OStatic

Is Oracle getting ready to kill OpenSolaris? What does a Linux company, which Oracle is, want to do with its newly purchased Sun operating system?

Google releases open source NX server. Amid the fanfare of the Chrome OS announcement, Google quietly released an open source NX server, dubbed Neatx, for remote desktop display.

HP releases $500 Linux netbook onto Aussie market. This week sees the Australian launch of the Mini 110, which HP is offering with both Ubuntu and Windows XP.

Free operating systems that aren't Linux. There are other free options such BSD, OpenSolaris, HaikuOS, ReactOS, and PureDarwin.

Chrome, Android have different jobs, Google says. Android has features unique to running mobile devices, and one doesn't replace the other, a Google mobile executive says.

In a recent post I did on WebWorkerDaily, I provided three efficiency tips for using dual monitors. I recently switched to a dual monitor setup, and I'll never go back to using a single monitor. The efficiency benefits are tremendous. Not only can you treat the large amount of screen real estate that two monitors next to each other create as one long tapestry of desktop space, but you can also pick logical ways to organize multiple applications that you're running so that you can see a lot of information at once. If you do any type of writing or graphics work, it's essential.

Many of us live within browsers all day, and I've made the point several times that the lion's share of innovation is going on in the open source browsers, especially Firefox and Chrome. I use both of these browsers concurrently throughout the day on dual monitors, and here are some of the many benefits of doing so.

One thing that both Google and Apple share is that almost the instant that they announce a new product, the public loves it. That's partly because they tend to deliver winning products, but they don't always do so. Google has shuttered a number of projects from its labs, and its productivity applications are popular, but haven't come close to toppling Microsoft Office. And remember the Apple Newton? I barely do either.

For these reasons, and because an operating system is a complex thing to build and gather support for, it makes sense to scrutinize Google's actual chances of delivering a hit with it's newly announced Chrome OS. Here are some things that will work in Google's favor, and some that will not.

Expect this to be pretty much the only technology news you hear all day: Google is building an open source operating system. Bearing the same name as Google's browser, Chrome is a lightweight OS aimed squarely at netbooks and expected to be available by mid-2010.

Google is quick to point out that Chrome OS is a completely seperate undertaking from its operating system for mobile devices, Android. Chrome OS is designed for people who live on the Web and rely mainly on Web-based applications, whether they use netbooks or full-size desktop PCs.