Sep 29

Microsoft unveils Barrelfish multi-core optimized OS

Posted in: dual-core, Microsoft, open source, opensource, operating system, OperatingSystem, research, Today's Chili

With current operating systems, as the number of cores increases efficiency decreases. Microsoft Research has just announced an experimental OS, called Barrelfish, that they’re developing in conjunction with ETH Zurich, in the hopes that they’ll learn how to buck that trend — both with current and future hardware. Building upon lessons learned with projects including Midori and Singularity, Barrelfish eschews share memory schemes in favor of message passing and a kind of database that shuttles information between cores. Heady stuff, for sure — but just the kind of thing that sets off our Geek Alarms. If you can’t wait to check this one out for yourself, hit the read link for the first release snapshot, in all its Open Source glory. The rest of us will probably remain content waiting to see how this new-found knowledge will trickle down to Windows 7 users in the future.

[Via DailyTech]

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Microsoft unveils Barrelfish multi-core optimized OS originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 28

Windows 7 coming to netbooks in all its myriad flavors

Posted in: Microsoft, netbook, netbooks, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, Today's Chili, windows 7, Windows7

It would seem that the humble netbook owner’s Windows 7 options just keep improving as the grand new OS comes closer to release. After plans to limit netbooks to running three apps at a time were thankfully scrapped, Microsoft has now confirmed with us that it is going to allow OEMs to splash any version of Windows 7 they desire onto their Atom-powered miniature laptops. That’s right, you can totally rock Windows 7 Ultimate and Aero visualizations on a machine that can handle neither. Joking aside, it’s pleasing to see the Redmond brain trust steer clear of arbitrary limitations on customer choice.

[Via GadgetMix]

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Windows 7 coming to netbooks in all its myriad flavors originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 28

Windows 7 coming to netbooks in all its myriad forms

Posted in: Microsoft, netbook, netbooks, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, Today's Chili, windows 7, Windows7

It would seem that the humble netbook owner’s Windows 7 options just keep improving as the grand new OS comes closer to release. After plans to limit netbooks to running three apps at a time were thankfully scrapped, Microsoft has now confirmed with us that it is going to allow OEMs to splash any version of Windows 7 they desire onto their Atom-powered miniature laptops. That’s right, you can totally rock Windows 7 Ultimate and Aero visualizations on a machine that can handle neither. Joking aside, it’s pleasing to see the Redmond brain trust steer clear of arbitrary limitations on customer choice.

[Via GadgetMix]

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Windows 7 coming to netbooks in all its myriad forms originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 23

Windows 7 technologies headed to embedded devices

Posted in: multitouch, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7, Windows7

While Intel was off showcasing its latest and greatest in San Francisco, Microsoft was camped out over on the right coast with a bit of its own news. In a two-part announcement at the Embedded Systems Conference in Boston, the Redmond giant declared that Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 had been released to manufacturing, meaning that Silverlight is now a huge step closer to getting all up in your next embedded device. In more interesting news, the outfit also stated that its initial rollout of Windows 7 technologies (read: support for multitouch and gestures) to OEMs of these specialized devices had begun, meaning that low-power gizmos based on x86, ARM or MIPS processors (smartbooks, anyone?) would soon have access to some of the same stuff used in Microsoft’s own Surface. Feel free to dig into the links below for more, but we’re warning you — there’s some serious technobabble behind those blue words.

[Via ComputerWorld]

Read – Windows 7 technologies headed to embedded devices
Read – Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 gets RTF

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Windows 7 technologies headed to embedded devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 16

Microsoft says OEMs pay about $50 for Windows on a $1,000 PC

Posted in: Microsoft, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7, Windows XP, Windows7

There’s been no shortage of rumors and speculation about how much Microsoft charges OEMs for a copy of Windows over the years, but Microsoft itself has stayed fairly mum on the matter — until this week, that is. Speaking at the Jefferies Annual Technology Conference, Microsoft exec Charles Songhurst revealed for the first time that the company has “always charged about $50” for a copy of Windows on the average $1,000 PC, or about 5% of the total cost. Songhurst also seems to imply that Microsoft is looking to get about 5% across the board for Windows, meaning that it can rake in some impressive profits on high-end PCs while still being able to offer Windows on the cheap for netbooks or $300 desktops. Songhurst even went so far as to say that cheap PCs are a net benefit for Microsoft so long as they are “not cannibalistic to the total PC demand,” and he and unsurprisingly further went on to extol the virtues of Windows 7, saying that it is a “compellingly good product,” and that “when Windows is executing well, Microsoft is in good shape.”

[Thanks, Sammy]

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Microsoft says OEMs pay about $50 for Windows on a $1,000 PC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 16

Haiku Alpha 1 available now: BeOS lovers of the world rejoice

Posted in: desktops, Laptops, operating system, OperatingSystem, Today's Chili

A mere eight years in the making, the Haiku Project has announced the release of Haiku R1/Alpha 1, the first official development release of the low footprint open source OS formerly known as OpenBeOS. Since it’s an alpha release, you’ll be expected to do your part identifying bugs and reporting glitches and the like — but here’s hoping that they at least got Firefox to run in relative stability this time ’round. We know you’re too damned giddy at the prospect of installing this thing on your netbook for any more of our prattle, so why don’t you just hit the read link and get started, then?

