Posts tagged Linux at Switched

Posts with tag linux

Geek's Girlfriend Finds Linux Harder to Use Than Windows

by Tim Stevens, posted Apr 30th 2008 at 8:10AM

Linux, the free, open-source UNIX-based operating system used in trendy affordable computers such as the eeePC and the Zonbu, has been gaining huge ground over the past decade in terms of general usability, especially when compared to the competing (and decidedly not-free) products from Windows or Apple. Despite that, Linux is still lambasted as being unintuitive, overly complicated, and simply not ready for prime time.

To test this point, a Linux fan took a machine with a fresh install of Ubuntu, a popular type of Linux, and decided to challenge his girlfriend, a Windows user with no Linux experience, to see whether she could find her way around and do some generally simple tasks. Unfortunately for those hoping for Linux desktop adoption, she didn't fare too well.

The tasks ranged from simple ones, like looking up the capital of Bosnia online (she passed this one) and watching a YouTube video (failed this one), to more complex challenges, such as burning a CD (failed) and modifying an image using PhotoShop (passed). By our count she succeeded in only half of the challenges, meaning Ubuntu isn't quite ready for completely pain-free use by Windows users. So, if you were wondering why cheap, Linux-based computers, like the eeePC, are starting to offer Windows versions as well, now you know. [Source: Content Consumer]

Is Windows 'Collapsing?'

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 12th 2008 at 8:38AM

IT Firm Says Windows is Collapsing, We Agree Wholeheartedly

Gartner, a technology research and analysis firm, is warning that Windows is "collapsing." The analysts at Gartner said that Microsoft must make drastic changes to its flagship operating system (OS) or risk becoming outmoded.

The two analysts spearheading this charge, Michael Silver and Neil MacDonald , say that Microsoft is burdened by years of legacy code (old, inflexible programming) and bad decisions, and is facing competition on a number of fronts. Unless major changes are made to slim down the operating system soon, it will simply collapse under its own weight.

We've weighed the pros and cons of Windows versus the trendy OS X and scrappy Linux before, and we can think of a number of reasons to recommend either of those over the OS out of Redmond. And we've specifically discussed how Vista missed the mark by targeting high powered desktops that are increasingly being shunned for low powered and cheap laptops.

So is Windows done for? Not quite, but the increasing power and prevalence of Web-based applications make Linux and OS X perfectly viable and tempting solutions, especially as form factors on our devices shrink.

From Computer World

HP Debuts Super Small Sub-$500 Laptop

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 9th 2008 at 7:49AM

The market for cheap sub-notebooks is simply exploding. It all started with the OLPC XO, then Intel jumped in with the Classmate. Soon Asus revealed its critically acclaimed Eee PC, and these low-priced, low-powered (often Linux-running) machines truly started to take the world by storm.

The latest entry into this field is the Hewlett Packard 2133 Mini-Note PC. The Mini-Note starts at $499, for the entry level model with 512 megabytes of RAM, 4-gigabytes of storage, a 1-gigahertz VIA processor, and Linux. At the top of the heap is a $749 model loaded with Vista Business, 2-gigabytes of RAM, and a 1.6 gigahertz VIA processor. The $749 model also comes with a 120-gigabyte hard drive that spins at 7,200 RPM for super fast data access. Many full-sized notebooks only come with 5,400 RPM drives, and most ultra-portables are saddled with a 4,200 RPM drive.

The first batch of reviews are in, and they're all pretty positive. Some complain about the lack of power due to the VIA processor, and the awkwardness of the side-mounted touch pad buttons, but most are blown away by the full-sized keyboard and the 8.9-inch screen that at a resolution of 1280x768 can display a full Web page without any horizontal scrolling, unlike the ASUS Eee.

The Mini-Note sounds like a strong competitor to the Eee and other cheap compact notebooks, but the price does sound a little high. An Eee PC similarly equipped to the lower end Mini-Note costs about $100 less, and for the $749 asking price of the high end model, you could buy a much more powerful laptop, though one not nearly as small.

From Engadget

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Windows XP Version of Asus EeePC Out Next Week

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 1st 2008 at 9:17AM

ASUS Eee Loaded with Windows XP Out Next Week

The Eee PC has been a hit for ASUS, and exposed many to their fist taste of Linux, but the budget priced sub-notebook has had its popularity limited because hasn't been available with Windows. At last, that's set to change, since ASUS has finally given a price and street date to its Windows XP based Eee PC.

