OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Gnash, the GNU Flash Player, 0.7.2 Released

Submitted by deanna 2006-11-17 Graphics 33 Comments

The second alpha release of Gnash, 0.7.2, has just been announced. Gnash is a GPL Flash movie player and browser plugin that runs on many GNU/Linux distributions, embedded GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, non x86 processors, and 64 bit architectures.

Submitted by bsnipes 2006-11-17 General Development 3 Comments

Dabo 0.7 has been released. If you're not familiar with Dabo, it is a framework for building desktop applications in Python. Obviously, there have been a bunch of changes and bugfixes.

Steve Ballmer: ‘Linux Uses Our Intellectual Property’

Submitted by Tanked 2006-11-17 Linux 167 Comments

In comments confirming the open-source community's suspicions, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Thursday declared his belief that the Linux operating system infringes on Microsoft's intellectual property. In a question-and-answer session after his keynote speech at the Professional Association for SQL Server conference in Seattle, Ballmer said Microsoft was motivated to sign a deal with SUSE Linux distributor Novell earlier this month because Linux "uses our intellectual property" and Microsoft wanted to "get the appropriate economic return for our shareholders from our innovation."

Free Vista Keys for Beta Testers

Submitted by anonymous 2006-11-17 Windows 25 Comments

"Windows Vista RTM'd a week ago, and now, the beta testers have gotten their swag. If you (actively) participated in the Longhorn Beta program, this is your chance to get a free Windows Vista Business or Ultimate Edition product key. The only requirement to receiving this free product key is that throughout the duration of the beta program you submitted at least one bug - nothing more, nothing less."

Review: Microsoft Office 2007

Submitted by Bob Stein 2006-11-17 Microsoft 18 Comments

ActiveWin reviews Office 2007, and concludes: "It's an innovative interface yes, but will the benefits outweigh the changes? That's for users to decide. My personal say is getting used to the interface should not be a problem for many since the familiar tools are organized in ways that makes it convenient for the user to access both new and previously hidden features. This makes the interface more intelligent and more aware of what the user is doing, presenting the right tools for the task at hand. I am proud to say: this is an Office release I definitely look forward to using everyday."

Schwartz Slams Microsoft-Novell Deal

Submitted by Mola 2006-11-17 Oracle and SUN 15 Comments

Some more news on the Novell-Microsoft deal (I'm starting to suspect the free publicity is all what this deal was for, but anyway). Sun boss Jonathan Schwartz has joined in criticism of the Microsoft-Novell deal, saying it is bad for the open source movement. Following Samba's criticism early this week, Schwartz said profoundly disagreed with the idea that open source software is unsafe without the 'no use' arrangements agreed between Microsoft and Novell.

Is the Microsoft-Novell Deal Dead on Arrival?

Submitted by Think4 Myself 2006-11-17 Open Source 38 Comments

The potentially historic Microsoft-Novell pact announced last week, whereby Microsoft would grant patent peace to users of Novell's Suse Linux software in exchange for royalty payments paid by Novell to Microsoft, will be dead by mid-March, promises Eben Moglen, the general counsel of the Free Software Foundation. The FSF controls the license that governs the distribution of Linux and many other key forms of free and open-source software. "It will surely violate GPL version 3," said Moglen, referring to the forthcoming version. "GPL version 3 will be adjusted so the effect of the current deal is that Microsoft will by giving away access to the very patents Microsoft is trying to assert."

Complete Sourrce Code to SciTech SNAP Graphics for Sale

Submitted by Daniel Kruse 2006-11-17 Wayland 11 Comments

"SciTech Software, Inc. today announced that it has ceased further development of its SNAP device driver technology in favor of a new line of web and business logic technologies. SciTech also announced that it would begin looking for a buyer for the company's existing core technology, SciTech SNAP."

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5-b2 Arrives

Eugenia Loli 2006-11-17 Red Hat 11 Comments

Red Hat had planned to release RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) 5 Beta 2 on Nov. 21, but engineering finished the job early and the beta is already being released to the company's partners and customers. The release boasts the latest open-source technologies for improved performance, security, and flexibility, according to the company.

Winners and Losers in the New Linux World

Submitted by anonymous 2006-11-16 Linux 94 Comments

"Would you have believed at the end of last summer that Microsoft and Novell would partner over Linux, or that Oracle would create its own brand of Linux? Yeah, I wouldn't have believed it either, but here we are. So, what does it all mean? Rather than make a snap judgement I decided to sit, wait and watch before trying to make sense of it all. Now, I'm ready to give you my two-cents on who are the winners and losers in this post-deal Linux world."

