en-us http://www.productwiki.com/operating-systems/ Featured content from ProductWiki. Hottest products, active discussions, recent articles, and hot links. http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-7/ Windows 7 (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna) is the current version of Microsoft Windows and the successor to Windows Vista. Microsoft has stated that it is "scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year timeframe", and that "the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar."  The first public beta was released to the public on January 9th, 2009 and will expire August 1st, 2009, with a downloadable ISO available to the first 2.5 million people. The operating system was finally made available to the public on October 22nd 2009. Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:56:03 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-7/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-vista/ Vista is Microsoft's sixth generation Operating System and features more focus on bundled functionality, more streamlined networking, and improved security. Compared to the previous standard - Windows XP - Vista contains a more integrated and consistent technology base which Microsoft hopes will reduce the number of software and hardware compatibility issues. On the security side, every module has been made secure to reduce and prevent malicious software from ruining the computer, however the downside is the Vista "User Access Control" panel which has been made the butt of many jokes for being too annoying. Versions Vista comes in 6 flavors, that... Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:10:50 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-vista/ http://www.productwiki.com/mac-os-x-leopard/ Mac OS X version 10.5, known as "Leopard", is the 6th version of the OS X line of Mac operating systems. Apple introduces over 300 new features in the upgrade from Tiger to Leopard including substantial changes to the desktop. It released today with only one version, in stark contrast to Vista's approach. The biggest new features according to Apple are the new Dock, the new Finder system, the Time Machine feature, and Spaces. The OS in general remains somewhat similar to Tiger so if you're familiar with OS X at all, then you'll be able to use Leopard right away.... Mon, 07 Aug 2006 17:21:24 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/mac-os-x-leopard/ http://www.productwiki.com/mac-os-x-snow-leopard/ Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" is the latest OS developed by Apple Computer under the company's CEO Steve Jobs.  Was released September '09.  This is the first OS touted by Apple computer to have "no new features", yet features greatly enhanced underpinnings. New updates to the operating system include: Full 64-bit addressing.  This increasing security and memory allocation while providing backward compatibility with 32-bit programs Grand Central Dispatch is the clever name for a new open source, system wide thread-pool that allows programers to more easily utilize all the processing power of modern multi-core processors.  This makes system wide slowdowns... Sun, 16 Aug 2009 23:18:11 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/mac-os-x-snow-leopard/ http://www.productwiki.com/google-chrome-os/ Google Chrome OS is a free open source, lightweight operating system designed and optimized for web use, and will mainly be targetted to netbooks. Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 and ARM processors and is planned to be included in a number of OEM netbooks in 2009-2010. It is a separate project from Android, however there are areas where to the two operating systems overlap. Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:39:33 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/google-chrome-os/ http://www.productwiki.com/ubuntu/ Ubuntu is an open-source, freely distributed operating system based on Linux developed by Canonical Ltd. Ubuntu's first release was on October 20th, 2004 as a fork of the Debian GNU/Linux project. Ubuntu differs from its Linux roots because of 1) its emphasis on usability, 2) regular releases every 6 months, and 3) ease of installation. These three factors make the Ubuntu operating system far more appealing to mainstream users over other Linux distributions. Ubuntu can be installed on desktop PCs, laptops, servers, 64-bit systems, and Mac computers. The most recent release is, version 9.04, is nicknamed "Jaunty Jackalope," and was released... Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:55:04 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/ubuntu/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-xp/ Windows XP is a line of operating systems developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose computer systems, including home and business desktops, notebook computers, and media centers. The letters "XP" stand for eXPerience. It was codenamed "Whistler", after Whistler, British Columbia, as many Microsoft employees skied at the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort during its development. Windows XP is the successor to both Windows 2000 Professional and Windows Me, and is the first consumer-oriented operating system produced by Microsoft to be built on the Windows NT kernel and architecture. Windows XP was first released on October 25, 2001, and over 400 million copies... Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:46:14 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-xp/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-vista-ultimate/ It was more than five years ago that Microsoft released Windows XP, and on January 30th, 2007 Microsoft is launching Vista, the latest operating system in the Windows family. The most notable improvement is the development of Windows Aero (Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, Open); a new graphical interface and visual style featuring eye candy such as window transparencies and animations. Other new features include tightly integrated search and a Windows Sidebar as a space to put desktop gadgets like a clock, calendar, weather, RSS, and other small applets. Mon, 08 May 2006 11:17:52 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-vista-ultimate/ http://www.productwiki.com/android/ Android is an open-source mobile phone platform developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance unveiled November 5th, 2007 and with devices to be available in the middle of 2008. It is based on the Linux operating system, and is designed to be embedded on mobile devices adhering to the Android standard. The most significant features of Android is that it carries no licensing free to be used by phone manufacturers and is an an open platform that third-party developers can easily create applications for using standard API calls implemented by the independent hardware manufacturers. Android will come equipped with many... Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:15:19 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/android/ http://www.productwiki.com/ubuntu-8-04-hardy-heron/ Ubuntu 8.04, nicknamed "Hardy Heron," is the most recent release of the Ubuntu operating system. It is the eigth Ubuntu release, on the second long-term support (LTS) release. The Desktop edition will be supported until April 2011, and the server edition will be supported until April 2013. Screenshot   screenshot: default 800x600 desktop of Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron" Availability Ubuntu is free, and will remain free. As with the other releases, it is avaliable in both desktop and server editions. A free install CD may be requested, however the shipping process may take 6-10 weeks. For more information, see Ubuntu. Installation    ... Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:07:14 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/ubuntu-8-04-hardy-heron/ http://www.productwiki.com/apple-mac-os-x/ Mac OS X (pronounced /mæk.o?.?s.t?n/) is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc., the latest of which is pre-loaded on all currently shipping Macintosh computers. Mac OS X is the successor to the original Mac OS, which had been Apple's primary operating system since 1984. Unlike its predecessors, Mac OS X is a Unix-based operating system built on technology that had been developed at NeXT through the second half of the 1980s until Apple purchased the company in early 1997. The first version released was Mac OS X Server 1.0 in 1999, and a desktop-oriented... Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:47:31 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/apple-mac-os-x/ http://www.productwiki.com/linux/ Linux is a "UNIX-like" operating system first developed by Linus Torvalds, a 21 year old Finnish software engineer, in 1991. It is one of the most well-known examples of open-source and free software. From the beginning, Linus made the source code for his operating available to the community of developers, and since then, the Linux operating system and kernel are often used as a prime example of the benefits of open-source community development. Uses Linux is most popular used as a server operating system, and in embeddable systems. The stable, customizable, and free nature of Linux make it an ideal choice... Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:46:59 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/linux/ http://www.productwiki.com/symbian-s60-3rd-edition/ Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:47:49 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/symbian-s60-3rd-edition/ http://www.productwiki.com/windows-mobile-5/ Windows Mobile 5.0, originally codenamed "Magneto", was released at Microsoft's Mobile and Embedded Developers Conference 2005 in Las Vegas, May 9–May 12, 2005. It features support for persistent storage such as flash memory, Microsoft Exchange Server push functionality, OS update support through "adaptation kit upgrades", Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, Office Mobile, DirectShow support, a GPS management interface, and ActiveSync 4.2. Microsoft plans to offer mainstream support for Windows Mobile 5 through October 12, 2010, and extended support through October 13, 2015. Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:47:45 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/windows-mobile-5/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-7-release-candidate/ Windows 7 is the next generation OS by Microsoft. It is the direct sucessor to Windows 7. Windows 7 brings several useful improvements over the badly reviewed Vista and is aimed at overcoming a large part of the major issues the previous OS has. New Features: -Improved 'Start' and Taskbar -Improved memory efficiency -Internet Explorer 8 -Vastly improved Wordpad, Paint and other Windows Tools -Homegroups -Better Diagnostics -Easier Device Management -Improved UAC   Also the versioning will be more streamlined as each edition is a subset of its respective superior (i.e. (Home Basic   Note: This is the Beta Version. Therefore... Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:16:25 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-7-release-candidate/ http://www.productwiki.com/htc-sense-ui/ HTC Sense is a user experience, based on the TouchFLO 3D UI, developed by HTC for mobile devices running Android. It features highly customizable, time-responsive (work, weekend, etc.) themes built on top of the functionality found on top of Android. The first phone announced with this UI was the HTC Hero, followed by the HTC Tattoo. Both have Q4 2009 US release dates. Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:38:32 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/htc-sense-ui/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-vista-home-premium/ From Wikipedia: Containing all features from Home Basic, this edition will also support more advanced features aimed for the home market segment, such as HDTV support and DVD authoring. Extra premium games, mobile and tablet PC, network projector, touchscreen, and auxiliary display (via Windows SideShow) support, and a utility to schedule backups are also included. Home Premium supports 10 simultaneous peer network connections (compared to 5 in Home Basic). The version of Meeting Space included will also allow for interaction (in Home Basic, meetings may only be viewed). This edition is comparable to Windows XP Media Center Edition. 64-bit Home Premium... Mon, 29 Jan 2007 21:34:07 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-vista-home-premium/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows/ Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of software operating systems by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Microsoft Windows eventually came to dominate the world's personal computer market, overtaking Mac OS, which had been introduced previously. At the 2004 IDC Directions conference, IDC Vice President Avneesh Saxena stated that Windows had approximately 90% of the client operating system market. The current client version of Windows is Windows Vista. The current server version of Windows is Windows Server... Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:44:31 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-mobile-6-5/ Introduced officially on February 16th 2009 at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, Windows Mobile 6.5 is the latest version of Microsoft's operating system for smartphones and underpowered mobile devices such as PDAs and MIDs. Featuring enhancements such as an application store, backup/restore service, and an improved web browser, the user interface has also been redesigned to be 'finger friendly' - as the majority of new devices now utilize touchscreen panels. Features free 'My Phone service': allows users to backup personal information to a password-protected website, offers synching and backup of all contacts, appointments, text messages, and other information Windows Marketplace for... Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:31:08 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-mobile-6-5/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-azure/ Windows Azure is the name of the upcoming cloud-based operating system by Microsoft, announced by Ray Ozzie at the Microsoft PDC on October 27, 2008. It was pre-announced as "Windows Cloud" at a Microsoft Student Technology Day on October 1, 2008 by Steve Ballmer. According to Steve Ballmer, Windows Azure is to be based on Windows Server, with features including geo replication, network management model, and a SOA model. Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:26:08 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-azure/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-vista-business/ From Wikipedia: This edition combines all the features of the Home Premium and Enterprise editions, a game performance tweaker (WinSAT), and "Ultimate Extras". On January 7, 2007, at CES, Microsoft began to announce what some of these Ultimate Extras will be. When Vista launches to consumers on January 30, Microsoft will immediately make the following Extras available for Ultimate users: "Dream Scene", a utility that will allow for full-motion video desktop backgrounds; "Hold'Em", a Vista-customized version of the Texas Hold'Em poker game; Multi-user interface language packs, designed to allow individuals fluent in different languages to share the same PC; BitLocker Online... Mon, 29 Jan 2007 21:35:26 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-vista-business/ http://www.productwiki.com/debian-gnu-linux/ Debian is a free and open-source operating system based off of the Linux kernel and the GNU Project. The latest stable release is 5.0, nicknamed "Lenny" Debian comes with over 18,730 precompiled packages, all free. Debian can be used in may ways. It can be either an operating system or a server, and the current release can run on eleven different architectures and has over 26,000 packages avaliable for install. Debian can be installed from one CD, and the packages can then be downloaded as the user requires them, or a user can download  a full install CD set that includes... Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:05:10 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/debian-gnu-linux/ http://www.productwiki.com/opensuse/ Sat, 01 Dec 2007 08:49:51 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/opensuse/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-vista-home-basic/ From Wikipedia: Similar to Windows XP Home Edition, Home Basic is intended for budget users not requiring advanced media support for home use. The Windows Aero theme with translucent effects will not be included with this edition. 64-bit Home Basic will support up to 8 GB of physical memory, and will be supported until 2012. Mon, 29 Jan 2007 21:32:31 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-vista-home-basic/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-server-2003/ Windows Server 2003 is based off of the same core technology as Windows XP and formed the basis for a wide variety of Server systems released by Microsoft. You can think of Server 2K3 as Windows XP expanded to provide the services and functionality required by a server infrastructure. There are a multitude of further enhancements and specializations of Windows Server 2003 that fulfill specific niches in Microsoft's vast array of server initiatives and technologies. Compared with Windows NT 4.0 which is the predecessor server technology to 2K3, there are a host of improvements that include all the ones introduced in... Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:10:11 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-server-2003/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-home-server/ Windows Home Server is a home server operating system from Microsoft. Announced on January 7, 2007, at the Consumer Electronics Show by Bill Gates, Windows Home Server is intended to be a solution for homes with multiple connected PCs to offer file sharing, automated backups, and remote access. It is based on Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2. Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:25:41 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-home-server/ http://www.productwiki.com/gos/ gOS is an freely distributed operating system based off of the Ubuntu distribution and Enlightenment window manager. Most notably, it comes pre-installed on the affordable Everex series of PCs. It is marketed as an alternative O/S that includes a minimal amount of installed desktop software, relying heavily on online web applications like GMail, and Google docs for productivity. gOS does come with open-source pre-installed software packages like GIMP and OpenOffice. gOS can be downloaded for free, and fits compactly on under 2GB of disk space. Versions History gOS 1.0.1 was launched in November, 2007 and was featured in the Everex gPC.... Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:11:01 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/gos/ http://www.productwiki.com/tibco-silver/ TIBCO Silver, the industry's first rapid application delivery platform designed specifically for building and deploying cloud applications inside Global 2000 IT environments. TIBCO Silver is unique because it is the only software delivery platform built from the ground up that allows enterprises to reduce the time required for building and deploying cloud applications from months to minutes. With TIBCO Silver, enterprises can overcome the impediments to widespread enterprise adoption of cloud computing -- issues such as availability, security, integration, governance and scalability. Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:57:10 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/tibco-silver/ http://www.productwiki.com/debian-gnu-linux-5-0-lenny/ Announced on February 14th 2009 and released the same day, Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 "Lenny" is the 10th and most recent stable release of Debian GNU/Linux. Lenny can be run on a total of 12 hardware architectures, with new/updated support for Marvell's Orion platform, netbook devices and ARM-based devices. Lenny can be run with either KDE, GNOME, or Xfce as the default GUI. It can also be ran with no GUI whatsoever, and can be used as a server. Not many new features have been added, however Lenny is the first to include a live CD feature - allowing users to... Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:56:10 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/debian-gnu-linux-5-0-lenny/ http://www.productwiki.com/ubuntu-7-10-gutsy-gibbon/ Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" was released October 18th, 2007. It was the latest release until April 2008, when Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron" was released. Gutsy is still supported until April 2009. As with the other Ubuntu releases, it is avaliable in both desktop and server editions. Screenshot Default background of Gutsy Gibbon, Desktop edition, 800x600 Avaliability     As with the other Ubuntu releases, Gutsy Gibbon is free and will remain free. Gutsy Gibbon is avaliable for download, however it is recommened that you instead download the most recent release, which currently is Hardy Heron. Gutsy Gibbon still recieves security updates, bugfixes, and... Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:54:52 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/ubuntu-7-10-gutsy-gibbon/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-server-2008-foundation/ Windows Server Foundation provides a foundation to run most small-business applications. An affordable platform for the core portfolio of IT capabilities, including file and print sharing, remote access and security. Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:36:27 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-server-2008-foundation/ http://www.productwiki.com/gentoo/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:22:20 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/gentoo/ http://www.productwiki.com/slackware-standard-bearer-for-old-school-linux/ On the first day the distribution gods created SLS and Yggdrasil and saw that it was good. However, Patrick Volkerding became convinced it could be better, so he created the Slackware distribution in 1993. Slackware is the oldest living Linux distribution. Linux devotees feel a certain nostalgia for Slackware based on that fact alone. Slackware is notable for its adherence to a number of community philosophies that have become less esteemed in recent years. Hark back: remember that before Linux there was UNIX (bow your heads) and the Unix banner proclaimed Live Free or Die. Slackware took up the banner, and... Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:07:38 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/slackware-standard-bearer-for-old-school-linux/ http://www.productwiki.com/windows-mobile-6-pro/ Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:48:07 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/windows-mobile-6-pro/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-xp-home/ Windows XP Home edition is the standard version of XP intended for everday people to use in their homes. The Home edition is relatively full featured when compared to the more expensive Professional and Media Center editions that are intended for business and home theater uses respectively. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:37:44 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-xp-home/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-xp-professional/ XP Pro is the the business targeted flavor of XP and contains many features that make working in a corporate environment more convenient and secure. The features are weighted towards expanded networking abilities, user profiles, and operating system maintenance. Two of the biggest additions to Pro over Home are the Remote Desktop functionality that lets other users control your computer over a network or the Internet, and also the inclusion of IIS which is a built-in web and FTP server. List of differences between XP and Home The ability to become part of a Windows Server domain, a group of computers... Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:37:19 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-xp-professional/ http://www.productwiki.com/debian-gnu-linux-4-0-etch/ Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 "Etch" is the 9th release, and current oldstable version of Debian GNU/Linux. It is supported until one year after the next release, which happened in February 2009. Etch can be ran with either KDE, GNOME, or Xfce as the default GUI. It can also be ran with no GUI whatsoever, and can be used as a server. Major features that were added to Etch are the ability to install on the amd64 architecture, transition to X.Org and udev, as well as a graphical installer. Installation Etch was the first release of Debian to have a graphical installer that... Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:31:10 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/debian-gnu-linux-4-0-etch/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-server/ Windows Server is a brand name for server operating systems released by Microsoft Corporation. This name has been used for the following software releases: Windows 2000 Server, the release based on Windows 2000 Windows Server 2003, the previous release of Windows Server Windows Server 2008, the current release of Windows Server Windows Server 7, the next release of Windows Server Windows Small Business Server, an operating system based on Windows Server with some integrated Microsoft Servers, for small businesses Windows Essential Business Server, a product similar to Small Business Server, but for medium-sized businesses Windows Home Server, a home server operating... Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:02:31 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-server/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-server-2008/ Successor to Windows Server 2003, built on the Windows NT 6.0 kernel, Like Windows Vista. Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:05:09 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-server-2008/ http://www.productwiki.com/windows-xp-media-center-edition/ Windows XP Media Center Edition is an expanded version of Windows XP Professional that is centered around the Windows Media Center application. This comprehensive system is responsible for managing and playing all of the media content that is stored on any storage devices that are connected to the computer, either directly or over a network. Media Center Edition also contains the support for TV tuner hardware which lets you watch and stream live television programs. Microsoft also uses Media Center Extenders which give you access to the full Media Center experience from other televisions that aren't directly connected to the Media... Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:15:10 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/windows-xp-media-center-edition/ http://www.productwiki.com/red-hat/ Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:07:48 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/red-hat/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-8/ Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:09:00 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-8/ http://www.productwiki.com/ubuntu-9-04/ Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:24:56 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/ubuntu-9-04/ http://www.productwiki.com/xubuntu/ Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:47:48 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/xubuntu/ http://www.productwiki.com/opensolaris/ Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:22:17 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/opensolaris/ http://www.productwiki.com/openmoko/ Mon, 19 May 2008 18:39:21 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/openmoko/ http://www.productwiki.com/windows-mobile-6-standard/ Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:48:01 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/windows-mobile-6-standard/ http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-server-2000/ Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:25:22 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/microsoft-windows-server-2000/ http://www.productwiki.com/moblin/ Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:56:59 -0400 http://www.productwiki.com/moblin/ http://www.productwiki.com/ubuntu-8-10-intrepid-ibex/ Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:08:07 -0500 http://www.productwiki.com/ubuntu-8-10-intrepid-ibex/