JavaDesktop News

ThinkFree Reaches 250,000 Registered Users

2007-02-26

Today ThinkFree announced they'd reached 250,000 registered users. These users are made up of small and medium business owners and their staffs, university professors, teachers, entrepreneurs, parents, bloggers and students. What's more, ThinkFree users come from more than 200 countries, including Mauritania, Anguilla, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. The greatest number of users come from five regions: the United States, South Korea, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Canada.

MyEclipse Delivering Tools to NetBeans, Visual Studio Users

2007-02-13

Genuitec has just announced immediate availability of the MyEclipse SNAPs tools to Sun‘s NetBeans and Microsoft‘s Visual Studio developers via “Use-Anywhere” connectors. Users of NetBeans and Visual Studio are now able to utilize the MyEclipse Visual HTML Designer, XML Editor, Database Explorer and Image Editor SNAPs directly in their own environment. Additional SNAPs will be made available using other MyEclipse features by integrating open source technologies and through partner extensions. The SNAPs are part of the expanding MyEclipse Fusion Technology suite of tools that allows developers to accomplish focused tasks without the weight of an entire IDE. They can also be used with other development tools thereby freeing users from the vendor lock-in that is commonly associated with development environments. A quote from Genuitec's CEO, Maher Masri: “We proved we could fuse external technologies when we ported Matisse into MyEclipse. Then, SNAPs took this concept to the next level by allowing us to add external functionality to our toolset without adding weight to the IDE. Today, we're proud to go even one step further and deliver our tools directly to users of other environments. There will be more connections to come in the near future as well.” The MyEclipse “Use-Anywhere” connectors for NetBeans and Visual Studio are available immediately. Both require the All-in-One installation of MyEclipse 5.5M1 Enterprise Workbench

NetBeans 6.0 Milestone 6 Available

2007-02-13

NetBeans 6.0 Milestone 6 is now available for download. Some of the new features added and tested in Milestone 6 include: * Most Java EE features re-added to the build. * UI Gestures Collector that logs users actvities in IDE. * Profiler added Memory Profiling Improvements. Review the Milestone 6 Report for a complete overview of what's new.

Adobe Simplifies Web Conferencing, Upgrades Authoring Software

2007-02-13

Adobe releases its Acrobat Connect Web conferencing software and upgrades its Adobe RoboHelp 6 "help" software product line.

Skype Founders Unveil Global Online TV Service

2007-02-13

The global broadband television service would be free for users.

Film packs in memories of arcade superstars

2007-01-17

Sundance documentary reflects on a previous era of gaming--back when it was all about the arcade and its mullet-adorned top scorers.
Photos: Scenes from the arcade

Vista Aims to Stop Hackers' Social Engineering Ploys

2007-02-13

News Analysis: Microsoft maintains that by addressing the social aspect of IT attacks, the portion that can dupe even the smartest users into launching malware-laden attachments or clicking unknown URLs, Vista will improve PC security significantly.

Azureus Partners with the BBC to Sell TV Shows

2006-12-19

The popular BitTorrent client, Azureus has just struck a deal with the BBC to offer TV shows on its recently launched content store/website, Zudeo. ZudeoZudeo is Azureus’ new video sharing website and content store. It implements many ‘Web 2.0′ features like the ability to rate content, leave comments, share torrents and links to submit content to popular social bookmarking sites like digg. The BBC will sell the following shows on Zudeo: Red Dwarf, Strange, Invasion Earth, Little Britain, Doctor Who, Fawlty Towers, Coupling, Keeping Up Appearances, League of Gentlemen and Ideal. Ironically, British customers will not be able to purchase any of the shows as they will only be available to U.S. customers. The rest of the world is going to have to wait for now. One of the BBC’s most popular shows, The Office is missing from the list.

Windows Vista and the secret of full disk encryption

2006-12-13

Blog: When I talk to large enterprises, they tend to be either deploying or planning to deploy PC encryption tools, especially for laptops....

Living la vida Mac

2006-12-04

Blog: Oh dear, they're at it again....

