"Since qnxZone was launched, I have been thinking that the stories of some of the long time QNX users may be of interest to the community. As one of the longer time (older) users, I figured I would start it off. Now this story starts in 1986, but in order for it to make more sense, you have to go back to the late '70s when I was in high school. I went to high school with Dan Hildebrand, who went on to become a significant player in the QNX community. We went to school in Winnipeg, but after high school I joined the Canadian Military and took off for other parts of the country. I lost touch with Dan other than the occasional contact when I was back in Winnipeg visiting family and such. By 1986 I was stationed in Victoria, BC, going to university under a program in the military." Read the rest of the story at QNXZone.

A German-based organization, called YellowTAB, sent out a press release stating they will be releasing an updated version of BeOS 5 Pro, under the name "BeOS NG". The group was closely working with KochMedia (the German/UK publisher of BeOS) and Be, but when Be started talking to Palm about their take over, they stopped being so cooperative. The new BeOS version will include lots of software (software that can also be found at BeBits) and it will be based on a plain BeOS 5 Pro, plus some patches and a brand new Installer. Unfortunately, their version will not be based on BeOS 6, a version that OSNews learnt and confirmed, is extremely updated (more drivers, new Interface Kit/App_Server, double buffering etc). Frank Paul Silye, part of the YellowTab group, answers some of the questions we had regarding the product.

While most Macintosh sites have welcomed the new flat panel iMac, some Mac-only journalists, most analysts and other serious publications were not so impressed and some were actually seemed worried about Apple's future. The main theme of their reviews is that Apple this time has done more damage than good with the extreme hype they spread, that iMac is not exactly what someone would call 'revolutionary', that pricing is not acceptable for the price cautious PC users especially when there is some resession in the global economy and that the Apple market share has shrank (and continues shrinking dangerously) to 2.9% of the desktop market since last year where it had 3.3%. Read the articles at BusinessWeek, ZDNet, C|NET, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News and Business 2.0. A good part of the Mac community was shocked because of no announcements whatsoever about the PowerMac line of computers and the corporate Apple market, but hope is still strong that new, G5 computers will be announced in spring. Update: Add ArsTechnica and I,Cringely to the opinion soup critisizing the "Jobs Distortion Field".

Four screenshots that supposed to come from an unreleased internal version of BeOS have emerged on the net. The BeOS info panel in one of the screenshots says that the kernel was built on November 15th 2001, and it has the codename 5.1d0. The BeOS community is arguing that the shots are either fake or original. It is already known (through the BeOS source code leak that happened a few months ago) that Be had a version of an updated Interface Kit and App_Server that would support themes, full double buffering etc, but no more details became known, as Be's legal department took immediate action back then. Our Take: Speaking as a web designer, if these screenshots are actually fake, the artist has done a pretty good job. Update: At least the WindowBlinds skiners are working hard. Just today, one day after OSNews helped spread the news about the existance of the screenshots in question, JT Folden has created a 'BeOS 6' skin for the WindowBlinds theme engine that runs under Microsoft Windows. UPDATE 2: A former Be engineer, who wishes to remain anonymous, confirmed to OSNews that the specific screenshots are likely real. The version of BeOS shown in the pictures is the BeOS desktop-version that was in use internally at Be for development of BeIA (otherwise known as the "BeIA Development Platform").

Damien Sandras from Fosdem.org interviews Michael Meeks, one of the full time Gnome hackers and Ximian employee. Michael speaks about himself, Mono, Gnome 2.0 and GTK+ 2.0.

"A new user interface will transform and extend your ability to enjoy Windows XP PC digital media experiences. With large fonts and simplified menus, the interface environment will bring your favorite media experiences into one easy, convenient place. You'll be able to use the full-screen view to comfortably enjoy media from anywhere in the room. When at your desk, you'll also be able to shrink the view and watch a movie or TV while doing other PC tasks." Check the screenshots of the FreeStyle platform. Our Take: There is no doubt in my mind that Apple would have made that user interface way more slicker and attractive.

All Microsoft Windows CE .NET editions, which include Full, Evaluation, and Emulation, provide access to additional source code covered by the Microsoft Shared Source License Agreement. You can use this code to help you debug or as a reference to better understand the platform, Microsoft says.

