fidzu : Operating Systems

Video game consoles have a long history with web browsers. From the advent of the World Wide Web, consoles have been trying to get online. Browsers on video game consoles were initially very much an attempt to provide a cheap gateway to the web for a casual audience lacking technical expertise, though as time progressed they've become a greater and more integrated part of systems. This article takes a look at browsers on video game consoles in detail, though only covers official web browsers. Many consoles have browsers installable via custom firmware and homebrew, but they're beyond the scope of this post, as are non-web systems such as Satellaview and online services that didn't provide a browser, such as XBAND, Sega Meganet, and Sega Channel. ↫ Declan Chidlow The article starts off with the Philips CD-I, which has always been a fascinating product for technology fans in The Netherlands because that's where Philips is from. Memory that far back is untrustworthy, but I can definitely remember being inundated with commercials, advertising, magazine articles, and newspaper reports about the CD-I, all throughout its rather troubled life. Yet, I don't remember anything about it being capable of browsing a rudimentary web. Of course, we're talking 1995 here, a time when I didn't even have internet at home yet, although I did use the web at a friend's place at that time. We didn't get internet at home until I think 1997 or 1998, followed by the move to broadband cable internet just a year later, since our small rural town happened to be one of the first places to get broadband. Good times. Did anyone ever actually use browsers on consoles, though? I mean, using them always felt incredibly clunky, and by the time they were capable enough to really do anything we all had laptops and later smartphones anyway. I certainly don't remember anyone using them for anything but a gimmick, but perhaps my sample size was far too small and not diverse enough.

11 Jun 2026 5:38pm GMT

With the announcement of an upcoming new macOS release also come the usual changes in which Macs will still be supported. MacOS 27 Golden Gate is an important release in this regard, as it will be the first release of Apple's desktop operating system that will be entirely ARM-only, dropping support for all Intel Macs. It's important to note that Apple will provide three more years of security updates for the final Intel release of macOS, so Intel users won't be dropped like a brick immediately. Still, the Intel Mac Pro was still being sold all the way up until mid-2023, and I'd be royally pissed off if my expensive 2023 Intel Mac went out of support a mere six years after purchase. They weren't cheap machines, and while you can argue everybody knew the writing was on the wall for the Intel Mac Pro in 2023, it still feels way too short of a supported lifespan for such an expensive, high-end piece of equipment. It didn't sell many units, I'm sure, but still. In addition, MacOS 27 will be the last release to include the Rosetta 2 translation layer that allows Intel binaries to run on ARM macOS. I have no idea how many important applications are still Intel-only, but I have a feeling that number is going to be relatively small, and will become even smaller as the first macOS release without Rosetta 2 support nears release. On top op of that, I'm sure enterprising users will find a way to transplant Rosetta 2 onto unsupported macOS releases, and if all else fails, there's always virtual machines.

11 Jun 2026 2:13pm GMT

Apple recently announced its next crack at integrating "AI" into its operating systems, this time opting to simply whitelabel Google's Gemini "AI" tools instead of developing its own LLM technology. Called "Siri AI", Apple also stated it's not coming to the EU, and the company stated that's because the EU's basic consumer protection legislation would give other "AI" tools "unprecedented access" to user data on users' devices. The company made a big stink about this in the press. As anyone with basic pattern recognition skills already knew, this was a blatant, baldfaced lie. What really happened is that Apple asked the EU for an 18-month long exemption from the EU's consumer protection and privacy legislation during which it would not have to comply with any legal privacy and interoperability requirements - just so it could roll out Siri "AI" before anyone else could offer a competing product for Apple users. Obviously, the EU wasn't going to grant such an exemption. "The decision not to roll out Siri AI in the EU is Apple's and Apple's only," spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters in Brussels, saying there was nothing in the Digital Markets Act to stop the company from introducing new products in the EU. "Apple was simply unable to develop interoperability solutions that meet essential EU ​privacy and security standards," Regnier said. "Instead ​of trying to find ⁠a suitable compliance solution, Apple simply made a request to the European Commission to be exempted from their interoperability obligations under the DMA - and this for at least 18 months. ​That's not an option," Regnier said. ↫ Inti Landauro and Foo Yun Chee at Reuters So what's really going on here is that Apple wants to offer a set of whitelabeled Google Gemini tools on iOS and macOS in the EU, but because Apple is classified as a gatekeeper, it is legally obligated to offer interoperability options for competing "AI" tools. These options in turn need to adhere to the EU's strict privacy regulations, so that competing "AI" tools can offer the same level of privacy that Apple's own whitelabeled Google Gemini tools claim to offer. Apple didn't want to offer these privacy-respecting interoperability options as required by law, so instead of following the law in the countries it wants to operate in, Apple asked to be placed above the law for at least 18 months, basically giving Siri "AI" a massive head-start over possible competitors so that it could entrench itself in the userbase. The EU saw right through Apple's nonsense, and now called them out on their bullshit. Perhaps Apple has gotten so used to openly bribing Trump that they forgot other parts of the world don't work that way. Whenever Apple and its PR attack dogs say anything about the EU, you can be assured they are lying. They have proven time and time again to basically never speak a single word of truth when it comes to its dealings in the EU. It's almost pathological at this point, and what makes it doubly interesting is that Apple will not launch Siri "AI" in China either, for the very same regulatory reasons - yet all China got was a single footnote in a press release. I wonder why.

