Monthly Archive:: October 2003

WinFS Vs GNOME Storage? Can you Say OS/400?

Guest post by Mo Mckinlay 2003-10-31 OS News 45 Comments

There's been much discussion over the past few months about the marriage of databases and filesystems - with Microsoft's Longhorn reportedly sporting the Yukon integrated SQL Server, and GNOME Storage in heaty debate, if not development, there's been lots to talk about.

Longhorn’s Changes; Avalon: Not Just a Cool Thing, a Necessity

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-31 Windows 38 Comments

Microsoft introduced the next version of Windows, code-named “Longhorn,” at its Professional Developers Conference this week in Los Angeles. Although Microsoft has leaked details of Longhorn before, the conference offered the first official look at many of the technologies coming when the operating system ships sometime in 2005 or 2006. Elsewhere: "Today was the 4th and final day of the Microsoft Professional Developer's Conference in LA. If you were there, things were a lot quieter than previously. Most sessions had to do with creating software with all the new goodies." Read it here.

Outside Looking In: The BSD Operating Systems

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-31 BSD & Darwin 83 Comments

Technically, the BSD operating systems are every bit as good as Linux, so why aren't they commercially successful? eWEEK.com Linux & Open Source Center Editor Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols and software consultant Brian Masinick explain why.

Regarding Microsoft’s New CLI

Submitted by Mick X Nobody 2003-10-31 Windows 55 Comments

In one of the most overlooked cool things at the PDC, the new Command Shell that will be in Longhorn blew me away when I saw it. I walked up to the booth asking if unix-like file aliases would be in the new shell, and was given a demo by the team that had my mind racing." Read the article at ASP.net.

Apple’s Panther Stalks New Ground

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-31 macOS 19 Comments

With Mac OS X Version 10.3, Apple delivers what's probably the most polished desktop operating system available today, says eWEEK Labs.

Windows XP Service Pack 2: A Developer’s View

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-31 Windows 9 Comments

With Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Microsoft is introducing a set of security technologies that will improve Windows XP-based computers' ability to withstand malicious attacks from viruses and worms. The technologies include: Network protection, Memory protection, Safer email, Safer browsing. This paper discusses the first two elements on this list.

Is There a Place for Debian in the Enterprise?

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-31 Debian 16 Comments

Users who are technically self-supporting and don't want to pay Red Hat for service and support could deploy Debian, says Open Source Development Lab analyst Stacey Quandt, "and it would lead to greater return on investment."

First Linux Tablet PC Doesn’t Fare Well

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-31 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 31 Comments

Lycoris makes three tablet-specific tweaks to the OS, but it's not enough. The first Linux-based tablet, Desktop Evolution's $1900 De-Tablet, is a good effort, but its software needs additional refinements before it will please the tablet-toting masses, says PCWorld.

SuSE 9 Hits American Shores

Submitted by danjr 2003-10-31 SuSE, openSUSE 16 Comments

SuSE Linux, until now known mainly as 'that European flavor of Linux' with many Americans, is getting ready for a big push with businesses and government organizations, with the introduction of SuSE Linux 9 with 64-bit processing and 2.6 kernel enhancements to the Americas Thursday.

Interview with a Mac Switcher, Part II

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-31 Original OSNews Interviews 100 Comments

Some time ago we featured an interview with an... official Mac OS X switcher. A year later, we found another Apple switcher, James Dorn ("noviteo" for his friends) and we ask him a few details upon the switch. Especially with the recent price cuts on Apple hardware and the Mac OS X Panther release last week, being a switcher becomes "cool" all over again.

OpenBSD 3.4 Released

Submitted by Ted Unangst 2003-10-31 OpenBSD 27 Comments

The OpenBSD folks are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 3.4. This is their 14th release on CD-ROM (and 15th via FTP). They remain proud of OpenBSD's record of seven years with only a single remote hole in the default install. As with previous releases, 3.4 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system:

Improving the FreeBSD SMP implementation

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-31 FreeBSD 35 Comments

Free UNIX-derived operating systems have traditionally have a simplistic approach to process synchronization which is unsuited to multiprocessor application. Initial FreeBSD SMP support kept this approach by allowing only one process to run in kernel mode at any time, and also blocked interrupts across multiple processors, causing seriously suboptimal performance of I/O bound systems. This paper describes the work done to remove this bottleneck, paying particular attention to the project management aspects and the particular challenges of a large open source development project.

Microsoft’s Whidbey: Something For Everyone

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-30 .NET 27 Comments

Microsoft's pre-beta version of its Visual Studio .NET platform, "Whidbey", is offering a trove of new simplified tools and features that should make developers jobs easier, while giving Microsoft critics new fodder, attendees at the Professional Developers Conference here said. In the meantime, Microsoft Developer Tools Roadmap 2004-2005 were posted, and also the new CLR Profiler which allows developers to see the allocation profile of their manage applications.

Can GNOME Storage Keep Up with Longhorn’s WinFS?

Submitted by Jared White 2003-10-30 Gnome 55 Comments

More commentary on the GNOME front: Jared White of 'The Idea Basket' compares the GNOME Storage project with the new WinFS technology in Microsoft Longhorn. Can Storage gain enough momentum and developer involvement within the open source community? Will it be ready to compete with WinFS in 2006? Havoc Pennington has a similar question on his blog.

An Early Eval of Apple’s MacOS X 10.3

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-30 macOS 29 Comments

"Apple's BSD-based MacOS X 10.3 Panther offers 64-bit processor support and new features wrapped in the latest version of a GUI that has its roots in the NeXT desktop. While Panther sets a new standard for ease of use and interface look and feel, it still lacks features that Linux users have long enjoyed." Read the article at NewsForge by C. Gulker. Update: SunSpot has a review too: "One more cool cat".

Microsoft Research Packs ‘Wallop’

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-30 Microsoft 7 Comments

From its Wallop interactive project to its SkyServer "worldwide telescope," wristwatches and Magic Paper, Microsoft Research has a lot on its plate, senior exec Rick Rashid told a PDC audience.

Genesi Adds Four New Patents to its IP Portfolio

Submitted by Joël EHRET 2003-10-30 Morphos 22 Comments

On MorphOS-news.de, Genesi announced today that four patents owned by Raquel Velasco will be included in Genesi intellectual property portfolio. Read more here.

First Impressions of Napster 2.0

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-30 Multimedia, AV 72 Comments

Two weeks ago we featured an early pick on iTunes for Windows, but today iTunes' main competitor Napster 2.0 was released for a free download. We had a play with it and here is what we think about it and how it compares to iTunes.

Gnomers Editorializing: Getting Cool Things Done

Submitted by Tetsuo 2003-10-30 Gnome 44 Comments

Seth Nickel writes in his blog about the lack of concrete goals and vision in Gnome. Then Christian Schaller makes an interesting point about Mono, and how successfull it is with its rapid development and developer attraction. Later, Havoc Pennington joined the discussion in his blog: "Cool things happen via a thousand small, practical steps" he said, as more practical problems still exist and need fixing before everyone hurries to "do cool things". Get more opinions at PlanetGnome.

Mac OS X 10.3 has Built-in File Defragmentation

Eugenia Loli 2003-10-30 macOS 34 Comments

MacSlash reports that when a file is accessed on Panther, a check is made to see if it is fragmented. If so, and if it is less than 20 MB in size, the filesystem will copy the file over to a contiguous area on the HD that will hold the file in it's entirety in concurrent sectors, and then free up the HD space the fragmented version used to occupy. There are cases though, where a third party defrag utility will be required for best results.