You can now sign up to test Steam for Linux, with Valve announcing an open Beta of the client. Valve is looking for users with generally high experience with Linux, so don't expect the Beta to be click-and-run. Interested users with Ubuntu 12.04 (and above) can sign up here. Steam for Linux targets Ubuntu, and the company plans to launch the platform with Left 4 Dead 2 with SteamPlay enabled, porting other Valve titles later.

Next week ASUS will be rekindling the netbook flame with the release of the F201E trio. The F201E models feature a 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) display, a 1.1 GHz Intel Celeron 847 processor, 2/4 GB of RAM, a 320/500 GB hard drive, a 0.3-megapixel webcam, a 3-in-1 card reader, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, one USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports, and a 5,200 mAh battery enabling up to 5 hours of operation.

The cheapest of the F201E lot, priced at €299, runs Ubuntu and has 4 GB of RAM and a 500 GB HDD. The same specs, paired up with Windows 8, cost €359. Last but not least, there's a €329 model with 2 GB of RAM and a 320 GB hard drive.

Canonical today announces the desktop version of Ubuntu 12.10, the latest release of the popular open source operating system, will be available for public download on the 18th October 2012. As part of Canonical's objective to make all content easier to access, Ubuntu 12.10 introduces innovations that bring together desktop and cloud-based experiences, representing the next stage in the transition to a multi-device, cloud-based world.

When searching for documents in the Ubuntu 12.10 Dash, for example, users can see results from online services like Google Drive, as well as files saved on their hard drives. The Online Accounts feature allows authentication to online sites so that content like photos from Flickr accounts and contacts from Facebook can all be searched instantly by the Dash. The Dash can also search both paid and free content from Amazon and the Ubuntu One Music Store such as music, videos or any product be it digital or physical. The results are displayed in a separate section labelled, 'More Suggestions'.

FXI announced today that the highly anticipated Cstick Cotton Candy any screen microcomputer development platform has passed CE and FCC certification and is available now for sale and immediate delivery to global software, hardware and system developers.

"The demand for Cotton Candy as a platform for mobile enterprise clients, mobile entertainment systems or as a generic computer within a wide range of industry niches including security, health, public sector, digital signage, etc. has been enormous," said Borgar Ljosland, FXI CEO. "These companies wish to provide a secure, mobile computing experience that meets their unique brand profile within a custom and controlled computing environment."

Valve's hit online multiplayer game, Left 4 Dead 2, which was recently ported to Ubuntu along with the Steam client, is found to play faster on the platform than even Windows. The game generates higher frame-rates on Ubuntu with the new OpenGL renderer for Source engine than the Direct3D renderer it uses on Windows.

The disclosure comes as part of Valve's ongoing efforts to optimize the Source engine to the Linux platform, following which, it plans to port more of its game franchises, such as Half Life, Counter Strike, Team Fortress, and Portal. The games will be available on Ubuntu with SteamPlay, allowing users who already own a license for the Windows or Mac OS X versions to simply download and play the game on Ubuntu, without any purchases.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient computing platforms, today announced the VIA VAB-800 Pico-ITX embedded ARM board. Featuring a choice of an 800MHz or a 1GHz Freescale ARM Cortex-A8 processor, the VIA VAB-800 combines a wide operating temperature range with extremely low power consumption to meet the demands of high-end industrial and in-vehicle fanless embedded applications.

Based on the industry standard 10 cm x 7.2 cm Pico-ITX form factor created by VIA, the VIA VAB-800 Pico-ITX board combines a rich I/O set with superb multimedia performance, supporting playback of the most demanding video formats in resolutions up to 1080p. Leveraging VIA's hardware design expertise, the VIA VAB-800 delivers the highest I/O integration on the Pico-ITX form factor for an ultra compact yet highly flexible platform for the latest embedded devices.

Valve announced porting of its Steam content-distribution platform, Source game engine, and the smash-hit multi-player game title Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2), to Ubuntu (Linux). The port isn't exactly straightforward, as code has to be rewritten for OpenGL. Valve already accomplished most of this, with its Mac OS X port, which uses the same API.