As of April 9, you'll be able to pick up the same exact Eee PC with a Intel Celeron processor, 512 megabytes of RAM, 7-inch screen, and 4 gigabytes of solid state storage, but with Windows XP installed instead of Linux. Best of all, it'll cost the same $400 it costs for the Linux version. Keep this in mind, however: Windows XP is a lot more resource-hungry than Linux, so don't expect the EeePC with Windows to be all that fast. In fact, it could be a whole lot slower than the Linux version, but at least you'll be able to get your Microsoft Outlook on!

We've covered the advantages and disadvantages of each before, so if you're in the market for an Eee take a look at our Laptop Guide before deciding on Windows or Linux.

From Engadget

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Eee PC to Run Windows XP

by Thomas Houston, posted Mar 18th 2008 at 7:42AM

At this year's CeBIT conference in Germany, Asus debuted a new version of its popular multi-colored sub-notebook, the Eee PC, with a larger screen (8.9 inches), more memory, and a larger hard drive for storage. Significantly, Asus' updates to the line now enable the laptops to run Windows XP -- the Eee PC formerly ran only Xandrox, a Linux-based operating system -- and Asus predicts that over two thirds of the new line will ship as Windows systems.

Analysts said that the demand for Windows is extremely strong, so despite impressive sales and high demand and enthusiasm for the older, Linux-based Eee PC -- over 300,000 sold in one quarter last year -- Asus decided to offer consumers the choice of either Windows or Linux on these new models.

One thing's for sure, the Windows-based EeePC's are likely to run a lot slower than the Linux-based ones -- Windows is much more resource-hungry.

From Beta News

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2038: The Year the Internet Will End?

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Mar 14th 2008 at 2:27PM

We're sure most of you remember the Y2K bug. Because most computers only stored the date with a two digit year, the clocks struck midnight on December 31, 1999 and all hell was supposed to break loose as computers around the world suddenly thought the year was 1900. The power goes out, records destroyed, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

Alas, when the date became January 1, 2000, the world didn't end. In fact almost no computers were affected at all. This was partially because of expensive and hurried fixes to millions of computers, and partially because the threat was vastly overstated by the media.

Now another date looms on the horizon -- 3:14:07 AM on January 19, 2038. The "2038 bug" will affect any Unix or Posix based systems such as the Linux servers that power the web and Macs running the Unix-based OSX. Posix based operating systems store date and time as a four byte integer (technically only 31 bits) counting seconds from January 1 1970. When the number of seconds reaches 2,147,483,647 seconds, the clock will reset to -2,147,483,648, or 8:45:52 PM Dec 13 1901.

What could happen? Well we've actually already seen some of the effects of this bug. In May of 2006 the bug brought an AOL (our parent company) web server to its knees. The server was designed to never timeout, but rather than set a the timeout to simply never occur the timeout was set for a billion seconds in the future. When the one billion seconds, or just over 31 years 251 days and 12 hours, past the January 19, 2038 threshold the scheduled timeout was scheduled to happen in the past, 1901, and the server crashed. A similar problem took out the Mars Rover Spirit temporarily in 2004 when it started sending nonsense messages back to Houston from the year 2038. If our current systems were left as is we could expect them to start crumbling one by one, and on the morning of January 19, 2038 Switched.com would suddenly go offline as our server crashed.

Despite our sensationalist headline, neither the world nor the Internet will end in 2038. In fact with just under 30 years to spare we're pretty confident that any issues will be resolved before the doomsday scenario has a chance to play out. Besides, in 30 years shouldn't we have fancy new-voice controlled holographic computers like those promised to us by 'Minority Report?' We're pretty sure the pre-cogs weren't using Leopard.

From Newsvine and 2038bug.com

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Wal-Mart's "Green" $199 PC Gets De-Shelved

by Tim Stevens, posted Mar 11th 2008 at 4:16PM

Last year Wal-Mart tried a little "experiment," selling a low-spec desktop computer for the bargain basement price of just $199. The company thought the price would be enough for customers to overlook the dearth of features and performance, and it apparently was enough for the 600-store allotment made to stores to sell out. However, despite this modest success, the company has decided to stop stocking the boxes in stores.

