The eyeOS Team and eyeOS Community are proud to announce the immediate availability of eyeOS 1.6 Gala Sync. This new major release, which has been centered entirely to improve the user experience at eyeOS, includes new applications, significant improvements on the overall usability and new tools to develop better applications, faster.

The new eyeOS 1.6 Desktop includes major improvements such as Drag and Drop between folders and groups, new widgets that can be launched from Accessories menu and a common actions bar, with some overall improvements on its design and functionality.

The new Gala Sync version also includes new applications such as the new eyeFeeds to read RSS sources, the new Text Editor with syntax highlighting for the most common programming languages and autocomplete features, an integrated IDE (only launchable from root user) called eyeCode and some new Games and Tools such as eyeTetravex (a math game with a system highscores system) or the new Calculator.

The system part from eyeOS 1.6 has been also improved: Developers have new base libraries to make apps that communicate beween them and create virtual work groups, lots of small fixes on the eyeOS Toolkit Widgets and the new XML-RPC system , which is the base for the syncronization, and allows the creation of desktop applications which communicate with eyeOS.

Synchronization with your local computer

Probably the most important feature of this release is the ability to create desktop apps that communicate eyeOS with the local computer where the user is in every moment, and the release of eyeSync (the first app to use this technology in eyeOS).

The syncronization tool for eyeOS, called eyeSync, will be an official app but will have its own versioning. The 0.1 version of eyeSync, which allows to syncronize automatically and transparently different folders from the system will be available today for Mac OS X (Tiger/PPC and Leopard/Intel) and Linux (in deb and source/targz), and during the next week for Windows XP and Vista.

eyeSync will keep the folders you indicate always synchronized with your eyeOS account without requiring any action from you: eyeSync will detect every change you do on those folders (copying/removing some files, saving or updating some documents…) and synchronize them with your eyeOS desktop, transparently and automatically.

You can download eyeSync and the new eyeOS version from the eyeOS Downloads page.

The first time you run eyeSync you will have to configure it by putting your server’s URL ( that can be the public server one, http://www.eyeos.info or your own local or remote eyeOS Server) and your username and password. Nothing special must be installed in the server, and all the data is transfered via the port 80, so you won’t encounter problems with local proxies when using it.

Trying the new eyeOS version

As usually, if you want to use the new eyeOS 1.6 version you can do it from the Public Server, which has been already updated to eyeOS 1.6, or downloading and installing to your local server. eyeOS is Open Source Software, released under the Affero GNU Public License (AGPL) version 3.

One more… Thanks!

The development of this version has been done from its first days together with the eyeOS Community. From posts on the Forums regarding the new features that eyeOS 1.6 should had, the continoued contributions and suggestions to the Development Mailing lists, and a really intensive bug reporting during all the beta period.

This has been possible thanks to the more than 1.000 registered users in the Beta server, that will be closed later today.

Thanks!

What’s next?

It’s a bit early to say, but we can announce that the next eyeOS version won’t start by “1″, and will introduce a new eyeOS Toolkit, but always mantaining compatibility with eyeOS Toolkit 1.

We’ll be doing the announcement of the new version Roadmap and plans very soon, after the publication of the stable versions of eyeSync for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Stay tuned!

We are proud to announce the immediate availability of eyeOS 1.6.0.0 Beta, which is the result of months of work from the eyeOS Team and eyeOS Community on both the eyeOS Platform and base Applications.

The new eyeOS 1.6 version also includes everything planned on the Global Roadmap plus some new features which were not asigned to a particular release, but have been finally created for eyeOS 1.6.

Testers wanted!

There are still 10 days before the final release, and some testing would be really appreciated. Now it’s the best moment to report bugs through the Bugs reporting tool or in the Bugs mailing list.

Online beta server available

Everybody can test the new eyeOS 1.6 release extensively from the Beta server (you must create a new account first), which is located at beta.eyeos.info.

Download eyeOS 1.6.0.0 Beta

You can also download the eyeOS 1.6.0.0 Beta Release from here. Please keep in mind that this is a package without installer, so it doesn’t include some security features such as the randomization of the whole eyeOS system folder or the generation of the root password during install. Please do not use it on production systems.

Username/password for the package are root/root, and you should give the package the sufficient permissions for your system to make the web server able to run, read and write into it.

About eyeSync

Please note that XML-RPC (the server part for the synchronization) is already bundled with eyeOS 1.6, but that eyeSync 1.0 for Windows, Linux and Mac will be released with the final version of eyeOS 1.6.

What does eyeOS 1.6 include?

To discover what eyeOS 1.6 includes, you may want to read this blog post, plus all this features which have been finally added:

Drag and Drop: eyeOS API finally has a D&D system. This means that you can just move your files between folders, to the desktop, to the trash… by just dragging and dropping them to the correct place!

eyeFeeds: The new feeds reader (formerly known as eyeRSS) provides a completely rewritten interface, which makes much more easier to store and get your favorite feeds inside eyeOS. It does provide automatic link opening in eyeNav, integrated preview panel, tree-organization with folders and subfolders. It’s the first big contribution from Anaël Ollier since he’s on the eyeOffice at Barcelona, so wait for more eyecandy applications during next releases ;-).

miniActions widget: This new widget that comes preloaded with the new eyeOS 1.6 version on the desktop and links common actions on the system in an easy and intuitive way.

eyeNotes: eyeNotes has been integrated with CodePress and features syntax highlighting for the most common programming languages (including .eyecode!).

eyeCode: This new application, only available if you are root, will allow you to modify all the eyeOS applications, libraries, services and kernel from inside eyeOS. This is the first part of eyeDesigner, which was planned on eyeOS 1.0, and allows you to create eyeApps in a comfortable way, within eyeOS.

Small changes here and there: The new Info Screen (yes, doowee comes back from eyeOS 0.x), some design improvements over the whole desktop, a completely rewritten and redesigned calculator, optimization of all the images inside eyeOS and much more.

Anaël Ollier (nanawel), a very active eyeOS Community Developer who has already added code to the main development branch (with eyeFTP, soon with eyeTetravex and lots of system fixes) has joined us in the eyeOS main Office at Barcelona, Spain, for the next five months.

Welcome Anaël!

“La Factoria d’Imatge” (the image factory, in catalan) is a leading visual communication company that will be improving the global project image for eyeOS, introducing new videos to show and communicate its concept in a better way.

During the next weeks, and specially after the eyeOS 1.6 release, you will be discovering a new way to present the eyeOS concept and idea, thanks to La Factoria!

Note: This is the first post of a new serie of eyeOS Professional Apps created or ported by companies around the world. You can read all the posts with the Pro Apps Category page from this blog.

eyeWIRIS is a CAS (Computer Algebra System) that also includes a DGS (Dynamic Geometry System) inside. You can access a powerful calculation toolbar that includes integrals and limits calculation, function graphing in 2D or 3D and symbolic matrices manipulation. It covers all mathematical topics from primary school to University level (Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Algebra).

It’s also a great example of a Professional Application from Maths for More made in Java and ported (the good way) to eyeOS, with a full integration between the app and the eyeOS Toolkit and eyeOS filesystem: You can save and use your calculations from eyeWIRIS and eyeOS.

It’s free for personal use, and you can create 2D and 3D graphics using the company’s servers for free too.

You can use this app from your account from the eyeOS Public Server, or downloading it to your eyeOS server from its eyeOS-Apps page.