Interview with Peter Tattam of the PetrOS Project

OS News is carrying an interesting interview with Peter Tattam of Trumpet Software.
Trumpet Software is mostly known for their Internet communications software package, Trumpet Winsock, which has been adopted by the Internet world back in 1995, at the times where Windows 3.1 and Win95 did not come as standard with full internet connetion capabilities. But the main product these days for Trumpet Software is PetrOS, a 32-bit Operating System, which has the goal to be compatible by all means with Microsoft Windows. We are interviewing the main architect behind the project, Peter Tattam, who talks in depth about PetrOS, and also we feature a world exclusive first screenshot of the PetrOS GUI, a GUI which is still under heavy development.

Read the full interview here.   4:09:30 PM

Unix Tick Tocks to a Million. In the wee hours Sunday morning, Greenwich Mean Time, the Unix operating system will have counted its billionth second from the moment Unix computers recognize zero-time. By Farhad Manjoo. [Wired News]   3:47:03 PM

Well, the News is In and it's a Sick, Sick Joke

Declan McCullagh's Politech reports: DOJ to Microsoft: We've changed our minds -- no breakup required.
The Official announcement states:

Today's announcements were made in light of an order by the District Court directing the Antitrust Division and Microsoft to produce a joint status report by September 14, 2001, outlining proposals for further proceedings in the case. The Division advised Microsoft of its position on the tying claim and the issue of structural relief to facilitate consultations on the joint report.

For a complete rundown of the issue see this article on Dr. Dobb's Journal, but here's a quick nugget:

Bootloader as Trade Secret
So why aren't there any dual-boot computers for sale? The answer lies in the nature of the relationship Microsoft maintains with hardware vendors. More specifically, in the "Windows License" agreed to by hardware vendors who want to include Windows on the computers they sell. This is not the license you pretend to read and click "I Accept" when installing Windows. This license is not available online. This is a confidential license, seen only by Microsoft and computer vendors. You and I can't read the license because Microsoft classifies it as a "trade secret." The license specifies that any machine which includes a Microsoft operating system must not also offer a nonMicrosoft operating system as a boot option. In other words, a computer that offers to boot into Windows upon startup cannot also offer to boot into BeOS or Linux. The hardware vendor does not get to choose which OSes to install on the machines they sell - Microsoft does.

And this is the issue I've wanted to see resolved for the last four years, hell, it's been a year and a half since they were ordered to be broken up into two companies by Judge Jackson.

Really, to me it didn't matter that I couldn't unistall Internet Explorer, the issue for me has always been that there is no 'choice' when it comes to buying a Personal Computer, because every major retailer only offers one OS, and are obliged by this restrictive licensing aggreement not to offer any other OS.

The situation may be best summed up Be's CEO Jean-Louis Gassée who was once quoted as saying "I once preached peaceful coexistence with Windows. You may laugh at my expense - I deserve it."

Join the discussion on Plastic: DOJ: Microsoft Stays in One Piece [Plastic], or if you're little bit more angry, a little bit more cynical, a little bit pissed, go have a yell at Slashdot   5:31:52 PM

_As_the_Apple_Turns!_ the funniest Apple Soap on Earth!

Scene 3285 follows: See? They Aren't ALL Bad

As you are all likely well aware, Mac fans typically don't get along terribly well with financial analysts-- or, should we say, with those entities that the _rest_ of the world calls "financial analysts," but that we more commonly refer to as "scum-sucking sleaze-weasels." Aside from that brief period a year or so ago when the analysts were falling all over themselves to praise Apple to the moon, more typically they fall into a default state of telling investors that Apple is doomed. (That's why viewers are frequently disappointed to discover that our quarterly "Beat The Analysts" contest is actually about outguessing the pessimistic little buggers and not about pounding them into paste with heavy blunt instruments-- though, due to viewer feedback, we're considering changing that next quarter.)

Anyway, we're always delighted when we can find an analyst we actually _like,_ and at least for now, Brett Miller of AG Edwards certainly qualifies. As faithful viewer BOB GULIEN kindly pointed out, a Macworld UK article reports that Miller is currently "optimistic" about Apple's future.
In particular, he rates Apple's stock a "buy" because iTunes, iMovie, and
iDVD represent the "best available" consumer digital video and audio
packages out there. Moreover, he thinks there's at least one upside to the
current economic meltdown: it's "creating one of the best opportunities for Apple to gain market share."

