Monthly Archive:: September 2006

‘Vista’s Account Protection: One Click and It’s Gone’

Submitted by danwarne 2006-09-09 Windows 53 Comments

One of Vista's big security features is 'User Account Protection' (or 'User Account Control') which pops up and asks for user authentication before software can make any administrative changes to the system. But the TweakVista utility can turn off UAP in one click. Microsoft says this is UAP working as intended, because when a user runs TweakVista they are asked to authenticate. However, James Bannan at APC Magazine asked Microsoft what's to stop a downloaded 'freeware game' requiring user authentication upon installation and then disabling UAP altogether? Elsewhere, there's a tweaking guide for Vista RC1.

Submitted by Moulinneuf 2006-09-09 Apple 13 Comments

ComputerWorld checks out Vista RC1 on a MacBook Pro. "I can say at least this much about Vista: I've had fun using it so far. Yes, Vista is still a work in progress and there are some annoyances that go hand-in-hand with running Windows - the User Account Control window, for instance, pops up a lot. But so far there have been no show-stoppers. To paraphrase the praise usually reserved for Apple's Mac OS X, it just works. And on Apple hardware, it just works exceptionally well."

Submitted by michuk 2006-09-09 Linux 23 Comments

"Although most modern laptops nowadays tend to scare people off with an ugly 'Designed for Windows XP' mark, it does not mean that alternative operating systems, like GNU/Linux cannot be installed and function equally well. In this article I would like to describe a few common issues with Linux on laptops and maybe bust a few myths about using GNU/Linux on mobile computers."

Why ‘Real Linux’ Users Should Support Linspire/Freespire

Submitted by Mark 2006-09-09 Linspire 60 Comments

"Linspire/Freespire is real Linux, and if you are hoping to convert someone loaning them a Linspire PC might be the way to do it. If you are a regular Linux user, you don't need it, but it makes a great set of training wheels."

Submitted by Lambda 2006-09-09 General Development 8 Comments

Jim Hugunin is interviewed and presents a screencast of Iron Python. Among the demos are an XAML application with speech synthesis, seamless debugging of C# and Python within the same solution, and scripting of PowerShell.

Submitted by digihome 2006-09-08 Windows 43 Comments

"On Sept. 1, Microsoft began rolling out Vista RC1, raising hopes that all of the major issues have been resolved in the months since the beta two version. And it appears those hopes have been largely fulfilled. Here's a look at the top five improvements that RC1 brings since the beta releases of Vista."

Just How Buggy is Firefox?

Thom Holwerda 2006-09-08 Mozilla, Gecko 53 Comments

Security researchers that carried out a code analysis of popular open source browser Firefox using automated tools, have discovered scores of potential defects and security vulnerabilities despite coming to the conclusion that the software was generally well written. A former Mozilla developer has criticised the methodology of the analysis and said it provides little help in unearthing real security bugs.

Review: Linspire Mini Koobox

Thom Holwerda 2006-09-08 Linspire 15 Comments

Linux.com reviews the Koobox Linspire-based mini-PC, and concludes: "If you want a mini-PC form factor that's Linux-compatible, the Mini Koobox seems to be one of the best values on the market. It's small and quiet, and its performance is fine for normal desktop use. I might recommend ditching Linspire and installing a different distro once it's in your hands, but if small is your thing, I'd recommend picking up a Mini."

Why Windows Takes So Long to Start up

Thom Holwerda 2006-09-08 Windows 25 Comments

"Most of us have had a brand new computer at one time. It's a great feeling. You boot up windows and within 30 seconds you are surfing the net, checking your email, or playing your favorite game. 10 months down the road things aren't so nice anymore. You power up your computer and it seems to take forever to load. Even when you are careful about what you install it seems that each day it takes longer for it to boot. It's not your imagination - and there are a couple of good tips to keep your boot time short and sweet."

Mandriva Linux 2007 RC1 Released

Submitted by Jeffoss 2006-09-08 Mandriva, Mandrake, Lycoris 23 Comments

Mandriva Linux 2007 RC1 has been released. This new release brings the Ia_Ora theme to KDE, and fixes some bugs concerning proprietary video drivers (especially nVIDIA), the b44 network driver, and much more. You can get it via the development (Cooker) mirror trees on ftp and http, and via the preferred method: .iso images (available through the same mirrors as the Cooker ones). There is a changelog too.