10 Jun 2026 11:12pm GMT

For a while now the transition away from Manifest V2 (MV2) to MV3 has been on-going and it looks like it is entering its final phase of deprecation, at least, in the case of Google Chrome. A recent discussion thread in the w3c WebExtensions Community Group GitHub repo has highlighted how the latest and upcoming versions of the most popular browser are expected to be its final releases with support for MV2 extensions. ↫ Sayan Sen at Neowin You shouldn't be using Chrome anyway.

10 Jun 2026 10:46pm GMT

On a related note, what about a raycasting first-person shooter written in… COBOL? Can you think of a better programming language than COBOL to implement an FPS from scratch? I know I can't, so buckle up and enjoy what can only be described as an out-of-body experience for COBOL enthusiasts as I set out to make a Wolfenstein3D-like raycasting based FPS game (and potentially go a bit further than that, hopefully it's not a DOOMed attempt). ↫ icitry on YouTube I don't link to YouTube videos very often, but there's always the exception that proves the rule. The COBOL code's available on GitHub. What a mad man.

10 Jun 2026 7:37pm GMT

My goal was to build a complete, shippable first-person shooter using techniques that were common in the early 90s, while allowing myself the luxury of using a modern compiler and a platform abstraction layer. ↫ Marko Stanic It looks amazing already, and it isn't even done. Stanic goes into great detail explaining how he created the various assets for the game, and it's a joy to read through his creative process and problem-solving routines. The game's called Catlantean 3D, and is expected to ship somewhere early 2027.

10 Jun 2026 7:26pm GMT

Microsoft has detailed that Windows 11 is going to switch away from dedicated printer drivers to its Windows Ready Print system. This should make it a lot easier and less cumbersome to get printers running on Windows 11. At the core of Windows Ready Print is a transition away from legacy, third party drive-based workflows toward modern, standards-based printing with IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) using the Windows inbox IPP printer driver. Starting in July 2026, new printer installations will default to Windows Ready Print where supported, enabling a simpler and more reliable setup experience. This change reduces the need for traditional driver management and lays the foundation for a more scalable and predictable print experience. ↫ elliesekine at the Windows Tech Community Printers still play a huge role in our lives - whether we like it or not - and their terrible user experience is basically a meme a this point. Making at least one aspect of printing easier, less cumbersome, and more streamlined is incredibly welcome, and I'm glad Microsoft is taking the Windows printing ecosystem along for the ride on this one. My own personal experience with printing on Linux and now on Windows 11 (as promised, I've been using nothing but Windows 11 since 26 May!) has been mostly effortless already. Our cheap networked printer/scanner/combo thing from HP "just works" on both Linux and Windows 11, since Windows downloads HP's drivers and application automatically when detecting the printer on the network. Still, not having to use HP's driver would be a nice bonus. Coincidentally, I also managed to get the printer component of our HP combo thing working on… HP-UX 11i v1. Despite being more than two decades newer, our HP printer works perfectly with a printer definition file included in HP-UX, giving me full printing from CDE and the rest of HP-UX. It's entirely useless and cost me an evening of my life, but seeing the test page and other documents from HP-UX come out of our printer, over the network, put a big smile on my face.