Java Remains No. 1 Programming Language

2006-12-01

Evans Survey : Visual Basic and VB.NET In Steep Decline

2006-12-01

An Evans Data Survey is show a dramatic erosion of support for Visual Basic and VB.NET. A study of 430 developers in North America shows that use of Visual Basic is way down. The study shows a drop off 35% for Visual Basic 6 (and earlier versions) and worse for Microsoft it is also showing a decline of 26% for VB.NET. The most popular language according to the study is Java at 45% (of the developer population), C/C++ at 40% and C# at 32%. You can read more about it here.

Survey Says AJAX Grew to Reach a Total Penetration Level of 28%

2006-11-29

The use of Visual Basic, one of the most popular computer languages throughout the last fifteen years, is eroding dramatically according to Evans Data's Fall 2006 North American Development Survey. Overall, developer use of the Visual Basic family has dropped off by 35% since last spring. As expected, developers are finally leaving VB6 and earlier versions, they're also leaving VB.NET; which is down by 26%.

The NetBeans Dream Team Wants You

Rick Ross — 2006-11-21

NetBeans is organizing a "NetBeans Dream Team" of top community participants. Nominations are now being accepted (until Dec. 1) for the 10 founding Dream Team members.

Open Source Java: "This Is a Great Week," Says Calvin Austin

2006-11-17

'Could have Java been open sourced earlier?' Calvin Austin asks himself this week, in his blog. 'Yes,' he answers, '[but] Sun kept many communities involved including the Java champions which I have to give them full credit for.' All in all, he concludes, 'This is a great week.'

See the spectacle that is the PS3 launch

2006-11-17

Video: See the spectacle that is the PS3 launch. From San Francisco: CNET.com's Molly Wood was on hand for the first PlayStation 3s to be sold at midnight on November 17. Hear from both the hard-core gamers and the budding entrepreneurs, as well as the lucky first buyer.

Gates on Vista, Linux and more

2006-11-17

In part two of an interview with News.com, Bill Gates discusses his favorite Vista feature, why he'll keep pushing for a new file system, and the role of open source.

Photos: The '$100 laptop' prototype

2006-11-17

The One Laptop Per Child project shows off a working prototype of the low-cost laptop for school children in developing nations.

Bringing JNI Into the Present

Matthew Schmidt — 2006-11-01

Weiqi Gao has some interesting ideas that could bring JNI programming to the rest of the Java masses. He suggests annotations and some automatic code generation. Will it work?

Week in review: Vista furor

2006-10-20

Microsoft's Vista is still months away from formal release, but the next version of Windows is already raising the hackles of many consumers.

Java Editorial — AJAX - What's In It for Java

2006-10-18

When the fast-paced, three-day program of AJAXWorld Conference & Expo in the Santa Clara Convention Center finally ended earlier this month, with over 90 technical sessions and presentations from leading AJAX vendors like Laszlo Systems, JackBe, and Backbase as well as from established software giants like IBM, TIBCO, and Adobe, the overwhelming impression delegates, speakers, and sponsors alike were left with was of having been in attendance at something special, something unusual, something potent.

Analysts split over Vista launch date

2006-10-06

Goldman Sachs predicts Vista will ship on time, but Gartner paints a more cautious picture.

Is Windows still relevant?

2006-10-06

CNET News.com's Charles Cooper says recent upset over Vista should put a rest to that lingering question.

Itext in Action: Creating and Manipulating PDF

Bertrand Fontaine — nullT00:00:00-00:00

Itext in Action: Creating and Manipulating PDF. By Bruno Lowagie; Publisher: Manning Publications.

Lime Wire Sues RIAA for Antitrust Violations

2006-09-26

In Arista v. Lime Wire, in Manhattan federal court, Lime Wire has filed its answer and interposed counterclaims against the RIAA for antitrust violations, consumer fraud, and other misconduct. Lime Wire alleged that the RIAA's goal was simple: to destroy any online music distribution service they did not own or control, or force such services to do business with them on exclusive and/or other anticompetitive terms so as to limit and ultimately control the distribution and pricing of digital music, all to the detriment of consumers. (Counterclaim, paragraph 26, page 18). This case is but one part of a much larger modern conspiracy to destroy all innovation that content owners cannot control and that disrupts their historical business models. (Counterclaim, paragraph 28, page 18). Lime Wire has demanded a trial by jury.

