Freespire 1.0-RC1 Released
The Freespire team has released the first release candidate of Freespire 1.0. More information is available in the release notes. Get this release from the Freespire download page. Linux.com offers a few first looks.
Monthly Archive:: July 2006
Microsoft To Charge for Office Beta
Microsoft plans next week to charge a nominal fee for Office 2007 Beta 2 downloads, in a move that runs counter to the practice held by most software companies. Consumers who download the 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 will be charged USD 1.50 per download, beginning next Wednesday, a Microsoft spokeswoman said.
SymphonyOS: Plea for Help
Submitted by
SymphonyOS, one of the more refreshing Linux distributions, is in trouble, since its lead developer is in financial troubles. "Core symphony development is currently stalled as I am without electricity in my apartment. I need to raise some money this week in order to have electric restored and cover some expenses. Project donations are greatly appreciated and any referral for paying projects are greatly appreciated as well. I have really big plans for symphony in the near future that will hopefully blow some larger distros out of the water. I cant wait to share them all with you."
Opera Reveals Version 10 Vision
Opera Software is making plans to steal market share from Microsoft. Though a launch date for Opera 10 hasn't yet been set, Opera is hoping the updated application will lure users away from Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 by building on Opera 9's use of small Web applications called widgets.
2.4 Kernel Maintainer Change; 2.4.33-rc4 Released
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Marcelo Tosatti of Red Hat, who took over the maintenance of the 2.4 series of the Linux kernel from Linus at version 2.4.16, has decided to pass it on to Willy Tarreau who has been doing the 2.4 hotfix series for a while. In the meantime, v2.4.33-rc3 has been released.
Apple Newton vs. Samsung Q1 UMPC
Cnet did an interesting comparison: Samsung's recently released UMPC, vs. the... Apple Newton. "Fans will tell you that the Apple Newton was years ahead of its time. Ten years on we're going to put that claim to the test. We're pitting a vintage Apple Newton against the brand-new Samsung Q1 ultra-mobile PC in a head-to-head battle." What's more suprising is the winner, however.
Fresh Concerns Over Vista Release
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Microsoft shares fell on Thursday after it declined to dampen rumours that its new Windows Vista operating system might face fresh delays. Its shares closed down 2% after a Microsoft executive appeared to avoid confirming the current January 2007 Vista release data for consumers. Instead, Microsoft's Kevin Johnson said Vista would be shipped "when it is available".
Top Five Things Microsoft Can Learn From Linux
After listing 5 things Linux could learn from Microsoft last week, Linux's very own version of Paul Thurrot now lists 5 things Microsoft can learn from Linux. "Yes, Microsoft may be at the top of the ladder now, but there are signs of decline everywhere. Companies can, and do, fall from the top rung all the time."
Goodbye, Pentium – Hello, Core 2 Duo
Intel officially closed the books on the Pentium era on Thursday with the Core 2 Duo, its most important product launch in 13 years. Two classes of Core 2 Duo processors were released Thursday. PCs based on the Core Extreme processor are available immediately. However, 'Extreme' is an appropriate description for both the performance and price of those systems, and they are only appropriate for the deep-pocketed performance-starved user. Mainstream systems at more affordable prices will start to appear in early August, Intel CEO said.
Trolltech Releases Technology Preview of Qt for Java Development
Submitted by
"Trolltech today released an initial technology preview of Qt Jambi to its commercial customers and the open source community for testing and feedback. Qt Jambi is a prototype technology that enables Java developers to utilize Qt."
Microsoft: .Net Beat Java, Who’s Next?
Microsoft is leaving Java in the dust, but the company still has room to grow in the developer arena, a key executive said. Speaking at the Microsoft FAM (Financial Analyst Meeting) on July 27 in Redmond, Wash., Bob Muglia, Microsoft's senior vice president of Server and Tools business, said Microsoft's .Net platform has outpaced Java, particularly the Java Enterprise Edition, over the past five years to become the development platform of choice for enterprise development.
Review: Sony Ericsson M600i and UIQ 3.0
Hi-Mobile.net sent us over for a review the first ever phone that ships with UIQ 3.0: the Sony Ericsson M600i. This 3G SymbianOS 9.1 smartphone is one of the most popular this summer (selling at below 375 USD) and so we decided to give it a whirl too. Read on for more info, pictures, screenshots and a video of the device, the P990's little brother.
Ballmer: Windows Releases Must Come More Quickly
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wrapped up a meeting with financial analysts Thursday by promising that the company would make sure it releases new Windows versions more quickly. Also, Microsoft on Thursday showed a prototype of a cell phone-based computer that could one day find a use as a cheap PC for emerging markets.
United States Cedes Control of the Internet – Or Not?
In a meeting that will go down in internet history, the United States government last night conceded that it can no longer expect to maintain its position as the ultimate authority over the internet. Having been the internet's instigator and, since 1998, its voluntary taskmaster, the US government finally agreed to transition its control over not-for-profit internet overseeing organisation ICANN, making the organisation a more international body. Update: Ars contradicts El Reg's claims: "Contrary to some reports, things are not about to change. After a meeting at the Commerce Department, Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, John M.R. Kneuer, said that the existing arrangement was likely to continue, at least for another year."
FSF Releases Second Draft of GPL v3
"The second discussion draft of the GNU General Public License version 3 was released on 2006 July 27, along with the first discussion draft of the GNU Lesser General Public License." Included are audio introductions by Eben Moglen. Update: Torvalds, after looking at the draft, wasn't impressed.
Google Announces Code Repository
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Google has created a repository system for software development much like SourceForge. The system even checks new project names against SourceForge's database to ensure no one sets up conflicting names. Greg Stein, an open source engineer within Google and chairman of the Apache Software Foundation, said: "We really like SourceForge, and we don't want to hurt SourceForge or take away projects." Instead, Stein says that the goal is to see what Google can do with the Google infrastructure, to provide an alternative for open source projects.
Ballmer: Software Is Becoming a Service
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Acknowledging the software industry is undergoing a radical transformation, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Thursday that his company is moving rapidly to create products that can be funded by ads and served up over the Internet. "Software is becoming a service," Ballmer said at the company's financial analyst. "Embracing advertising and subscription-based models and Internet-based delivery across Microsoft's product line is an important part of what we will do."
Top Win-Lin Interoperability, Migration Tips
"Here's your fast guide to SearchOpenSource.com's most-read how-tos on Windows-Linux relations. These tips can either help you migrate from Microsoft's operating systems and applications to Linux and open source software or make them peacefully coexist. Get the scoop on Knoppix, using Excel with open source databases, file sharing with Samba and more."
SkyOS Beta Build 6132 Released
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The SkyOS team has released a long-awaited update to its operating system. This new update brings full desktop compositing, various toolchain updates (everything is now compiled with GCC 4.1.1), new versions of various applications, 440 fixed bugs, and much more.
ReactOS Status Report
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The second issue of the ReactOS status reports was published today by Aleksey Bragin (ReactOS's project coordinator). It's a general overview of the last 6 months of project's progress, with some additional information and future outlook. The document is available in .doc, .rtf, Word 2003 .xml, .txt, .odt, and .pdf.