On supported hardware, Windows 8 can boot really, really quickly. That’s because Microsoft has changed the way the boot process works and designed it to take advantage of systems that use UEFI instead of a BIOS. The long and short of it is that a Windows 8 computer may be able to go from zero to fully operational in under…
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Linux Mint is a popular Linux-based operating system that used to be little more than a version of Ubuntu Linux with some custom tools and a custom user interface. But over the past few years Mint has come into its own as a powerful, customizable, and easy to set up operating system. The latest versions are based on Debian and…
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You know how when you buy a new PC it usually comes not just with the latest version of Microsoft Windows, but also umpteen different apps and special offers cluttering the desktop? There’s a decent chance you don’t actually want or need most of those programs — and they may even be slowing down your PC. That’s why Microsoft has…
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Microsoft is set to launch Windows 8 this fall. That may be good news or bad, depending on what you think about the new Metro user interface, Windows Store, and Windows RT for tablets and other computers with ARM-based processors. But since most PCs sold later this year will ship with Windows 8, you may wonder whether it’s a good…
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You think Research in Motion is the only company handing out prototype phones to developers in hopes of getting them to write apps for its new operating system? Think again. Samsung has started providing developers with smartphones running the Tizen Linux-based operating system. Tizen is the OS that rose out of the ashes of MeeGo (and Moblin and Maemo before…
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Google and Oracle are duking it out in court over the question of whether Google had the rights to use Java as a basis for the Android operating system. Meanwhile the developers at Xamarin have shown that Android doesn’t need to run on Java at all. They’ve taken the source code for Android and modified it so that instead of running…
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CrunchBang is a Linux-based operating system designed for speedy performance. It has a simple user interface based on Openbox and a core that’s based on Debian Linux. I have a soft spot for CrunchBang, because it was one of the first Linux distributions to offer a netbook-specific version, called CrunchEee. But CrunchBang has come a long way in the last few…
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The developers behind the Tizen Linux-based operating system for smartphones, tablets, and netbooks have released version 1.0 of the software developer kit. It’s code-named Larkspur, and it’s an important milestone for the project as Tizen hopes to encourage developers to write applications optimized to run on the operating system. The Tizen project emerged from the ashes of MeeGo — and…
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Windows 8 is due out later this year, and that makes it a good time to check out one of the most popular Linux-based operating systems. Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is now available for download. It’s a long-term-support release, which means the company behind Ubuntu will support this version for the next few years, even though Ubuntu 12.10 will be out…
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Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin is due to launch in a couple of days. It’s a long term service release of the popular Linux operating system which means support will be available for several years. But the Ubuntu team is already looking ahead toward the next version of the OS. Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth has announced that Ubuntu 12.10 will be code-named…
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The next version of the Fedora Linux operating system is due out on May 22nd. But the developers released a public beta this week which has all the features you can expect to find in the full version. The only changes expected in the next month will be bug fixes and security updates. Update: The final release date has been…
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The company behind the popular Ubuntu Linux software for desktop, notebook, and server computers has already expressed interest in the smartphone space. Earlier this year Canonical unveiled plans for Ubuntu for Android, a platform that lets a single phone run both Android and Ubuntu, allowing you to make phone calls or run Android apps… or plug in a mouse, keyboard,…
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