| Vol.
I, No. 8 | Gardening
/ Memorial Day | May
18th, 2001 |
Computers
& Technology
Links to Computers & Tech On-Line
. Links
to Computers & Tech On-Line The
amount of info on the web is enormous, as anyone who's ever tried to run a
search can attest to. And, to put it all in context, best estimates say
that only a fraction, maybe 20 - 40 % of what's out there is actually making its
way to the search engines.
Well ...
Here at DownStreet, we'd like to try to help. So each issue, we
post a few links in Computers & Tech to sites that might interest you.
Sometimes the links will be related to one another ... sometimes
we'll just offer up a somewhat random sampling. In either case, we think
we might be able to help you find the kind of site you've been looking for.
Of course, while we can't vouch for the fact that every link we provide will be
of interest to everyone, we do our best to filter out the noise and the bustle.
We hope you find the following sites interesting or useful. ... OS
Help -- Windows, Mac, Linux and More Statistically,
it's a pretty good bet that most of you are using a Microsoft OS {operating
system}-- most likely, some version of Windows. Beyond Windows, of course,
there are the dedicated Mac users among you. And, much more recently,
there may even be some Linux users who've cropped up. But that, of course,
doesn't tell the whole story. In addition to these OS's, there's BeOS,
UNIX, Amiga users, and more ... a whole lot more. But
whatever OS you're using, we'll bet that, especially on some days, you get at
least a little bit curious about what's going on 'back there' ... or, maybe you
wonder how to improve performance ... or, worse, how to fix some new problem or,
worst of all, recover from a system crash. ... Whatever your
reasons, this month's Links to Computers & Tech On-Line is offering up lots
of links to guide you through the OS maze with OS Help. There
are thousands of sites out there devoted to operating systems out there.
But we decided to focus only on those sites that provide resources to a variety
of OS's rather than the more specialized sites. Why? Mostly because
you can get to info about any specific OS -- no matter how old or new, no
matter how popular or unheard of -- from at least some of these pages.
Finally, we'll forego our usual Links Pages format -- of 3 links with longer
reviews -- in order to bring you more links.
CNET
Help.com Operating Systems
CNET's contribution to OS Help
includes info for Microsoft Windows, Linux, Novell Netware, OS/2, NeXT,
Pocket PC, Mac OS, Unix, BeOS, DOS, and Palm OS. There's also a Help
Directory that includes categories for Assisted Service, Books, Online
Courses, Online Tutorials, Video Tutorials, Software Tutorials, Web Sites,
and Other Resources. Finally, you'll also find links to UseNet Q&A
info.
Rating: **** [4 stars]
. ZDNet
Operating Systems Guide
CNET now owns ZDNet. But the info
here is a little different in both structure and content. The lead-off
links provide newer content {at the time of our visit, articles entitled
"Apple OS X" and "Windows XP: Are You
Experienced?" ... From there, ZDNet offers links to
resources about Microsoft Whistler Beta 1, Apple Mac OS 9, Apple Mac OS X
Server, BeOS 5, Linux Operating System 6.5, Microsoft Windows 2000, and
Microsoft Windows 98. Each OS listing provides info under four major
categories -- a Forum, News, Help & How-To, and Software Updates, as
well as a link to Check Prices.
Rating: **** [4 stars]
. Open
Directory - Computers Software Operating Systems
Rating: ****1/2 [4-1/2 stars]
.Google
Web Directory - Computers Software Operating Systems
Rating: ****1/2 [4-1/2 stars]
.Computing.Net
Rating: **** [4 stars]
.Howstuffworks:
How Operating Systems Work
How Stuff Works is an
interesting site in general. The idea is simple, and the presentation,
most often straightforward. This link follows suit with several
sub-section on OS's, including: an Introduction to How Operating
Systems Work, The Bare Bones {a basics of OS's overview}, Wake-Up Call {the
how & what when OS's boot up}, Processor Management, Memory and Storage
Management, Device Management, Interfacing to the World, Once and Future
Differences, and Links. If you need to know what's going on back
there, or are simply curious, this is a good place to start.
Rating: ****
[4 stars]
. The
OS Emulation HomePage
At first glance, OS emulation -- getting
one OS to behave like another -- may seem like an arcane or even useless
exercise. And the fact is, most OS emulation sites are devoted more to
gamers who hate to give up on their favorite games when they switch to a
newer OS. On the other hand, how'd you like to emulate a Mac on your
PC or vice versa? Or maybe you're old Windows 3.1 program refuses to
run on Win95 or 98? ... There are lots of emulation sites out
there, but this one provides the basics for emulating the following OS's:
Amiga, Mac, Windows 3.11, and Windows 95. If you want or need to
emulate any of them, pay a visit.
Rating: **** [4 stars]
. The
EROS Operating System
This is the only link that goes to
one and only one OS -- EROS ... which stands for Extremely Reliable
Operating System. In their own words, "EROS is a
new operating system originally implemented at the University of
Pennsylvania. The project has now migrated to Johns Hopkins
University. EROS merges some very old ideas in operating systems with
some newer ideas about performance and resource management. The result
is a small, secure, real-time operating system ..."
.
Whether or
not any OS will ever overtake Windows for the PC, at least in the short run,
is doubtful. The fact is, as the most-used PC platform OS, the vast
majority of software is written for Windows. But there are lots of
things that make Windows less attractive than some of the alternatives, at
least to those in the know. ... For a good while, Windows was much
less stable than its DOS predecessor, or Mac or OS/2. Windows 2000 has
changed that part of the profile significantly, but even Win2K remains
something of a resource hog, requiring a bare minimum of 64meg of memory to
even get off the ground. With its claim to open source architecture
and smaller resource footprint, Linux has been coming on strong in recent
years, including the addition of a number of GUI {Graphical User Interface}
options. But the EROS project will deiniftely be worth watching.
...
No Rating
. *******
******* If you know of any
links that you think are worthwhile, why not send them along to ...
linksdownstreetmagazine.com
... If we agree, we'll be happy to include
them in an upcoming issue to pass the word along. ...
Thanks. *******
******* .
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