An Open Source Tool for Every Task
School Library Journal / Steve Hargadon
Following are some of the most popular OSS applications for schools. All are freely available, requiring no license fees, and can be loaded on an unlimited number of computers or distributed to students for home use.
Dell releases unofficial Chrome OS Linux desktop
ComputerWorld / Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
Of all the big computer companies only Dell really supports desktop Linux and, in particular Dell offers a nice selection of PCs running Ubuntu Linux. What Dell hasn’t done though is come out and announce that they were working on Google’s beta Chrome OS. Other vendors, such as Acer, HP and Lenovo are on board with Chrome. Regardless of that, Dell is actually the first big-time vendor to have released a version of Chrome OS designed to work with one of their netbooks.
Microsoft investigates Windows 7 ‘screen of death’
BBC News
Microsoft confirms that it is investigating a problem that affects Windows 7 users described as the “black screen of death”.
Social OpenSim grids gain over 1,000 regions
Hypergrid Business / Maria Korolov
The growth in the social grids is particularly interesting in that the social aspects are the ones most lacking in OpenSim. Where OpenSim excels is in enterprise integration tools and the ability to fully control the environment. OpenSim also has a significant cost advantage — the server software is free to download and can run on almost any spare computer. And professional hosting starts at around $25 for a full region — compared to $300 with Second Life.
No shocker: Google prefers HTML5 to Gears | Deep Tech – CNET News
CNet / Stephen Shankland
Google sees HTML5 as a more logical future for Web improvements than its own Gears software. No surprise, given its work on the standard and dislike for plug-ins.
The “Black Screen of Death” isn’t a factory feature. It was apparently a 3rd-party “aftermarket upgrade”.
Seriously, though, how does one go about warranting the function and performance of equipment connected to the public Internet ? Even if Microsoft were capable of ‘sending someone round’ to fix all the Black Screens, I’m not sure the owners/operators of the computers would all give them access for the purpose.
There’s too many, and all the users want different things.