GNOME 2.16 Released

2006-09-07

Tool Report: Compuware's Vantage Analyzer Java performance monitoring and analysis solution.

2006-09-06

Our tool reports allow the vendor to showcase what their tool can do, using a worked example. In this case we take a detailed look at Compuware's Vantage Analyzer Java performance monitoring and analysis solution.

Early testers say Vista RC1 appears stable

2006-09-06

Also: Stephen Hawking looking for assistant. Read these stories and more from around the Web on News.com Extra.

Apple Updates iMac with Core 2 Duo

2006-09-06

The company installs Intel's new dual-core processor in its iMac computers and also adds a 24-inch model.

Quote of the day: Vista to make things 'slow and gooey'

2006-09-06

Blog: In a story about concerns that Windows Vista could stall traffic on the Net, Paul Mockapetris--who is widely credited with inventing...

NetBeans 6.0 M2 is Out

2006-08-16

Sun Details Open Source Java Plans

2006-08-15

Sun Microsystems has further detailed its plan to open source Java. "By the end of 2006, the server and software company will release the JavaC compiler and the Hotspot virtual machine, two key technology elements to run programs written in the Java programming language, said Laurie Tolson, vice president of developer products and programs. The components are part of Java Standard Edition (SE), which runs on servers and desktop computers. In addition, Sun will release all of Java Micro Edition (ME)." Sun has further begun an Open Sourcing the JDK page to track progress.

Sun CTO: Incremental open-sourcing of Java is the way

2006-07-18

Expect the open-sourcing of the Java programming language to be done in incremental steps, with some pieces available by next June -- but not the entire platform, Robert Brewin, co-CTO of Sun Microsystems' software group, said Monday afternoon.

Borland to Sell Java and .NET IDE Business

2006-07-18

Borland is getting close to finding a buyer for it's IDE business which includes JBuilder, Delphi, C#Builder, and C++Builder. The company announced it's intention 5 months ago that it wanted to sell it's IDE tools and Interbase business, and claims to have received 12 inquires of interest.

Gates: Vista "80%" chance for January release

2006-07-11

If you're a betting man, Microsoft's Chief Software Architect has some guidance for you on Windows Vista's as-of-yet undetermined release date. Speaking in Cape Town, South Africa, Gates said that there is an 80 percent chance that Window Vista will be ready for release in January of 2007. Or if you're a pessimist, you could call it a 20 percent chance that Vista won't be ready...

Ballmer: The 'Live' Era is Coming

2006-07-11

Microsoft's CEO tells channel partners that Windows Live revenue opportunities are still more than a year away. But new services and services business models are inevitable, Ballmer says.

NetBeans Community Quiz #1

2006-07-11

Don't you think it's time for another chat? If you like the idea and want to test your knowledge about NetBeans as well, we would like to invite you for the upcoming NetBeans Community Quiz #1. The event will take place on Thursday - July 13th at 3:00 p.m. UTC.

Microsoft puts end to Windows 98 support

2006-07-11

The company will no longer issue security updates or provide support for Windows 98, Windows ME.

Adobe Announces MAX 2006 Conference and Fourth Annual MAX Awards

2006-07-11

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) announced the Adobe MAX 2006 Conference, to be held Oct. 23-26 in Las Vegas. MAX 2006 will give developers and designers a forum to network, share ideas, get hands-on technical training from certified experts, gain new skills and learn about new and emerging Adobe products and technologies. Adobe also announced the call for entries for the fourth annual Adobe MAX Awards, which recognize customer achievement in eight different categories.

Image: The DejaVu font

2006-07-11

An open-source design in a world of proprietary fonts, DejaVu is catching on for some flavors of Linux.

Sentillion Eyes Desktop, VPN Virtualization

2006-06-26

The company looks to use virtualization technology to give businesses an easier and more cost-effective alternative to such traditional methods as VPNs and Web portals.

Java-Based OS Developer SavaJe Expands Operations With New Design Team

2006-06-26

SavaJe Technologies, developers of Java technology-based mobile operating platform, announced it is expanding its operations with the opening of a new office in Palo Alto and the addition of a user experience design team. Two highly regarded hand-held product designers are joining SavaJe to lead the new team, including Macksoud 'Soudy' Khan as the User Experience Creative Director, and James Leftwich as Principal Designer.