10 Jun 2026 7:14pm GMT

It's just a ruling from a lower court, but it sets the stage for how European courts are going to deal with the question of who is liable for whatever slop "AI" generates. The Regional Court of Munich hit Google with a temporary injunction barring the company from spreading false claims about two Munich-based publishers through its AI-generated search overviews (case no. 26 O 869/26). The court classified Google as a direct infringer because the "AI overview" is its own content, not just a list of search results. Google's AI overviews had falsely tied two publishing companies to scams, subscription traps, and shady business practices for certain search queries. According to the court, the AI mixed up information about other, genuinely sketchy companies with the plaintiffs and drew connections that didn't appear in any of the linked sources. The publishers sent Google a cease-and-desist letter, but Google didn't respond appropriately. ↫ Matthias Bastian at The Decoder Google tried to argue it doesn't carry any responsibility or liability for whatever slop its "AI" generate, but the German court does not agree. According to the court, "AI" overviews are not the same as regular search results, because they rewrite findings and just make shit up, thereby making claims that are nowhere to be found in any search results (or in reality in general). Furthermore, the court states that Google develops the "AI", it runs it, it offers it to users, and Google alone controls its output, and as such, Google is liable for whatever their "AI" produces. Google also tried to argue that users know not to trust anything an "AI" produces, which is hilarious considering how hard Google is pushing these tools, but the courts state that the ability of users to do further research does not absolve Google of liability. In addition, the court made it very clear that free speech protections absolutely do not apply, because the "AI" expressions are coming from an algorithm, not a person, and are above all an expression of Google's business activities". In other words, if an "AI" tool generates false accusations and misleading statements, the creator of said "AI" is liable. With this ruling in hand, countless other people have a stronger case to make whenever Google or any other company tries to absolve itself from liability from slop just because a pachinko machine generated it. Excellent news, and the only fair outcome.

10 Jun 2026 2:45pm GMT

When it comes to 80s computer brands, few flew as high as Eagle Computer flew in 1983. The aptly named company was selling 12,000 computers a month and had been doubling sales every quarter under the leadership of a talented CEO. Then Eagle lost its CEO, Dennis Barnhart, in a crashed Ferrari on the day of its IPO, June 8, 1983. In this blog post, we'll explore the reasons Eagle Computer fell, because there was more to it than just the tragic story involving its CEO. ↫ Dave Farquhar Just one of the many early PC companies that died off, even if Eagle died off before many of the other big players. It must've been such a vibrant and fascinating time to be into PCs and computers in general at that time, with so many companies and players to choose from. Shame about the 308 GTS.

10 Jun 2026 2:21pm GMT

A new logo means new merch! I'm launching brand new merch today, all featuring the brand new OSNews logo. We've got the classic T-shirt with the new OSNews logo, in sandy white and terrain grey. They're made from sustainably-grown and processed cotton, come in a variety of sizes, and ship worldwide. The crowdpleaser is also making its triumphant return: the OSNews coffee mug, now also with the new logo and a green-on-white two-tone design. It holds coffee and tea, of course, but feel free to use it for whatever you want. Grow a plant in it! A newcomer is the OSNews Mousepad - a basic, no-nonsense, no-frills mousepad that does exactly what it's supposed to do, in a classic square(ish) formfactor. It makes for a great companion to any (retro) setup, but feels particularly at home with BeOS and OS/2. One merch item remains from our previous collection: the ever-popular Gemini shirt and longsleeve, with a retro ASCII-art OSNews logo in bright green on deep black. It's like staring at a real classic CRT. On your chest. Don't sit too close. As always, every price is set so that for every item sold, roughly €8 goes to OSNews. I will add the proceeds to our fundraiser tracker, so this is yet another way to support us, together with Ko-Fi donations, SEPA direct bank transfers, and Patreon.

09 Jun 2026 8:40pm GMT

In today's climate, I needed this: GentleOS, an operating system targeting both 386 (GentleOS/32) and even processors as old as the 80186 (GentleOS/16), with a lovely retro graphical user interface, usable on bare metal, and, of course, open source. Its goal is to provide a simple platform for tinkering with retro hardware and running graphical interactive apps on bare metal. At minimum, it only requires an i386 CPU, 4MB of RAM, and a VGA display capable of 640x480x16 mode. By design it's entirely monolithic, mostly configured at compile time, and only supports standard PC devices: VGA/SVGA, keyboard, PS/2 mouse, serial mouse, PC speaker. The only future plans are bugfixes, optimizations, and adding more apps. GentleOS/32 has a pure 16-bit spin-off called GentleOS/16, which targets devices as old as 80186. ↫ GentleOS GitHub page While it can be run on real hardware, you can also run it in Qemu to make it easier to test and play around with. It looks great, and the stated goal of just focusing on maintenance and possibly additional applications is music to my heart. With everything that's going on in technology today, this is an ice-cold glass of tonic in a scorching, data center-infested desert.

