OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Context menus in Metro

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-06 Windows 42 Comments

One tiny thing I wanted to mention about Windows 8: ever noticed how context menus in Metro appear above the mouse cursor instead of underneath? I'm assuming this is done because of finger input (by opening above, your finger and hand doesn't cover the menu), but with a mouse, it's just plain weird. Fun little detail though - shows you how much thought has gone into the touch aspect of Windows 8.

The Verge details the demise of Palm and webOS

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-05 Wireless 38 Comments

If you're a Palm fan, you might want to look away - or not. Chris Ziegler has written a fantastic article on the short rise and eventual demise of webOS, and with it, Palm. I'm generally not a fan of companies, but I have my exceptions - and Palm is one of them. Correction - Palm was one of them.

Google acquires Quickoffice

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-05 Google 37 Comments

"We're happy to announce that we have acquired Quickoffice, a leader in office productivity solutions. Today, consumers, businesses and schools use Google Apps to get stuff done from anywhere, with anyone and on any device. Quickoffice has an established track record of enabling seamless interoperability with popular file formats, and we'll be working on bringing their powerful technology to our Apps product suite." Excellent acquisition - Quickoffice has always been a fine product, and this gives Google instant access to a wide array of native mobile office applications. Crazy nobody else ever picked these guys and girls up. Also, if Google makes Quickoffice available for free, we can enjoy yet another "Google is competing unfairly by not charging customers money for products"-whine-a-thon. That alone is worth it.

100000 applications published to Windows Phone Marketplace

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-05 Windows 28 Comments

"More than 100,000 applications have now been published in the Windows Phone Marketplace and new content is currently being added at the rate of 313 applications per day. At the time of writing, 100,145 applications have been published. Of these, 26,493 were added in the last three months and 9,391 were added in the last month. These applications come from just over 23,825 different publishers." Is there anybody out there who still places any value on these numbers, whether they be for Android, iOS, or WP7? Considering virtually all Android, iOS, and WP7 applications are useless, ugly, buggy crap (with only a few being somewhat tolerable - never actually good, because good software doesn't exist), I honestly don't really care. But hey, another check mark on the list of PR talking points.

What programming languages did the USSR’s space program use?

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-05 General Development 20 Comments

"I got interested in the Soviet space program and was interested to discover that the software on the Buran spacecraft circa 1988 was written in Prolog. Does anyone know what languages might have been used in earlier missions, especially the Mars PrOP-M rover missions of the early 1970s which were somewhat autonomous and could navigate obstacles?" Absolutely fascinating.

Xbox gets Internet Explorer, SmartGlass

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-04 Games 16 Comments

The E3 is supposed to be all about gaming, but since you can only go so far with realistic renderings of bullets entering and exiting various body parts, Microsoft's keynote was more about expanding the Xbox ecosystem - with, among other things, Internet Explorer and SmartGlass. The latter is a service which allows you to use additional devices - tablets, smrtphones, PCs - as remote controls for your Xbox. IT goes much further than that though, while watching a TV show or a game, SmartGlass can show additional content (i.e., a map of Westeros while watching Game of Thrones), or pick up content where you left off. Pretty cool - and coming to iOS and Android as well, including the game integration. Yup, expect Office for iOS and Android to land soon.

Submitted by matthewp131 2012-06-04 Legal 4 Comments

"The Oracle v. Google patent and copyright trial is over, resulting in definitive wins for Google on both fronts. Ars interviewed two Google attorneys - general counsel Kent Walker, and litigation counsel Renny Hwang - asking for their sense of what the case could mean beyond its effects on the companies themselves." Would love to get Oracle's input on the matter (insert schadenfreude-tastic snicker).

Windows 8’s antivirus only active if no other AV program detected

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-04 Windows 17 Comments

"Microsoft's Windows 8 will activate its built-in antivirus software only if it senses that the PC is not protected by another security program, according to AV vendor McAfee." That's one way to appease antivirus companies, I suppose.

Windows 8 tablets, laptops, and all-in-ones arrive at Computex

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-04 Windows 17 Comments

Computex is going on right now, and as was to be expected, we're seeing a whole boatload ot Windows 8 tablets... But also a few crazy contraptions that have 'want' written all over them. My personal favourite? The Asus Taichi: a laptop with two screens (both on the inside and the outside of the lid) so you have a laptop as well as a tablet. I love crazy experimentation like this - sure, it may not always work or pan out, but this is how mankind progresses. What I'll most likely be buying later this this year: this thing (although I prefer a smaller version). I love my ZenBook, so a relatively conventional Asus Windows 8 tablet is perfect for me.

Instapaper moves to Android

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-04 Wireless 8 Comments

So, after Instagram and Flipboard, Instapaper is now available as an Android application ($2,99). It lacks several key features of the iOS version, like fullscreen reading and pagination, and sadly, while it does have some Holo elements, it still looks very non-native (miles better than that horrid copy/paste job Instagram did, though). It's yet another prime iOS exclusive moving to Android, but I'm honestly wondering how many people care at this point, considering there've been enough excellent alternatives on Android for a while now. Let's just say that I don't think sales will make Marco Arment change his mind about there not being any serious money in Android application sales, but whether or not that would be Android's fault in this particular case, I don't know.

