Wine 1.0 Released

Following on the heals of Firefox's 3.0 release (albeit two days early), the Wine team released their 1.0 gold version of the popular open source software, which allows Windows applications to run on Linux (and Unix.. and OS X..) without the use of an emulator or virtual machine. The new version offers little more than grammatical error fixes in the application, but it's awesome to know that the 15-year project finally hit its milestone 1 dot 0 release.

It's a painful and frustrating process to reverse engineer the Windows API, and the developers who donated their time had to recreate the framework for Windows with little assistance. Hopefully their progress will diminish the barrier to entry for individuals and corporations who rely on Windows programs and allow them to take the dive into Linux.

Here's to improving compatibility onward and to future releases.

The Wine team is proud to announce that Wine 1.0 is now available. This is the first stable release of Wine after 15 years of development and beta testing. Many thanks to everybody who helped us along that long road!

While compatibility is not perfect yet, thousands of applications have been reported to work very well. Check http://appdb.winehq.org to see the details for your favorite applications.

Source: WineHQ

Firefox 3 Now Available - Help Break a Record!

Mozilla aims to break the world record for the most downloaded software in 24 hours. A few hours ago, the browser was released, but the site had technical difficulties (go figure), but the site’s available now as this post is going up. Over 1.5 million people have pledged to download already, so if you haven’t already, head over to the download page and get some free software.

Firefox is available for all of the major operating systems in over 45 languages and is used in over 320 countries, and of course, is completely open source. Version 3 adds tons of new fixes and features. Remember, if you’re using RC3 (or two on Windows or Linux) and you want to participate, you must download from Mozilla’s site to have your download count!

With more than 15,000 improvements, Firefox 3 is faster, safer and smarter than ever before. The Web is all about innovation, and Firefox 3 sets the pace with dozens of new features, including the smart location bar, one-click bookmarking and blindingly fast performance.

Source: Mozilla

PSP Gets Major Version Update, But No Major New Features

Sony has announced that a brand-new piece of PSP firmware is en route, set with the 4.0 version number. With such a major version change, you'd assume that major changes are in store, right? Well, from what I can tell, the changes are not worthy of such a version change, but to each their own, I suppose.

What's new is Google implementation, allowing you to search the web for things straight from the XMB. You know, instead of launching the browser first and heading to Google.com. Quite the time-savings there. Also new is the ability to speed up and slow down video playback when played off of a Memory Stick PRO Duo. Push up and down on the D-Pad to adjust the speed accordingly.

Seriously. That's what's new in this major version update.

Another new feature delivered through the 4.00 update is the ability to change viewing speed during playback of videos stored on your Memory Stick PRO Duo, so you can speed through or slow down what you’re watching. To do this simply press the up or down directional buttons while playing a video. Enjoy!

Source: Playstation Blog

June 17th Tech Roundup

Motherboards & Processors
• Asrock X48TurboTwins-WiFi - Pro-Clockers
• Asus Crosshair II AM2+ - Overclock3D

Displays & Video Cards
• Acer AL2016WB Widescreen 20-inch Widescreen - Think Computers
• Gigabyte TurboForce 8800GT - Pro-Clockers
• NVIDIA GTX 280 - ChileHardware
• NVIDIA GTX 280 - Hardware Canucks
• NVIDIA GTX 280 - InsideHW
• NVIDIA GTX 280 - PC Perspective
• NVIDIA GTX 280 - techPowerUp!

Peripherals & Gadgets
• Speed Link Styx Gaming Mouse - Tech-Reviews

Chassis & Power Supplies
• Antec Twelve Hundred Gaming Chassis - TechwareLabs
• Coolmax CUG950B 950 Watt Power Supply - Pro-Clockers
• Cooler Master CSX Warfare Stacker 83 - Motherboards.org
• Cooler Master Silent Pro M500, M600 and M700 Power Supplies - Red and Blackness
• Silverstonetek SUGO SG03 MicroATX - Metku
• Sunbeamtech Acrylic HTPC-style ATX Case - Madshrimps
• Thermaltake Toughpower QFan 650W - JonnyGURU

Competitions, Complete Systems & Et cetera
• Lenovo IdeaPad U110 Laptop - Digital Trends
• Phoronix Linux Benchmarking Suite 1.0 - Phoronix