OSNews

Google Addresses Antitrust Issue on Yahoo Ad Deal

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:11:46 GMT

Last week, when Microsoft's attempt at buying Yahoo stranded, Steve Ballmer specifically mentioned Google, and how a possible deal between Google and Yahoo would limit choice and competition in the marketplace. Google explained yesterday how it would fend off possible antritrust concerns following an ad-sharing deal with Yahoo. In addtion, Google noted the irony in Microsoft's complaints.

Syllable, SkyOS, ReactOS Move Forward

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:32:07 GMT

There are quite a few operating systems which have moved beyond the simple hobby operating system stage, onto a more lasting plane of existence. AROS, ReactOS, SkyOS, Syllable, Haiku; they're no longer basement products, coded by a single programer - they are now projects in which a lot of people have invested time, and possibly money too. They won't go away any time soon. The last few days have seen news on three of these systems: ReactOS, SkyOS, and Syllable.

MySQL Remains 'Fully Functional and Open Source'

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:13:59 GMT

When Sun announced it would offer certain plugins and features for enterprise customers only, and maybe even make them closed-source, the open source community was up in arms. It seems that MySQL and Sun have listened to the criticism, as these plans are now off the table. In fact, these plans did not originate within Sun in the first place.

AMD Publishes Server Roadmap

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:29:53 GMT

AMD had a bit of a setback with their Barcelona server processor, the company seems to have moved on. During a conference call today, the company laid out its plans for the server space for the coming years, putting 6 and 12 core processors on the horizon.

Windows XP Eee PC Cheaper than Linux Variant

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:11:09 GMT

As we all know, the Eee PC, running a modified Xandros, has been a major hit for Asus, and because of that, also a major hit for Linux. The device proved that a computer with a pre-installed Linux distribution can still be s successful machine, and many hoped that this would push Asus and other vendors to produce more computers with Linux pre-installed. This hope could be in vain after all if the new Windows XP-based Eee PC has anything to do with it.

Qt 4.4 Released

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Wed, 07 May 2008 08:54:32 GMT

Yesterday, Trolltech released the final version of Qt 4.4, their graphical toolkit which forms the base for, among a lot of other things, the KDE project. It still features the dual-license model (of course), so proprietary developers can license Qt, while open source developers can get a GPLd version (both GPL 2 as well as 3). Read on for a quick overview of the new features, as well as some findings by Ars Technica.

'OpenSolaris Arrives Just to Die?'

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:48:55 GMT

Yesterday, the OpenSolaris team released OpenSolaris 2008.05, the fruit of Project Indiana. The first review we found was published over at Blogbeebe, which is overall fairly positive. At the same time, Practical Technology believes that "OpenSolaris has finally been released just in time to die".

iMac's 10th Anniversary

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:53:36 GMT

"Today, I'm incredibly pleased to introduce iMac, our consumer product. And iMac comes from the marriage of the excitement of the internet, with the simplicity of the Macintosh." With these words, ten years ago today, Steve Jobs unveiled the product that would literally save Apple from certain doom. The all-in-one, translucent computer would become a revolutionary product.

'What Makes Software High-Quality?'

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:15:19 GMT

"Which parameters make software applications high-quality? And which parameters or methods, while desirable, are not directly 'quality'?" This is the question the author of this article asks himself. Most of his 'parameters' make a lot of sense, but be aware that the article is about what makes an open source program high quality, and not programs in general. This important bit is stated in the one-sentence 'abstract'.

Awesome 2.3 Released

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:00:05 GMT

"Awesome is a floating and tiling window manager. It's extremely fast, small, dynamic and awesome. Windows can be managed in several layouts: tiled, maximized, dwindle, spiral, floating... Each layout can be applied on the fly, optimizing the environment for the application in use and the task performed. Managing windows in tiled mode assures that no space will be wasted on your screen. No gaps, no overlap. Other layouts can be used for different purpose. If you do not want to use the tiling management, you can use the floating layout wich will let you organize your windows as you wish, like any other window manager." Version 2.3-final has been released today.

The Utopia of Program Management

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Mon, 05 May 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Ever since I started using computers, I've been baffled by the relative clumsiness of installing applications. Whether we are talking the really old days (launching the Rambo game off a tape), the '90s (running Keen or using installers in Windows 95), or the modern days (still those installers, but now also package management and self-contained applications); it's all relatively cumbersome, and they all have their downsides. I decided to put my money where my mouth is, and come up with my idealistic, utopian method of installing, running, updating, and uninstalling applications. Read more on this exclusive OSNews article...

Sun Debuts OpenSolaris 2008.05

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:12:16 GMT

OpenSolaris 2008.5, the new distribution based on the OpenSolaris operating system, has been released into the wild. This release follows the conventions set by many of the popular Linux distributions, such as being based on a single live CD with installer, but also adds a load of OpenSolaris-specific features such as ZFS, DTrace, Containers, and a new package management system, IPS. OpenSolaris 2008.5 is the fruit of Project Indiana.

From Win32 to Cocoa, Part II

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Mon, 05 May 2008 12:53:24 GMT

A few weeks ago, Ars published part one in a series called "From Win32 to Cocoa: a Windows user's conversion to Mac OS X". In this series, Peter Bright details why he believes "Windows is dying, Windows applications suck, and Microsoft is too blinkered to fix any of it". Part one dealt with the history of both Windows and the Mac OS, and part two deals with .Net, the different types of programmers, and Windows Vista.

Spam Turns 30

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Sun, 04 May 2008 11:36:42 GMT

There are many things concerning the internet that are decidedly not amusing. The internet can be a source of viruses and other forms of malware, which affect computers worldwide. It can provide refuge for the sick and perverted, who use the depths and anonymity of the internet to distribute material that goes beyond any imagination. It can also be a hotbed for other dangerous activities like crime and terrorism. However, I think I speak for many when I say that spam is the one thing that bothers us all on a continuous basis.

Microsoft Withdraws Proposal to Acquire Yahoo

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) — Sun, 04 May 2008 07:19:33 GMT

Earlier this year, Microsoft offered to purchase search engine company Yahoo, however, the board of directors of Yahoo shot the offer down beause it 'massively' undervalued the company. This ignited an acquisition dance that took a few months, and rumours were abound as to what either of the two would do next.