Cosmoe Developer Seeks Successor

No, it's not Bill Gates, but rather the developer of the OSBOS Cosmoe. For those who do not know what Cosmoe is, the following introduction is for you. Cosmoe was one of the first OSBOS announced at beunited and was also the first OSBOS to successfully run the OpenTracker. It is, to this day, developed by a man called Bill Hayden. The big difference between Haiku and Cosmoe is that it runs on the Linux kernel and that it's using GPL as its license. Read on for the interview.

First Ulteo Release Close

In the first Ulteo NewsLetter, Gael Duval says that the first .iso of an installable Ulteo live CD will be released on December 5th or 6th. "For this first alpha release, be prepared to dive a bit inside the system to understand the potential of Ulteo. On the desktop you will find only a few differences with what you can use or see when compared to a graphical environment on other distro's. Maybe then you will understand what makes Ulteo different, and you will start to think about the next steps of development."

Novell Adds Microsoft’s Open XML to OpenOffice

The first fruit of the recently announced Novell/Microsoft interoperability agreement arrived on Dec. 4, with Novell's announcement that its version of the OpenOffice productivity suite will now support the Microsoft Office Open XML format. The release candidate of Novell's modified version of OpenOffice.org 2.02 is now available for Windows for free download by registered Novell users.

Microsoft Unveils Expression Studio Design Tools Suite, ‘Flash Killer’

Microsoft has announced an integrated suite of tools for designers, as well as a new preview of the company's 'Flash killer' technology, putting Microsoft squarely into competition with Adobe. Microsoft on Dec. 4 announced its Expression Studio suite of tools for designers, consisting of four tools - three of which had been introduced heretofore and a new tool stemming from an acquisition the company made last summer. In addition, Microsoft announced a new CTP of its WPF/E technology, and there's also an app to show it off, while with some workarounds WPF can be used in Vista's Sidebar.

Locking Down Ubuntu

"Security is an important issue in computing. Unfortunately, many computers allow a cracker to gain access to them and retrieve sensitive information, or just make life hard. This article will review the basics in general security and explain how to apply it to two Linux distributions - Ubuntu and Kubuntu."

Interview: Justin Steinman, Novell

"OrangeCrate is pleased to announce an interview with Justin Steinman, Director of Marketing for Novell. Novell has announced a major deal with Microsoft in the last few weeks that has caused some in the community to question the validity of the deal announced, and has already been characterized by Microsoft as somehow verifying that Linux violates Microsoft's intellectual property. While I disagree with that statement from Steve Ballmer, I do understand that it is only fitting to offer Novell the chance to speak directly to the questions we all want addressed."

Azul Launches Vega2 Java Machines

Azul unwrapped its newest chip the 48-core Vega2 today. It is the successor to last year's Vega1. This Java processor triples performance from the year-old part and has an attractive feature set. Let's start out with the systems. Azul does not sell chips, only complete machines. There is a two-chip, 96 core, 48GB model 3210 and a four-chip, 96-192GB model 3220. Both are 5U machines, with the 3210 pulling about 580W max and the 3220 pulling about 1000W. There will be eight and 16 socket machines coming in 2007.

Will Microsoft’s Paranoia Pay Off?

There are two drawbacks to being a company that has a virtual monopoly in its biggest markets. For starters: where do you find growth? And there is always the nagging worry that someone out there is working on a rival product that just might blow you out of the water. As Andrew Grove, one of the founders of computer chip giant Intel, once put it: "Only the paranoid survive!" Software giant Microsoft is working hard to address both problems.

Review: Windows Vista Ultimate

After my previous short first impressions 'review' of Windows Vista Build 6000, the final build, I promised you a full review which would look a bit deeper into the system, focussing on less obvious matters than appearance alone. Since there are so many new features in Windows Vista, it is very easy to lose track of them. Hence, this review will follow (where possible) a much linked-to page on Wikipedia: Features new to Windows Vista.

Apple Reiterates: No Interest in Virtualization for Leopard

Speaking to an analyst this month, executives for Apple Computer maintained that the company has no plans to incorporate virtualization technology into the final version of its Boot Camp software that will ship as part of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard next spring. "Apple indicated that it is very pleased with Parallels software and didn't feel the need to compete with its own version of embedded virtualization," Bear Stearns analyst Andy Neff wrote in a research note to clients this week.

SearchMash: Google Reborn

"It's quite a challenge really: how does the Number 1 search engine on the web rewrite its search algorithm and test its effectiveness without hurting its current results and user-experience during the testing process? Sergey Brin and Larry Page seem to have figured it out: create a new search engine, and do your testing there! SearchMash.com is the evolution of Google, and should things go right, what Google will (soon enough) become. It tests a range of new features and methods of bringing information to the users' fingertips in more ways than immediately obvious to the eyes."