Vista Gets ActiveX Installer

2006-06-26

IntelliJ IDEA 5.1.2

2006-06-16

JetBrains has released an update to its IntelliJ IDEA IDE - version 5.1.2. It doesn't introduce any new features, but is primarily a bug fix release.

Swing - Basic exam, released

2006-06-16

Vista Sidebar showcases desktop/Web integration

2006-06-14

Long Zheng has published some fantastic Windows Vista screencasts, which display Users will be able to manage their gadgets from both platforms - Vista and Live.com the power of the Vista OS - released as a developer beta last week.

Microsoft, Mozilla downplay browser bug

2006-06-08

Security flaw affecting both Internet Explorer and Firefox could allow an attacker to steal files from vulnerable computers, but is tough to exploit.

Photos: E-voting gets touchy

2006-06-08

New electronic voting systems use touch screens and other tech tricks to mark and record ballots.

GNOME 2.14.2 Released

2006-05-31

The latest release of GNOME is here: GNOME 2.14.2! This is the second release in a series of point releases for the 2.14 branch.

AMD-ATI Merger Looks Likely

2006-05-31

Advanced Micro Devices may be looking to buy graphics company ATI Technologies, a move that would benefit the overall graphics industry, according to RBC Capital Markets.

IntelliJ IDEA: Analyze external stack traces

2006-05-31

As a developer, you certainly get exceptions from users or QA engineers. And unlike the exceptions that you get in the debug mode, they don’t have those nice links that help you to navigate to source. If your source code is scrambled, the things get even more complicated. Now imagine that you can simply copy an exception to your IDE and then navigate to source from the console. How much time will it save?

Advanced Installer for Java 4.0 Released

2006-05-31

Caphyon LLC is pleased to announce the release of Advanced Installer For Java 4.0, a Windows Installer authoring tool with built-in support for Java applications, integrating them fully into the Windows OS and making them look and feel just like a native application. Advanced Installer for Java runs on Windows 2000/XP, and the install packages it creates run on all Microsoft Windows 9x/ME/NT/2k/XP operating systems. Starting from the version 3.3, building native Mac OS X packages is also supported.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Chooses WebRenderer

2006-05-30

"We chose WebRenderer because it allows us to embed the Mozilla browser in our products, and, being Java Swing compatible, it provides both standards compliance and a platform for a compelling user interface"

BuildDesk 1.0 - IDE for Build Engineers

2006-05-30

The BuildDesk project has announced its intital release - version 1.0. They write in, "BuildDesk is designed to free Java developers from the most tedious and boring tasks - creating and maintaining build scripts. No more manual tweaking of Ant scripts; no more struggling with native Java launcher ; no more searching for installer for your Java application; no more figuring out how to obfuscate your jars. BuildDesk will take your IntelliJ IDEA project and produce a multiplatform installer with native launcher and obfuscated jars along with Ant script to do that."

Eclipse 3.2 Milestone Wrapup

2006-05-30

Chris Laffra has organized the release notes of the last six milestone Eclipse 3.2 releases into one coherent 92 page slide presentation of what is new & noteworthy in the coming 3.2 Stable release: PPT | PDF

EasyEclipse 1.0.1 Beta

2006-05-30

The EasyEclipse project has announced the release of version 1.0.1 Beta. "This version delivers packaged installers for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux for the previous five distributions (Expert Java developer (formerly Starter Java), LAMP developer, Server Java developer, Desktop Java developer, and Mobile Java developer) and four new ones (PHP, Ruby and Rails, Python, and Plugin warrior). It has many plugin updates, bugfixes, and Subversion support in most distributions."

A Clouded Vista

2006-05-30

Microsoft is at a key point with Vista.

Meet the Java Developer's Journal Editors

2006-05-30

We thought it was time that the readers of JDJ had a chance to meet the editors, those individuals behind the scenes who work tirelessly to bring you the best articles about Java in particular and i-Technology in general.

Microsoft lays plans for 'Vistagami' tablets

2006-05-26

With the first Origami devices out the door, Microsoft is setting its sights on the next generation of tiny tablet PCs--products known within the company as "Vistagami" devices. The new minitablets are likely to resemble the first of the ultramobile PCs, though they will run Windows Vista, rather than XP.

