[operating-system] Forum Topics

The EE Times [URL="http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=CK0UKKNE0NKJCQSNDLSCKHA?articleID=213402554"]reported[/URL] earlier this week that the Dell E4200 and E4300 laptops are running both Linux and Windows on the same machine. Why both you ask? The Linux OS provides a quick boot for checking email and other "light" computing duties while the Windows side allows "heavier duty" …

[URL="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2332430,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03079TX1K0000584"]John Dvorak at PC Magazine,[/URL] a grand old curmudgeon who never pulls any punches created a wish list for Windows 7. It got me thinking about my own wish list, so here goes: [B]1. Don't Make Me Wait Forever at Boot Time[/B] Nothing aggravates me more than waiting for Windows …

What do you get if you combine a computer company with a group of Vegans and someone who used to present a popular children's TV show? The less than obvious answer is a Linux computer designed especially for old people. But there you have it, and according to the press …

There's a lot of buzz on the Internet today about some "leaked" [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Microsoft[/URL] slides concerning Windows 8. But, like the [URL="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9178753/_Don_t_get_excited_about_Windows_8_says_analyst"]Computerworld article[/URL] on the subject says, you shouldn't get excited about anything in those leaked slides. You're likely to end up disappointed. If any of you can remember back to …

At the end of May, [URL="http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/304693/has_asus_all_given_up_linux?rid=-219"]Computerworld reported[/URL] that [URL="http://usa.asus.com/"]Asus[/URL], one of the early Netbook success stories had all but given up on Linux Netbooks. This was telling because the [URL="http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=24&l2=164"]Asus Eee[/URL] (of which I own one) has a very nice, simple-to-navigate interface. It starts up fairly quickly and has long …

This post is a summary of a conversation I had the other day with an acquaintance of mine. It started out with him asking me what I do for a living and ended up with me having to choke back tears of laughter. I hope you have the same reaction …

I recently upgraded a friend of mine to [URL="http://www.ubuntu.com"]Ubuntu[/URL] 9.04 Desktop for his five-year-old [URL="http://www.acer.com"]Acer[/URL] laptop with 512 MB of RAM. I removed Windows 2000 after backing up his precious documents, pictures and browser favorites. I installed the latest stable version of Ubuntu, restored all of his settings, Internet connection …

Mark Shuttleworth, founder and financial backer of [URL="http://www.ubuntu.com"]Ubuntu[/URL], urges the Linux Community to "build a better desktop than Apple." Shuttleworth made this statement this week at OSCON (O'Reilly's Open Source Convention). He added that interoperability with Windows is of very high importance. Sounds easy enough. Let me get right on …

This is a plea to all hardware manufacturers: Please create Linux drivers for your hardware. OK, so Linux isn't the Stormin' Norman of the Desktop arena but that doesn't mean its users don't want or need drivers for hardware. I don't blame the kind volunteers that donate their time to …

As is to be expected as we fast approach the official launch of [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4050.html"]Windows 7[/URL], more changes from the [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3766.html"]Beta version[/URL] to [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/23795/53/"]Release Code[/URL] functionality have been [URL="http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/03/13/a-few-more-changes-from-beta-to-rc.aspx"]confirmed[/URL] by Microsoft. Although the Windows 7 team were at pains to point out that the latest update list is by no means …

Linus has spoken so get back to work and stop burning up the Internet with your hate speeches and endless ramblings about Microsoft and how this is so wrong. Linus accepted the code and gives his reasons as to why. Here's my take on the whole thing with responses to …

Just like the international gang summits in Los Angeles, Linux needs a collective, "sit-down" to discuss the future of this now formidable operating system. I'm not talking about a nice little get together with keynote speakers with high-powered, 10,000 foot views of where Linux is and where it's going. And …

Yesterday, [URL="http://www.google.com"]Google[/URL] [URL="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html"]announced[/URL] that they are entering the Netbook operating system market with the Google Chrome OS--a Linux-based, web-oriented effort. On the surface, I see this as yet another ploy to take my Netbook from me. No, Google won't realize any direct profits from taking over my little blue Netbook …

[URL="http://www.google.com"]Google[/URL] has confirmed that it is working on an operating system called [URL="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html"]Chrome[/URL]. It will be a rival to [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Microsoft[/URL] Windows, a zillion flavours of [URL="http://www.distrowatch.com"]Linux[/URL], the [URL="http://www.apple.com/macosx/"]Apple[/URL] operating system and any other minority systems of which you might be aware. A lot has been said across the web about …

Back in October '08, I wrote "[URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3288.html"]5 Things I Wish Linux Had[/URL]" but never realized that it would inspire the heated debate (Read the comments) that it did. I also didn't realize that it would inspire an actual operating system. One of my readers commented briefly that he would take …