The gPC from Everex (makers of the similarly cheap Cloudbook laptop) was so cheap partly because it did not ship with a copy of Microsoft's Windows operating system, instead relying on the free Linux OS. This made the machines somewhat unfamiliar to novice computer users, most of whom are familiar with Windows or Apple's Mac OS.

Still, if you don't mind Linux and you're in the market for a bargain desktop, you can still get the supposedly improved gPC2 via the Wal-Mart Web site, still for just $199. However, since the specs of this model are exactly the same of the former gPC, we're not sure why the "2" here is warranted.

From Engadget and AOL Money & Finance

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Google Phones to Premier Next Week?

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Feb 8th 2008 at 3:32PM

Rumor has it that next week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona the world will finally get to lay its eyes (and hopefully hands) on the first cell phones powered by the Google-backed Android operating system. Google itself has bought up a lot of floor space at the expo, and ARM, maker of the most popular processors in the mobile phone market, is expected to demo its own hardware running the Android platform.

Andoid handsets (also called gPhones) being shown off at the premier mobile phone expo comes as no shock, but it's still exciting. gPhones are supposed to start shipping in the second half of this year, but outside of some videos posted by Google developers, we've yet to see it running on any real hardware.

From Times Online

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French Government Moving from Windows to Linux

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 30th 2008 at 3:11PM

The popular Linux distribution Ubuntu is making gains in some pretty important places, namely the French military police force National Gendarmerie. The government-run organization is planing to migrate all of its desktop PCs to Ubuntu by 2014, leaving the world of Microsoft behind it. The French National Assembly already switched all its PCs to Ubuntu in 2007, but its 1,200 desktops pales in comparison to the scope of the Gendarmerie's conversion of 70,000 machines.

The Gendarmerie has been moving towards open source slowly over the past few years, first ditching Microsoft Office in favor of the free Open Office as a replacement for Powerpoint, Excel, and Word. Then the organization left Internet Explorer and Outlook for Mozilla's Firefox browser and its lesser known sister application the Thunderbird E-mail client.

According to the Gendarmerie, moving to Linux will have 3 major benefits. One, it will allow it to diversify its suppliers instead of relying on one company. Two, the nature of open source puts the operating system in complete control of the police force, allowing it to tailor the software to its needs. And three, the cost. Ubuntu is free, as are most other Linux distributions. And that should make the tax payers happy.

From Yahoo! News

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Sears One-Ups Wal-Mart With $185 PC

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 18th 2008 at 11:41AM

Sears One-Ups Wal-Mart with $185 Linux PC

We have a new reigning champion in the competition for the world's cheapest desktop computer. Sears.com is now selling a Mirus-built, Linux-based desktop PC for $285. We know, we know -- what about the OLPC XO or the Wal-Mart Everex Green PC?" ) Well, friends, what makes the Sears Mirus PC cheaper, for a limited time anyway, is a $100 mail-in rebate, making it total out to $185, which is $15 cheaper than the Green PC and $3 cheaper than the XO.

The Intel Celeron-based system also comes with 1-gigabyte of memory, giving it significantly more horsepower than anything else out at this price point.

The Mirus is part of a larger trend towards low cost, low power, Linux-running systems (Linux is an open-source operating system that's generally more stable than Windows and Mac operating systems). The OLPC XO, the Asus Eee, the Green PC, and the upcoming Intel powered MIDs are all aimed at users who just need typical daily computer functions such as word processing, image and music management, and Web access. Linux already owns the server market (almost every Web site you visit is sitting on a Linux-based server), and is now beginning to make a mark on the low-cost PC market.

If things continue along this route, 2008 will be the year that Linux finally becomes a household word.

From BetaNews

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Best Buy's $200 Black Friday PC and Other Cheap Computers

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 12th 2007 at 3:25PM

Shopping on Black Friday requires a certain amount of masochism -- struggling through the crowds, punching mothers in front of their children to get that cheap plasma TV -- it's dangerous business.

