Free (few Open Source) Browser and OS releases coming in 2009

Microsoft Corp intend to keep up the pace with Internet Explorer 8

Mozilla’s Firefox 3.5 promises a native parser for JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), a data exchange format frequently used in Web apps, and several features to enhance rich media Web content, including support for the HTML 5 video element and the Ogg Vorbis and Theora open audio and video codecs.

And then there’s new version of Google’s Chrome browser, based on the open-source WebKit engine. The company is playing it close to the vest, but we do know Mac and Linux versions of the browser are in development.

Ubuntu 9.04, the Jaunty Jackalope.

Linux fans have much to look forward to, too. Following the release of Ubuntu 9.04, the "Jaunty Jackalope," in April, the Ubuntu team is planning for Ubuntu 9.10, the "Karmic Koala," to see the light of day in October 2009. Among the promised new features are integration with the Amazon EC2 APIs, so users can set up their own cloud using entirely open tools, and a kernel mode setting for a smooth and flicker-free start-up. The Ubuntu Netbook Edition will get the latest technology from the mobile Internet project Moblin, including better screen support.

Every other Linux distribution is sure to get better, too, along with associated operating system components. For example, openSUSE 11.2, scheduled for November, should include KDE 4.3, GNOME 2.28, Linux kernel 2.6.30 (or higher), a Web-based YaST interface and netbook support.

Red Hat Fedora 11 is slated for release by this summer, with several updates. The project’s goals include making Fedora boot and shut down faster (you’d be at the log-in screen in 20 seconds), changing supported architectures and default installed kernels, and improving support for fingerprint readers.

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