https://techplanet.today/feed/tag/os2024-02-22T17:20:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/2306217
The kernel is basically the heart of whatever operating system you're using. Although the kernel is a software component, it sits between your system's hardware and the rest of your OS and software. You see, user software, such as your web browser or your favorite game, doesn't talk directly to your hardware. Instead, the kernel serves as an intermediary.
But why is this necessary? Well, one of the main functions of a kernel is to abstract away the physical differences between hardware setups. There are endless possible hardware configurations in a PC or server. A kernel gives your other software a standardized surface area to interface with, making the differences between individual machines much less of an obstacle.
As a more easily...]]>
2024-02-22T17:20:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/2187644
Immutable Distributions: What Are They?
An immutable Linux distribution is a unique breed of operating system designed to be read-only and resistant to easy modification once installed. The fundamental idea behind these distributions is to restrict user and superuser access to system files and directories, ensuring that most changes are temporary and erased upon reboot. This approach has earned them the moniker "immutable."
When updates are applied to the system, they don't modify the existing installation. Instead, they create a new system image...]]>
2023-09-15T18:48:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/2178523
In the night to Monday of this week, the new Linux kernel 6.5 was released. The developers turned some optimization screws and get the kernel in position for new hardware. A patch for avoiding memory leaks promises to increase the stability of the kernel in the future.
Shorten boot times
In the past, the world was simple. An operating system took all the memory that the hardware provided. Since virtualizing multiple "computers" on one hardware, it became more complex. The individual virtual machines (VM) are not allowed to look at each other's cards. Even with the host system controlling, managing and running the VMs, unconditional trust is fading. System extensions such as AMD's "Secure Encrypted Virtualization and Secure Nested Paging" (SEV-SNP) and Intel's Trusted Domain Extensions (TDX) allow the VMs to be sealed off from each other and from the host system. Fo...]]>
2023-08-30T20:12:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/2178486
So, what makes Linux such an appealing choice for programming, and why do many developers prefer it over Windows or Mac OS? In this article, we will delve into the factors that make Linux a preferred development environment, drawing insights from a provided video transcription.
1. Programming Language Supp...]]>
2023-08-30T17:01:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/2169670
Apple has presented an important update for Ventura on Friday night. Version 13.5.1 of the Mac operating system fixes a so-called location privacy bug that had been around since late July. It was no longer possible to configure the location services because no apps appeared in the system settings. Now, a good three weeks later, Apple comes up with a fix.
720 MByte and three weeks later
"macOS Ventura 13.5.1 fixes an issue in System Preferences that prevents the display of location permissions," Apple's package insert succinctly states. On a test Mac, the update was just under 720 MBytes in size. A reboot is necessary for the installation, why the update was not implemented as a quick update ("Rapid Security Response") remains unclear - as well as why Apple took so long for it.
The only setting option that was still availa...]]>
2023-08-18T10:29:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/2165869
The release includes some improvements backported from the Ubuntu 23.04 release:
Added packages with Linux kernel version 6.2 (Ubuntu 22.04's base kernel is 5.15).
Updated graphics stack components, including Mesa 22.3.6, which were tested in the Ubuntu 23.04 release. Added fresh versions of video drivers for Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA chips.
Updated versions of some packages such as cloud-init 23.2.1, ceph 17.2.6, containerd 1.6.12, dpdk 21.11.3, open...]]>
2023-08-11T16:47:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/2136808
The majority of changes are related to device drivers, accounting for approximately 43% of the total volume. About 14% of changes pertain to the update of hardware architecture-specific code, 10% to the networking stack, 4% to file systems, and an additional 3% to kernel internal subsystems. Details are provided below.
As for the most notable changes, they include ongoing work on integrating the Rust language, the ability to create a kernel worker from user space, support for sleep mode transition on RISC-V architecture systems, and encryption support for NFS RPC packets.
Hardware and Drivers
While there aren't a significant number...]]>
2023-06-28T13:52:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/2136803
In the enterprise sector, Windows has increasingly migrated to the cloud, where, for example, with Windows 365, the operating system, applications, data, and settings are no longer stored locally on a PC. Microsoft plans to do the same with Windows 11 for end-users and private individuals, as revealed in an internal presentation from June 2022. "Building on Windows 365, the entire Windows operating system will be streamable from the cloud to any device," it says.
