Monthly Archive:: July 2006

Fourth Mac OS X Browser Test

Submitted by Stamatis George 2006-07-14 Internet 19 Comments

"In our last test, we tested the four major browsers on Mac OS X (Safari, FireFox, Camino, and OmniWeb). It has since become the most popular article on our site. Since then, there have been several improvements on almost all of the browsers, so we decided to test again." More here. Elsewhere, check a preview of Firefox 2.0 too.

ITRON: World’s Most Widely Used OS

Submitted by Nicola D\'Agostino 2006-07-14 OS News 20 Comments

"What is the world's most widely used operating system?" The answer is in an interesting Linux Insider piece about ITRON, 'a Japanese real-time kernel for small-scale embedded systems' that runs on a lot of "mobile phones, digital cameras, CD players and other electronic devices."

PC-BSD 1.2 Released

Thom Holwerda 2006-07-13 PC-BSD 48 Comments

PC-BSD 1.2 has been released. "PC-BSD software is pleased to announce the immediate availability of PC-BSD 1.2 for x86 based processors. PC-BSD 1.2 now utilizes the FreeBSD advanced ULE scheduler and is compiled with optimizations for 686 processors (all support for 386, 486 and 586 microcode is disabled in kernel). This release of PC-BSD ushers in a new era of stability and simplicity for desktop operating systems based on UNIX, making it a solid release for home and business usage."

Apple Forgoes Appeal, Bloggers Win

Thom Holwerda 2006-07-13 Apple 28 Comments

Apple has decided to not appeal a recent Court of Appeals decision that barred the company from issuing a subpoena to online journalists, bloggers, and their ISPs. Apple had nearly 40 days to file an appeal, but recently filed a case management statement officially saying that it did not appeal. The statement noted that the Appeals Court overturned the trial court on the protective order issue and "Apple did not appeal that decision".

SUSE Linux 10.2 Alpha 2 Released, Renamed to OpenSUSE

Thom Holwerda 2006-07-13 SuSE, openSUSE 25 Comments

"We're glad to announce SUSE Linux 10.2 Codename 'Basilisk Lizard' Alpha2. It's downloadable from today on and will be the last community/consumer distribution called SUSE Linux. We'll rename SUSE Linux into openSUSE." And the release announcement lists some changes, with a referral to CD1, where the changelog can be found. And there was much rejoicing. No, really.

‘Firefox 2.0 Beta 1 Is No Slam-Dunk’

Thom Holwerda 2006-07-13 Mozilla, Gecko 69 Comments

eWEEK Labs' tests show that Beta 1 of the open-source Firefox 2.0 includes some welcome new features, catches up a bit with capabilities found in other Web browsers and adds some nice security enhancements. However, while Firefox 2.0 is shaping up to be a good upgrade to Version 1.5 of the popular Web browser, it doesn't look like it will be the slam-dunk over the forthcoming Internet Explorer 7 that Firefox 1.5 has been to the current IE 6.x. For that matter, unless Firefox 2.0 and IE 7 improve greatly before their respective releases later in 2006, neither will come close to topping the quality of the already shipping Opera 9.

Dell Takes On Pricing in Image Makeover

Thom Holwerda 2006-07-13 Hardware 2 Comments

Dell, which has scheduled a news announcement for July 13, is expected to reveal a revised PC pricing strategy that will present SMBs and consumers with a more straightforward menu of price options. The move, which doesn't appear to affect large business accounts, comes as Dell attempts to recover from a series of missteps that curbed its growth during the first quarter of 2006. More on this at Ars.

Microsoft Research Automates Hunt for Search Engine Spam

Thom Holwerda 2006-07-13 Microsoft 4 Comments

Researchers at Microsoft are working on an ambitious new project to hunt down and neutralize large-scale search engine spammers. The software giant's Cybersecurity and Systems Management Research Group has taken the wraps off Strider Search Defender, an experimental project that automates the discovery of search spammers through non-content analysis.

A Developer’s Insight Into DROPS

Guest post by Steffen Liebergeld 2006-07-13 OS News 10 Comments

DROPS is the educational operating system of the Dresden University of Technology, Germany (TU-Dresden). Its name is an acronym for Dresden Real-Time Operating System, which reveals its strongest feature, it is real-time capable and it is designed with security in mind. Its homepage can be found here. Note: This is the 4th entry to our Alternative OS Contest which runs through 14th July!

