Thom Holwerda Archive

Microsoft has released six patches for its Windows operating system today. Three of them are rated critical, one important and two moderate. The three critical ones are related Internet Explorer, Print Spooler and PnP. They all three fix issues where your machine could be taken over completely.

Microsoft has begun beta testing their solution to the slow and unprotected PC dilemma: Windows OneCare. FlexBeta reviews it: "Would I personally use the Windows OneCare service? Well, it depends on how much MS is going to charge for this service. If the service will range from $10-$20 a year, then I would say it is worth it."

Microsoft on Monday signed off on the Windows Vista SDK, or software development kit, which will enable developers to create applications for the next-generation Windows release. The SDK, complete with code samples, tools and documentation will be available via MSDN and distributed at next month's PDC conference in LA. In addition, Microsoft has finally released an updated version of Messenger:Mac, bringing it up to par with its Windows brother.

The Debian Common Core Alliance hasn't even been formally announced yet at LinuxWorld in San Francisco this week, and already one of its prospective members, VA Linux Japan, is explaining why it isn't joining.

What is slewing? Agere Systems Engineer Sean Schultz demonstrates the LCK4013 clocking device to implement flexible processor-slewing algorithms in a PowerPC 970 environment.

This interview with Bill Hilf, Microsoft's Linux Lab Manager, answers questions from readers of Slashdot. It speaks about OSS inside Microsoft, attitudes towards open standards, and of course Linux. "Believe it or not, I use more different types of OSS here at Microsoft than I've ever used before. Our team uses over 40 different flavors of Linux and BSD, plus several commercial Unix variants."

Lack of support for open source applications remains a barrier to adoption, but this is gradually changing, says OpenLogic CTO Ron Cope. In this interview, Cope discusses these and other open source issues, and talks about his company's upcoming product announcements at this week's LinuxWorld conference.

"I had been looking for some time to find a way to get the same type of Software RAID support under Windows that is available under Linux for my multiple USB-2 and Firewire drives. Then, I found the coLinux project, and discovered a way to have my Windows and my software RAID too."

EyeOS is a free, cross-platform personal content manager system based upon the style of a desktop operating system. The base package includes the whole operating system structure and ten apps: a calendar, file manager, text editor, internal messenger, browser and calculator. EyeOS's is thought to provide a complete, scalable and free (GPL) organization and work system. Everyone can port an existing PHP app to EyeOS and create a meta-package. You can test it online here.

"The Gentoo Foundation is both pleased and proud to announce the much anticipated release of Gentoo Linux 2005.1. Due to a scheduled power outage at the Open Source Laboratory affecting our master mirror, the release is currently only available for download via BitTorrent. We anticipate recovery from the downtime and full staging of release material to mirrors within 48 hours, accompanied by a comprehensive PR and ChangeLog." In addition, the Gentoo Installer reached their 0.1 release.

Looking to counter Microsoft's claims of security superiority, open-source software vendors are giving the battle against vulnerabilities top billing at this week's LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco.

Growth in the Digital Special Effects and computer animation industry, a sub-segment of the media and entertainment industry, is exploding world wide. A number of reasons have caused this growth and they involve the merging of technology and imagination.This article illustrates the dynamics and business model and processes of the animation effects industry and introduce the existing infrastructure.

This is a detailed guide for Linux beginners about how to setup a web, mail and FTP server with Mandriva 10.2. It covers every aspect of the installation and demonstrates the setup process with the help of 39 screenshots. Experienced administrators will benefit from this tutorial as well.

Macromedia Monday announced Macromedia Studio 8, the new version of its suite for Web designers, video professionals and graphic artists to design, develop and maintain interactive online applications and content