News in Powertop 2.0 include a new tab-based interface that gives you more detailed information on power consumption in real time. The reports generated are available in both the formats html5 for direct publishing on the web or a comma-separated file (CSV) for further processing.

Powertop used to see how a computer behaves both as it is running and when the power management features are used. The source code for Powertop can be downloaded from the project website. Over time, it will find its way into the usual software libraries for your Linux distribution.

Those who do not like Unity can instead choose Gnome 3.2 which incidentally will go live this week.

The server version of Ubuntu 11:10 comes with a new framework for management of virtual machines linked to the cloud. The software is called Orchestra. 11:10 Ubuntu comes with version 3.0.4 of the Linux kernel. Ubuntu is released every six months, but a proposal is under discussion on increasing the frequency significantly.

At any rate, now t Linux 3.0 is out, but it is not completely devoid of news. The Xen virtualization engine should now be fully integrated in the Linux kernel instead of as previously deployed as a completely separate fix. This makes it much easier for system administrators to choose between Xen and its rival Kvm. Kvm has been distributed with the Linux kernel since version 2.6.20, which came out 2007.

The btrfs file system (better file system) is also seeing more improvements. Among other things, btrfs offers support for automatic defragmentation. The fall version of Fedora (16) is planning to use btrfs as standard which ensures that the file system will find its way into Red Hat Enterprise Linux in the long run. Btrfs is in RHEL today but is still classed as experimental.

With the Linux 3.0 release Linux for real-time systems takes a giant step forward. Real-time Linux, as before Xen, is a separate project that delivers a software fix which must be applied retroactively. Real-time Linux has previously built code adapted for Linux 2.6.33, but will now step forward to Linux 3.0. Real-time Linux is used in the deterministic system in which an operation must be guaranteed to be performed within a certain period. Systems using Real-time Linux has lower average performance than standard Linux, but performance is on the other hand, very smooth with no periods of slow response times.

One of the biggest contributors to Linux 3.0 is unexpectedly Microsoft, which takes a fifth place in the number of changes contributed. Microsoft is only surpassed by Red Hat, Intel, Novell and IBM. Microsoft’s contribution is to upgrade the Linux kernel for Microsoft’s virtualization engine Hyper-V. Linux 3.0 will eventually find its way into all the major popular Linux distributions such as the upcoming versions of Ubuntu and Fedora.

The computer, which also is one of the world’s smallest, is still at the prototype stage, but Raspberry think they may be for sale within a year. The OS is a stripped down version of Ubuntu 9.04. The computer should be able to run 1080p displays, capable of OpenGL and even touchscreens.

The price is just for the bare necessities though. You will have to “upgrade” it with a keyboard, monitor and USB hub, but the sticker price away is nevertheless the lowest we’ve seen so far. According to the Foundation these little machines are targeted for schools and institutes.

Via Linux Devices

In opensuse you can choose from several window managers, including KDE Plasma desktop 4.6.1, Gnome 2:32, Xfce 4.8 and LXDE. FreeType in openSUSE 11.4 will provide better-looking  fonts. Opensuse 11.4 will also come with a preview of Gnome 3 due later this spring.

Like other Linux distributions opensuse has swapped Open Office for LibreOffice 3.3.1. Several openSUSE developers are active in the community for Libre Office. Libre Office can handle svg images and supports up to a million rows in the spreadsheet portion of the program.Moreover, Opensuse comes with the latest beta of Firefox 4 which has a new look and is faster overall. Opensuse writes on its website that the rendering engine in Firefox 4 uses hardware acceleration where possible. There’s also for HTML5.

Program Management will also be speeded up considerably since updates are now available for download from several servers simultaneously, and only changes in the files downloaded are transferred.

One of the other major changes is project Tumbleweed. Tumbleweed has to be activated and gives you access to major software updates as they become ready. This means that you do not have to wait until the next version of openSUSE is released to get new software versions.

Adobe has released a warning about a new critical vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player, which has been used in targeted attacks. Adobe is now working on an update that should close the security hole.

The security hole is found in the latest version of Adobe Flash Player, which in recent years has been plagued by serious security holes and has been seen as taking candy from kids for the computer criminals. They have used Adobe vulnerabilities in browsers and operating systems with limited control over security.

For people who dream of buying an iPAD or an Android tablet, one thing is now clear – there is considerably more horsepower under the bonnet of the next generation.

File System Access

In all its simplicity the handling of files in tablets is far from optimal. This has ended in a mishmash of files transferred via iTunes, in the dropbox, photos and videos in the gallery and third-party solutions. The operating system should handle this better.

Better multitasking

This is one of the reasons you can not work effectively on either iOS or Android. It is not as easy to switch between applications. You should be able to constantly switch between applications and copy and paste content easily from one to the other.

No Cables

The first thing the iPad asks for is to be connected to a computer. The iPad would be able to replace the computer completely for many people if it were not for this. As it is now you need a computer to have an iPad.

Flash

The better solution would be HTML5, but right now you miss much on the web if you do not have flash. But we nees flash that works. Flash requires too much of the machine. So even though some small machines supports flash on paper it will stop and/or stutter when you want to use it in the real world. The responsibility rests on both Adobe and those who develop tablets.

Proper updates in the background

Too many applications will begin downloading content when you start them; RSS readers, magazines and other applications that require fresh content are not updated and ready when they start. The same applies to updating applications.

It should be a simple setting where you could tell the device to update itself automatically if certain criteria are met.

Seamless connection to other devices

It is embarrassing for Apple, Microsoft, Google and all the others that we are running around with memory sticks to transfer files between computers. And that you must enter the IP address or be on the same WLAN to quickly dump the images from the iPhone to the iPad.

The latest version should be much more stable than the previous test version of the browser that was released just over a week ago. Performance should also be improved significantly.

Firefox 4 for Android supports syncing bookmarks, passwords and open tabs if the user also uses the latest version of Firefox 4 on other computesr.

The latest beta of Firefox 4 for Android available for download from firefox.com, or download the browser from the Android Market.

Here are parts of the agreement:

“The Application must not include software, documentation, or other materials that, in whole or in part, are governed by or subject to an Excluded License, or that would otherwise cause the Application to be subject to the terms of an Excluded License.”

“Excluded Licenses include, but are not limited to the GPLv3 Licenses. For the purpose of this definition, “GPLv3 Licenses” means the GNU General Public License version 3, the GNU Affero General Public License version 3, the GNU Lesser General Public License version 3, and any equivalents to the foregoing.”

This comes from Red Hat’s open source prophet Jan Wildeboer who has looked into the agreement. Jan emphasizes that he is not a lawyer and that the blog reflects his own personal opinions. All open licenses are not prohibited, however. BSD, MIT/X11, the Apache license and Microsoft’s own MS-PL (permissive license) is fine to use.