Perhaps it's my role as the family computer guy that's leading me in this direction today but it seems to me that there should be Linux distributions that are age-oriented and age appropriate. Seldom do I see my parents-in-law playing a heated game of [URL="http://www.quake.com"]Quake[/URL] or doing any kernel tinkering, …

This coming Monday, May 11th, marks the start of the first annual [URL="http://news.opensuse.org/2009/05/07/get-ready-for-opensuse-community-week/"]openSUSE Community Week[/URL], an event conceived of by openSUSE community members to help mentor folks who want to get involved with the openSUSE open source Linux project, but don't know how to get started. The virtual conference will …

I downloaded and installed [URL="http://www.ubuntu.com"]Ubuntu[/URL] 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) and am happy to say it's an overall success. Of course, I would say that because I love Ubuntu; it's my favorite Desktop Linux distribution and I've seen a lot of them. Being Debian-based, it is rock-solid, stable, easily updatable and a …

Last week we heard about the first Android-powered Netbook (which I wrote about in [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4290.html"]First Android Netbook Nothing to Write Home About[/URL]). Then on Friday, analyst [URL="http://gartenblog.net/"]Michael Gartenberg[/URL], who is VP of Strategy at Interpret, and who writes frequently about consumer technology sent the following Tweet: [I]Is Android's future in …

[URL="http://www.apple.com"]Apple[/URL] users are the most dedicated and fervent operating system fans with undying loyalty to their operating system, hardware and peripherals. And they're just as loyal now to the new Unix-based OS X as they were to the old proprietary Mac OS. However, when given the option of a Linux-based …

It's probably a little early to be looking for implications of Oracle buying Sun (no, it's official, here's the [URL="http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/018363"]press release[/URL]). They've only just confirmed it's happening, and as one of the journalists who covered Novell buying Lotus many years ago I can confirm things aren't done until they're done, …

Google's [URL="http://www.androidlinux.com"]Android[/URL] operating system for cell phones, GPS devices and a host of other gadgets yet to be is the topic of much controversy and discussion. Why? [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/products/windowsce/default.mspx"]Windows CE[/URL], Embedded Linux, Android...who cares? When you shop for a phone, or any modern gadget, do you ask which operating system it's …

I saw a netbook at a discount chain store the other day that I want. It's an [URL="http://us.acer.com/acer/product.do?link=oln24g.redirect&changedAlts=&kcond5e.c2att92=843&CRC=2745306029"]Acer Aspire One[/URL]. It has 1GB RAM and a 160GB Hard Drive for $296. Awesome deal. The problem, at least for me, is that it comes standard with some whittled down version of …

As much as Microsoft loves to grinch about Linux, they've made significant changes over the years to compete with it--and will abandon it altogether to maintain their competitive edge. Windows 7 will be the last Windows product. What changes has Microsoft made to compete with Linux? They've prettied it up …

Steven Sinofsky, the Senior Vice President for the Microsoft Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group, in an attempt to quell a beta tester rebellion over a perceived lack of feedback concerning bug reporting has made an astonishing confession: Windows 7 has at least 2000 bugs. Sinofsky [URL="http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/02/25/feedback-and-engineering-windows-7.aspx"]states[/URL] that more than …

Someone commented on one of my posts the other day, stating that Linux is a tool and not a religion. Can this be true? I would hate to think that for the past 15 years that I've invested in Linux, it would turn out that Linux is merely a tool, …

Linux may never gain widespread success, that we, the Linux fans want it to, because it's just too complex for the average computer user. Sure, we now have [URL="http://www.kde.org"]KDE[/URL], [URL="http://www.gnome.org"]GNOME[/URL], [URL="http://www.xfce.org"]XFCE[/URL], and other fancy graphical user interfaces that attempt to mimic [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Windows[/URL] and the [URL="http://www.apple.com"]Mac OS[/URL] but underneath the shimmering …

Ah yes, another significant victory for Linux as the Russian government [URL="http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/22094"]decides[/URL] that there will be a national operating system based on Linux. This new operating system will be deployed in Russian schools sometime this year. The Russians plan to rid themselves of the capitalist opression of Microsoft--or something like …

There are over 1 million Linux system deployments worldwide. No, make that 2 million. Wait, it's really closer to 3 million. Ok, I really have it this time--there are over 3.5 million Linux deployments worldwide as of January 7, 2009. But according to the [URL="http://counter.li.org"]Linux Counter[/URL], there's fewer than 150,000. …

According to the [URL="http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8"]latest figures[/URL] just published by Net Applications, a specialist Internet measurement company, Apple has seen Mac OS X grab a record gain taking it dangerously close to a 10 percent market share for the first time since the company started tracking OS usage. In stark contrast, however, …