How? Well, it's nothing we haven't heard before, but basically Miller thinks the "vicious warfare" raging between PC manufacturers in the consumer space isn't going to affect Apple's prices or margins overly much, since Apple customers-- that's us, by the way-- are "'materially uninterested' in Wintel alternatives." So while the Wintel boxmakers are slashing each other to bits, Apple can keep right on doing its own thing without being ravaged by disappearing margins, mounting debt, and a tidal wave of pink slips. And while a beleaguered Gateway is closing stores left and right, Apple is _opening_ retail locations at the rate of one a week, thus sticking the Mac in front of an ever-increasing number of eyeballs. Because of this, "Apple will be in the face of the consumer and education markets like never before."

Now this is an analyst we can trust. And then, just as icing on the cake, AG Edwards rated DELL as "reduce." Do we love these guys, or what?

To see this scene as it was meant to be seen, complete with links
to articles and formatted as originally broadcast, visit:

http://www.appleturns.com/scene/?id285

To see the complete, unadulterated episode in which this scene was
originally broadcast, visit:

http://www.appleturns.com/episode/?date=9/5/2001

As the Apple Turns: http://www.appleturns.com/
This Scene: http://www.appleturns.com/scene/?id285 This Episode:
http://www.appleturns.com/episode/?date=9/5/2001

Copyright (c)1997-2001 J. Miller; please don't forward without this
attribution and the URLs above. Other reproduction requires J. Miller's
explicit consent; please contact him at the site. Thanks.
   4:00:21 PM

Motorola: New Technology Makes Chips 35 Times Faster

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) on Tuesday unveiled what it calls a breakthrough microprocessor technology -- combining silicon with optical components -- that the company says will make chips perform 35 times faster than traditional silicon microprocessors

This article was found on Newsfactor.com, and is interesting since it comes just days after Motorola's announcement that it found ways to increase chip density by 50%. This new development bodes well for Motorola's future, although their stock price is in somewhat of a freefall, after Merryl Lynch cut its rating from Accumulate to Nuetral.

   12:58:18 AM

"I Wish I had a Brain"

"It was a cult hit," said Morgenstern. "The Talking Moose was the perfect example of what the Mac was about and what the PC wasn't. Remember that this was way before Windows, so all PC users had was a DOS prompt. The Moose showed that computers were fun and personal. People could have business and fun in one machine."

[Wired News]   12:38:04 AM

HP Chief Dropped Hints. Hewlett Packard's multibillion-dollar decision to acquire Compaq might've been a surprise to most of the tech world. But in remarks made well before the deal's close, HP CEO Carly Fiorina offered clues that something big was afoot. By Joanna Glasner. [Wired News]   12:36:22 AM

C|NET TV: Open Source, is it good for competition?

On C|NET TV today, is a short video clip of Brian Behlendorf, founder, Apache, and Linus Torvalds, discussing whether Open-source promotes competition?

While the video is relatively short, the best part is when Linus explains that organisation is over rated.

Requires Real Video, or Windows Media Player.    2:44:42 PM

Motorola unveils breakthrough in chip design

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) scientists say they have designed a procedure for shrinking chips from today's 157 nanometer width to less than 100 nanometers wide, enabling more circuitry to be added to conventional-size microchips.

The announcement comes as chipmakers search for ways to extend the lifespan of photolithography, the technology used to create microchips, which is expected to reach its limit by the next decade.

Speaking at an international symposium on the future of chip lithography, Joe Mogab, director of Motorola's Digital DNA Laboratories, said the company has created the first photomask to be used with Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography.

Found on OSopinion.com

More details can be found at Yahoo.com, or get the straight dope from Motorola Media Release.   12:06:45 PM

Expert Hacks Hotmail in One Line of Code

A new Internet security concern called "cross-site scripting" piggybacks invasive code on tiny programs that run live on Web pages to make them more interactive. Twice this month, Internet security consultant Jeremiah Grossman, 24, poked gaping security holes in Hotmail and Passport, Microsoft's free Web-based e-mail and identity-authentication services.

It took just three lines of code for Grossman to breach Hotmail filters and access Passport ID and credit card data. The second time it took just one line. And the former Yahoo security auditor says he could do it again given 8 hours.

The Full Story on OSopinion.com   11:53:53 AM