USPTO: Broadest Claims Forgent Asserts Against JPEG Standard Invalid

2006-05-26

Public Interest Group's Review Results in Broadest Claims of Forgent Networks Patent Being Ruled Invalid...

Sun Releases Update 7 for Java 5

2006-05-26

Sun has released Java 5 update 7, which fixes some security issues and also quite a few bugs that existed in update 6

Professional Java User Interfaces

Bertrand Fontaine — 2006-05-25

Professional Java User Interfaces. By Mauro Marinilli; Publisher: John Wiley Sons.

This book covers the full development life cycle for professional GUI design in Java, from cost estimation and design to coding and testing.

Focuses on building high quality industrial strength software in Java
Ready-to-use source code is given throughout the text based on industrial-strength projects undertaken by the author.

Concurrent Programming in Java(TM) : Design Principles and Patterns (3rd Edition) (Java (Addison-Wesley))

Bertrand Fontaine — 2006-05-18

Concurrent Programming in Java(TM) : Design Principles and Patterns (3rd Edition) (Java (Addison-Wesley)). By Douglas Lea; Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional.

Concurrent Programming in Java, 2nd Edition surveys a wide field of research in parallelism and concurrency and shows how to do more with multithreading in Java with dozens of patterns and design tips. Written for the advanced Java developer, this book offers a comprehensive tour of leading-edge thinking about parallel coding processes.

Within the dozens of techniques and tips offered here, this book accomplishes at least two goals. First, it shows how concurrency is implemented by default within Java, with material on how built-in features (like the synchronized keyword and its memory model) can be expected to perform when dealing with multiple threads. Naturally, Java threads themselves are also covered, including priorities, scheduling, and the like.

Much of this book looks at ways to improve performance of concurrent code beyond the simple default strategies. After defining criteria for measuring concurrent code (such as safety and "liveness," a measure of running live threads effectively), the book presents dozens of techniques for letting threads work together safely. For the working Java programmer, coverage of patterns that have been implemented in the downloadable java.concurrency package will be the most immediately useful. (Within this nearly encyclopedic survey, short code snippets are used for every pattern and concept.)

Though theoretical at times, this book offers plenty of ideas and sample code to get you started thinking of ways to improve multithreaded code.

Impressively comprehensive, Concurrent Programming in Java offers a veritable bible of techniques for doing two things at once with threads in Java. It's a worthwhile guide to the state-of-the-art strategies for improving the performance of your Java threads. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Threads and concurrency in Java, design considerations (safety, liveness, and performance), Before/After Patterns, layering, adapters, immutability and synchronization, deadlock, resource ordering, the Java Memory Model and concurrency, using the java.concurrency package, confinement, refactoring for concurrency, mutexes, read-write locks, recovering from failure, notifications, semaphores, latches, exchanges, transactions, one-way messages, worker threads, polling and event-driven I/O, parallelism techniques (fork/join, computation trees, and barriers), Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP).

Microsoft CEO Says Vista Shipment on Track

2006-05-25

The release of Microsoft's Windows Vista is still on track for shipment in January, its chief executive says, as speculation about delays in the much-expected new operating system persist.

Picture this: Microsoft's JPEG rival

2006-05-25

Blog: Microsoft this week unveiled a new image format at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, which it hopes will take on the...

Eclipse 3.2RC5

2006-05-25

The Eclipse project has released version 3.2RC5. The project hasn't yet released it's coveted New & Noteworthy document.

Large Memory Java Applications

2006-05-24

I'm looking for techniques for large memory Java applications, possibly using disk/swap for solutions.

Con-way Deploys Java Based SpatialFX For Upgrade Of Scheduling And Dispatching System

2006-05-24

ObjectFX announced that Con-way has deployed its SpatialFX,an innovative and patented Java geospatial development and deployment platform that enables dynamic location-aware services through seamless integration of 2D and 3D map visualization,geospatial information discovery, and other spatial operations.

AMD: Vista only a tiny step to convergence

2006-05-24

PCs have a way to go, despite advances in hardware and software aimed to bring PC technology into the living room.

