Operating Systems News and Articles

The OpenBSD project has released version 4.4 of the free Unix derivative. New in this version are drivers for Intel and AMD chips, and support for platforms such as UltraSparc IV/ T1/ T2 and Fujitsu SPASRC64-V/ VI/ VIII.

The free wiki project TWiki is currently embroiled in a contentious dialogue. The TWIKI.NET venture is undergoing a new governance model that many developers consider a hostile takeover. Without further ado, developers have decided to launch their own, separate NextWiki.org project.

Developers of the Gnu Image Manipulation Program Gimp have released the second bug fix for the Gimp 2.6.

Intrepid Ibex, the codename for Ubuntu 8.10, has today finally reached the pinnacle, without hesitation. Although the new version of the popular Linux distribution hasn't won any new altitude records, it still brings along a number of interesting features to make life easier for users and
administrators. High among these features are some rejuvenated programs.

After much advance notice and successful pilot projects it is now official: From 2009, Russia will provide its high and primary schools with Linux software. Around 1500 schools will be converted this year.

Norwegian provider Opera Software is releasing almost weekly security updates for its Opera browser. Version 9.62 is to address what the company deems two of its most critical security problems.

HP is now entering the second round of the Netbook match. As advertized, Atom instead of VIA, slimmer, more affordable and most importantly, available with Linux.

Bavarian automaker BMW has set its sights on Open Source for the infotainment packages of its cars. If it were up to BMW, all automakers would be working on a common platform.

Linux company Red Hat has announced the beta release of version 5.3 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL) products.

Mark Shuttleworth, the main sponsor of Ubuntu, may continue to fund the Linux distribution for a few more years.