Now Microsoft's Visual Studio Source Code is Open-Source for GNU/Linux, OS X, and Windows

Visual Studio Code is now licensed under the MIT license

During the Connect(); 2015 developer event that took place on November 18, 2015, in New York City, USA, Microsoft had the great pleasure of announcing that its Visual Studio Code integrated development environment software is now open source.

Immediately after the huge announcement, Microsoft published the Visual Code Studio sources on the GitHub project hosting website, urging the community to contribute to the development of the software in any way they can. "You spoke and we listened. With this release, VS Code development is now open source on GitHub," said Microsoft.

The cross-platform web and cloud development code editor (IDE) is now distributed for free as an open-source application on GitHub, licensed under the MIT license for all supported operating systems, including GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and, of course, Microsoft Windows.

The latest available release at the moment of writing this article is version 0.10.1, but Microsoft announced that it put the software in Beta and declared it "the most significant release since the launch," and just by looking at the release notes, we can notice that Visual Studio Code Beta is a massive update with numerous new features.

Among the most important ones, we can mention support for TextMate snippets, debug console improvements, easy variable selection, debug environment configuration, node.js debugging, improved debug hover behavior, improved syntax highlighting, environment variable substitution, and new difference view settings.

Steve Jobs Hated iMac, Wanted to Call it ‘MacMan’

Instead of an iMac, you might have a MacMan — if it wasn’t for Kevin Segall.

In an excerpt from his upcoming book published by Fast Company, Segall, the man behind Apple’s ‘Think Different’ campaign tells the story of the first time he saw the iMac.

In true Apple form, Jobs made everyone invited to a meeting wait to see the computer, then whipped a gray sheet off the device to reveal the computer that would put Apple back on the map.

“The group let out a collective “holy cow” and simply tried to absorb and appreciate what we were seeing–because it shattered every idea of what computers were supposed to look like,” Segall write in the excerpt. “It was a colorful one-piece computer that showed off its inner circuitry through a semitransparent shell.

“I’d like to believe we were all so smart that within seconds we were convinced that we were witnessing the start of a miracle resurgence. But it wasn’t quite like that.”

Once the computer was on the fast-track to production, the group was called together once again to come up with a name for the revolutionary device. Segall recounts Steve Jobs saying to the group, “We already have a name we like a lot, but I want you guys to see if you can beat it. The name is ‘MacMan.’ ”

After comparing the name to both Sony’s Walkman and the popular arcade game PacMan Segall suggested the name that finally stuck: iMac. Keeping the Mac in the name to let you know who made the computer, and adding the i to indicate that the computer was designed to be used on the internet.

The iMac name was not originally a hit with Jobs. It took a few attempts and a little persuasion to get him to stray from the MacMan name.

Jobs also had the new name silk-screened onto the model of the computer to see how it looked before finally settling on the name, one that would define not only that computer but a legacy of i products in the future.

Would the iMac have been as successful if it had been named MacMan? Let us know your thoughts in the comments

Apple’s WWDC 2012 kicks off June 11th

Apple has just announced that the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference will take place in San Francisco from June 11th to June 15th. Apple is providing over 100 sessions on iOS and OS X, in addition to a student scholarship program. Press release is after the break.

UPDATE: Tickets for WWDC 2012 have sold out in less than two hours.

CUPERTINO, Calif., Apr 25, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Apple(R) today announced that it will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) June 11 through June 15 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. At this year’s five-day conference, developers will learn about the future of iOS and OS X(R), allowing them to build incredible new apps. WWDC will also feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers as well as the popular Apple Design Awards, a showcase of the most outstanding apps from the past year.

“We have a great WWDC planned this year and can’t wait to share the latest news about iOS and OS X Mountain Lion with developers,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The iOS platform has created an entirely new industry with fantastic opportunities for developers across the country and around the world.”

Developers will be able to explore the latest innovations, features and capabilities of iOS and OS X Mountain Lion and learn how to greatly enhance the functionality, performance, quality and design of their apps. Developers can even bring their code to the labs and work with Apple engineers, applying development techniques and best-practices to enhance their apps.

Activities at Apple’s WWDC 2012 include:

– more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers on a wide range of technology-specific topics for developing, deploying and integrating the latest iOS and OS X technologies;

– 100 hands-on labs staffed by more than 1,000 Apple engineers providing developers with code-level assistance, insight into optimal development techniques and guidance on how they can make the most of iOS and OS X technologies in their apps;

– the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iOS and OS X developers from around the world–last year more than 60 countries were represented;

– engaging and inspirational lunchtime sessions with leading minds and influencers from the worlds of technology, science and entertainment; and

– Apple Design Awards which recognize iPhone(R), iPad(R) and Mac(R) apps that demonstrate technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design.

Please go to the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2012 website (developer.apple.com/wwdc) to purchase tickets, as well as for updates and more information.