Review: ReactOS

Submitted by Slashdot 2006-07-13 ReactOS 51 Comments

NeoSmart has reviewed ReactOS. "ReactOS is a brilliant idea at heart, and it has come a long way in the past couple of years. It is integral for there to be more than one choice for alternate operating systems, since Windows isn’t the best and Linux isn’t for everyone." And yes, there are screenshots to blindely stare at too.

The 3rd International GPLv3 Conference

Submitted by Ciaran O\'Riordan 2006-07-13 Open Source 5 Comments

When organising the 3rd international GPLv3 conference, FSFE got the whole 2 days recorded and have now put the video and audio files online. There are also full transcripts, including the Q and A sessions of Richard Stallman and Eben Moglen.

How to use Subversion with Eclipse

Submitted by anonymous 2006-07-13 General Development 13 Comments

From the beginning, Eclipse included tight integration with the Concurrent Versions System in order to provide access to change-management capabilities. Now, many projects - notably those run by the Apache Software Foundation - are using a different change-management system: Subversion. This article demonstrates how to add Subversion support to Eclipse and how to perform basic version-control activities from the IDE.

Microsoft Extends Lifeline for Older PCs

Submitted by Eshton Browner 2006-07-13 Windows 27 Comments

Microsoft revealed a software known as Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, designed as a stopgap measure that turns older PCs that aren't ready to replace into more modern and secure systems, but in the process also makes them less than full-fledged computers. Formerly known by its Eiger code name, Windows Fundamentals gives those PCs some of the security benefits of XP but essentially turns the machines into thin clients, able to run only a few programs locally, with most software needing to run remotely from a server.

Web Development with TurboGears, Python

Submitted by IdaAshley 2006-07-13 General Development 7 Comments

In this second article of a two-part series, we demonstrate TurboGears, another open source MVC-style Web application framework based on Python. This article shows how to use TurboGears to create a Web-based shopping application and concludes with a comparison between Turbogears and Django.

Debian Project Server Hacked

Submitted by george 2006-07-13 Debian 64 Comments

The Debian GNU/Linux project today admitted a hacker had compromised one of its internal servers. "Early this morning we discovered that someone had managed to compromise gluck.debian.org," Debian developer James Troup wrote in an e-mail to the Debian community. "We've taken the machine offline and are preparing to reinstall it," Troup continued, noting a number of key services were currently offline as a result.

Analysts See Java EE Dying in an SOA World

Submitted by Alex Helder 2006-07-13 Java 26 Comments

Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) is not going to survive as a major standard programming model in the next five years, predicts Richard Monson-Haefel, senior analyst with the Burton Group, and SOA is part of the reason.

Mozilla Firefox 2.0-Beta 1 Milestone Released

Submitted by supergear 2006-07-13 Mozilla, Gecko 37 Comments

Mozilla Firefox 2 Beta 1 has been released. This milestone for developers and testers includes several new features including anti-phishing, browser session restore in case of a crash, support for client-side session and persistent storage, ability to re-open accidentally closed tabs, support for JavaScript 1.7, new Windows installer based on Nullsoft Scriptable Install System, new microsummaries feature for bookmarks, new search plugin manager and better support for previewing and subscribing to web feeds. Screenshots documenting the new features can be found here.

New Version of Symbian OS Announced

Eugenia Loli 2006-07-12 Wireless 3 Comments

Symbian Limited has just announced a new version of its very widely used operating system for smartphones. The most significant new features in Symbian OS 9.3 are native support for Wi-Fi wireless networking and USB 2.0 on-the-go. It also offers shorter start-up times for phones and key applications as well as improved memory management, resulting in more responsive devices. For the most part, though, Symbian OS 9.3 is an incremental upgrade to the previous version with no major improvements.

Virtualizers Now Go Free

Eugenia Loli 2006-07-12 OS News 23 Comments

Virtual PC 2004 SP1 now is completely free and VPC 2007 will also be free. Also, VMware released VMWare Server 1.0, a free virtualization solution for servers. Update: Here you are, one more for free.

Interview: Alvaro J. Iradier, AMSN Founder and Lead Developer

Guest post by Fernando Apesteguia 2006-07-12 Original OSNews Interviews 12 Comments

We bring to you an interview with Alvaro J. Iradier, founder and lead developer of AMSN (Alvaro's Messenger), a full-featured MSN compatible client, written in tcl/tk.