The presentation became known within the context of the current proceedings by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Microsoft regarding the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The FTC is investigating Microsoft's gaming strategy and how it affects other business areas of the company. While the EU has approved the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the...]]>
2023-06-28T13:42:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/2136160
Features of InkBox OS:
Integrated KoBox Launcher interface for running X11 applications available in the Alpine repository. For example, you can launch the Geany text editor or the XBoard game (chess).
Support for e-books in ePUB and PDF formats. Support for images and text.
Customizable page display modes for reading.
10 built-in fonts.
Utilization of the muPDF engine for rendering ePUB and PDF.
Support for wireless network connectivity and inclusion of a...]]>
2023-06-27T18:38:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/2057434
The Lisa was the first personal computer with a full-fledged graphical user interface, complete with mouse cursor and pretty icons - features we take for granted nowadays. However, Jobs had to be convinced to take the Lisa in this direction. Although the Lisa was the first home and office PC to have a GUI, the first computer, period, with one was the Xerox Alto, which debuted in 1973. Jobs had a low opinion of Xerox, but it wasn't until he visited the company and saw the Alto himself that he green-lit making the Lisa a GUI-based machine.
The Alto cost $32,000 and was...]]>
2023-02-08T09:13:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/2057005
So is Windows 11 the last version, or will we be seeing a Windows 12 in the near future? Prior to Windows 10, a new full-fledged version of the OS came out once every two or three years, but by the time 2015 rolled around, Microsoft no longer thought this was a viable model. Computing was shifting more to applications that relied on the cloud, especially on mobile devices.
Microsoft believed that forcing its users to wait literal years for major updates was silly, when people were used to getting updates on other platforms on a much more frequent basis. To keep up with the times, the company shifted its strategy to releasing multiple feature upda...]]>
2023-02-07T16:23:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/7793
It can be difficult to get an objective answer to this question, given how much passion diehards on each side of the equation have, and how quick some of them can be to attack the other as a clearly inferior platform. So let's look at how these two options actually differ.
It turns out that once you get past the different operating systems, much of the underlying hardware is more or less the same between PCs and Macs. At least for now, most Mac's in the wild use X86 based CPUs, just as most PCs do. And there's typically nothing too special or Mac specific about other parts, like ram or storage either. Indeed, some enthusiasts have even built their own computers and found a way to run Mac OS on them.
Although Apple discourages people building these Hackintosh. The fact that many folk...]]>
2021-04-01T07:35:00+00:00https://techplanet.today/7319
Microsoft spent over $300 million on the marketing for Windows 95. It clearly paid off, so good for them. Part of this marketing effort was a commercial featuring the Rolling Stones "Start Me Up" song omitted for copyright reasons and lighting up the Empire State Building in the Windows' flag colors.
Then on August 24th, 1995, Microsoft held a launch party with Jay Leno, 500 journalists, 2,000 guests and 9,000 Microsoft employees. And of course Bill Gates himself. So with the marketing efforts and the hype building up when the launch officially happened, Microsoft sold 4 million copies slash licenses of Windows 95 in one day and in the first year 40 million. So now that we know that stuff, let's go...]]>
2020-08-24T09:34:41+00:00https://techplanet.today/7087
ReactOS
ReactOS is a good place to start if you're a Windows user and don't want to dive into something completely unfamiliar.
It started all the way back in 1996, and was intended to be a clone of Windows 95 with "react", referring to how the project was meant to be a reaction to Microsoft's market dominance. ReactOS looks and feels a lot like Windows and has much of the same functionality. Many Windows applications run on it without needing extra layers of emulation.
Hold on a minute, if it's so much like Windows, wouldn't Microsoft try to shut it down due to copyright infringement? Well the folks behind ReactOS avoided running afoul of the law using a technique called clean-room reverse engineering. Basically, they're tak...]]>
2020-04-29T05:40:53+00:00