Valve is targeting just one distribution at this time, to minimize "optimization" overheads. Derivatives such as Mint could run the platform just fine. Valve's immediate goals are to get the Steam client to work on Ubuntu with full functionality, launching Steam for Linux with L4D2 (thanks to SteamPlay, gamers with L4D2 on Windows can play it on Ubuntu without additional purchases); and optimizing L4D2 to get additional frame-rates on Ubuntu. Valve is also work to get its other titles ported to Ubuntu.

There is light in the end of the tunnel for proponents of a native-Linux version of Valve's Steam platform, as a Steam for Linux is just months away, according to a Phoronix report. Linux has been hiring developers with experience in Linux OpenGL applications for some time now, and the gearwheels at Valve have been able to drive out an early version of Left 4 Dead 2 that was seen running native on Linux (Ubuntu 11.10), without translation layers such as Wine, utilizing the OpenGL API, with the ICD provided by AMD Catalyst. Although first denied in 2010, Valve is back to the idea of Steam for Linux, thanks to its "flat" company structure that lacks a hierarchy. Following the footsteps of Steam for Mac, Valve could port some of its games to Linux, and give the client SteamPlay capability.

Portland-based CTL Corp. has recently launched its very first Ubuntu-based laptop, the business-oriented MB40U which features a 14.1-inch (1366 x 768) LED-backlit display, Sandy Bridge power, and runs the latest Ubuntu release, version 11.10 aka Oneiric Ocelot.

CTL's Ubuntu-flavored notebook is equipped with a Core i3/i5/i7 processor, up to 8 GB of RAM, up to a 500 GB hard drive or an SSD with a capacity of up to 512 GB, Intel HD integrated graphics, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n/ WiFi, Bluetooth, a 3-in-1 card reader, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, D-Sub and HDMI outputs, and a 6-cell battery enabling up to 5 hours of use per charge.

The MB40U starts at $449 and can be found here.

VMware, Inc., the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today announced the availability of new VMware View Clients for Kindle Fire, Mac and Linux, along with updates to its popular VMware View Clients for Android and iPad. Available today as technology previews, the new VMware View Clients for Mac and Linux allow IT organizations to empower more agile, productive and connected workforce or school communities by enabling an easy to access, high fidelity desktop virtualization experience optimized for the device of their choice.

"More and more people want the freedom to choose the device that best fits their computing needs in school and into the workplace," said Pat Lee, director, end user clients, VMware. "With the new VMware View Clients, both IT and end users win with a complete, secure and easily-accessible virtual desktop on the devices that best meet their needs."

Norwegian company FXI aims to grab some attention with its latest creation, the Cotton Candy. Simply put, this is a thumb drive-sized device that either plugs into a PC/notebook using USB, or a TV/display using HDMI, and works as a cloud-client computer. In its tiny form of 8 x 2.5 cm (L x W), this cloud-client packs an ARM Cortex-A9 1.20 GHz dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, ARM Mali-400MP quad-core GPU, a micro-SDHC card reader, and connectivity that includes Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, WiFi b/g/n, and USB; stuff high-end smartphones are made of.

You can simply plug this to your HDTV, connect wireless keyboard and mouse that support Bluetooth or WiFi, and end up with a cloud-ready desktop powered by either Android or Ubuntu. You can even connect your Android smartphone to it and use its touchscreen as an input device. With your more powerful desktop or notebook, you can simply plug Cotton Candy to a USB port and boot from it (like you'd boot from a flash drive). The OS loads up, and you have your cloud desktop ready to go. Besides its compact form, Cotton Candy weighs as little as 21 grams. It is expected to be priced under US $200.

AMD today announced the availability of the ATI Stream Software Development Kit (SDK) v2.2 with full OpenCL 1.1 support to provide developers with the tools they need to build incredible next-generation applications. By taking advantage of both CPU and GPU processing power in a given system, applications like 3D video, HD video chat and multi-display 3D gaming are possible.

A development platform created by AMD, the ATI Stream SDK v2.2 brings a wide range of tools to the developer community including support for OpenCL 1.1, in addition to Ubuntu 10.04 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5. This updated development platform empowers the developer community to accelerate applications on the CPU and GPU quickly and efficiently. The new version is available for download here.