If you decide to brave the battlefield at Best Buy this year, you'll be rewarded with an opportunity to grab an eMachines PC with a 17 inch LCD monitor for the super low price of $200. Don't expect the world though. The PC is rumored to be powered by an Intel Celeron running at 2.66 Ghz (meaning no efficient and powerful 'Core' for you), comes with 512 megabytes of RAM (which is the bare minimum for doing just about anything on a computer these days), has a measly 80 Gigabyte hard drive, and it has no DVD burner.

Don't get us wrong -- $200 is still a heck of a price, but you could get so much more, or at least more interesting for a tad more cash. For instance, Wal-Mart is selling their own $200 PC without monitor. The gPC, as it's called, runs Linux instead of the resource-hungry Vista and uses an ultra low-power (and carbon-neutral) processor from Via. Or, how about the diminutive and cheap Eee from Asus which is also powered by Linux (noticing a trend here?). Priced from $200 to $400, these little laptops let you get all your basic computing tasks done by focusing on web applications.

Or, if you're in the market for something truly different, head on over to Laptop.org and you can get yourself one of the OLPC XOs (also Linux powered). These tiny, innovative convertible laptops are meant for kids in developing nations, but for a limited time you can order one for yourself as long as you're willing to pay for two. The second one gets sent to a child in the third world on your dime. In that case, $400 gets you a technological marvel, a piece of history, and a warm, fuzzy feeling.

From Engadget

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Wal-Mart Gets $200 "Green" PC

by Tim Stevens, posted Nov 1st 2007 at 7:17PM

Of all the retailers out there, Wal-Mart probably wouldn't rate high on environmentalists' lists of green retailers. But,that's where you're going to have to go if you want to get your hands on a new self-titled "green" PC that will cost just $199.

The Everex TC2502 gPC is a low-powered and limited-spec desktop computer that runs a version of Linux called Ubuntu rather than the much more popular Windows or Mac operating system. Ubuntu is a free operating system that looks and feels much like the competition, but doesn't offer the compatibility that even a Macintosh can offer to the ubiquitous Windows PC.

Linux has gained a lot of popularity over the past few years, finding itself installed in all sorts of devices. And, there are software applications out there for the operating system that will do everything you can do on a PC, including opening and reading files from most of the applications in Microsoft's Office suite. However, Office itself is not available, nor are most games. But given the seriously lightweight nature of the specs for this machine, you'd be hard-pressed to get any modern games to run anyway.

Those lightweight specs lead to reduced power consumption -- hence the "g" in the gPC name -- which is obviously aimed at the eco-mindful consumer.

As Engadget points out, however, this computer is rather wasteful in other regards. Internally, the system uses miniaturized components to help reduce power consumption and cost, but ironically the manufacturer throws them all into a big, plastic, non-biodegradeable full-sized case. Apparently this is due to Wal-Mart research that indicates its customers consider a larger PC to be a more powerful one, a notion that will make smart shoppers everywhere shake their heads.

From Wired and Engadget

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Coming Soon -- the Fully-Customizable Linux Phone

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 1st 2007 at 9:07AM

The Linux Revolution -- Coming to a Phone Near You

The Linux revolution is making a run for the smart phone market. This isn't exactly new news. In fact, Linux started taking off in the cell phone market in about 2003. Major companies from NEC to Samsung are shipping phones loaded with the open source OS, though primarily in China, and Motorola seems to be slowly-but-surely letting Linux take over its hand-held line up. Certain versions of the RAZR 2, the ROKR, the SCPL, and the China-only Ming all run a custom version of Linux designed by Motorola.

The problem is that all of these companies run their own customized, closed, and incompatible versions of Linux. Luckily, two companies are working on open, standardized, and in the case of OpenMoko (pictured above), completely free and open sourced versions of Linux for hand-helds. This doesn't mean much to those of us who can't program, but all those intrepid programmers and hackers out there are usually very willing to share the fruits of their labor with the rest of us.

A standardized mobile Linux would have many advantages. For one, an almost endless supply of applications are bound to pop up, and no convoluted hacking is required (as is the case with the iPhone). Additionally, the low overhead required for Linux means a much faster and more responsive device than anything out there running Windows Mobile. As for Palm OS (which has an oft-delayed Linux based successor in the works), well, it's showing its age and simply unable to compete with the capabilities of a Linux phone.

