OStatic

I stumbled upon John Spencer's blog over at ComputerWorldUK. It seems he recently had a hand in deploying a few Eee Box desktops at a local school. Though these boxes run Windows, it doesn't mean they can't run a lot of powerful open source alternative applications along with any required proprietary ones, and he says, in some settings, this is the situation that works out best for everyone. As a Linux enthusiast, he was impressed with Splashtop, the Linux-based, instant-on option shipping with many netbooks.

But it's not only appearing on netbooks. And it's not only Linux enthusiasts who are impressed. I recently built a new computer for my husband and chose an ASUS motherboard. I didn't notice the Splashtop/ExpressGate feature when I ordered it (though I was aware that ASUS was planning to offer models with this feature). After the build, I installed and enabled the Splashtop instant-on mode, mainly for my curiosity. What's happened in the short time since gives pause to wonder.

Year of the Linux desktop? I don't know. Year of the instant-on Linux desktop? The Linux Foundation's Jim Zemlin is on to something.

Boxee is just one of several open source media center applications. Sam recently compiled a round up of some of the most popular, and I have been using MythTV for over a year now as a TiVO/DVR alternative.

I like MythTV for several reasons. It's not a project for the faint of heart, but it's less the fault of the software than the wild array of hardware that can be conceivably used in nearly every imaginable configuration. It is quite stable, and doesn't require hefty system specs. I didn't think overly about Boxee when I first heard of it. MythTV worked for me.

One thing that MythTV can't do, of course, is stream Netflix movies. I've all too frequently, now, run into problems with Netflix disks being a little too rough to run in my MythTV box's DVD player. This isn't the fault of MythTV -- it's a hardware/media issue.

Boxee is bringing Netflix onboard. There are a few catches, and a few bits that are a little unclear, but this might lead, at the very least, to Boxee running alongside my MythTV installation.

Last month, I took a brief tour of the pre-release Songbird music player. Songbird is a cross-platform media player based on Mozilla code. This week, the Songbird project released the finalized 1.0 version of the player.

The pre-release versions of Songbird featured iPod support, Last.fm scrobbling, SHOUTcast radio, plugin extensions, and a localized concert discovery service. The 1.0 release adds one more feature to its default list -- MashTape -- and turns an ambitious eye toward the future.

NetApplications is out with a couple of new metrics of market share for operating systems and browsers, and the news is good for open source. Topping their findings, Microsoft Windows' market share has dropped below 90 percent for the first time in its measurements. The share erosion is largely attributed to increased interest in the Mac platform, but Linux is cited as on the rise as well. In addition, for the first time since it launched its metrics, NetApplications' data shows Firefox's market share topping 20 percent.

Last month I wrote about the EVO Linux-based gaming console. The term gaming console seemed a bit misleading to me at the time -- it is ultimately where parent company Envizions Computer Entertainment would like the EVO to be -- but it is an early adopter system in the truest sense of the phrase.

The EVO Smart Console was originally scheduled for release on November 18th. It seems the FCC approval and testing process is taking longer than planned. Envizions expects the consoles to ship in the next two weeks. There are also two versions (in four configurations) available. Two versions? You guessed it -- Linux and Windows.

The season is nigh where many cultures across the globe observe some type of holiday that aims, in part, to reunite friends and family. If someone in the family is interested in genealogy, these gatherings are usually a prime opportunity to pull out any research, and coax some almost forgotten stories out of relatives.

Genealogists are always researching. Having had a tour of duty as a local history librarian, I've seen my share of dedicated, well-organized researchers. Most file away their information in spreadsheets or lightweight database programs. A few used programs specific to genealogical work, but I found they were few and far between, thanks to the high cost of applications that didn't necessarily offer more than a well organized spreadsheet.

I often wish I'd had the opportunity to show them GRAMPS, the open, cross platform, genealogical research software.

The UK-based charity AbilityNet announced today that it has bundled a number of open source tools to help people with a variety of disabilities more effectively use their computers.

The bundled applications are available for ﾣ16.99 including VAT (to cover costs of testing and distribution), and appear to be Windows only (though it's difficult to root out system requirements). The included software is designed to help those with a number of different needs, including dyslexia, visual impairments, and some physical disabilities.

The disk, called AccessAT, has been tested in a number of settings (home, work, and educational institutions). Some of the included open source tools are the NVDA screen reader and the Virtual Magnifying Glass.

One of the main complaints about the open source OpenOffice.org suite of productivity applications is that the individual applications are slow compared to sleeker standalone alternatives, and even slower than the comparable Microsoft Office apps. If you've run into this problem, and if you use OpenOffice but occasionally run into compatibility problems in sharing files with the Microsoft Office applications, try Go-oo.

The Linux Foundation's executive director, Jim Zemlin, pondered the idea that next year Linux may ship on more desktops than Windows or Mac. He cites a New York Times article on PC manufacturers reducing boot times with utilities such as SplashTop.

Even if the Linux shipments don't outpace Windows, Linux is being used increasingly on consumer machines. Zemlin says that though this isn't what was envisioned as the Linux desktop, it is a positive sign.

You might recall that several weeks ago Jeremy White, president and CEO of CodeWeavers, promised to had out free licenses for the popular commercial version of Wine if at least one of a handful of (seemingly) unlikely economic goals CodeWeavers set were met before President George. W. Bush left the White House.

Surprisingly, one of those goals has been met. Gas prices have dropped below $2.79 a gallon in the Twin Cities and that means free software for everyone tomorrow at CodeWeavers.