Monthly Archive:: December 2005

"The J operating system is primarily intended for programmers. I've attempted to lower the bar, so amateurs can contribute. I hope to recreate the dynamic environment that used to exist when the Commodore 64 was around and everyone was creating odd-ball software." You can download it from this page.

"In continuation of our previous piece entitled 'Ati: a Year in Review 2005', where we looked at ATI's features implemented this year into their Linux drivers as well as thoroughly examining the frame-rate performance, today we have turned the tables yet again and are taking another look at NVIDIA's gains this year. In addition, due to popular request, and keeping with the standards set by the previous ATI article, we will also be comparing our results against that of the latest NVIDIA ForceWare Windows display drivers."

Right now the situation for developers of minor operating systems seems somewhat bleak. Windows and the Unixes compete in the server world, and Windows and MacOS X compete on the desktop. Linux even gets ported to every embedded device, leaving few niches for the hobbyist or sidelined operating system developer. Some have even gone so far as to say that New Operating Systems Won't Stand a Chance. As anyone who reads OSNews can tell you, however there are a wealth of new systems with new ideas that just aren't taking off. Given all these new ideas some - like capability security from EROS for example - should be good enough to catch on, so why aren't they?

Microsoft has published a set of guidelines on which decisions to make now, so that your computer will be ready to run Windows Vista. They claim that any mid-range AMD or Intel processor will do, and even low-end ones will pack enough power to run Vista. 512 MBRAM is advised, but for more advanced users, 1GB is recommended. As for graphics card: "If you are building or buying PC today, you probably want to avoid the low end of the current GPU range and make sure you get a GPU that supports DirectX 9 and has at least 64 MB of graphics memory." My take: I can confirm that the Windows Vista December CTP, with all the effects turned on, runs more than fine on my aging AMD Athlon XP 1600+, 512MB SD-RAM, Ati Radeon 9000 128MB DDR-RAM (DirectX 8 compatible card, so not a DX9 card). Just so you know.

The omnipresent 'sources' of AppleInsider have told the rumoursite that Apple has 'outsourced' the design of the next PowerMac's motherboard to Intel. "In a move that may surprise some Apple watchers, reliable sources tell AppleInsider the Mac maker has contracted the design duties for its next-generation Power Mac motherboard over to industry heavyweight Intel. With Apple moving aggressively to introduce four Intel-based Mac models in the first four months of 2006 - iMacs, 15-inch PowerBooks, 13-inch widescreen iBooks and Mac minis - resources at the company's engineering labs have worn thin, sources said." Judge for yourself.

"AROS has finally got a new, faster and smarter file system: Michal Schulz has ported SFS to the Amiga Research Operating System, so opening and saving lots of files won't take ages anymore, but just few seconds. Neil Cafferkey has written a Intel Pro/100 NIC driver, allowing support for i8255x family of network adapters. Marcel 'Frostwork' Unbehaun has created an AROS/PPC Live-CD for Pegasos computers."

"This first article in a new series on building accessible applications with Eclipse begins by looking at assistive technologies and disabilities. It then discusses the functions and features that make Eclipse well suited for creating accessible applications on Windows or UNIX."

Two articles on OS/2: "IBM’s farewell to OS/2 next month shouldn’t take anyone by surprise. Long before Big Blue announced its plans to pull the plug, industry watchers were drafting OS/2’s obituary." And, "Yesterday saw IBM cease the sale of the OS/2 Operating system. Come the 31st of December, standard support for the OS will end also. However, a significant number of companies and people continue to use it, and they are finding ways for OS/2 to live on."

"The developers of Mandriva Linux have quietly released what appears to be a public beta of Mandriva Linux 2006.1. This release comes with many updated packages, including X.Org 6.9 final, KDE 3.5.0, GNOME 2.12, and OpenOffice.org 2.0.0. The kernel remains at 2.6.12, although it has been selectively patched with various fixes from kernel 2.6.13 and later. Other improvements affecting networking, printing and X.Org configuration have also been implemented. See the changelog for a detailed list of changes."

"There are a number of things preventing Windows users from moving en masse to Linux. While the naming of applications is probably not a make-or-break issue when considering a new operating system, it is a legitimate consideration. This is the case because many of the names chosen for Linux programs are downright confusing, and the last thing desktop Linux needs right now is to make the transition from Windows or the acquisition of new users any harder than it has to be."

As 2005 comes to an end, both NVIDIA and ATI have fought a competitive battle not only when it comes to their hardware lineup but also display drivers for alternative operating systems. When discussing this subject matter, GNU/Linux users have been quick to criticize ATI Technologies whether it is due to poor installation support, distribution compatibility, rudimentary control panel, or simply the performance level of its drivers.

"Once upon a time, 3D for the Web promised to be as easy as building a Web page. Unfortunately, 3D - even simple 3D - is more complex than displaying scrolling text and pictures. Each VRML vendor implemented a different subset of the spec, and it never gained traction. And so 3D on the Web faded away. Or did it? It turns out that VRML lives on in its XML flavor, X3D, which has grown to encompass VRML's siblings H-Anim (Humanoid Animation) and GeoVRML."

"Fifteen years ago, the Web browser was invented on Christmas day. We look at the history of the browser, talk to its creator, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and ponder how the software increasingly provokes users to define their own ways of consuming information online." Berners-Lee: "A lot of people really want to have an arrangement to provide them with the software that is maintained, and to pay for that support. So, there's a place for the commercial software makers. But the open-source community is absolutely essential for the development of the Web. That's very important to maintain a healthy community."

"Data validation is a common chore in programming any user interface. The Java language's regular-expression support can make data validation easier. You can define a regular expression that describes valid data and then let the Java runtime see if it matches. But certain types of data have different formats in different locales. The ResourceBundle class lets you work with locale-specific data in an elegant way. This article shows how to combine the two techniques to solve a common data-entry problem."