Access subsidiary PalmSource revealed details of its Linux-based mobile phone operating system, Tuesday at 3GSM in Barcelona. Codenamed ALP (Access Linux Platform), the OS aims to provide an integrated, flexible software environment that can run legacy Palm OS application binaries, Java applications, and native Linux applications. The company hopes to begin licensing the ALP SDK to mobile phone hardware and software developers by the end of 2006, and expects to see devices based on it reach consumers in 2007. Content providers, operators, and third-party developers will be able to write native Linux multimedia applications, using included GStreamer and 'optimized' GTK+ libraries.

"Quartz Composer is a groundbreaking graphics development environment that allows you to explore the incredible power of the graphics stack of Mac OS X Tiger. This article introduces you to Quartz Composer, walks you through a simple sample composition and provides a hands-on exploration to familiarize you with the way you can use it in your own projects. Once you start working with Quartz Composer, you may think of your projects in new ways, and find many more uses for its power and speed."

Google and CodeWeavers are working together to bring Google's popular Windows Picasa photo editing and sharing program to Linux. The program is now in a limited beta test. If this program is successful, other Google applications will be following it to the Linux desktop, sources say. The Linux Picasa implementation includes the full feature set of the Windows Picasa 2.x software. It is not, strictly speaking, a port of Picasa to Linux. Instead, Linux Picasa combines Windows Picasa code and Wine technology to run Windows Picasa on Linux. This, however, will be transparent to Linux users, when they download, install, and run the free program on their systems.

"Today, we're making the first source code of our OpenSolaris on Xen project available to the OpenSolaris developer community. There are many bugs still in waiting, many puzzles to be solved, many things left to do. Because we don't believe the developer community only wants finished projects to test. We believe that some developers want to participate during the development process, and now this project can open its doors to that kind of participation. We wanted to start the conversation with working code. So we have a snapshot of our development tree for OpenSolaris on Xen, synced up with Nevada build 31. That code snapshot should be able to boot and run on all the hardware that build 31 can today, plus it can boot as a diskless unprivileged domain on Xen 3.0."

"In February 1946, J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly were about to unveil, for the first time, an electronic computer to the world. Their ENIAC, or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, could churn 5000 addition problems in one second, far faster than any device yet invented. The scientists knew that they had created something that would change history, but they weren't sure how to convey their breakthrough to the public. So they painted numbers on some light bulbs and screwed the resulting 'translucent spheres' into ENIAC's panels. Dynamic, flashy lights would thereafter be associated with the computer in the public mind." Yes boys and girls, 60 years ago the groundwork was laid for that grey thing hooked up to that thing you're staring at right now.

"Nearly two years ago Microsoft announced that Windows Vista would sport a so-called 'tiered' graphical experience. The user interface would remain the essentially the same no matter what graphical prowess a machine was blessed with, but the best of the eye-candy and the whiz-bang effects would be reserved for the most modern of computers. While Microsoft has not put the official seal of **CONFIRMED** on any recommended hardware configurations, we have a good idea of what the company will consider as the base for the full-flavored, full-bodied Aero Glass experience."

"Although vinyl threatens every other year to be the new hip in-thing with all the cool kids on the streets, there's still a wealth of age old audio joy locked away in collections of deteriorating records littering lofts and cupboards everywhere. Chris Johnson talks us through how he preserves his LPs onto CD using RISC OS."

"VectorLinux SOHO 5.1.1 Deluxe is a superb Linux distribution in my book. While I don't think it's geared toward the masses in a way that SUSE Linux, Mandriva, or Linspire might be, I do feel it has something to offer Linux users everywhere. It's easy enough to install for someone who at least has a basic understanding of Linux, has a robust compliment of applications, performs very well, and is as stable as it's parent distribution, Slackware, from what I've seen during the review."

"In various older studies, Microsoft and some analysts claimed Linux has a higher total cost of ownership than Windows. They attributed the difference mainly to higher system management costs, and concluded that the higher TCO outweighed the much lower license and acquisition costs for Linux. However, in a new study of over 200 Linux enterprises, Enterprise Management Associates found that this perception is no longer accurate. Sophisticated management tools now allow Linux management to be fast, effective, and inexpensive. With far lower acquisition costs, Linux is now a cost-effective alternative to Windows. EMA analyzed the cost factors cited in previous studies and found the following results." Please note that this study was sponsered by OSDL, so take out your salt while reading this.

Just as the bragging rights for dual-core chip supremacy are dying down, Intel gave the first glimpse of a quad-core chip coming next year. Clovertown, a four-core processor, will start shipping to computer manufacturers late this year and hit the market in early 2007. Clovertown will be made for dual-processor servers, which means that these servers will essentially be eight-processor servers. The company will also come out with a previously announced version called Tigerton around the same time for servers with four or more processors.

"Last month, I looked at how long it took Microsoft to issue security updates for known software flaws in the Windows software that powers most of today's computers. Last week, I conducted the same analysis on free software produced by the Mozilla Foundation, perhaps best known for its Firefox Web browser. Over the past year, Mozilla averaged about 21 days before it issued fixes for flaws in Firefox, compared with the 135 days it took for Microsoft to address problems."

"2006 Is going to be a banner year for Web services in general, and for Java Web services in particular. New third-generation frameworks are being unveiled, which offer much better support for doc/lit SOAP as well as potential performance improvements. This article looks at both the state of Web services today and the major changes coming in 2006, and get an overview of how the new frameworks and technologies relate and interact."

Should you make your C++ classes more intelligent or centralize the intelligence and use dumbed-down surrounding classes? The natural world tends to prefer a pass-the-parcel style of distributed intelligence, which reduces single points of failure and potentially leads to more stable systems. In this article, Stephen Morris shows you how to raise the IQ of your classes while simultaneously allowing other (possibly) more-qualified classes to handle specific problems. The chain of responsibility pattern provides an elegant model for facilitating this behavior.

You probably know that Apple Remote Desktop lets you observe and control Macs across your network, but did you know that it can also count, inventory, and keep track of them for you? In this first of three articles covering the often untapped possibilities of Remote Desktop, Ryan Faas shows you the ways you can use it to significantly improve inventory processes, monitor network performance, remain alert to changes in workstations that might be signs of theft, and prepare customized reports easily on the state of the Macs in your network in preparation for an upgrade.