Dell today announced the highly adaptable OptiPlex XE desktop PC for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and retail environments. Designed to withstand challenging conditions such as high heat, dust and 24x7 operations, the OptiPlex XE delivers on Dell's commitment to purpose-built solutions more directly connected with customer needs. The system is easily placed within medical carts, video rental kiosks, retail point-of-sale (POS) solutions and other custom deployments that require easy remote management and long-term system stability options.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA M'SERV S2100: a compact and versatile server system suitable for a range of applications for SOHO and SMB customers. Available to OEM customers, the VIA M'SERV S2100 is a mere 10.2" long by 4.7" high and provides up to four terabytes of storage in a stylish, compact, low power and low noise system.

The VIA M'SERV S2100 is the first product of its kind to offer the unique advantages of the high-performance, 64-bit VIA Nano processor. This makes the VIA M'SERV S2100 capable of addressing many traditional and next-generation server applications including sophisticated backup, cloud-intermediary service roles along with other storage oriented server applications such as NVR (Network Video Recorder) systems and Log servers.

Active Media Products (AMP), manufacturer of SSDs and WWF series USB drives, today announced immediate availability of a bootable Linux USB (BLU) drive that is compatible with Windows 7 and benefits WWF. These new penguin BLU drives are preloaded with the full installation of Ubuntu Linux 9.0.4.

BLU drives allow booting into Ubuntu Linux from the USB drive regardless of what operating system is installed on the hard drive. Because the hard drive will still be fully accessible when booting from the BLU drive, it's an excellent disaster recovery solution in the event of problems with the operating system on the primary hard drive, because important data files on the hard drive can be backed up onto the BLU drive or another USB storage device.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced its entry into the design manufacturing service business to offer provide flexible system hardware solutions, starting with the new VIA NSD7200 home storage and media server.

Building on its success as a pioneer of system level innovation in small form factor and IPC markets, VIA can provide OEM and ODM customers with customized versions of home and SOHO storage platforms targeting specific markets. By combining energy-efficient processor platforms and high quality chassis designs with a full design manufacturing service and comprehensive engineering support, VIA enables customers to more accurately address the needs of system integrators and retailers by speeding up product cycles and reducing production costs.

Standing up against an almost unassailable domination of x86 machine architecture, even in the ULPC segment, ARM showcased netbooks based on processors such as Freescale iMX515 and Qualcomm Snapdragon. The processors, ARM claims, are capable to run 720p HD video, and operate at speeds of up to 1 GHz. The best way ARM sees to compete with x86, is to support operating systems that run on it, such as Linux.

The growth and propagation of Ubuntu seems to be a good opportunity to cash on. ARM is reportedly working with Canonical to devise a full-featured ARM-supportive variant of Ubuntu. Meanwhile, Adobe has announced that it is working on an ARM-supportive Flash 10 plugin. Ubuntu's ARM edition should be out by April, by when we can get realistic figures about ARM netbooks' performance. The netbooks will be priced in the US $250 range and are expected to start selling from June. A video covering the presentation can be viewed here.

Ubuntu's contribution to propagating Linux to the client platforms (general desktop/notebook) is invaluable. Its developers are known to codename major builds of the OS after animals. An upcoming version, 9.10 has been codenamed "Karmic Koala", after the cute and cuddly animal from south-east Australia. Going by Ubuntu's six-month development cycle, 9.10 should follow 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" slated for this April, and should be coming out by October.

The new client-version is expected to be netbook-friendly, with having significantly lower boot times. The target booting time for 9.04 is 25 seconds, while the developers hope to improve that figure further with 9.10. The developers will be integrating features from Intel's Moblin platform in order to improve performance on Atom-based devices. The Server Edition based on Ubuntu, which is steadily gaining in adoption, yet lagging behind offerings from market heavyweights such as Red Hat and Novell, will also get its share of improvements, one of the most important of them being enhanced support for cloud-computing.