[Thanks, Hawkje]

Continue reading Haiku Alpha 1 available now: BeOS lovers of the world rejoice

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Haiku Alpha 1 available now: BeOS lovers of the world rejoice originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 12

Upgrading to Windows 7? Set aside 21 hours, just in case

Posted in: Microsoft, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7, Windows7

We can say for sure that our own Windows 7 upgrade experience didn’t take, oh say, a whole day, but according to Microsoft, your own just might. The boys and girls in Redmond set out with a goal of seeing the Vista to Windows 7 upgrade accomplished around five percent faster than an upgrade to Vista, and while it seems that they succeeded, the staggeringly wide range in install times has us a wee bit concerned. A variety of testing situations were put in place, and nearly every profile was tested on low-, mid- and high-end hardware. A clean install of Windows 7 on mid-to-high-end hardware took just a half-hour, but a 32-bit upgrade on a mid-range machine with 650GB of data and 40 applications took an astounding 1,220 minutes, or just under 21 hours. The wild part here is that it’s not all that uncommon for a power user / all-around nerd to have a half-terabyte of information and two score programs, and in anticipation of one install actually taking over a day, the team didn’t even bother testing this path on a low-end rig. Good thing our imaginations are in check, huh?

[Via ArsTechnica. thanks Martin]

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Upgrading to Windows 7? Set aside 21 hours, just in case originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 31

Snow Leopard: what’s broken (or working) for you?

Posted in: Apple, issue, Mac, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, os x, OsX, Today's Chili

Remember that time you installed Windows XP before it even hit the market? Remember how your AGP video card would only display a maximum resolution of 800 x 600 and your audio card would only emit bleeps and bloops? Ah, those were the days. Quite a bit has happened since XP landed to wash away the awful stain that was Windows ME, though it’s still no shock to hear that new operating systems leave more than a few applications broken. Over the past few days, we’ve seen oodles of gripes from across the web from loyal Mac users who just can’t believe Snow Leopard has borked their favorite software, but we’re wondering how things have been on your machine. Have you realized that your Optimus Maximus no longer boogies with OS X 10.6? Are you bummed that iStat pro isn’t giving you the details it used to? What kind of hell has broken loose since you threw caution in the garbage and updated your machine?

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Snow Leopard: what’s broken (or working) for you? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 28

1080p Android demo’d, set-top boxes prepare for a new master

Posted in: 1080p, Android, Google, operating system, OperatingSystem, Today's Chili

It is done. MIPS Technologies has demonstrated its enhanced implementation of Android running in 1080p via extended libraries to support hardware graphics acceleration and decoding on Sigma Designs hardware, a portent of set-top boxes yet to come. Of course, without any video or pictures or video of the blessed event (ISB Corp’s previous OMAP based effort is pictured above) it’s hard to tell why Android coming to TV is such a great idea, if its cousin widgets are any indication, there’s a chance of being high on pre-release hype but low on desirability once it reaches the market. Still, the Open Embedded Software Foundation pledges to continue on shoehorning Android into devices beyond the mobile handset, but if it’s shut down by a band of torch wielding villagers demanding the monster be put down, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

[Via SlashGear & LinuxforDevices]

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1080p Android demo’d, set-top boxes prepare for a new master originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 26

Entelligence: Will Snow Leopard’s Exchange support earn Apple a new entourage?

Posted in: Apple, column, enterprise, Features, Mac, mac os x, MacOsX, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, os x, OsX, Today's Chili

Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he’ll explore where our industry is and where it’s going — on both micro and macro levels — with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.

Apple, Microsoft and the Mac have an interesting history: Microsoft was among the first developers for Macintosh, yet not long after, Apple would sue Microsoft for copying the look and feel of Mac OS in Windows. By the late 90s, Microsoft made a huge splash at Macworld with an announced 150 million dollar investment in Apple and promises of further development of Office and Internet Explorer for Macintosh. Office in particular was a major issue as it was a key requirement for business users. Early on, Office applications for Mac were far more advanced than their Windows counterparts. Excel was actually introduced for Mac users before Windows users could get their hands on it. But by the mid 90s, all that changed, the Mac versions of Office lagged behind Windows in terms of features and performance. It took forever to get things such as a common set of file formats, so that users of Office on the two different platforms could exchange documents with ease (it seems like something we take for granted but having managed and supported PC and Mac users in mixed shops, it was a nightmare to deal with). The latest version of Office for Mac, Office 2008 showed that Microsoft could produce top quality Macintosh software. I personally, think Office 2008 for Mac is the best version of the software that Microsoft has ever done (far better than Office 2007 for Windows, as it preserved the core part of the Mac UI while co-existing nicely with the ribbon UI). Obviously, however, a situation with such broad inconsistency is untenable.

Continue reading Entelligence: Will Snow Leopard’s Exchange support earn Apple a new entourage?

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Entelligence: Will Snow Leopard’s Exchange support earn Apple a new entourage? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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