November 13, 2007
by sjvn01
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Is VMware a Dead Duck?

Today, VMware has about 80 percent of the virtualization market. By 2011, I think it may be lucky to have 8 percent of the market.

I believe that because everyone and their brother are now offering free or open-source virtualization of one kind or another. From the open-source world, youve got open-source software virtualization programs such as Xen OpenVZ, KVM, VirtualBox and UML (User Mode Linux) all coming on like gangbusters. And we all know what a little open-source operating system called Linux did to rival Unix/BSD operating system vendors, dont we?

That would be bad enough for VMware, but theres more. Theres a lot more competition coming. Microsoft, after blowing hot and cold on virtualization, has desired virtualization as an essential part of its future. Three of the Server 2008 line will include its Hyper-V hypervisor technology.

Citrix acquired XenSource, open-source Xens father company. Simon Crosby, a XenSource co-founder and now Citrixs CTO of virtualization and management, is more than ready to take on XenSource. In one of Citrixs first virtualization deals, Dell will be embedding the Citrix XenServer software suite across its PowerEdge server line.

Meanwhile, Red Hat has made virtualization the centerpiece of its latest Linux release: RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) 5.1. Red Hat has also made it possible to use its management and provisioning program RHN (Red Hat Network) the master control for RHEL no matter where its running. Real hardware, virtual machine or somewhere on the Internet cloud, its all the same for administrators using RHN.

Last, but by no means least, Oracle, which uses RHEL as the basis for its Unbreakable Linux, has now announced its own version of RHELs Xen-based virtualization: Oracle VM. You can use it for free, or you pay for support if your IT staff needs help with it.

What does VMware plan to do about all this? Well, one thing is to add value-added services that use virtualization to help customers manage their infrastructure more effectively. Thats a nice idea, but I think its too little, too late.

Microsoft, Red Hat and Oracle are already baking virtualization infrastructure management, deployment, and all that jazz into their operating systems and applications. Where will VMware find any room for its offerings?

I honestly dont think theyll be able to find a home for their products within a few years. VMware could take a page from Xen and try the open-source route, but thats not VMwares way. Or, more to the point, its not its business plan.

I know people have suggested in the past that VMware should give the open-source approach a try, but those requests fell on deaf ears. Now, I dont think VMware, even if it were inclined to change its business model, is going to have the time to switch around.

When youve got so many powerful opponents moving in, and with so many of them offering their virtualization packages for free or already incorporated into their main products, I just cant see any company surviving the competition. Even one, like VMware, that has for years completely owned its market.

A version of this story first appeared in eWEEK.

November 13, 2007
by sjvn01
1 Comment

The little desktop Linux that came out of the blue

When a desktop Linux distribution suddenly becomes popular before even DistroWatch starts tracking it, you know you’ve got something special. One new Ubuntu-based distribution, gOS, has managed to capture users’ attention purely by word of mouth over the Internet.

gOS was introduced by Everex, a midtier PC vendor, in its inexpensive Green gPC TC2502 computer in late October. This cheap computer is sold for $198 at Wal-Mart stores and online at walmart.com.

The operating system is based, like so many desktop Linuxes such as Mint, on Ubuntu. In gOS’ case, it’s built on top of the newly released Ubuntu 7.10 Linux. It includes the usual array of open-source software that users have learned to expect from a Linux desktop such as popular applications from Firefox, Skype and OpenOffice.org. The one difference that Linux users will notice immediately about it is that it uses the Enlightenment E17 desktop interface with a Google-centric theme instead of the far more common KDE or GNOME desktops.

Google-centric? Yes, exactly so. According to the developers, “We recommend Google for just about everything … Gmail, Gtalk, Calendar, Maps, Docs and Spreadsheets and more. We’d like to welcome you to the idea that Google already is your ‘operating system.'” Paul Kim, Everex’s director of marketing, went even further, “Our dream is to combine Linux with Google and put it into the mass market.”

While Google does not have a formal partnership with either Everex or gOS, the search giant did see gOS before it was shipped. Google then approved Everex to bundle its Google toolbar with gOS’ browser.

