
It was unveiled in November 2007, with the first commercial Android device, the HTC Dream, being launched in September 2008.Īt its core, the operating system is known as Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and is free and open-source software (FOSS) primarily licensed under the Apache License. Android is developed by a consortium of developers known as the Open Handset Alliance, though its most widely used version is primarily developed by Google. GNU GPL v2 for the Linux kernel modificationsĪndroid is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.Apache License 2.0 for userspace software."Until the Open Source transition is completed, we have decided to make all restricted features of Sandboxie completely free.

We will release more information about the Open Source project as we continue to work on the details." Sophos states, "After thoughtful consideration, we decided that the best way to keep Sandboxie going was to give it back to its users – transitioning it to an Open Source tool. In essence, the Web site can use the full range of active content tools, and if it uses these tools maliciously to install software or otherwise make changes to your computer, these changes can be easily undone.Īccording to Sophos, the above statement is no longer fully applicable as they transition to Open Source. Thus, there is no trade-off of functionality for security. Instead, it isolates and quarantines the outcome of whatever the Web site may do to your computer, including the installation of unsolicited software. It requires neither the disabling nor blocking of functions available to Web sites through the browser. However, whether these changes are harmless or harmful, they do, in fact, happen to your computer system.


Most of the time, these changes are harmless, like recording the addresses of websites you have visited (and when), so the browser can help you complete a web address that you type in. When you browse the web, changes occur to your system. Sandboxie lets you run programs in an isolated space, which will prevent them from making permanent changes to other programs and data to your computer.
