Top 10 Software Innovations of 2004
The year is almost over, now it's time to tally up the best and most ground-breaking software innovations of 2004. Here is a Top 10 list to that effect.
In the News Archive
Dell bashes ‘big iron’; Says Red Hat needs to lower prices
Top Dell executives disparaged the "big iron" approach of building large, powerful servers on Tuesday--a dig at rivals IBM, Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard. Red Hat needs to lower its prices, or risk losing customers to free versions of the open-source operating system, the Dell executive who oversees the partnership with the Linux seller said Tuesday.
Red Hat, Novell To Package Xen
Xen, an open-source project with growing ties to Red Hat, Novell and Hewlett-Packard, is emerging as the leading contender for providing open-source virtualization for the Linux environment.
Sun, Microsoft to flesh out pact
Microsoft and Sun Microsystems on Wednesday plan to provide details about their six-month-old alliance for the first time.
LWN on Fedora and Solaris 10
The Fedora project was urged to be more community oriented and the editor showed an example of how community involvement helps to reduce Fedora boot time. Also, some intro on Sun's Solaris 10 over at LWN.
CrossOver Office 4.0 Released
Codeweavers has released v4 of its Wine implementation with the addition of support for iTunes.
IT Morale is in the Dumps
A recent survey found that 3/4 of IT managers surveyed reported having morale problems among their staffs. Layoffs, uncertainty, high stress, and incompetent management all contribute to a feeling of malaise among tech workers today. Layoffs have left firms understaffed, and workers feel growing resentment towards their bosses, the survey suggests. How are you feeling about your job?
Adobe dipping toes into desktop Linux waters
Adobe Systems, maker of major desktop software products such as Photoshop and Acrobat Reader, has begun a quiet effort to become more involved with desktop Linux.
Be’s Gassée Appointed Chairman of the PalmSource Board
PalmSource today announced Jean-Louis Gassée has been appointed Chairman of the PalmSource Board of Directors. JLG was the CEO of Be in the '90s and an Apple executive in the '80s.
Search wars hit desktop computers
Another front in the on-going battle between Microsoft and Google is about to be opened. By the end of 2004 Microsoft aims to launch search software to find any kind of file on a PC hard drive. The move is in answer to Google's release of its own search tool that catalogues data on desktop PCs. The desktop search market is as Google, AOL, Yahoo and many smaller firms tout programs that help people find files.
Network Computing Asia articles
Some FreeBSD and Linux coverage in Aug and Oct issues of Network Computing Asia: FreeBSD still Packs a Wallop, Inside Linux, Where Does Linux Work?.
CherryOS Sparks Talk of Virtualization Wars
Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit launched Virtual PC for Mac Version 7. Then, a Hawaiian company specializing in streaming video introduced CherryOS, a virtual PC that mimics the hardware of a G4 Mac. CherryOS inventor Arben Kryeziu, a software developer who got tired of carrying both a Mac and a PC all over Hawai, is confident the computing world will find value in his innovation. However, questions remain if his CherryOS is simply a modified PearPC. Update: An interesting conspiracy theory has been posted here.
Cross-platform packaging facility OpenPKG 2.2 released
The OpenPKG project
released
version 2.2 of their unique RPM-based cross-platform Unix software
packaging facility. OpenPKG 2.2 consists of 528 selected (from a pool of 800) packages, all carefully
packaged for easy deployment on 18 different Unix platforms. Focusing on portability and isolation, OpenPKG 2.2 places greater emphasis on reducing underlying Unix system requirements.
Perpetual vs Subscription Licensing
Software vendors have been moving toward the subscription-type license over the past few years, and away from the perpetual license that had been the norm. Software firms note that companies generally upgrade regularly anyway, so subscription pricing spreads out the payment more easily. A win-win right? But companies don't like the feeling of bing on the hook for payments forever when they once felt like their fee was capped at a certain amount. Read more at PCWorld
Google Desktop Search Tool Goes Beta
Google has released a beta version of their desktop search tool which runs on Windows XP and 2000 SP3+. Details can be found here and more in depth reviews here and here. Its release is amid more concerns of privacy, many of which began when Google's Gmail system was introduced. Update: AOL wishes the same.
Third Parties Fill ‘Longhorn’ Void
With Microsoft Corp.'s recent announcements that it will separate WinFS from the next major release of Windows and the release of Visual Studio 2005, not due for another six months, developers are looking to third-party vendors for certain functionality support now.
Legendary file manager, Directory Opus, new version
GP Software have released the latest edition of Directory Opus, aka DOpus. In skipping revision numbers from v6 to v8, DOpus has gained a vast amount of flexibility for viewing and managing different document types. Some of the highlights include:
Lycoris takes over contribs.org; Red Hat on AOL’s Server
Effective immediately, contribs.org and the development and support of the SME Server will be handled by Lycoris. There will be a Lycoris commercial release available within a very short period of time. Elsewhere, Red Hat plans to release the Netscape Enterprise Suite as open-source software in a bid to expand beyond its core product.
Desktop Linux a vehicle for pirating Windows
PCs running Linux are growing in popularity in part because they can be loaded with a pirated copy of Windows, according to a study from analyst Gartner.
Perens Hits Out at Sun over OpenOffice
Perens said the legal arrangement between Sun and Microsoft was "creepy." The agreement, he added, "essentially says that Sun will not stand together with the open source developers who contributed to their own product." Sun spokesperson Russ Castronovo, however, said Perens "can make whatever call he wants to make."