What Will Java 6 Do for Desktop Java: Part II

  Submitted by arooaroo Java 27 Comments
"As mentioned in part 1, Java 6 has to please end-users but it must also appeal to developers in order to make those killer desktop applications. I think that many GUI developers will agree that the Swing API is very powerful and flexible. That said, many feel it's too difficult and ultimately question its ability to deliver a robust desktop application (for a reasonable cost - whether that be monetary or mental!) As promised, I shall offer an overview to what Java 6 will offer developers to ease them towards putting Java on the desktop."
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Exploit Released for Mac OS X Flaw

  Submitted by Jon Mchitel Privacy, Security 46 Comments
Computer code that exploits a flaw in Apple's Mac OS X was released over the weekend. The code takes advantage of a weakness in core parts of Mac OS X and could let a user gain additional privileges. Apple provided a fix for the error-handling mechanism of the kernel last week, but the exploit appears to have been authored before then. "It appears to have been written well before the vulnerability was fixed," said Dino Dai Zovi, a researcher with Matasano Security who was credited by Apple with discovering the flaw when the patch was released. Obviously anything but spectacular (since it's fixed), but it does raise the age old question: will the growing popularity of both Linux and OS X lead to more of these exploits-- possibly one that does get released 'in time'?
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Slackware 11.0 Released

  Submitted by Witold Wasilewski Slackware, Slax 30 Comments
Slackware 11.0 contains the 2.4.33.3 Linux kernel (default), 2.6.17.13 in /extra and 2.6.18 in the /testing directory. This Slackware version is by far the most cutting edge ever released, it includes KDE version 3.5.4 (including the Amarok media player), XFCE 4.2.3.2, the latest versions of Firefox and Thunderbird, plus SeaMonkey 1.0.5 (replacing the Mozilla suite). It also includes glibc-2.3.6, gcc-3.4.6, X11R6.9.0 from X.Org, and more.
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Windows Vista Imaging and Installation Performance

Windows 24 Comments
The Vista Team Blog has an interesting article on Vista's installation routine, more specifically on how long it takes to install Vista. "PC World got the conversation going on installation times in Windows Vista. While they quote Jim Allchin that Windows Vista can take as little as 15 minutes to install, my installs have been more like 20 minutes (still rocking fast), so I thought I would talk with David D'Souza who manages our Deployment and Installation team to get some more information about the different deployment scenarios and their installation time."
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Turn Your Mac Into a HD PVR with EyeTV Hybrid

  Submitted by luna6 macOS 17 Comments
Lunapark reviews the EyeTV Hybrid, and concludes: "If you own a Mac Mini and have it in your living room, the EyeTV Hybrid is something you should run out to buy immediately (I mean right now). For MacBook, MacBook Pro and Mac Pro owners - if want your tv fix on the Mac or you want an easy way to transfer television shows to your ipod, EyeTV Hybrid is a great choice. Personally I love the EyeTV Hybrid and would enthusiastically recommend it without any hesitation."
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pkgsrc-2006Q3 Released

  Submitted by ghen NetBSD 8 Comments
"The pkgsrc developers are very proud to announce the new pkgsrc-2006Q3 branch, which has support for more packages than previous branches. As well as updated versions of many packages, the infrastructure of pkgsrc itself has been improved for better platform and compiler support, and also for enhanced security. At the same time, the pkgsrc-2006Q2 branch has been deprecated, and continuing engineering starts on the pkgsrc-2006Q3 branch."
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Jon Elch Lashes Out at Apple, SecureWorks

Apple 53 Comments
David Maynor and Jon 'Johnny Cache' Ellch aren't telling the complete Mac Wi-Fi flaw story after all. At the last minute, under pressure from SecureWorks (Maynor's employer) and Apple, a talk at ToorCon here was cancelled and replaced by a 'rant' from Ellch about what he described as an 'unprofessional' approach to the issue by both companies. Ellch, out of respect for his friend Maynor, declined to take questions or talk on-the-record about the brouhaha, but he did release the text of his rant, which was aimed squarely at Apple and SecureWorks.
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Hackers Claim Zero-Day Flaw in Firefox

  Submitted by rx182 Mozilla, Gecko 87 Comments
The open-source Firefox Web browser is critically flawed in the way it handles JavaScript, two hackers said Saturday afternoon. An attacker could commandeer a computer running the browser simply by crafting a Web page that contains some malicious JavaScript code, Mischa Spiegelmock and Andrew Wbeelsoi said in a presentation at the ToorCon hacker conference here. The flaw affects Firefox on Windows, Apple Computer's Mac OS X, and Linux, they said.
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Virtual Bridges Announces Win4BSD

  Submitted by Edward FreeBSD 22 Comments
"Virtual Bridges, a provider of enterprise and SMB solutions using virtualization for business, announced today the release of Win4BSD Pro Desktop Win4BSD Pro Desktop runs as a FreeBSD/PC-BSD application and allows users to run Windows applications and desktops with seamless ease on the BSD platform. The company also announced that it will be releasing Win4BSD Virtual Desktop Server, a FreeBSD-based desktop consolidation server, during October."
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