Godak ayata Linux based systems gana probs thiyanava, game gahanna ba, grapix karanna ba, GUI friendly na.. vage probs godak than valin ahenava. api ada balamu loke pura inna FOSS (free and open source Software) Developer la , 2008 di me probs valata monavada hoyagaththu solutions kiyala (tikkak digai eeth worth reading)
KDE 4:
<div align="left">Earlier this year Sun Microsystems had acquired the company behind the VirtualBox virtualization software and this year this project has seen several new features that push the limits for OS virtualization. VirtualBox 2.0 was released in September with a new GUI written in Qt4, support for VHD disk images, netwo
KDE 4:
Just as the near year came about, KDE 4.0 was released. This major overhaul to the K Desktop Environment included porting the applications to the Qt 4.x tool-kit, introducing a new device integration framework, bringing forth the Plasma desktop and interface tools, and the Phonon multimedia API. This Linux desktop environment update was so huge that Google had even hosted a release event party.
KDE 4.0 was a bit rough around the edges, but KDE 4.1 was released in July that brought forth many refinements. The KDE community is currently preparing for the release of KDE 4.2 in January with even more features. Trolltech had also released the Qt tool-kit used by the K Desktop Environment under the GPLv3 license this year, was acquired by Nokia, and then renamed to Qt Software.
WINE 1.0:
When the WINE project began as a compatibility layer to run Windows programs atop Linux, the Windows 3.1 operating system was dominating the market. It took fifteen years for this free software project to come out with a version 1.0 release, but it reached this milestone in June. WINE now is able to run many Windows programs out there, and even many OpenGL / DirectX video games, but the development community has been continuing in a steadfast manner working to prepare the WINE 1.2 stable release for next year. WINE is now even being used by Google for their Picasa Linux port as well as other uses.
Some of the progress that's been made this year following the 1.0 release has been support for Google Chrome, substantial JS support, X11 desktop work areas, the start of Direct3D 10.0 support, improved memory management, and many other features.
64-bit Flash & Java Plug-Ins:
This is not exactly an innovation and should have been around a while ago, but it's important nevertheless. A month ago Adobe had released 64-bit Flash For Linux, which allow those running a x86_64 user-land to easily use the Flash plug-in without needing to run a 32-bit web browser, use NSPluginWrapper, or rely upon an alternative player like Gnash. Partially what makes 64-bit Flash for Linux significant is that it was released before any 64-bit Flash for Microsoft Windows.
Just a few weeks after 64-bit Flash arrived, Sun Microsystems released a 64-bit Java Plug-In for Linux. This x86_64 plug-in for Linux was released at the same time as their first Windows x64 build, but before making it available for their own Solaris or OpenSolaris operating systems.
With native 64-bit plug-ins, it makes the Linux x86_64 experience easier for many users.
Graphics Execution Manager:
At the start of this year, most X.Org developers would have thought Tungsten's TTM memory manager would have entered the mainline Linux kernel and become the de facto standard for GPU memory management within the kernel, but Intel's Graphics Execution Manager shook everything up. As developers voiced concerns over TTM and its complicated API, the Intel team led by Keith Packard had announced GEM, or the Graphics Execution Manager.
Since its May introduction, it has rattled the X.Org scene and was released with the mainline Linux 2.6.28 kernel earlier this month. While the Graphics Execution Manager can be looked at as being superior to the Translation Table Maps, its timing wasn't ideal since it caused DRI2 to be stripped out from X.Org 7.4 / X Server 1.5 and when it was first proposed to enter the mainline kernel it was referred to as untested crap.
GEM by itself isn't something for end-users to get excited over, but it will allow for faster performance once the code has been optimized, kernel memory management is a prerequisite for kernel mode-setting, and also caused the introduction of a new but faster acceleration API.
The Intel driver fully utilizes the Graphics Execution Manager while the open-source ATI and NVIDIA drivers will be using a mix of TTM and GEM. The drivers will implement the GEM API but internally will be using a form of TTM (A GEM-ified TTM manager).
Open-Source Hardware Drivers:
Late last year AMD made the major announcement of their open-source initiative to provide fully open-source 2D/3D ATI drivers for all of their hardware on Linux while continuing to produce their performance-oriented Catalyst Linux driver. AMD has continued pushing out new code and documentation this year, but many other hardware companies have joined the open-source bandwagon too.
Creative Labs had been released buggy X-Fi Linux drivers for over a year after their original binary driver was years late and riddled with different shortcomings, but last month they had conceded and open-sourced their X-Fi driver. Earlier in 2008 they also had provided X-Fi hardware specifications to 4Front Technologies so that there could be an open-source X-Fi driver in the Open Sound System. However, to date there still is no Creative X-Fi driver within the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture.
After several failed attempts in the past at being open-source friendly, this year VIA Technologies announced a new open-source strategy. Because of VIA's bad attempts in the past, many called their open-source efforts a bluff and it took them a while to evaluate their open-source role, but what VIA has released to date includes 2D/3D register documentation, a partnership with the OpenChrome driver team, Chrome 9 Series DRM support, a new X.Org driver, republished old programming guides, an open-source liaison, and a kernel frame-buffer driver.
Atheros is another company that was once notorious with Linux users, but this year they had turned around after they hired two MadWiFi developers and then proceeded to release an open-source 802.11n Linux driver (named ath9k) and then in September released the Atheros 802.11a/b/g HAL under a BSD-derived free software license.
NetworkManager 0.7:
Making the process of configuring wired and wireless networks on Linux is made dramatically easier by NetworkManager, which started out four years ago as a Red Hat project. While in development for quite a while and development snapshots had appeared in recent Fedora releases, NetworkManager 0.7 came to fruition this year. NetworkManager 0.7 brings to desktop users PPP integration so that SM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HDSPA/HSUPA/EVDO cellular cards now work "out of the box" on Linux, support for having multiple simultaneous network devices, enhanced wireless security support, system-wide configuration support with boot-time connection capabilities, Internet connection sharing support, and full static IP support.
What didn't make its way into NetworkManager 0.7.0 though were more Bluetooth enhancements and IPV6 support. NetworkManager 0.7.0 can be found in recent Linux distributions like Fedora 10 and Ubuntu 8.10 with all of its wonderful network connection management features.
GIMP 2.6:
The GIMP may still have a tough time competing against Adobe Photoshop, but GIMP 2.6 was released in October with some significant changes. In particular, major changes were made to the GIMP user-interface. GIMP 2.6 also marked the first release partially supporting GEGL, the Generic Graphics Library. GEGL has been in development for eight years but is finally getting ready to enter the limelight. Some of the other improvements in GIMP 2.6 include an enhanced free select tool, brush dynamics, and other tool optimizations.
VirtualBox 2:
<div align="left">Earlier this year Sun Microsystems had acquired the company behind the VirtualBox virtualization software and this year this project has seen several new features that push the limits for OS virtualization. VirtualBox 2.0 was released in September with a new GUI written in Qt4, support for VHD disk images, netwo