Now that Intel's Atom is on top of the netbook processor market, while VIA and AMD are trying to compete somehow, it appears that a fourth chip maker is going to enter the netbook business and try to give Intel's Atom architecture a run for its money. ARM and Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, are co-operating to make Ubuntu Desktop operating system that will run well with ARM's ARMv7 processor architecture. This will enable new Linux netbooks and hybrid computers to enter the market.
"The release of a full Ubuntu desktop distribution supporting latest ARM technology will enable rapid growth, with internet everywhere, connected ultra portable devices," said Ian Drew, vice president of Marketing, ARM. "The always-on experience available with mobile devices is rapidly expanding to new device categories such as netbooks, laptops and other internet connected products. Working with Canonical will pave the way for the development of new features and innovations to all connected platforms."
This version of the Ubuntu Desktop operating system will handle the ARM Cortex-A8 and Cortex-A9 processor-based systems. The final Ubuntu ARM distribution will debut in April 2009. Now we only need volunteers to choose ARM and Linux for their netbooks.

Canonical Ltd. announced the upcoming availability of Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop Edition for free download on 30 October. In related news, Canonical also announced the simultaneous release of Ubuntu 8.10 Server Edition.

Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop Edition is designed for the pervasively connected digital lifestyle. With new 3G network support, users can move smoothly from wired and WiFi networks onto 3G cellphone networks while traveling. Ubuntu 8.10 is also built to be shared - users can start a quick "guest session" on the fly and let someone use their computer to surf the web or check email, while maintaining the security and integrity of their own data. And if that person really enjoys their brief session as an Ubuntu guest, they can put Ubuntu on any USB key and take it home to install on their own computer rather than having to burn a CD.

This is a warning to all Linux users that are currently using the latest Ubuntu OS. Reports claim that some users may damage their Intel network adapters using Ubuntu's latest 2.6.27-rc kernel. Although this is an alpha release and bugs are expected, it might even damage your hardware to a state where you can't repair your NIC. In bug #263555 posted on the bugs.launchpad.net experts say: "In some circumstances it appears possible for the 2.6.27-rc kernels to corrupt the NVRAM used by some Intel network parts to store data such as MAC addresses. This is limited to the new e1000e driver, and reports have only appeared from users of "82566 and 82567 based LAN parts (ich8 and ich9)". The reports seem to be isolated to laptops, but it is not clear if this is because desktop/server parts are not vulnerable, or if use cases simply increase the chances of laptop users being hit. Once this corruption has occurred, recovery may be possible via a BIOS update, but may well require replacement of the hardware. Use of Intel's IABUTIL.EXE is strongly discouraged, as it will worsen the problem to the point where the network part will no longer appear on the PCI bus."

The newest Ubuntu Linux release, code named "Hardy Heron" and officially called Ubuntu 8.04 LTS is now available for download in two versions - Desktop and Server. The "LTS" version of Ubuntu means long-term support - 3 years for desktop versions and 5 years for server versions. Please refer to the release notes for more information.

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After four Alpha releases, the first Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Long-Term Support) beta has been released. Codenamed "Hardy Heron", 8.04 LTS comes in two versions: desktop and server edition. These new Linux-based distributions sport a number of application and file browsing improvements, as well as the Wubi installer: a new Windows-based installer which allows users to install and uninstall Ubuntu like any other Windows application. Please see the release notes for details.

DOWNLOAD: Ubuntu 8.04 Beta

Ubuntu and Red Hat are the most used Linux distributions among the 35,000 members of content-management vendor Alfresco's community, the company found in its second survey of trends in enterprise open-source software usage. The surveys help inform Alfresco's technology strategy, according to Ian Howells, Alfresco's chief marketing officer. "It's important for us to know which platforms to test against first," he said, adding, "It's in users' interest to give us good data." Among Linux operating systems, usage of Ubuntu and Red Hat stood at 35 percent and 23 percent, respectively, according to the survey. Suse, OpenSuse and Suse Enterprise collectively garnered 13 percent; Debian, 15 percent; and "other" distributions usage of 14 percent. Users also reported using a variety of proprietary enterprise software. Among Windows users, Vista adoption was just 2 percent, compared to 63 percent for Windows XP and 28 percent for Windows Server 2003.

More laptop computers preloaded with Ubuntu Linux are coming from Dell in response to demand from potential customers around the world. Starting today, customers in Germany, United Kingdom, France and now Spain can purchase Ubuntu Linux 7.10 with built-in DVD playback on the XPS 1330n, in addition to the previously-released Inspiron 530n desktop system. The offer will also be available for U.S. customers after one week.