08 Jun 2026 9:26pm GMT

Apple's developer conference started today, and as is tradition, this means it also announced coming updates to its operating systems lineup. macOS is probably one of the two major ones OSNews readers are interested in, so let's start there: Much like Mac OS X Snow Leopard in 2009, Apple said it focused on improving macOS's performance and dozens of underlying technologies this year. macOS Golden Gate has some Liquid Glass design changes. For example, apps now have a unified toolbar at the top, and the sidebar now expands to the edge of the window. A new slider on macOS 27 lets you customize the opacity of Liquid Glass. ↫ Joe Rossignol at MacRumors Effectively, a ton of "Liquid Glass" features touted only a year ago are being changed and fixed, which should make using Liquid Glass less of a frustrating affair. Of course, there's a whole slew of new "AI" stuff built entirely on top of Google's Gemini, but luckily for us Europeans, we won't be getting those features because EU privacy and consumer protection regulations are too strict. Apple, one of the world's most valuable companies, seemingly cannot create "AI" features that comply with some basic consumer protection legislation. As for the other major platform, that's iOS of course. At WWDC 2026 in Cupertino, Apple announced iOS 27, the next mobile operating system for compatible iPhones. The update focuses on tweaking and improving last year's iOS 26, particularly in areas like app launch time, Liquid Glass design, and more. It does not offer a lot of major new features or upgrades, as Apple focused on polishing the experience. However, there are some new upgrades, such as reworked parental controls, new Siri AI, better search, and performance improvements. ↫ Taras Buria at Neowin These new versions, as well as those of Apple's other operating systems, will be available later this year.

08 Jun 2026 7:54pm GMT

Redox progressed another month, and that means a ton of improvements and new features to talk about. The biggest news this past month is that Xfce has been ported to Redox, which offers a better X11 experience than MATE currently does. There's still some bugs but apparently is works quite well. The porting process for the COSMIC desktop environment also progressed, with COSMIC's new Monitor application making its way to Redox. As part of Google Summer of Code, the EEVDF scheduler has been implemented in Redox, delivering better, more stable scheduling and overall system performance improvements. Also as part of GSoC inode caching has been implemented for RedoxFS, which improves file system performance. Of course, there's a lot more here too, including the usual long list of kernel fixes, relibc improvements, and more.

08 Jun 2026 5:37pm GMT

Norman Feske, one of the main developers behind Genode and Sculpt OS, has published a blog post detailing how he developed a two-factor authentication application for Sculpt OS. With this little tool, which I have turned into an deploy option on Sculpt OS to swiftly bring it up whenever I need it, TOTP-based two-factor authentication has become part of my daily routine. Should you want to risk a look under the hood, let me point you to the vitotp Goa project. ↫ Norman Feske The Genode project moved from GitHub to Codebrg recently, and needed a native TOTP impelentation for that purpose.

08 Jun 2026 2:20pm GMT

I've been using Fedora Silverblue on my desktop and laptop for the past, what, five years? Silverblue is Fedora's main atomic variant, a spiritual counterpart to Fedora Workstation. I also make niri, a scrollable-tiling Wayland compositor. In other words, a core system component that you cannot properly test from inside a container or VM-you really want it directly on the host. So, why would I choose an… immutable distro? How does that even work? ↫ Ivan Molodetskikh That's a great question, and as immutable or immutable-like Linux distributions become more popular and widespread - and eventually the default download option for many distributions, I'm sure - articles like these are quite important. I'm sure quite a few developers discarded the idea of using something like Silverblue because they assumed it wouldn't be fit for purpose, but if the developer of Niri makes it work, I'm fairly sure anybody can.

07 Jun 2026 6:05pm GMT

x86CSS is a working CSS-only x86 CPU/emulator/computer. Yes, the Cascading Style Sheets CSS. No JavaScript required. What you're seeing above is a C program that was compiled using GCC into native 8086 machine code being executed fully within CSS. ↫ Lyra Rebane Hand-written CSS, no JavaScript, and effectively no HTML. Wizardry.

07 Jun 2026 5:57pm GMT