The latest version of Portable OpenOffice.org, an edition of the open source office suite that fits on a USB stick, includes a number of updates such as full support for Windows 2000 and launchers for each OpenOffice.org application. Portable OpenOffice.org 2.0.1 includes all the applications included in OpenOffice.org 2.0.1 and takes up only 144MB of storage space, compared to the 300MB of disk space required by the full version of the office suite. But 144MB is still too big, considering that many USB sticks only store 256MB, according to Gary Barnett, a research director at analyst firm Ovum.

"Linux is not Windows, and although there are some similarities, you must realize that there may be a few 'new ways of doing things' to learn before you can be comfortable in Linux. Linux is an open-source clone of UNIX, a secure operating system that predates DOS and Windows and is designed for multiple users. The items in the following list generally apply to any UNIX-based *nix system, such as Linux and the various BSD's. For the purposes of this article, assume that it's all Linux."

"As you might expect of such complex and successful software, Lotus Notes and Domino share a long and rich history. In some respects, this history mirrors the evolution of the computing industry itself-the development and widespread adoption of PCs, networks, graphical user interfaces, communication and collaboration software, and the Web. Notes and Domino have been there nearly every step of the way, influencing (and being influenced by) all these critical developments. This article briefly retraces the history of Notes and Domino, starting with the earliest conceptual and development stages and continuing through major feature releases."

GNOME 2.13.4 has been released. As always, the odd-numbered branches indicate dev-branches, and as such the 2.13.x series is the step-up to the GNOME 2.14 release, planned for March this year. Release notes: platform, desktop, and bindings; downloads: platform, desktop, and bindings.

"Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel, outlined plans to bring a wide range of content, from sports to first-run movies, to anyone with a broadband Internet connection and a remote control using its new Viiv PC platform, during a Thursday night keynote at the 2006 CES. While it incorporates new hardware and software, including Intel's latest Core Duo and Pentium D 900 series chips, Viiv represents the company's larger effort to bring together a variety of content and display it on a range of devices, including televisions and handhelds." In addition, Intel teamed up with Google to provide video content for the Viiv platform.

Terrasoft has released YellowDog Linux 4.1. This new release of course incorporates the latest and greatest of the Linux world, but besides that it also features support for the latest Apple PowerBooks, beta support for Apple G5 PowerMacs with dual-core processors, and basic 64-bit development and runtime support. The release is now only available to subscribers, but a public release is planned for mid-February.

"This is a guide to create or restore images of your partitions using the great open source tool Partimage. It provides information on how to do this locally or across the network, by setting up a Partimaged Server. I guess this info is non distribution specific, since we will work from a Rescue environment. Partimage is a command line tool with a basic ncurses user interface. For information about the supported filesystems, you can check its homepage."

At least three Linux-based phones were shown at CES this week. WNC's GW1 dual mode GSM/WiFi SIP phone is running a version of Trolltech's latest Qtopia Phone edition with VoIP/SIP capabilities. Motorola showed its new Linux-based ROKR E2 feature-phone too (pics, video), but the iTunes software is now removed. This feature phone uses Motorola's new softkey-based UI. Recently, information became known for Motorola's A1200, which uses the older touchscreen UI, same to the one we reviewed a few months ago. Unfortunately, the SDKs of these phones won't be released to developers at large to create native applications, as Motorola is not interested in creating a compatible Linux "platform" similar to Symbian/WinMobile/Palm platforms and instead is pushing just for generic Java apps.

Arch Linux 0.7.1 was released with some better hardware detection (not hotplug), stock initrd support for usage with encrypted root filesystems, network profiles, and more little goodies here and there. As always, read the the docs before installing. You'll find ISO images here (torrents here).

Microsoft has officially released the patch that fixes the WMF flaw. The patch can be download individually here, but it is advised to simply use Windows Update. Yesterday, Microsoft said it would not release it until next Tuesday, but two (1 | 2) third party fixes were already available. And to make matters worse, Microsoft accidentally leaked their own patch to the Net yesterday.

"Palm this week introduced a Treo model that uses the latest version of Microsoft's Windows Mobile software (formerly known as Pocket PC). On the outside, the new Treo 700w looks very much like the current Palm-based model, the Treo 650, which will remain on sale and will continue to be developed on a parallel track. On the inside, though, the new Treo's key software functions - phone, email, Web, multimedia - are all different."

"Tomorrow Google will announce a new commercial video download service, according to multiple sources. In related news Google will also take the wraps off of Google Pack, a bundle of applications that will be made available for download in a single installation bundle. Sources tell us that Google pack will feature a Google-tweaked version of Firefox, Adobe Acrobat Reader, antivirus software from Symantec, AdAware, Trillian, and Google's own offerings, including Google Desktop Search, Picasa, Google Earth, Google Talk, and all of the toolbar action you can shake a stick at. Oh, and I left out one other item: the RealPlayer."

"As every network manager knows, you should never run your computer as administrator, especially if it has access to the Internet. Malware often depends on admin rights to disable firewalls, delete registry entries and download or create files. Without those rights, malicious code must find another path to your destruction. That bit of insight led Microsoft Security Engineering's Michael Howard to create DropMyRights for Windows XP and up. Once DMR is added to a web application's shortcut, the app starts with Normal User Rights instead of Admin rights. Users get the freedom of movement they've always enjoyed, with a little extra protection." In related news, there's now another unofficial patch for the WMF flaw.

Opera Software is to concentrate on the embedded browser market, expanding the range of devices and architectures its browser software will run on. The company hopes to take advantage of increased broadband penetration, and the growing number of Internet-connected devices being produced.