Archive

Java 1.4.1 has recently been released. Over 2,000 bug fixes have been issued in this maintence release. Two new garbage collectors have been added, Concurrent and Parallel. Click here for more information while you can also find the the full list of changes.

First, a little background. I am a Windows user who has been using Windows since 3.1. I am not a programmer or a developer, I am a user. I process photos, use the internet, e-mail, write letters, play the ever important games and even use it to develop my comic strips. I am not computer illiterate and I use my computer with confidence and skill. Now with that said. I hate Windows.

At my Rolla, Missouri, home, I have a desktop computer running Red Hat Linux and a laptop running Windows 2000. They are networked and I lived happily with that for a long time. This summer I had to stay in California for six weeks so I decided to take the laptop with me and send the desktop from Mailboxes Etc.

The latest release of Mac-On-Linux now includes MacOS X support. Check out these screenshots of MacOSX 10.2, also known as Jaguar, running under Linux. Please note that Mac-On-Linux is not an emulator, but it's more like VMWare, therefore, it can only run on some PPC hardware.

There's an interesting editorial at Mikhailtech regarding FPS, refresh rates and what the brain really distinguishes. Although he has no scientific background experience he has assembled some interesting facts. You can get more information on how the brain interprets visual data here.

AnandTech has reviewed ATI's latest mobile graphics solution. According to the reviewer this small and energy efficient chip is the new king when it comes to mobile graphic chips for notebooks. Also John Carmack is apparently very positive about the chip and also stated that Doom 3 will be able to run smoothly with this new Radeon chip.

As Amiga Inc is about to re-enter the computer arena with new AmigaOS4 powered desktop systems as well as with 3rd party embedded products utilizing AmigaDE technology pre-installed, there are a growing number of people who wonder what an advanced classic AmigaOS currently offers. This was an important reason for me to write a simple to understand WinUAE tutorial, so this would hopefully help interested people with setting up a fun and easy to use emulated AmigaOS environment on widely available mainstream Windows computers. This article also includes many WinUAE screenshots and information on acquiring and using freely available software.

So, you want to write an operating system. We discussed earlier a generic set of considerations that are important, from my experience, for this type of adventure. We proceed to look at solutions to the problem of actually getting started with writing your system: how to do it when you know you don't know what you're doing, making it work before making it work fast, and what to do when things go wrong.

A while ago I wrote a short article on a rumour about Apple potentially using a POWER4 derived CPU. Since then there has been a lot of talk of Apple switching to an x86 based solution and now a desktop POWER4 derivative has been announced. Some people suggest this will be too expensive and in it's cut down form slower than a x86. What is Apple more likely to go for?

I've always been curious about how things work. When I was little, I annoyed my parents with millions of questions. Why is the sky blue? How does water come out of the tap when you open it? Maybe I was born without the mental switch that lets you be happy with using something, without trying to figure out how it works.

Many companies are trying to move to a subscription model for their software and Apple really has something going for them in that respect if you think about it. We, OS X Users, are already accustomed to the automatic updating of the OS and like it. dotMAC actually looks nice all in all, even if some might feel it is expensive. What people don't like is unpredictability; they have nothing against change as long as they like the outcome and know where it is going.

The annual AmiWest show was held last weekend in Sacramento, USA. As with many important Amiga shows held in the US, UGN provided Amigans live webcam and audio coverage of this event. Most interesting was the live coverage of Bill McEwen's Saturday evening banquet speech (MP3). Update: Please use the following mirrors for the mp3 instead: USA, France, Norway and UK. Update 2: Sendo has published an Amiga related press release, confirming that their Z100 mobile phone will ship with Amiga software.

An interview with Robert Love is at KernelTrap. Robert is author of the kernel preemption patch which has been merged into the 2.5 development kernel. In this interview, Robert discusses the status of Linux kernel preemption, talks about his recent involvement with the O(1) scheduler and explains his recent VM overcommit work. He also reflects upon Linus' use of Bitkeeper, the future of Linux, and the recent Kernel Summit in Ottawa.

This article includes many exclusive pictures, 5 new AmigaOS4 screenshots and some exclusive AmigaOS4 information. Within the first section of this article I will try to give some relevant background information about the history of new Amiga products. Then sections will follow regarding the new PowerPC based Amiga hardware platform, the new AmigaOS4, how users can contribute and finally I will write about the potential niche markets for new Amiga systems.