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Microsoft's TechFest internal science fair wasn't just about social networking and telescopes.

The company also discussed new technology closer to its roots: an operating system kernel concept called "Singularity" intended as a showcase for some cutting-edge computer science.

The software isn't the next version of Windows or a reheated DOS. It's a prototype of an operating system intended for computer science research that Microsoft said demonstrates the possibilities for software that is more dependable and secure than contemporary OSes (yes, that includes Windows).

"Singularity is not the next Windows," Rick Rashid, senior vice president of Microsoft Research, said in a statement. "Think of it like a concept car. It is a prototype operating system designed from the ground up to test-drive a new paradigm for how operating systems and applications interact with one another. We are making it available to the community in the hope that it will enable researchers to try out new ideas quickly."

The Singularity architecture

(Credit: Microsoft Research)

If you're itching to take a look at Singularity, Microsoft has made a research development kit available for free download from its CodePlex Web site.

The RDK includes source code, build tools, test suites, design notes, and other background materials. Microsoft says the software, governed by a special Microsoft Research license, can be used for noncommercial, academic projects only.

Microsoft said Singularity has been in development for more than five years. "More than 40 Microsoft Research researchers and interns have collaborated on the project, which incorporated their ideas on security, programming languages, tools, and operating systems--and accelerated their own research," according to a Microsoft Research post describing the project.

The roots of the project stem from research into what a modern operating system would look like and how it would behave. Microsoft points out that Windows, like Unix, Linux and the MacOS, all trace their origins back to Multics, an operating system that originated in the mid-1960s. In essence, the operating systems we use today are built on foundations that are more than 40 years old.

Singularity is written in an extension of C#, Microsoft's high-level programming language, as opposed to C or C++, which typically have been used for current operating systems. By using C#, Microsoft said, the researchers prevented a class of errors known as buffer overruns, "thereby eliminating an area of vulnerability typically exploited by worms and viruses."

Singularity is clearly a research project. It's an operating system kernel without a user interface. Still, as Larry Dignan at ZDNet points out, it does make you wonder whether some folks at Microsoft would like to start over from scratch with the next version of Windows.

Given the driver troubles, legacy issues, and compatibility headaches with Vista, that might not be a bad idea.

Here, kitty kitty kitty! Rain-soaked Apple nerds wait for Leopard.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)

NEW YORK--On Friday afternoon at the hour that Apple launched its latest operating system, Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, it was pouring rain in Manhattan. It was also windy and chilly. That didn't stop several hundred people from lining up outside the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue to get their hands on the new software, huddled underneath Gore-Tex jackets and umbrellas.

"It's the cult," commented another reporter who had also been covering the water-saturated event.

The line for Leopard appeared to be divided fairly evenly between rabid Apple fans and shoppers who'd figured they could stop by and pick it up quickly--and indeed, come launch time, the line moved fast as customers were ushered into a gauntlet of Apple Store employees (much like the iPhone launch in June) and directed straight to the cash registers when the doors opened at 6 p.m.

"It's a happening," said first-in-liner Bob Greenlees, a twenty-something student at the nearby Cardozo School of Law, when I asked him why he'd bothered to wait amidst inclement weather for an operating system that could easily have been pre-ordered online and delivered to his front door. "It's one of those things. It's Apple, it's Fifth Avenue, it's a flagship store. And it's an opportunity to be in line for something without waiting for three days."

Greenlees, after posing for a photo with his new purchase, said that he was going to go straight home and install it. He'd been in line since about 2:30 p.m.

The line went to the corner and around the block to the intersection of 58th Street and Madison Avenue.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)

"I came for the free t-shirt," said Steven Miranda, a Manhattan College student who was ninth in line. The Apple Store was offering t-shirts to the first 500 people who showed up, and for hardcore Apple fans, those shirts were a coveted prize. I asked Miranda and his friends whether they agreed with Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walt Mossberg's assertion that Leopard was "evolutionary, not revolutionary."

"Compared to Vista, it's revolutionary!" chimed in one Apple fan who was just ahead of Miranda in line. Indeed, the Microsoft-taunting was hardly under the radar. One person in line was wearing a t-shirt that bore the Windows logo along with the caption "Hasta la Vista."

For the two hours prior to the Leopard launch, the normally 24/7 Fifth Avenue store had been closed in preparation--my personal theory is Apple closed the store for a longer span of time than it needed to, to assure that an adequate queue would form in anticipation, but I'm sure Apple's not about to confirm that to me.

