OS News Archive

I wrote the following article for university. It tries to explain the difference between three kernel types in such a way that less-computer savvy people should understand it. I had a 1500 word limitation, so detailed elaborations were out of the question. "In this article, I will try to make the 'microkernel vs. monolithic kernel' debate more accessible and understandable for laymen. I will explain the purpose of a kernel, after which I will detail the differences between the two competing designs. Finally, I will introduce the hybrid design, which aims to combine the two. In the conclusion, I will argue that this hybrid design is the most common kernel type in the world of personal computers today." Because of the limitations, this article contains little news for most of you. Still, I thought I'd share.

Today, we did a fairly major restructuring of our database categories. Before, we only added one or, in rare cases, two; this time, however, we have added three new categories, and also split one up. Read one for the how and why, and also how you can help in finding misplaced stories.

KolibriOS is an operating system for the PC, written in assembly, which is based on the source code of MenuetOS. It fits on a single floppy. Some of the features are: NTFS read support, AC'97 player, drivers for Fat12/16/32/ISO9660, tcp/ip stack, network applications include ftp/http/mp3 servers, GUI with resolutions up to 1280x1024, 16 million colours, over 150 programs (text editor, paint editor, file managers, games, etc.), and much more.

"Lines that once seemed clear are being smudged. Perhaps we delude ourselves to think that we once knew the difference between a 'big' operating system and a 'little' one, but today the biggest operating system ever written runs on desktop personal computers, not mainframes, and desktop operating systems are migrating to telephones and other consumer devices, while there is a trend for the "little" operating systems developed specifically for those devices to take on many of the capabilities of desktop operating systems as those devices themselves become more like computers. And, as further evidence that the apocalypse is upon us, you can, with Apple's blessing, run Windows Vista natively on your Macintosh. What are operating systems coming to?"

This tutorial shows how to install and use VirtualBox on Fedora Core 6, CentOS 4, and OpenSuSE 10.2. InnoTek VirtualBox is a family of powerful x86 virtualization products for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU Public License. On a related note, Qemu 0.9.0 was released along with a new version of the Qemu accelerator (the latter's license being changed to GPL).

"CodeWeavers this month announced version 6.0 of its flagship Windows compatibility product. Now called CrossOver Linux, the new version is the first with official support for games. With its growing application support and foray into gaming, CrossOver Linux 6 is an excellent alternative for Linux users who are stuck with a Windows application at work or at school."