Monthly Archive:: November 2007

Ryan Leavengood reports on the Haiku website: "I know I have been very quiet for a while in regards to my Haiku WebKit port, but that is because I've been in a long session of coding. I am happy to report that this weekend I finally got WebCore compiling for Haiku. So what does this mean? Does it mean the port is now complete? Unfortunately, no it doesn't." Update: Haiku gets a featured speaker spot and a booth at ScaLE 6x Expo

DistroWatch has reviewed Fedora 8. They conclude: "Overall, I truly believe that Fedora 8 is by far the best Fedora release to date (and I've tried every one of them). From the look and feel of the system, to the out-of-the-box configuration during installation, I couldn't be happier with a cutting edge release. As I mentioned before, the biggest aspects of a successful distribution for me are suspend/hibernate, correct screen resolution and the the ability to change the screen resolution in a GUI if it didn't configure it correctly the first time, system stability, and overall look and feel of a distribution. For me, Fedora 8 has excelled in all categories when I evaluate and review a system and I hope that Fedora continues to release versions that are put together as good as Fedora 8 has been."

"This is extraordinary news for all nerds, computer scientists and the Open Source community: the source code of the MULTICS operating system (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service), the father of UNIX and all modern OSes, has finally been opened . Multics was an extremely influential early time-sharing operating system started in 1964 and introduced a large number of new concepts, including dynamic linking and a hierarchical file system. It was extremely powerful, and UNIX can in fact be considered to be a 'simplified' successor to MULTICS (the name 'Unix' is itself a hack on 'Multics'). The last running Multics installation was shut down on October 31, 2000."

Although its official release is not until Nov. 14, a free evaluation of 'Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2' is already available from Microsoft's download site. According to release notes available with the download, the update contains several substantial enhancements to Windows CE functionality, including video-over-IP and Web Services for Devices.

Dave Morse (1943-2007), Amiga Computer co-founder, died on Saturday, November 2nd. In 1982, he left Tonka Toys (where he was Vice-President of Marketing) and became the Chief Executive Officer at Hi Toro, Inc., which he co-founded and which morphed later that year into Amiga, Inc. and led through the development of the Lorraine Project (a codename inspired by Dave's wife Lorraine) - ultimately, the Amiga 1000 Computer. Our take: We want to wish all the strength in the world to his family and friends, and I personally would like to thank him for creating a truly visionary computing platform. Forget Apple, forget Microsoft, forget Linux: the Amiga was the real revolutionary device.

With the Open Graphics Project advancing slowly a few students picked up the idea to do it all smaller, faster, and more importantly, cheaper. From the site: "We'd love to have an OGD1 card and are amazed by it's specifications, but for us and a lot of people, this card is simply too much. So that's where this card comes in, to give you all the fun of developing on programmable hardware, designing video cards and architectures, for a price that won't hurt your wallet."

Fedora 8 has been released. It sports a new look and feel, a codec installation program, the first signs of the GNOME online desktop, various security improvements, support for Compiz and Compiz-Fusion, Java support via Iced-Tea, and much more. Get it from the download page. Update: A couple of articles about the release: 1, 2, 3. Update II: One more: 4.

One year after sealing their surprise alliance, Novell and Microsoft have announced an expansion of their technical collaboration to 'link together the existing Windows and Linux frameworks'. The firms will extend their existing collaboration to focus on virtualisation, standards-based management, directory and identity federation and document format compatibility. As part of this process, Microsoft said that both companies are 'now working closely' at the Microsoft and Novell Interoperability Lab in Massachusetts.

Ars has a review of Ubuntu 7.10. They conclude: "Ubuntu 7.10 provides an unparalleled desktop Linux experience and sets new standards for power and ease of use. This release lives up to Ubuntu's reputation and delivers cutting-edge new features and solid enhancements. Although Ubuntu 7.10 is very impressive, some of the new additions - particularly Compiz and Tracker - lack the polish and robustness that they need to truly shine. These technologies are still a work in progress and give Ubuntu 7.10 a slightly unfinished feel. Ubuntu also unfortunately inherits some of the minor weaknesses of the GNOME desktop environment."

Red Hat announced Nov. 7 the availability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1, with integrated virtualization. In claims that Red Hat representatives were well aware are extremely broad reaching, they said the new release will provides the most compelling platform for customers and software developers ever, with its industry-leading virtualization capabilities complementing Red Hat's newly announced Linux Automation strategy. It offers the industry's broadest deployment ecosystem, covering stand-alone systems, virtualized systems, appliances and Web-scale 'cloud' computing environments.

This is the fourth article in a series on common usability and graphical user interface related terms . On the internet, and especially in forum discussions like we all have here on OSNews, it is almost certain that in any given discussion, someone will most likely bring up usability and GUI related terms - things like spatial memory, widgets, consistency, Fitts' Law, and more. The aim of this series is to explain these terms, learn something about their origins, and finally rate their importance in the field of usability and (graphical) user interface design. In part IV today, we focus on a dead horse Fitts' Law.

Opera Mini 4 has been released. "Opera, today released Opera Mini 4, the newest version of Opera's worldwide mobile browsing sensation. Opera Mini 4 inspires the senses with its stunning desktop overview mode, so users see the page exactly as it appears on their computers. People can then use the intuitive Opera Zoom to fly into the page and access the content you want. Or they can select Opera's Small Screen Rendering to eliminate horizontal scrolling."

Adobe Systems wants to transform its flagship Photoshop software with an interface customized to the task at hand, a potentially radical revamp for software whose power today is hidden behind hundreds of menu options. A new user interface will help Photoshop become "everything you need, nothing you don't," said Photoshop product manager John Nack, describing aspirations for the Photoshop overhaul on his blog Monday. "We must make Photoshop dramatically more configurable," Nack said. "Presenting the same user experience to a photographer as we do to a radiologist, as to a Web designer, as to a prepress guy, is kind of absurd... With the power of customizability, we can present solutions via task-oriented workspaces," Nack said.

As part of its three-pronged quest for worldwide Internet domination - via MSN, Live Search, and Windows Live - Microsoft has unleashed a bundled download of its installed desktop Live software: Mail, Photo Gallery, Writer, and OneCare Family Safety. Also included is a slightly redesigned version 8.5 of Messenger, which intimately ties in with the rest of the suite; for example, starting up when you run Mail.