Images: New Windows Live mapping features

2006-05-24

New features in Microsoft's Windows Live Local online mapping service include real-time traffic data and expanded scratch pad features.

Vista, Word, Longhorn Betas Debut at WinHEC

2006-05-24

Bill Gates says Microsoft has achieved a major milestone by releasing beta versions of three major products, Windows Vista, Office Systems 2007 and Windows Server Longhorn at the same time.

Video: Windows creates seamless cross-platform experience, he says

2006-05-24

Video: Windows creates seamless cross-platform experience, he says. The overall PC ecosystem is getting richer due to the variety of PC-enabled devices, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said at the WinHEC conference in Seattle on May 23.

New Samsung Notebook Replaces Hard Drive With Flash

2006-05-24

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that it will launch two mobile computers in early June that will do away with hard drives altogether, replacing them with 32 gigabytes of NAND flash memory. The notebooks will be the first to use flash memory as the main storage device.

Common code base for Vista, Longhorn Server

2006-05-24

Windows Vista and its server counterpart are starting to go their separate ways. But come next fall, the two systems will converge.

Apple updates Xcode 2.3 dev tools

2006-05-23

pple today released Xcode 2.3, an update to its development environment for both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs. Version 2.3, which includes Apple's GCC 4 based on version 4.0.1 of the Free Software Foundation's GNU Compiler Collection...

Inside Windows Vista Beta 2

2006-05-23

Microsoft continues to make improvements to the OS, flesh out the bundled programs' capabilities, and clean up bugs (though there are still plenty).

Video: Changes in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook

2006-05-23

Video: Changes in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook. The latest beta of Microsoft Office is out. Now there's a clickable ribbon across the top, replacing those drop-down boxes. CNET's software expert Elsa Wenzel gives you a look at some of the more important changes.

Java Feature — Graph3D

2006-05-23

In today's work environment analyzing large amounts of varying data types is paramount. Graphing techniques can be an invaluable tool to understanding and interpreting that data. In many cases two-dimensional graphs, such as XY, scatter, pie, and bar charts, are sufficient. But increasingly more complex graphing techniques are needed. In these instances Java3D is an excellent resource with numerous features that allow personalized generation of three-dimensional data displays. Not only will Java3D yield better insight into the data by highlighting important aspects of the data, but it also makes attractive displays to spice up any presentation.

Animation, eye candy and real API

2006-05-23

Video: Microsoft releases next Vista version

2006-05-23

Video: Microsoft releases next Vista version. Microsoft has released a beta version of Vista. CNET's Robert Vamosi takes a look at some of the key features.

ATI, Nvidia Support New AMD Socket With New Chipsets

2006-05-23

Both ATI Technologies and Nvidia announced new PC core logic chipsets Tuesday in support of Advanced Micro Devices' new AM2 socket platform.

Vista: A Case of Deja Vu

2006-05-23

It's been five years since eWEEK first began writing about what is now known as Vista.

Vista: What You Need to Know

2006-05-23

Microsoft Watch's Mary Jo Foley provides answers to your Vista questions.

Google ads--now with video

2006-05-23

Blog: Google is adding a new twist to its advertising program--video.The trial service from the search engine company will allow advertisers...

Berners-Lee calls for Net neutrality

2006-05-23

A distinction must be preserved between the market for access and the market for content, says the Web pioneer.

Survey: How concerned are you that open source Java will fragment?

2006-05-23

After the initial applase at JavaOne over Sun's announcement that Java would eventually be open sourced, there is now concern among many users that it will fragment. How concerned are you?

Sun's Hal Stern, Tim Bray, & Simon Phipps All Interviewed on SYS-CON.TV

2006-05-23

Hal Stern, Vice President & Chief Technology Officer of Sun's Software group, stopped by to talk with SYS-CON group publisher and editorial director Jeremy Geelan at SYS-CON.TV's JavaOne studio last week in San Francisco. Geelan also interviewed Sun's Director of Web Technologies, Tim Bray, and itsChief Open Source Officer, Simon Phipps.

Hacking your Prius

2006-05-22

Do-it-yourself modifications lead to better fuel economy, less annoying beeping and more diagnostic data.
CalCars' souped-up Prius