 30 viruses each day.