In addition to Leopard t-shirts, buyers were also treated to free umbrellas as they were ushered into the store. Nice move, Apple. "Keep the Leopard dry!" an Apple Store employee shouted. "Cats don't like water!"

But that raises a very serious question. Now that Apple has let Leopard out of its cage, following in the tracks of Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, and Tiger, the big question is--which cat's next?

My money's on Ocelot.

NEW YORK--At about 1 p.m. EDT in midtown Manhattan, I overheard a group of suit-clad thirtysomething men talking as they waited to cross Madison Avenue.

"You know, leopards are solitary animals," one of them said. The other three or four continued musing on the characteristics of the large exotic felines, and I figured that it was actually part of a conversation about Apple's latest operating system, which launches Friday at 6 p.m. I thought, wow, if fratty midtown office types are talking about Mac OS X 10.5, there must be a huge line of fanboys at the Apple store!

Wrong. There was almost no sign of a major product launch at the 24-hour Apple store on Fifth Avenue, besides a few signs and posters announcing Leopard's advent. The store was still a mob scene, of course--in that touristy shopping district just south of Central Park, it always is. But there was no buzz factor like there had been with the crazy iPhone launch in June.

Apple Store customers try out Leopard at the Fifth Avenue store in NYC.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)

Apple retail employees told reporters that the store would be closed from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. for preparations, and that when the doors finally opened, there would be "demos all night long."

For an idea of what the scene might be like, they told the press to look up the Japanese launch of Leopard the previous night, which apparently had eager buyers lined up around the block. Then, clearly uncomfortable about saying too much, they said to contact company public-relations representatives instead and encouraged the press to test out the new operating system--it was already installed on all the demo computers at the store.

A few minutes later, reporters were informed that Apple retail employees had just been told not to speak to the press any more, until Leopard's launch at 6 p.m.

Meow.

(Credit: Apple)

After much speculation, Apple has confirmed that the next version of its Mac OS X operating system, "Leopard," will hit stores on Friday, October 26, at 6 p.m.

The company has stated that Leopard, which was delayed this spring due to the high-profile iPhone, includes more than 300 new features in comparison to its predecessor, Tiger.

Among these are an improved "dock" interface for easy access to applications, more robust parental controls, the Time Machine automatic-backup service and a redesigned Finder interface.

The operating system is set to cost $129 for a single-user license and $199 for a five-user "Family Pack" license.

In addition, Apple also plans to launch the Leopard version of its Mac OS X Server in conjunction with the standard version of the operating system. Included in this release of the Unix-compliant server software are a host of new features, including Podcast Producer, for automatically publishing audio to iTunes or the Web; Wiki Server, for collaborative Web site work; and iCal Server, for enterprise calendar management. The new OS X Server is set to cost $499 for a 10-client edition and $999 for an unlimited-client edition.

Apple's home page has been updated with a Leopard countdown clock. The online store is now accepting preorders--and meanwhile, the next iteration of the legendary Apple rumor mill is already rolling.

Over at Micropersuasion, Steve Rubel is making a bold prediction: The portals will be big winners in the social-networking wars.

"Social networking is certainly rising and there seems to be no end in sight to the phenomenon. However, what I do know is that people will jump around from one Myfaceborkutspace to another and not all of them will win," Rubel wrote.

He is referring to Long Tail author Chris Anderson, who points out that all good web sites should have elements of social networking and therefore suggests that social networking is a "feature, not a destination." Rubel believes that the portals' key advantage is that they "own the glue that keeps many of usconnected to our structured social networks (e.g. Myfaceborkutspace) and the looser ones--e.g. a personal network of contacts. And that glue is a trusted communication system that works with every person and social net."

That's true. You could also say that our buddy list is our social network, and we appreciate just plugging it into the most convenient and trusted network of our choice. Call it the "floating network." I therefore also agree with Rubel when he says, "No matter which social network(s) you participate in, even if you float, you're going to turn to your trusted communication system to manage it all. This will include any or all of the following: a) Web-based e-mail, b) instant messaging (which is nowadays integrated), c) RSS and d) telephony tools like Grand Central."

There are good reasons why there is a lot at stake for the traditional portals, and there are good reasons (Rubel names them) to predict they will not just sit back and watch the young social-networking sites own the game, especially now that business has begun facing up to social networks. And yet, I am hesitant to follow Rubel's prediction that the portals will have the upper hand in this conflict. In fact, I think he gets the conflict wrong.