Wired writer Paul Adams ordered himself a pre-alpha (which means it's just past the conceptual stage) version of the OpenMoko Neo1973. The Neo1973 is currently intended for developers, but anyone can order it for $450. The device is small and rounded on both ends, and features a large bright touch screen. It doesn't skip on other features either, Bluetooth, GPS, MicroSD slot, and globe-hopping quad-band GSM so it can work on all five continents. In essence, these are all the goodies you've come to expect from high end smart phones. Future versions of the phone will feature Wi-Fi as well.

Sadly for Adams, and OpenMoko, the first "tussle" with the Linux-based supposed iPhone-killer was less than smooth, to put it lightly. At first, the phone wouldn't boot at all. Then Adams discovered he had to download the software separately to install on the phone. Once booted, he found the GPS only functioned through obscure text commands from the terminal, and that the phone couldn't connect to his T-Mobile network for some reason.

In the end, Adams opted to install OpenMoko's primary competitor, Trolltech's Qtopia, the more mature, but partially proprietary hand-held Linux variant. After installing Qtopia, the phone worked almost perfectly allowing Adams to send text messages and make calls.

So, OpenMoko's software platform isn't quite usable yet, so we certainly don't suggest buying one any time soon. However, the ability to simply replace the OS on the OpenMoko is certainly an attractive feature. Imagine picking up the latest LG handset, deciding you don't like preloaded interface, and simply downloading a replacement that seems more your style. That's a cell-phone future we can get behind.

From Wired

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Scientist Using Eight PlayStation 3s to Study Gravity

by Evan Shamoon, posted Oct 18th 2007 at 3:12PM

Whoever said video games were a waste of time is totally eating his words right now.

Wired News reports that a cluster of eight interlinked PlayStation 3's is actually solving "a celestial mystery involving gravitational waves and what happens when a super-massive black hole, about a million times the mass of our own sun, swallows up a star." Which we'd explain to you in layman's terms, except for we think those may actually be layman's terms, in addition to the fact that we forgot our astrophysicist degrees at home this week.

Dr. Gaurav Khanna, the main scientist behind the research, is employing the PS3s to help measure the ripples in the space-time continuum that travel at the speed of light. The fact that the PS3 uses a version of Linux to work its magic is essentially what allows for the research to be done -- Linux is a very open system, and customizing it for the needs of the project was relatively easy.

"Basically, it's almost like a replacement," Khanna says. "I don't have to use that supercomputer anymore, which is a good thing."

From Wired News

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Intel Shows Off Prototype iPhone Killer

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Sep 21st 2007 at 5:25PM

The big story out of this week's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco is Intel's upcoming ultra mobile platforms codenamed Menlow and Moorestown. The technologies will be the basis for future generations of UMPCs (Ultra Mobile PCs) and MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) -- the difference between the two product classes being that UMPCs run on Windows while MIDs use Linux.

It's the MID that have caught many people's attention. The versatility, level of customization and low power requirements (which leads to longer battery life and cheaper hardware) of the Linux operating system make it a prime candidate for building an iPhone killer around. Intel showed off an iPhone-like MID with an ultra-wide screen form factor (pictured above). The touch screen device is never going to be mass produced, but was merely intended to show what would be possible with the Moorestown platform.

Its not out of the question that Intel's Moorestown could power a future version of the iPhone either, but we'll have to wait till about mid-2009 to find out what manufacturers will be able to squeeze Moorsetown into.

From Double DT

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Geek's Girlfriend Finds Linux Harder to Use Than Windows

Is Windows 'Collapsing?'

HP Debuts Super Small Sub-$500 Laptop

Windows XP Version of Asus EeePC Out Next Week

Eee PC to Run Windows XP

2038: The Year the Internet Will End?

Wal-Mart's "Green" $199 PC Gets De-Shelved

Google Phones to Premier Next Week?

French Government Moving from Windows to Linux

Sears One-Ups Wal-Mart With $185 PC

Best Buy's $200 Black Friday PC and Other Cheap Computers

Wal-Mart Gets $200 "Green" PC

Coming Soon -- the Fully-Customizable Linux Phone

Scientist Using Eight PlayStation 3s to Study Gravity

Intel Shows Off Prototype iPhone Killer

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