The Problem with Design and Implementation

I've been developing software for quite a few years. One of the issues that seems to come up again and again in my work is this concept of design and implementation. I recall it being a significant part of my education at the University of Waterloo's Computer Engineering program as well. The message was always the same. Never write code first. First you must design software by writing a design document, flow charts, pseudo-code, timing charts... then it's merely a trivial matter of implementing it. Make note of the attitude here given towards implementing. The real work is in the design, and it's just a trivial matter of implementing it. It sounds so simple doesn't it? Now, how often does this work out in real life?

Windows 7, Vista Suffer from Critical SMB 2.0 Flaw

We usually don't report on security flaws, unless they're on platforms that usually don't see such flaws, or when the flaw in question is pretty serious. Well, a new zero-day flaw has been discovered in Windows Vista and Windows 7 which will trigger a blue screen of death using the new SMB 2.0 protocol. Update: Windows 7 RTM and Windows Server 2008 R2 are not affected by the flaw. So, this is less of a problem than expected.

Snow Leopard Snubs Document Creator Codes

"When you double-click a document in the Finder, how does the system decide what application should open it? The relationship between a document and its owning application is called a preferred application binding. Since the very first day of the very first version of Mac OS X, there has been an uneasy detente between the Unix way of binding documents to applications and the former Mac way, inherited from the early days of the Mac OS. Now, in Snow Leopard, users and developers are complaining that the Unix way is being allowed to run roughshod over the Mac way."

Microsoft Offers BestBuy Employees Anti-Linux Training

According to a leak from a BestBuy employee, Microsoft is initiating a sort of "Anti-Linux Training" course for the employees, and those who take part in the said training are rewarded with a copy of Windows 7 for only ten dollars. The leaked screenshots of the campaign show Microsoft's comparison of its own system with an obscure "Linux" and how Windows is better in every way including security, "free downloads", and software and hardware compatibility.

Shiller Discovery Dispute Resolved, Cases Not Combined

Late last week, we discussed the Apple vs. Psystar case (again), and in that article several points were raised which would be handled during a hearing Friday morning. Right after publishing said article, the law firm working for Psystar sent a general email to members of the press (including Groklaw and OSNews, among others) which contained the court order which resulted from this hearing. So to finalise these issues, let's walk through them so we can put the lid on this case for a while.

C64 Emulator for iPhone Approved by Apple, Now Available

"Manomio's Commodore 64 emulator has finally been approved by Apple. We first reported on the project back in June, after Manomio had received their first rejection from Apple. The rejection was particularly disappointing considering the efforts that Manomio had made in making sure their emulator fully licensed and legal." Update by Kroc: The app has been pulled, after Apple caught wind of the much publicised trick to enable BASIC in the emulator. Tsk, tsk; if you're going to put in easter eggs, the point is to keep them a secret, umm'kay.

Snow Leopard Switches to 2.2 Gamma

"If you're a Web designer, expect your CSS colors & your untagged/unmanaged images to look darker on Snow Leopard than on previous versions of the Mac OS. You'll also see less of a visible color shift when going from Photoshop to Flash or other unmanaged environments (e.g. Internet Explorer). Why is that? Apple has switched to a default gamma of 2.2, which is what Windows has used for years. Colors that aren't color-managed are going to look darker on the whole. Your whole display will now be closer to what Windows users see."

Comparing Windows 7 & Snow Leopard Icons

Last week, Culf of Mac published an article showing off some of Snow Leopard's beautiful 512x512 icons, revealing some interesting tidbits about them you could only see when the icons are fully maximised. In this article, I compare some of Snow Leopard's icons to those of Windows 7, and you'll see while both operating systems have beautiful icons, there are some key differences between the styles of these icons. Note that this article contains some large images, so if you're on dial-up, you've been warned.

Opera, MySQL, Kubuntu

This was a bit of a weird week for OSNews. Monday and Tuesday I was unable to reach OSNews and its related domains from home; we still don't know why, but the end result was that I could not work on OSNews, meaning very few items. For the rest, it was a very quiet and relaxed week, with little going on.

Episode 23: Uh, What Were We Talking About Again?

I apologise for the show arriving so late, Britain decided to come back from holiday and break their computers so I was busy all week. Said holiday period also meant that news was thin so Me, Thom, Tess and David discuss Snow Leopard, the EULA issue and then proceed to the issue of cloud computing, what constitutes 'user-friendly' and whether Linux really is easier or more difficult to use than Windows or Mac. Due to some recording issues, sound levels are not perfect and I hope to resolve that next week.

Download .mp3 | Subscribe in iTunes | Subscribe RSS

Firefox To Include Flash Version Checker

Earlier this week, news got out that Apple was shipping an outdated version of Adobe's Flash Player with Snow Leopard; if you updated to a more recent version before the upgrade to Snow Leopard, you would receive a downgrade. This older version had security holes in it, so Adobe advised everyone to upgrade. The Mozilla team has now announced that Firefox 3.5.3 and 3.0.14 will include a Flash version checker.

Seven Samurai Chipmakers Set to Take on Intel

"You know, it's been nearly forty years since Intel introduced the first microprocessor, and even at this late date the company comprises a whopping eighty percent of the global market for CPUs. But not so fast! Like an electronics industry remake of The Magnificent Seven (which is, of course, an American remake of The Seven Samurai) NEC and Renesas have teamed up with a stalwart band of companies, including Hitachi, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Panasonic, and Canon, to develop a new CPU that is compatible with Waseda University professor Hironori Kasahara's "innovative energy-saving software." The goal is to create a commercial processor that runs on solar cells, moderates power use according to the amount of data being processed (a current prototype runs on 30% the power of a standard CPU), remains on even when mains power is cut, and, of course, upsets the apple cart over at Intel."