RISC OS Firefox 2 Port Iyonix Only

Submitted by teigetje 2006-11-16 RISC OS 15 Comments

The next release of the RISC OS Firefox port will be Iyonix-only, developer Peter Naulls revealed today. Although the updated port, dubbed Firefox 2, is said to be working, Peter, pictured, will first need a further five grand in cash donations from users - even though the revised port may ship without https support, which is crucial for online banking and shopping.

Microsoft Takes Office Live Out of Beta

Submitted by John 2006-11-16 Microsoft 6 Comments

After a nine-month long beta run, Microsoft on Wednesday announced the final version of Office Live, which provides a first outline of the firm's Internet services vision. Other than the name may suggest, Office Live is not an extension of Word and Excel, but a service hosting package that makes it easier for small businesses to establish their presence on the Internet.

Submitted by falko 2006-11-16 OS News 4 Comments

"BixData is a system, application, and network monitoring tool which allows you to easily monitor nearly every aspect of your servers. The newly released version 2.6 is the only application that has the ability to control both Xen and VMware virtual machines. You can control both VM Hosts (the computer that's running the VM software) and VM Guests (the virtual machines running on the hosts).

Microsoft May Indemnify Some Red Hat Linux Users

Thom Holwerda 2006-11-15 Red Hat 65 Comments

While Microsoft is hoping to enter into a patent deal with Red Hat similar to the one it has with Novell, the software giant has not ruled out going it alone and providing some sort of indemnification for its customers who use Red Hat Linux. Bill Hilf, Microsoft's general manager of platform strategy, acknowledged that it is an awkward situation having Microsoft's customers who use Novell's SUSE Linux covered by the covenant not to sue, while those Windows users running Red Hat Linux are not.

Vista Released to VL Customers; EU Sets Ultimatum

Thom Holwerda 2006-11-15 Microsoft 57 Comments

It seems Microsoft has released the long awaited Windows Vista to a selection of its larger customers. If you're a Microsoft Volume License customer, you can now download Vista from the MVLS Volume Licensing site. Since around 10am (GMT) this morning, Vista has been properly released into the wild via MVLS - but no news yet as to when it will be available to the developer-centric MSDN community. The Inq also gives a rundown of what Aero-capable video cards you can buy if you have a machine that lacks AGP or PCIe slots. Meanwhile, the EU is threatening to fine Microsoft again.

Details Revealed On Longhorn Server; PowerShell Launched

Thom Holwerda 2006-11-15 Windows 44 Comments

Fresh from an almost missable US launch of Zune, Microsoft was back on familiar ground Tuesday touting server, security and admin software to reassure shareholders the company's future is bright. Bob Muglia, Microsoft's senior vice president for server and tools opened the company's IT Forum in Barcelona, Spain, by promising a third, and final, beta of Windows Longhorn Server during the first-half of 2007 with full product availability by years' end. Microsoft also officially launched its PowerShell.

Submitted by Governa 2006-11-15 Benchmarks 32 Comments

"We might be ahead of Apple's product release cycle, and we've probably violated our Mac Pro's warranty, but we just had to see what the Apple Mac Pro could do when populated with a pair of Intel's brand-new quad-core Xeon 5355 processors," Daniel A. Begun reports for CNET. They conclude: "Unless you do work normally relegated to high-end workstations, perform massively multitasking workloads, or just want the bragging rights, eight cores is definitely overkill - at least for now."

Submitted by fireball 2006-11-15 ReactOS 27 Comments

ReactOS, the open source implementation of a Windows XP/2003 compatible operating system, is announcing a start of a series of interviews with ReactOS developers. The first published interview features the project coordinator Aleksey Bragin. The ReactOS team plans to publish interviews on a weekly basis.

Monitor your Linux Computer with Machine-Generated Music

Submitted by BlueVoodoo 2006-11-15 Linux 10 Comments

"Use Perl and FluidSynth to create a real-time musical composition of your system status. Learn how to integrate various system monitoring data into a harmony-producing, MIDI-controlled audio synthesis. Explore audible information methodsconfigurations monitor and manage your computer."

Submitted by Eugenia Loli 2006-11-15 Apple 19 Comments

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd has secured contracts from Apple Computer for 12 million mobile handsets that also function as music players, the Commercial Times quoted industry sources as saying. Apple will launch the mobile handsets in the first half of next year, the newspaper said, without providing financial details of the contract.