Phoronix Test Suite Update Introduces New Features, Support For Mac OS X

Phoronix Test Suite Update Introduces New Features, Support For Mac OS X

Phoronix Test Suite 1.4 allows for turnkey performance testing across Linux, Sun OpenSolaris, FreeBSD, and Apple Mac OS X platforms by end-users, ISVs, IHVs, OEMs, and ODMs.

Grand Rapids, MI -- November 3, 2008 -- Phoronix Media has announced the immediate availability of its Q4'08 update to the Phoronix Test Suite, its extensible open-source platform for conducting automated testing and benchmarking by ISVs, IHVs, ODMs, OEMs, and end-users. Phoronix Test Suite 1.4 (codenamed "Orkdal") adds support for Apple's Mac OS X operating system, new test profiles, support for Cascading Test Profiles, enhanced software/hardware detection, WINE-based tests, and run-time capabilities for Self-Contained Test Profiles. This quarterly update to the Phoronix Test Suite has more than 200 changes since the Phoronix Test Suite 1.2 "Malvik" release in September.

Those writing test profiles for Phoronix Test Suite 1.4+ are able to run them on this unique testing platform across Linux, OpenSolaris, FreeBSD, and Mac OS X operating systems. Phoronix Test Suite 1.4 provides full integration with Apple Mac OS X, including support for Phoroix Global, automated test installation, batch mode options, and detailed software/hardware detection.

"Since the introduction of the Phoronix Test Suite earlier this year we have been very pleased with the response from our users, including the companies that have adopted our software to carry out automated testing and performance profiling," said Michael Larabel, the founder of Phoronix Media. "Orkdal has been in development since early September and we've incorporated many changes and improvements throughout all areas of this test suite. What we focused on most with this release was the support for Mac OS X, Cascading Test Profiles, and Self-Contained Test Profiles. Several underlying improvements have also been made to bolster the capabilities of the Phoronix Test Suite in future releases."

Phoronix Test Suite 1.4 also introduces a platform independent micro-timer framework for use by test profiles, additional test suites, new XML tags being added to the test profile specification, and new run-time options. Cascading Test Profiles make it easy for test profiles to share common attributes among tests. Self-Contained Test Profiles provide a file format where Phoronix Test Suite tests are made easily redistributable and can be deployed by simply clicking the file. The WINE-based testing support allows programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Linux and tested through the Phoronix Test Suite.

"The Phoronix Test Suite is a really nice piece of software since it allows you to easily use a 'standard set' of benchmarks on a wide range of systems. This will allow comparing how different machines perform under Linux on a wide range of everyday tasks like compiling, encoding and gaming," said Nils Kneuper, a German game developer. "Due to this PTS is a really great tool to get an idea how capable the hardware is and might prove really useful for many users."

The complete change-log for Phoronix Test Suite 1.4 is available on this web page. The next major update to the Phoronix Test Suite is scheduled for Q1'09 with the Phoronix Test Suite 1.6 "Tydal" release. Additional information on the Phoronix Test Suite 1.4 features is available in this Phoronix article.

Download information and other details are available from the Phoronix Test Suite web-site at https://www.phoronix-test-suite.com/.

About The Phoronix Test Suite:

Phoronix Media has developed the Phoronix Test Suite in conjunction with leading tier-one computer hardware vendors. It seeks to standardize the process of validating software and hardware on Linux and related operating systems by providing the most comprehensive testing and benchmarking platform. The Phoronix Test Suite makes it easy for hardware vendors to test an array of software relevant to them in an autonomous manner while being highly configurable and providing concise results. Software vendors benefit from being able to test their software in an efficient manner for performance tuning and regression tracking, generate new users of their products through the Phoronix Test Suite, and provide a direct channel to hardware vendors validating against their software using this test suite. Consumers are able to benefit from the Phoronix Test Suite by detecting bottlenecks within their system and experience greater vitality on the Linux Operating System from a standardized test specification.

About Phoronix Media:

Phoronix Media was founded in 2004 and is the largest Internet resource devoted to enriching the Linux hardware experience. Its premiere web property is Phoronix.com and it publishes Linux-based hardware reviews, software previews, and driver analyses with more than 1,200 articles and 1,600 news postings. Other Phoronix Media assets include Phorogit.com, PhoronixForums.com, Cekora.com, OpenBenchmarking.org, and RadeonHD.org.

###