IronWil Blog » Open Source

Windows 7 Beta Fallout
There is almost universal praise for the Windows 7 public beta which was released on January 9, 2009. After impressive demand for the new beta Microsoft has suspended its previous policy which would place a limit on the downloads to 2.5 million and will allow people to download the beta until January 24, 2009. Paul recommends re-arming rather then activiting to save your license keys. Windows 7 also runs great on netbooks, lower end notebooks designed for portability and low power usage. Paul describes a good experience on a 1.6GHz Atom system with 1 GB of RAM and 16GB of harddrive space. The only big question is: will the positive reviews of Windows 7 be enough to get XP users to upgrade?
What about Office 14?
With Windows 7 coming out in mid-2009 many are wondering if Office will quickly follow. Microsoft just started a limited beta test of their server offerings, but there is no news about the client. Sources say that we will have to wait until late 2009 or early 2010 for the new Office.
Zune rumors
Rumors abound that Microsoft may be exiting the portable media player business by discontinuing the Zune. However, Microsoft recently stated that rather then discontinue the Zune they are going to be expanding the product line. With Apple offering DRM free downloads from it’s iTunes music store, Microsoft may have their work cut out for them.Paul is going to try to get Rob Greenlee of the Zune Insider podcast on a future episode of Windows Weekly to discuss the Zune in more depth.
Keith Curtis
Keith Curtis is a long-time Microsoft employee and the author of “The Software Wars,” a book which states that open source software, not Apple, is the real future competition to the Windows operating system. GNU/Linux has been all but dismissed as a possibility on the desktop, but Keith disagrees and he may have a point. He will appear on a future episode of Windows Weekly where he will discuss his book and his ideas in detail.
Roku Digital Video Player
- This just in: Roku Digital Video Player adds hundreds of HD movies and TV shows via Netflix, plus 40,000 movies and TV shows from Amazon On Demand. The latter is coming in a few weeks
- Netflix HD content
- Office, 30 Rock, Heroes, Star Trek, plus movies like Elf, Ace Ventura, etc.
- An amazing list of Windows 7 tips published by a Microsoft engineer.
- Free Battlestar Galactica webisodes on Zune Marketplace In Season 0: A 10-part episode, Face of the Enemy, that bridges the gap between the last season and the next, plus two specials, “Recap” and “Catch the Frak Up”

A Message From Paul Thurrott”This week I’m going to be in Reston, Virginia on Friday for the ‘D.C.’ edition of the MSDN Developer Conference held at the Hyatt Regency Reston. It’s sort of a mini-PDC that’s going around the country. In DC to visit with Rafael. But drop me a line if you’ll be at the show.”

Tips of the week

Software of the weekWindirstat: Excellent disk usage viewer for Windows – surprised I haven’t had this one in here before. Thanks to Greg Martin for the tip. See the discussion page for other similar free programs.
Audible pick of the week: Cross Country, Unabridged, by James Patterson, narrated by Peter J. Fernandez and Dion Graham.

Check out Paul’s blog at the SuperSite for Windows for more information.

get yours here.

iron wil

You can’t beat the Open Source License

Iron Wil — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:39:32 +0000

A Federal Appeals Court reversed a lower court decision so that Open Source programmers can sue those who take and use their work without giving them credit or getting permission to sell the work.

If you want more read the whole thing here.

iron wil

Nexenta OS 1.0 Released

Iron Wil — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:14:24 +0000

Nexenta has released an update to their OS – 1.0. Nexenta is an OpenSolaris core with Ubuntu polish.

Check it out here. Get it here.

iron wil.

The Guide to GIMP

Iron Wil — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:47:00 +0000

GIMP is an free program that can be found at GIMP.org. I have it listed on my Mac and PC Picks pages, because it is a really nice alternative to spending 500$ on Photoshop.

Rob Biehl of Biehl Online, has put together some fantastic tutorials for GIMP. If you have been intimidated by GIMP or want to learn more, go here. While there, you should also check up the rest of his site.

Just a note. GIMP runs on all 3 major platforms- Mac, Linux, and Windows. Last I checked, it didn’t run on OS X:Leopard, that may have changed in the last month. It had a problem running on the X11 for Leopard [at least that is what my error message said].
iron wil

New Full Circle Magazine [#9]

Iron Wil — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:27:42 +0000

Full Circle Magazine – Issue 9 is out!

This month, we have:

OpenGEU – A step-by-step install from OpenGEU creator Luca De Marini.
How-tos: Directory Server, Ubuntu on an iBook, Installing OpenTTD (Transport Tycoon Deluxe), and part one of the new “Create Your Own Server” series.
Review of the KDE 4.0 release
Letters, the Q&A, My Desktop, the Ubuntu Women column, the Top 5, and much, much more!

get it here.

iron wil

New Free Software Magazine [#21] published!

Iron Wil — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 12:14:34 +0000

In this issue of Free Software Magazine David Jacovkis reports from Colombia and explains why free software is an ethical choice. Colin McGregor interviews several key people in the GNU/Linux world as well as explaining how to get KDE looking fantastic. Then we have Terry Hancock covering the Open Hardware project and making a comprehensive list of Linux-friendly hardware. Steven Goodwin shares how much he saved by using free software for his great beer podcast, and Alan Berg entertains us with free software easter eggs, while Andrew Min will explain the basics of HTML… Monty Python style.

read it here.

iron wil

New Open Source Website

Iron Wil — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 12:47:26 +0000

Recently Open Source Living came online providing a good resource for all of those beloved open source programs. Andrew of London has put a lot of work into the site. He has recently added a forums section for user discussion.

enjoy.

iron wil

New Full Circle Mag [#7] Released!

Iron Wil — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:15:39 +0000

Issue #7 has :

Step-by-Step Ubuntu Studio install
How-To : Simple SSH Install, A Terminal on your Desktop, Easily Convert from Windows and Learning Scribus pt.7.
Review : Wubi Installer
Top 5 – Audio/Video Apps.
Interview with the Howard County Library.
News, Letters, Q&A, MyDesktop and more!

get yours here.

iron wil

An OS Switcher’s Story

Iron Wil — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:34:38 +0000

I came across an article on Patch Shorts today about how the author’s wife switched to Ubuntu Linux.

I usually enjoy these stories because they provide a perspective on Linux that can only come from a [Linux] convert. Although my OS of choice is OS X, I still have a soft spot in my heart for Ubuntu.

To enjoy a well written OS Switcher story, click here.

iron wil