Cody Taylor

CWmike writes “As the tech community gears up to celebrate Unix’s 40th birthday this summer, one thing is clear: People do love operating systems. They rely on them, get exasperated by them and live with their little foibles. So now that we’re more than 30 years into the era of the personal computer, Computerworld writers and editors, like all technology aficionados, find ourselves with lots of memories and reactions to the OSes of yesteryear (pics galore). We have said goodbye to some of them with regret. (So long, AmigaOS!) Some of them we tossed carelessly aside. (Adios, Windows Me!) Some, we threw out with great force. (Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, MS-DOS 4.0!) Today we honor a handful of the most memorable operating systems and interfaces that have graced our desktops over the years. Plus: We take a look back at 40 years since Unix was introduced.”

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AmigaOS, CP/M, OS/2, DOS — which OS do you miss the most? Today we want to honor a handful of the most memorable operating systems and interfaces that have graced our desktops over the years. Some of them lasted for years. Some of them had remarkably short lives but inspired trends that we are benefiting from to this day.

snydeq writes “Unused PCs — computers that are powered on but not in use — are expected to emit approximately 20 million tons of CO2 this year, roughly equivalent to the impact of 4 million cars, according to report by 1E and the Alliance to Save Energy. All told, U.S. organizations will waste .8 billion to power 108 million unused machines this year. The notion that power used turning on PCs negates any benefits of turning them off has been discussed recently as one of five PC power myths. By turning off unused machines and practicing proper PC power management, companies stand to save more than per desktop PC per year.”

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“Developing and releasing Linux clients for Google services in parallelwith Windows client releases should be possible. C’mon, Google — isit any wonder there’s a perception that Linux ‘is not ready for thedesktop’ when companies like you shout out praise about open standardsand then fail to prioritize support for …” (Linux)

snydeq writes “Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst questioned the relevance of Linux on the desktop, citing several financial and interoperability hurdles to business adoption at a panel on end-users and Linux last night at the OSBC. ‘First of all, I don’t know how to make money on it,’ Whitehurst said, adding that he was uncertain how relevant the desktop itself will be in five years given advances in cloud-based and smartphone computing, as well as VDI. ‘The concept of a desktop is kind of ridiculous in this day and age. I’d rather think about skating to where the puck is going to be than where it is now.’ Despite increasing awareness that desktop Linux is ready for widespread mainstream adoption, fellow panelists questioned the practicality of switching to Linux, noting that even some Linux developers prefer Macs to Linux. ‘There’s a desire [to use desktop Linux],’ one panelist said, ‘but practicality sets in. There are significant barriers to switching.'”

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CNETNate writes “Thomson, the company that licenses the MP3 patent, has released a new lossless MP3 format called mp3HD. It utilises both lossless and lossy audio contained inside a single .mp3 file, and the files will play on all existing MP3 players. The idea is simple: lossless files on your desktop that can be transferred without conversion to iPods and MP3 players. The issue, it transpires, is that although the full lossless/lossy hybrid MP3 file is transferred to players, only the lossy element can be played back. A command line encoder can be found on Thomson’s Web site.”

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If you already use twitter and only use it via web you should be glad to know that there are a number of desktop clients available for us Linux users which makes using twitter a lot easier.

The GNOME project is proud to release this new version of the GNOME desktop environment and developer platform. Among the hundreds of bug fixes and user-requested improvements, GNOME 2.26 has several highly visible changes: the inclusion of a new disc burning application, simpler file sharing and a generally smoother user experience.

snydeq writes “The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a 15-page complaint asking the FTC to force Google to stop offering online services that collect data until the presence of adequate privacy safeguards is verified. The EPIC also wants Google to disclose all data loss or breach incidents, citing several incidents where data held by Google was at risk, the most recent of which occurred earlier this month with its Google Docs. The EPIC complaint [PDF] also listed other security flaws in Gmail and Google Desktop, a desktop indexing program, and urged Google to donate million to a public fund that will support research into technologies such as encryption, data anonymization and mobile location privacy.” EPIC has raised privacy concerns about Google before, and about Windows XP as well.

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Well, here we go again… it appears the Canonical just uploaded some new and very nice desktop themes for the upcoming Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) operating system, in order to please their devoted users.