With this in mind, the gOS applications are set to work with Google from the get-go. For example, clicking on the e-mail icon takes you to Gmail, the news icon sends you off to Google News, and the calendar “application” is Google Calendar. Even when there’s a choice of programs, such as OpenOffice for word processing and spreadsheets, gOS defaults to using Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Most of the commonly used applications are made available to users via a Mac OS-like dock at the bottom of the screen.

This is a Linux that’s designed with several specific purposes in mind. First, it’s not just built around Google; it’s built on Web 2.0 applications and the Internet. Next, it works with low-end hardware. This may be the first PC where a high-speed Internet connection is more important to its performance than a high-speed processor.

It’s also designed to be extremely easy to use. As a reviewer at LifeHacker concisely put it, “Imagine setting up a Google account for someone who’s not terribly keen on computers and then handing them over to a PC with gOS. Getting started from there couldn’t be easier.” While all of Ubuntu’s goodies are there for those who look for them, this system could be used by someone who’d never used any computer before.

In an interview with a Linux blog, gOS founder David Liu makes it clear that ease of use was at the top of his mind when he helped create gOS. “Basically it has to do with the Ubuntu community and vision. I like their mantra ‘Linux for human beings.’ I wanted to take it further, more like ‘Linux for human beings who shop at Wal-Mart’ (… ‘and who probably have never heard of Linux’).”

At this point, however, gOS’ developers are really looking more for other developers than for users. To that end, Everex has also made the TC20502’s motherboard available for hardware hackers and Linux programmers as the gOS Dev Board. This is a micro-ATX form-factor Via “PC-1” motherboard based on a 1.5GHz Via C7 processor.

gOS is available as a CD ISO image from several BitTorrent sites. Good places to start your download include The Green Company and LinuxTracker.

A version of this story appeared in DesktopLinux.

November 12, 2007
by sjvn01
1 Comment

Want to Rent a Movie on Your Apple TV?

Online movie rentals have long been available on both cable and satellite TV systems. There’s always been one little, well not so little, problem. Actually, renting the movie tends to be a pain.

You usually must call up the service, jump through an automated voicemail system, and, in some situations, then wait for the next time the movie starts on its designated channel before you can watch it. Wouldn’t it be better if you could just rent movies online the same way you do at a hotel? Click the remote a few times, pick a movie, hit OK and you’re watching your movie. This is how home movie renting should be, but it’s not.

Until now. It appears that Apple is getting ready to offer exactly that kind of service for the Apple TV or your computer using the latest version of iTunes: iTunes 7.5.

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November 7, 2007
by sjvn01
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VirtualBox: The best virtualization program you’ve never heard of

Quick, name some virtualization programs that run on Linux.

Time’s up.

If you’re like most people, you probably named VMware or Xen first. Many of you probably know of one or more of the following: Parallels, QEMU, KVM, Virtuozzo and OpenVZ. However, few of you probably know about VirtualBox. And chances are if you know about VirtualBox 1.502, you’re already running it because it manages the trifecta of being good, free and, sort of, open source.

Sort of? Here’s how it works. InnoTek, a software company in Stuttgart, Germany, has released both a proprietary and a GPLv2 open-source version of the program. The VirtualBox OSE (open-source edition) has a subset of the features of the proprietary version.

VirtualBox OSE is not crippleware. It’s as full-powered a virtualization program as you’ll find today. What it’s missing are additional features, not basic functionality. You can also use the proprietary version, without charge for personal and educational use and to evaluate it for possible business purchase.

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November 6, 2007
by sjvn01
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Rotten Apple: Leopard

Apple’s latest operating system release may be the most troublesome since Apple switched from its System operating system to the BSD Unix and Mach-based Mac OS X.

I have never heard so many complaints about a Mac OS upgrade. Back in 2000/2001 when Apple users were switching from its older System operating system to the BSD Unix-based Mac OS X, I also heard many a die-hard Mac user cursing at the changes. Then, however, everyone knew that there was going to be real trouble. After all, this wasn’t just an upgrade—both the software and hardware were moving from one operating system to another.