Developers who are unable to attend this year’s conference can access and watch all technical sessions from the Apple Developer website (developer.apple.com/videos) as soon as they are posted for free.

The latest technologies in iOS and OS X

With six technical tracks and more than 100 sessions and labs, we’ve got you covered.

Essentials

iOS and OS X deliver robust frameworks that enable developers to create beautiful and feature-rich applications. Sessions for iOS developers will explain how to develop fluid and realistic interfaces and take full advantage of the iPad’s Retina display. They will cover best practices using essential frameworks like UIKit and Core Data, and teach essential tips for how to improve your app’s performance and stability.

Sessions for OS X developers will cover Mountain Lion extensively and help you master Cocoa frameworks like AppKit to provide a contemporary and consistent user experience, CoreText to enable multi-lingual text handling and display and show you how to push your OS X applications even further using advanced multi-touch gestures and layer-backed views for smooth high-performing animations.

Learn techniques to reduce your development time and enhance your application’s visual design while also preparing your applications for new markets by making the most of Accessibility and Internationalization.

App Services

There are a wealth of additional frameworks and services beyond UIKit and AppKit that exist to extend your app’s functionality and go beyond the user’s device. Learn how your application can integrate with iCloud so that your users can seamlessly access documents and data from all of their connected iOS and OS X devices.

Explore new opportunities for generating revenue with StoreKit, by letting the user unlock functionality, download game content, subscribe to services, sign up for automatically renewed subscriptions, and much more—all within a custom storefront presented in your app. Hear from experts about how you can leverage Core Location and Map Kit on iOS to let users find others, locate places of interest, and explore the world around them. Discover how to integrate with Twitter, Contacts, and Calendar to make content in your app more personally meaningful. Find out how you can send emails or text messages from within your own UI without disrupting the flow of your application. Understand how to use push and local notifications to keep users up to date at all times or alert them to important events

Developer Tools

Xcode gives you professional-strength tools for building state-of-the art OS X and iOS applications. See how to get the most out of Xcode and build better apps faster and more easily. Dive deep into Apple’s next generation compiler technology. Understand performance analysis with Instruments. Explore what’s new in iTunes Connect. Master powerful workflows for navigating and editing source code in Xcode. Learn how Schemes make it easier to test, debug, and profile your code. See how Xcode’s distribution workflow makes it easy to prepare builds for testers, submit apps to iTunes Connect, and symbolicate logs, and sign your apps with Developer ID. Learn from performance experts how you can use Instruments to find CPU, I/O, or memory bottlenecks and understand how to fix them so your app will perform at its best.

Graphics, Media, and Games

iOS and OS X deliver an unparalleled lineup of technologies and tools for creating innovative graphical applications, engaging audio and video experiences, compelling games, and media-rich books.

Extend the viewing experience of your app with AirPlay. Learn new ways to use the Graphics tools. Discover how to create top-notch books for iBooks. Dive into specialized frameworks such as OpenGL, OpenCL, OpenGL ES, GL Kit, Scene Kit, Core Animation, Core Graphics, and Core Image and learn to how to deliver rich 2D and 3D graphics, smooth animations, fast parallel computation, and stunning photo, video, and image effects.

Tap into the state-of-the-art AV Foundation APIs for capturing, editing, playing, and streaming audio and video media. Understand the key ingredients of the best games and learn about using Game Center to create an incredible gameplay experience. Learn the best practices to streamline book creation and deliver the best experience for your content.

Safari and Web

Safari and WebKit have evolved to support an even wider range of the latest and greatest open web technologies, which you can use to deliver sophisticated interfaces and interactions throughout iOS and OS X. Discover new features and learn the best practices for using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create web pages, embed web content in native apps, and build first-class Safari extensions. Explore new web technologies that let you deliver cutting-edge rich media experiences. See how to optimize your web code for optimal display and performance, regardless of the app it’s viewed in or the display it’s viewed on. Learn how to create a Safari extension that serves as a companion to your website or OS X app, or that enhances the user experience on any website. Master new features in Safari’s integrated developer tools to streamline your development and craft high-performance code.

Core OS

At the heart of iOS and OS X are powerful Core OS low-level frameworks and services. The Core OS sessions give you the practical knowledge you need to harness these technologies. Understand the secure coding practices involved in designing, building, and testing apps that defend their code and data from malicious attack. Learn how to create trusted code-signed apps for Gatekeeper in Mountain Lion.  Hear all the details about sandboxing for your Mac App Store apps.

Get expert advice on implementing secure, high-performance networking and learn how to use the latest tools to measure performance and diagnose network problems. Learn detailed technical information about external accessories, local and network file systems, inter-process communication, power management, device drivers, and kernel topics. Understanding when and how to use the low-level frameworks is essential if you want to achieve the best possible performance, battery life, and overall stability for your app.