OS News Archive

The Genode project has released the version 9.02 of their Genode OS Framework. This open-source framework allows for creating custom microkernel-based operating systems for executing dynamic application workload while maintaining high security. In addition to the already supported base platforms 32-bit Linux and L4/Fiasco, this release introduces support for the L4ka::Pistachio microkernel. This high-performance kernel implements the latest L4 kernel API and supports a number of advanced features such as multi-processor support and virtualization support. By bringing Genode to this base platform, we will be able to leverage these features in the future. On the functional side, the new release brings two major additions, a basic networking facility and the native port of the Qt4 application framework. Read on about the new features described in the release notes, and download the release 9.02 of the Genode OS Framework.

This week had some interesting things in it. In Sweden, they think they can stop piracy by sending The Pirate Bay to court, Apple faced its first Mac sales slow down in like forever but they're still high on customer satisfaction, and we wondered if a cat an agree to an EULA. This week's my take is from Jordan "weildish" Spencer Cunningham, and is about winter.

A new version of the experimental HelenOS operating system has been released. Version 0.4.0 features a simple user command line interface, FAT file system support, application loader and tracer, improved hardware support for ia64, ppc32 and sparc64, and many other improvements over the previous release. Get it from their download page.

IanOS is an experimental 64-bit operating system written from scratch as a learning experience. The source code is available online and the creator of the OS has made some detailed documentation available to go with the source code. This is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to venture into writing a 64-bit OS. The author makes his intention about this OS clear "I never had any intention of producing a true OS. There are plenty of those about and it would be a very foolish, or vain, person who thought that they could compete with the likes of FreeBSD and Linux. But my interest in computers isn't practical; I just find programming them, particularly at this level, to be a supremely satisfying intellectual pursuit".

The center of gravity is shifting away from the traditional, massive operating systems of the past, as even the major OSes are slimming their footprint to make code bases easier to manage and secure, and to increase the variety of devices on which they can run, InfoWorld reports. Microsoft, for one, is cutting down the number of services that run at boot to ensure Windows 7 will run across a spectrum of hardware. Linux distros such as Ubuntu are stripping out functionality, including MySQL, CUPS, and LDAP, to cut footprints in half. And Apple appears headed for a slimmed-down OS X that will enable future iPhones or tablet devices to run the same OS as the Mac. Though these developments don't necessarily mean that the browser will supplant the OS, they do show that OS vendors realize they must adapt as virtualization, cloud computing, netbooks, and power concerns drive business users toward smaller, less costly, more efficient operating environments.

No major events of announcements this week, but that doesn't mean we didn't have any interesting content the past 7 days. The steady stream of news about Windows 7 continues to flow, while the netbook stream dried up a bit. We also some very interesting releases this week, such as the latest ReactOS and a new JNode release. Linus Torvalds made headline news once again because of his comments about having multiple Linux distributions, and it became clear SGI is in trouble yet again. This week's My Take is about working on a dream.

The team behind KolibriOS has released a new version, KolibriOS 0.7.5.0. This operating system is written entirely in assembly language and fits on a single floppy disk. Sadly, there is no information available on what exactly has changed between this version and the last one, so all I can do is point you towards the downloads section.

While last week was a tad bit uneventful, this week made up for it. Not only did we get the long-awaited release of KDE 4.2, we also gained more insight into the whole Palm/Apple thing, NVIDIA's CEO said a few funny things, and we got an important sit-rep on SkyOS straight from Robert Szeleney himself. This week's My Take is about life, death, and resurrection.

The past week wasn't as packed with events and shows as the previous one, but luckily for us, that didn't mean there wasn't enough to report on. This week focussed on netbooks, Steve Jobs' health, and KDE/Qt. This week's My Take is a shameless plug for one of the best television shows we've seen in a while.

This week, we start with a new regular occurence on OSNews: the imaginatively named Week in Review, where we do a quick rundown of the preceding week's most important news, and maybe add in a few new items that didn't make the cut earlier in the week. We will close off each of them with My Take, a short random musing about whatever subject we please. This week, the news was dominated by MacWorld, Windows 7, and Palm.

Information Week released what they deem the top ten stories dealing with open source for the year of 2008 earlier this month. Reminisce all of the happy memories we've had of open source throughout this past year: nestle with netbooks, gallop with Google, frolic with Fedora, cuddle with copyrights, and even get your hands on a juicy murder mystery.

The internet, and much of the real world as well, is currently in list mode. Just about any possible list that can be made up regarding 2008 will be made up somewhere, so we decided not to reinvent the wheel and look forward instead of backward. Since we like to leave the guessing predicting to the analysts, we just limited ourselves to what tech-related matters we would like to see in 2009. Read on for our lists, and of course, post your own in the comments. And lest we forget: a very happy 2009 from the OSNews crew!

A new version of MikeOS has been released. MikeOS is aiming to be the best documented hobby OS project; three Handbooks explain how to run the OS, write software for it and modify the internals, providing an easy entry point for those interested in OS development.

Sometimes it seems that every new OS that comes out these days is ultimately and altogether quite similar. "It's all been done before," we sigh as new system after system is released with only eye-candy the apparent difference for most users. This new OS, named "g-speak" by its creators, will give one a run for his money. Using special gloves, a user of the system gestures his way about the OS on several wall-sized displays that interact with one another. The makers of g-speak call it "the first major step in computer interface since 1984." Perhaps they are right.See the neat video here. You can even go so far as to dust off your Tom Cruise Minority Report action figure to better savor the future with.