Leopard’s (Mac OS X 10.5’s) problems have shocked the Mac user community. Most Mac users would have agreed with me that Leopard wasn’t supposed to be a major step forward. Instead, it was going to be many small steps forward for the Mac. Well, that was the idea. It’s turned out to be a major step backward.

November 1, 2007
by sjvn01
0 comments

Linux-powered Asus Eee PC mini-laptop arrives

The Xandros Linux-powered “ultra-mobile PC” (UMPC) has finally arrived. One of the most eagerly awaited laptops in some time, the tiny Asus Eee PC 4G, is now available from online retailers that include Newegg and Directon.

When the news first broke that Taiwanese computer manufacturer Asus was coming out with a less than two pounds mini-laptop for under $200 that would be running Linux, both gadget and Linux desktop fans were thrilled. Now that it’s here, the Eee PC 4G’s price has doubled, but early reviewers are still finding this Xandros-Linux powered laptop to be worth the price.

It helps, though, to keep in mind that this is not a full-blown laptop. If that’s what you want, we recommend you check into Dell’s Ubuntu-powered Inspiron 1420 Notebook, or Lenovo’s ThinkPad T Series business notebooks with SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) 10 SP 1.

What’s the difference? Well, for one thing, instead of an 80GB hard drive, the Eee PC 4G has a 4GB SSD (solid state drive). In place of the 1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 processor that the 1420 comes with, the Asus UMPC uses a 900MHz Intel “Dothan” Celeron M CPU.

It’s all a matter of setting expectations. If you want an inexpensive, light-weight system that can handle all the home, work, and Internet basics, the Eee PC 4G may be all you need.

The 7-inch diagonal LCD screen, which is driven by an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 GM chipset, has an 800×480 pixel resolution that’s perfectly adequate for most program use. You may, however, find yourself needing to scroll back and forth horizontally to view some Web sites.

Reviewers agree, to no one’s surprise, that the keyboard is on the small side. It’s about 4/5ths the size of a conventional laptop keyboard. On the other hand, the size reduction has been taken out mostly on the function keys rather than the alphanumeric keys. The result seems to be a keyboard that’s a lot more usable than, say, a Blackberry Pearl’s, but not the equal of a normal notebook’s keyboard.

The scratchpad, in particular, has been singled out as being too small. Fortunately, Asus didn’t scrimp on the ports.

The device provides three USB 2.0 ports. I’d suggest plugging a mouse in immediately.

It also has a 100Mbps Ethernet port, a modem, and built-in WiFi (802.11a/g) for your network needs. There’s also a VGA port for external monitor hookups.

While the machine doesn’t have any kind of optical drive, it does have SD (Secure Digital) and Memory Stick card readers. You can use these for either their typical jobs — importing photographs or video — or what might be even more useful, as secondary storage to the built-in SSD.

The version of Xandros on the Eee PC 4G uses the KDE environment. The desktop has been customized to make it as easy as possible to use. For instance, the initial screen consists of a set of four tabbed pages: Internet, Work, Learn, and Play. On each page you’ll find the appropriate icons for that page’s set of applications.

The system’s applications include such usual Linux favorites as OpenOffice, Firefox, and Thunderbird. To make life easier still, some pages include links to useful sites such as Google Docs.

Even though this is a lightweight laptop in just about any way you’d take the word, “lightweight,” it does have one heavyweight feature. This is that, thanks to Xandros, it works extremely well with Windows networks. From all reports, and our own experiences with Xandros on other PCs, it’s easy to hook the Eee PC 4G to Windows or Samba network drives and printers.

So, is it worth it? From what we can tell, the answer depends mostly on what you want from a laptop. If you’re a power-user, or a Linux maven, this isn’t a system for you. If, you just want a cheap, light mini-laptop to toss in your luggage and be able to do the basics at home, office, or on the road, it might just be the baby laptop you’ve been waiting for.

A version of this story first appeared in DesktopLinux.

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