The iPod Accessory Everyone Must have

David Adams 2006-09-08 Multimedia, AV 39 Comments

How many times has this happened to you? You're rocking out to the latest ditty on your iPod, rocking so hard you could be one of those black silhouette people from the Apple commercials, when you feel that pressure in your bowels, and you know you've got to go. You're faced with a terrible dilemma: either endure some quiet moments alone, or risk an international terrorist incident by dropping your iPod into the toilet. Well, your long nightmare is finally over.

Submitted by oferkv 2006-09-08 Internet 34 Comments

It's panic time again, boys and girls, according to a ZDNet article. "Microsoft's launch of Windows Vista could slow down or stall traffic on the Net, said Paul Mockapetris, who is widely credited with inventing the Internet's Domain Name System. Mockapetris believes Vista's introduction will cause a surge in DNS traffic because the operating system supports two versions of the Internet Protocol, a technology standard used to send information over computer networks." Ars, however, says there's no need to stockpile batteries and dehydrated food. "Relax, the Internet isn't going anywhere. As it has so many times in the past, it will adapt to the new demands being placed on it. And it will remain true, as they used to say, that it's always September somewhere on the Net."

Andy Hertzfeld, Software Wizard: From Apple to Google

Submitted by wackymacs 2006-09-08 Apple 7 Comments

LowEndMac interviews Andy Hertzfeld. Andy Hertzfeld was a key member of the original Macintosh team in 1984. He joined Apple in 1979 and was responsible for many parts of the original Macintosh system software. He was such an adept programmer, in fact, that his Apple business card said 'Software Wizard'.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Beta 1 Released

Eugenia Loli 2006-09-08 Red Hat 23 Comments

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Beta 1 has been released. This is the first Red Hat Enterprise Linux release that includes Xen based open source virtualization technology. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Beta 1 release contains virtualization on the i386 and x86_64 architectures as well as a technology preview for IA64. More info here and here.

Ubuntu Server Edition (6.06) Review

Eugenia Loli 2006-09-08 Ubuntu 29 Comments

"The release of Ubuntu 6.06 (Dapper Drake), back in June, brought not only a new desktop system to the Linux world, but also a server system with long-term commercial support. It has one key advantage over similar offerings from Redhat and Novell; the flexibility of the Debian dpkg packaging system." Read the review here.

What’s The World’s Fastest Browser?

Eugenia Loli 2006-09-08 Benchmarks 61 Comments

"Oh sure, the following tests aren't as scientific as putting all the browsers in a ring and seeing which one is left standing after the fight, but it's close." More here.

Theory on Particle Spin Brings Quantum Computing Closer

Eugenia Loli 2006-09-08 Geek stuff 4 Comments

Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have devised a potentially groundbreaking theory demonstrating how to control the spin of particles without using superconducting magnets - a development that could advance the field of spintronics and bring scientists a step closer to quantum computing.

UNIX Error Reporting in the Standard C Library

Eugenia Loli 2006-09-08 General Development 12 Comments

Proper error detection and recovery is often ignored by UNIX developers. The lack of exceptions from the C language and the rudimentary error mechanisms from the standard C library certainly contribute to this. This article familiarizes you with the UNIX standard error reporting mechanism, the errno global variable. You'll also learn about a couple of associated global variables ( sys_nerr and sys_errlist) and the standard functions that help you report errors to the user and (hopefully) encourages you to report and handle errors in a user-friendly way.

FreeDOS 9 Review

Guest post by Marti van Lin 2006-09-07 OS News 14 Comments

The FreeDOS kernel originally produced by Pat Villani and what we consider today to be the full featured operating system "FreeDOS" by Jim Hall and is currently maintained by the FreeDOS team, including many third party contributors. It's first goal was to create a full featured MS DOS clone but it has extended beyond this with features like "out of the box" networking support.

Windows Vista May Be Delayed in Europe

Thom Holwerda 2006-09-07 Windows 58 Comments

Windows Vista may not ship in the European Union at the same time that it is released in the United States as a result of possible issues with European competition law, Microsoft acknowledged on Sept. 7. The problem from Microsoft's perspective is that the EU has been slow in letting the software giant know exactly what it needs in order for Windows Vista to ship in Europe.