I don't think this is as strict an antagonism as Rubel describes it, and I would even question the "war parties" as he identifies them: On the one side, the emerging social networks that are relentlessly trying to enhance the one main feature they're built upon ("making connections") into a platform. On the other side, the big portals, the AOLs, MSNs, Yahoos, that are seeking to operate more like social networks. This is an over-simplified showdown, for Rubel stages a competition where, in fact, we witness a co-evolution. The portals will adapt the best social-networking features, for example by activating the "dormant social networks" they own (see Yahoo Mash), and the social networks will adapt some of the portals' features; just yesterday AllFacebook and Paid Content speculated that Facebook is preparing to launch a music platform, either as a potential iTunes killer (according to AllFacebook) or a MySpace competitor (according to Paid Content).

However--and herein lies the major difference to Rubel's assumption--both social networks and portals are striving to eventually become something entirely different: the new operating system. Facebook is not shy about its intentions, and you could argue that it has already transformed the site into something much bigger than a social network.

It is a not a social-networking war; it is a race to become the de facto operating system for the social networker. And that is, of course, why Google, which is neither a social network nor a portal, is in the game too. The company is said to be feverishly working on "out-facebooking" Facebook by introducing a meta-platform that integrates not only a suite of Google services (like iGoogle, Gmail, Google Talk, Orkut, etc.) but is also 100 percent open to third-party developers--and other social networks. Google's recent acquisition of mobile social-network Zingku indicates that this uber-platform may have a strong mobile component and the long-rumored free, ad-based phone service. In other words, while social networks and portals are fighting the "social networking wars," Google may be winning the actual competition at hand: to become the dominant operating system for all of our communications. You can also call it the World Wide Web.

The Globalization Institute, a Brussels-based European Union think tank, has recommended the EU require all PCs to be sold without preloaded operating systems such as Microsoft Windows.

There is no reason why computer operating systems could not follow the same model as computer hard drives and processors, which comply with standards that allow for broad compatibility as well as competition in the market, said the report, which was submitted to the EU's regulatory body, the European Commission.

Such a policy would lead to increased competition and innovation in the area of computer operating systems, something the Globalization Institute report said it believes the EU is looking for.

"For two decades, Microsoft has enjoyed monopolistic power in the operating system market. The Competition Commissioner has signaled the desire to see more competition in this sector. Unbundling would foster a competitive market, increase consumer choice and reduce prices," said the Globalization Institute report (click here for PDF).

The signal the institute refers to is the September 17, 2007, ruling in which the EU's Court of First Instance upheld commission rulings requiring Microsoft to share certain technical specifications with rivals and to offer customers an unbundled option in cases where Microsoft has tied together two separate products. The court ruling also upheld a $613 million antitrust fine against Microsoft that had been imposed by the European Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes.

Japan's economy, trade and industry ministry is planning to develop a standard operating system for car electronics, according to a leading Japanese newspaper.

Among the major manufacturers signing on to the development project are Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Toshiba, Yomiuri Shimbun reported Monday.

The group's goal is to have a prototype by 2009.

Just as computer operating systems, such as Windows Vista, allow multiple applications to communicate with one another, an automotive operating system enables different driving systems to work together. The standard automotive operating system from Japan will include everything from fuel injection, brakes and power steering to power windows.

Currently, certain mechanical car parts are interchangeable from model to model. Smart car parts that operate off a common software standard would enable that kind of convenience to continue, while allowing them to communicate more easily with other smart components in a car.

While self-driving cars, such as those being developed for , are still quite some time away from consumers, self-parking cars are a reality.

A standard operating system that pervades multiple car brands would make it easier for developers, component manufactures and automakers to incorporate more sophisticated driving systems like self-parking into multiple car models.

Big Blue has already been investing in the eventuality of cars needing more sophisticated communications and operating systems. Last September, IBM signed a deal with Magna International, a company that makes smart car parts. IBM would not comment on details at the time, but did say its partnership would help to produce cars that use multiple sensory and metric input to self-brake if a driver does not react in time.

There is no indication as to which automotive operating system the Japanese consortium will be going with.

Several European automakers and component developers including BMW, Bosch, DaimlerChrysler, Siemens and Volkswagen use the operating system OSEK which includes communication and network tools.