Metro’s desktop issues, and how to fix them

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-03 Windows 260 Comments

So, I've been using the Windows 8 Release Preview since it came out, almost exclusively (except for work, since I'm obviously not going to rely on unfinished and untested software for that). I already knew I could get into Metro on my 11.6" ZenBook, but on my 24" desktop, things aren't looking as rosy. Here's an illustrated guide of the most pressing issues I run into, and five suggestions to address them. Instead of just complaining, let's get constructive.

Guest post by Elv13 2012-06-03 Linux 15 Comments

"As the Linux desktop increases in popularity, the user interface experience has become increasingly important. For example, most laptops today have multitouch capabilities that have yet to be fully exposed and exploited in the free software ecosystem. Soon we will be carrying around multitouch tablets with a traditional Linux desktop or similar foundation. In order to provide a high-quality and rich experience we must fully exploit multitouch gestures. The uTouch stack developed by Canonical aims to provide a foundation for gestures on the Linux desktop."

Ice Cream Sandwich breaks all important 7% barrier

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-02 Google 41 Comments

Yes, it's been a long road, but Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has achieved a major milestone. Just over half a year since it's been released, Google's latest Android version has crossed the all-important 7% installed base barrier. This is a major achievement for Android, so Google has reason to celebrate. I'm proud to be part of the 7.1%.

Submitted by rohan_p 2012-06-02 Amiga & AROS 47 Comments

Good interview with Steven Solie - this bit stood out to me: "Although Hyperion has been using serial numbers for copies of AmigaOS since 4.0, it won't reveal sales numbers. Solie's 'personal guess' is that the system has 2000-5000 users. 'If you include all the various Amiga clones and emulators we would probably be talking about around 10000 users total,' he adds, 'it is really difficult to judge because a majority of the users are rather quiet.'" Fascinating number - lower than I anticipated.

Submitted by Modafinil 2012-06-01 Open Source 41 Comments

"The Samba Team and seven kernel hackers have come together with Software Freedom Conservancy to help efforts to ensure compliance with the GPL by those who implement Linux and other GPL software. Richard Hillesley talked to Bradley Kuhn of Software Freedom Conservancy, Jeremy Allison of Samba, and Matthew Garrett, who works in his spare time with the GPL Compliance Project for Linux Developers."

US, Israel created Stuxnet, lost control over it

Thom Holwerda 2012-06-01 Privacy, Security 42 Comments

"Mr. Obama decided to accelerate the attacks - begun in the Bush administration and code-named Olympic Games - even after an element of the program accidentally became public in the summer of 2010 because of a programming error that allowed it to escape Iran's Natanz plant and sent it around the world on the Internet. Computer security experts who began studying the worm, which had been developed by the United States and Israel, gave it a name: Stuxnet." And we're letting these people have unmanned drones. Seems legit.

A walk-through on digital collages

Eugenia Loli 2012-06-01 Multimedia, AV 8 Comments

Following our recent interview with the iPhone collage artist _meta_, a few readers asked for more such articles. So here's one on how to create your own such digital collages! Technically-speaking, digital collage, illustrations, and photo-montage are the same thing. It's just pictures or drawings put together in a single image, made look like a seamless, coherent piece. However, there are distinct differences in the way these are perceived and enjoyed, they essentially are different sub-genres.

Alsup destroys Oracle’s case, rules APIs are not copyrightable

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-31 Legal 73 Comments

And thus, it ends. Despite a never-ending stream of doom and gloom from Oracle/Microsoft-funded 'pundits' regarding Google and Android (six hundred billion trillion gazillion eurodollars in damages!!1!), judge Alsup has just squashed all of Oracle's chances with a ruling that is good news for those of us who truly care about this wonderful industry: APIs are not copyrightable. Alsup: "To accept Oracle's claim would be to allow anyone to copyright one version of code to carry out a system of commands and thereby bar all others from writing their own different versions to carry out all or part of the same commands. No holding has ever endorsed such a sweeping proposition." Supreme Court, Ellison?

Windows 8 Release Preview released

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-31 Windows 45 Comments

The Windows 8 release Preview has been released, so go out and get it, test it, and wax lyrically, or complain loudly. I'm installing it as we speak, so no word, thoughts, or impressions from me yet. Like it or hate it, at least have fun, folks.

Megaupload demands return of millions of dollars From US Govt.

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-31 Legal 15 Comments

"Megaupload is challenging the U.S. Government's possession of millions of dollars in assets it seized from the company and its operators in January. The newly-filed and eye-opening motion slams the U.S. for holding the defendants liable for alleged offenses that aren't even a crime, ignoring laws designed to offer them protection, failing to provide any detail whatsoever on alleged infringements, and pushing U.S. law far beyond its borders." I'm sure Megaupload wasn't exactly a fluffy bunny organisation, but rarely have I seen a government screw up so badly, and so publicly.