OS News Archive

VMWare released a beta of their flagship application, VMWare 4.0 Build 4183. The new version includes support for new versions of Linux and Windows OSes, better VESA BIOS, ACPI and APIC support, better sound, new interface under Linux and more. In the meantime, the OpenOSX company released recently "WinTel", a re-packaged version of Bochs for MacOSX, with a new easy to use interface.

Older document, but interesting read. ESR is comparing VMS, MacOS, OS/2, WinNT, BeOS & Linux.

Teenager programmer Wim Cools from the Netherlands released two new screenshots of his upcoming v0.0.3 hobby OS, TriangleOS.

The version 0.73 of MenuetOS includes a tiny HTTP & Mp3 server, IRC client, real-time additions & demos. Also, SkyOS redesigned their driver handling, while Syllable is preparing an IDE driver.

There's a cool little app called Konfabulator for Mac OS X that allows you to display, build, and modify little "widgets" for your desktop, like the weather, a clock, or the OSNews top stories, updated continuously! Screenshot here. Thanks to Adam Pearson for the source sample. Additionally, we added support for a truckload of mobile devices and we would need your help testing them.

Anders Østergård writes "According to this newsgroup message, the OpenVMS OS (former DEC, now owned by Compaq) is now able to boot and operate on Intel's 64-bit Itanium-platform. OpenVMS was originally developed for the legendary VAX-architecture and has evolved for into a stable but anonymous OS for more than 25 years."

Paul Manias of the Athene project sent word to us that Rocklyte Systems is seeking beta testers. Candidates must be running a Linux system with at least a 2.4 series kernel and have 5 or more years of technical computing experience. Testing is to be focused on the new graphics system that replaces X11. Please introduce yourself to [email protected] to apply.

I had been trying to find a means to write a new Operating System since 1997 and back then an Mphil/Dphil at the Universities seemed realistic. I had assessed a variety of institutions and made applications were relevant but nothing was doing. It was then that I realised that I had to do it myself so my plan was to quickly develop a standard Kernel to start the business and allow me to focus on innovation.

"Today's operating systems are conceptually upside-down. They developed the hard way, gradually struggling upwards from the machinery (processors, memory, disks and displays) toward the user. In the future, operating systems and information management tools will grow top-down." Read the editorial at ComputerWorld by David Gelernter (CS professor at Yale and chief scientist at ScopeWare).

"When Computerworld published its first issue in 1967, the private sector was still using vacuum tubes to exchange information. Technology and the world it has shaped have come a long way since then. Here is our list of the 35 products and technologies that have had the greatest impact on enterprise IT since 1967." Read the article.

From all of us at OSNews, we wish our readers a happy and prosperous 2003. 2002 was a great year for OSNews. We saw steady growth in readership, a huge effort by Eugenia to make the site better, and constant support and submissions by OSNews readers that kept the wheels turning. The bad economy didn't seem to dampen the action in the OS Arena, and may have even given Linux a boost as people look for more economical solutions. We hope that the world's economy improves, that the technophiles who read OSNews have and keep good jobs, and that ad rates go up. 2003 will probably see the launch of a sister site to OSNews. Please post with any ideas you have on a tech-oriented topic that's under-covered, and we may launch a site to cover it!

The last few years have seen a rise in "skinability" of applications and even operating systems as a whole. Stardock has taken a look back and reviewed the year in skinning. "2002 was a turning point for skinning. It was the year where millions of people started using skins without even knowing what the heck skinning is." writes author Brad Wardell. Read the rest at stardock.com.

Bochs 2.0 x86 emulator was released today with many new features and support for MMX/SSE/SSE2 and more modern operating systems in graphics mode.

The new version of Virtual PC has speed improvements up to 25% faster on Mac OS X, Mac OS X Dock integration, enhanced back-up support in Mac OS X, improved USB printing support for increased compatibility, video support for Apple's monitors, including the 23" Cinema Display Self-contained configurations; makes installation on several machines a snap. According to Connectix test, optimal performance requires Mac OS X - version 10.2.3 (Jaguar), L3 cache, NVIDIA Ge Force or ATI Radeon video card.