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Apple Computer is possibly in a better shape than it has been in for a long while. With the second coming of Steve Jobs and the renewed focus on innovation, Apple scrambled back from the brink to a relatively healthy company. The question is how will Apple ensure its position, if not strengthen it going forward?
With the hype growing to a feverish pitch about the public announcement of Xen, I thought I would share some insight into the knowledge I've had of the language for almost a year and a half. I'm still under orders not to post the video demonstration I have back to my blog (not because the subject matter is Xen, but because apparently the demonstration is internal to Microsoft... I still don't understand this (expecially now that the cat is out of the bag), but it certainly doesn't stop me from sharing some of the information contained in it. This will be an ongoing post as the demonstration is over an hour long, with lots of code samples to boot.
According to
Neowin, the source code for Microsoft Windows NT 4 and 2000
has been leaked. A number of universities and institutes already have legal access to the source code, distributed by Microsoft. It is still not confirmed by the software giant of Redmond - but in the wrong hands, this could result in a major security catastrophe and a huge threat against Microsoft's 32-bit operating system.
Update 11:37 PM EST by AS:
danjr lets us know,
it's official.
I received
LindowsOS 4.5 for free when Lindows offered it through OSNews.com. I decided to break the review into five scored sections: Installation, First Impression, Usability, Support and Long Term Use.
On Time specializes in providing software development tools for real-time embedded systems on Intel x86 compatible CPUs. Founded in 1989, On Time has offices in Massachusetts and Hamburg, Germany. On Time offers a complete range of real-time operating systems and development tools for 32-bit flat address protected-mode and 16-bit real-mode environments. Recently
the company got a port of SciTech's SNAP graphics suite. Here is an Interview with
SciTech's Dave Milici, who was responsible for porting SciTech SNAP to On Time RTOS-32.
At the end of
Part 2 (Part 1 is
here) I asserted that a new force would enter the world of computing completely changing the landscape. I stated that Microsoft will lose this battle. I lied, there is more than one force, but one way or another there will be one result.
After reading a discussion on
DistroWatch asking
if users were happy with their current distribution, I noticed a common thread of those who have had similar experiences as myself with juggling various Linux distributions. Like myself, they feel many Linux distributions are great, but no one quite feels like home. None of them quite fit the bill and they may even begin to think that
every OS sucks.
In Part 1 I discussed how the software development world is about to be turned on it's head. Now in Part 2 I look at how the hardware world may be about to undergo even bigger changes and why it wont be a hardware manufacturer leading the way.
The OSNews is accompanied by the by-line "Exploring the Future of Computing". In this series I've decided to do exactly that, to go beyond the daily stream of the latest updates and rumours and cast my eyes at the future. What will happen to Software, Hardware, the Companies and Technologies involved and how these are developed. I for one think there will be big changes to come, some for the better, some for the worse.
Lindows.com offered LindowsOS Developer Edition free for one day, GoogleDay (Whatever that is, I don't know, google's birthday perhaps?) so I decided to test it. My favorite distribution this far has been (and still is)
Slackware Linux, which has always, well, just worked. I've been using Linux for some years now, I use Solaris at work (I work as software designer). Trying out Lindows after Slackware was totally different world, and here's some of
my toughts after trying out Lindows.
I know this has been a long time coming but I've had coursework/exams/an interview to deal with and the actual writing got put on the back burner. However, I have been using
Xandros a fair bit and it must be said that I really like it. If you're not a Slackware junkie (like me) I would reccomend Xandros as the best distro to use - it's good for experienced users and completed newbies alike.
For those that don't already know, smoothwall is a very slick and easy way to setup a firewall/nat/dhcp server (and more) at home or in a small office
very quickly even on old computer equipment. I have used
Smoothwall 1.0 in the past and liked its features (although at the time, I did have a problem with Snort failing to start after I updated the software with some fixes...). It served on an old Pentium II 400mhz machine with two NICs inside (network cards). One was the 'green' interface (more about that later) and the other was the 'red' interface. I used that setup for quite a few months, mainly because I wanted to see what alternatives there were to hardware based firewalls (such as DLink gateways/firewalls) that I had been using.
As a result of a disfavor I have for Microsoft, switching to the last week's free copy of
LindowsOS was a viable choice for me (while in the past I have used Slackware, Mandrake, FreeBSD etc). Therefore I downloaded and burned LindowsOS 4.5 Developer Edition to CD.
Installing
Ark Linux was another episode in my continuing quest to find the perfect GNU/Linux distribution. My operational definition of perfect is pretty simple: just like Slackware, except for the parts I can't figure out (getting my USB thumb drive to work properly, for instance).
Thanks to
Lindows.com, I was able to get my hands on a free copy of LindowsOS 4.5 Developer Edition just for being a reader of OSNews. Apparently a lot of other OSNews readers did as well considering the long wait in the queue for downloading. It is great that Lindows gave away their product this way.
Update: The article was updated (look at the end of the article).
Before I add 'my' two cents worth upon the current heap of
Xandros reviews, let me introduce myself... rather my Linux self. I am a noobie. Perhaps not such a newbie as a newbie could be since I have been playing with and learning Linux since 'Corel Linux' (1999-2000?). Before Corel I'd purchased a copy of a 1998 Turbo Linux in a discount store and was beyond elated to find something to mess with.
When doing research for my evaluation of Solaris 9 on my Ultra 5, I kept running into one comment over and over again: Sun's C compiler produces much faster code than GCC does. However, I couldn't find one set of benchmarks to back this up. (If you know of any, drop me an email.) Could this be yet another case of rumor-taken-as-fact?
Lately, there has been a "Why linux isn't ready for the desktop" article every 3 days. Most of the time, these articles originate from a lack of understanding or acceptance of the open source system. I'd like to try to address some of the common arguments against linux here, and try to help people understand why linux probably won't be on your desktop for a while.
For many systems administrators, choosing and managing a VPN system is often quite a headache. Inflexible clients, servers, and protocols often prevent VPN's from being smoothly integrated into an already functioning network. The fact that many VPN clients are installed on users' home computers, well out of the reach of the systems administration team, often means that troubleshooting and upgrading VPN systems is time consuming and a struggle for both admins and users.
When running tests, installing operating systems, and compiling software for my Ultra 5, I came to the stunning realization that hey, this system is 64-bit, and all of the operating systems I installed on this Ultra 5 (can) run in 64-bit mode.
