FreeBSD 6.4 Released

Even though FreeBSD 7.x is already out and updated, the FreeBSD team keeps working on the FreeBSD 6.x branch, now designated the legacy branch. They released FreeBSD 6.4 today, with lots of new features, fixes, and updates. They are expecting FreeBSD 6.4 to be the last release in the 6.x branch.

The highlights of the release are listed as follows:

• New and much-improved NFS Lock Manager (NLM) client
• Support for the Camellia cipher
• boot loader changes allow, among other things, booting from USB devices and booting from GPT-labeled devices with GPT-enabled BIOSes
• DVD install ISO images for amd64/i386
• KDE updated to 3.5.10, GNOME updated to 2.22.3
• Updates for BIND, sendmail, OpenPAM, and others

The complete release notes are of course also available, as is the errata list. This release is supposed to be supported by the security team until November 30th, 2010. Using torrents for downloading this release is usually preferred, but you can of course also check your local mirror.

Resource - OSNews

Microsoft survey hints at Instant On OS concept

Hmm, what have we here? A recent Microsoft survey sent out to select users has us wondering what on Earth the mega-corp is planning to do next, and judging by the looks of things, it has everything to do with Instant On. We've seen a number of these lightning-fast boot applications, with the most recent being ASUS' Splashtop OS and the iteration loaded onto Dell's freshest Latitudes. The survey makes mention that the "Instant On experience is different from 'Full Windows' because it limits what activities you can do and what applications you have access to." The survey also asks about which applications would be most important to have quick access to, and it very plainly states that in this "scenario," your PC would "be usable in eight seconds." So, is Instant On coming to Windows? Who knows -- but it's clear someone at Redmond is giving it some thought.
Resource - Engadget