The well known reviewer Walter S. Mossberg (WSJ) reviews the gobeProductive 3 Office Suite (the world exclusive Preview was hosted at OSNews two months ago). WSJ's review seems to be a fair one overall, even if he missed a couple of good points like the PDF exporting and the all-in-one document format that is featured in GP3. In related news, there is a new GP3 demo coming out in 1-2 days from now (version 3.0.2) and you will be able to test run the suite yourselves. If you already have decided to buy the application and support Gobe, the price is now lowered at $75 USD, which is a steal, considering the fact that its Family License allows you to install it in all your home computers, plus one at your workplace.

"DVD recording got a big endorsement Wednesday from Microsoft, which is licensing technology from Sonic Solutions, presumably for use in Windows XP. The two companies signed a multiyear deal focused on Sonic's AuthorScript technology, used to create DVD movies. The move comes as computer manufacturers increasingly view the ability of PCs to record home movies to DVDs as a big selling point. Consumers can then run the discs in standard DVD players. An A-list of computer makers sell systems with DVD recording drives: Apple Computer, Compaq Computer, Dell Computer, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard and Sony. Apple and Compaq were the early leaders, both having shipped DVD-recording PCs early last year." Read the rest of the story at C|Net News.

In December, Java was more popular than .Net for building Web services, according to a ZDNet UK poll, but weeks later the position had dramatically reversed; investigation revealed just what (dubious) lengths Microsoft will go to to promote its products and manipulate the public opinion.

"Over the past two years, Microsoft has been working with industry partners on the USB 2.0 project. We are pleased to announce that USB 2.0 drivers will be available for Microsoft WindowsXP through Windows Update early in 2002. USB 2.0 driver support for Windows 2000 is still under development, and will be available later in the first quarter of 2002. Microsoft will not provide USB 2.0 support for the Windows 9x platform or Windows NT 4.0. This article provides details on Microsoft plans for USB 2.0 support. The USB Architecture section describes the structure of the USB 2.0 stack on Windows 2000 and compares it to Windows XP and Windows .NET Server. The last section discusses Windows Hardware Quality Lab (WHQL) plans for supporting the testing of USB 2.0 host controllers, devices and hubs." Read the rest of the article at Microsoft's Platform Development site.

From Andrenaline Vault: nVidia introduced today the nForce 415-D processor set. The nForce 415-D combines the nForce’s Media and Communications Processor with a new System Platform Processor. The nForce SPP features TwinBank, a 128-bit memory controller architecture providing up to 4.2GB per second of system memory bandwidth; a dynamic adaptive speculative pre-processor for boosting CPU performance; a singlestep memory arbiter for memory efficiency; and a 4X accelerated graphics port for external GPU expansion. The nForce MCP also integrates an audio processing unit with a Dolby Digital 5.1 real-time encoder; StreamThru, enhanced data streaming technology, and a communications suite including support for HomePNA 2.0, 10/100 Ethernet and USB.

"Bill Gates yesterday unveiled two new technologies, Freestyle and Mira, designed to beef up the capabilities of the PC - and hence, Windows XP - in the home. Both are intended to let users wander around the room or house while controlling their PC; Freestyle is categorised as a set of extensions to XP, while Mira is to all intents and purposes a CE-based thin client. Freestyle seems essentially to be a mechanism for extending the consumer PC into a combo media centre, jukebox and TV, so is being supported by consumer PC manufacturers such as HP, NEC and Samsung. Mira is somewhat more ambitious, and appears to slot in between Freestyle and the Tablet PC. It's described as a "new set of Windows CE.NET-based technologies," and the bottom line is that it enables smart flat panel displays which you can carry around and use for browsing and control purposes." Read the rest of the report at TheRegister, or at C|Net News.

At Macworld Conference & Expo, Microsoft Corp. announced the immediate availability of Microsoft Windows Media Player for MacOSX (6.1 MB). The new player has been Carbonized to run natively on MacOSX and displays the operating system's new Aqua interface. Windows Media Player for Mac OS X allows Mac users to easily enjoy playback of high-quality Windows Media Audio and Video content. The new release supports the latest Windows Media Audio 8 and Windows Media Video 8, as well as Windows Media Digital Rights Management, and is available in six languages worldwide. The new player features the new Aqua interface, which provides a look consistent with many other new Mac applications. Also, The OfficeX Test Drive (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage the e-mail application and personal information manager) has been released for MacOSX as a free download (122 MB). Inside the OfficeX Test Drive you’ll see how it combines several new and improved features with core MacOSX technologies.