The newest versions of the next Windows add graphics sizzle and more search features but lack visible productivity enhancements. Also, Microsoft is battling the perception that there's little to get excited about in the long-awaited and much-ballyhooed Longhorn. Elsewhere, here is Longhorn's lengthy security wish list.

ACCESS's NetFront is a popular mobile browser for PDAs and phones. The English release of version 3.2 is now out, including support for WM2003SE, integrated Flash, Rapid Render technology that gradually renders the page, a new Java VM for applets, and some other features, but it still comes with no VGA support.

A Bangalore programmer has managed to break Microsoft’s anti-counterfeiting system called Windows Genuine Advantage.

This is an economic analysis of the OSS movement from the journal Policy.

Debian is a Linux distribution started by Ian Murdock in 1993. Debian is DEB from his wife Debra and IAN is from Ian Murdock. One thing that Debian has is rock solid stability and security. Its packages are thoroughly tested before becoming categorized as stable. Review here.

The open-source OpenPKG project released version 2.4 of their unique RPM-based cross-platform multi-instance Unix software packaging facility.

When Pythagoras invented a new way to make calculations with triangles, there was not yet an European Patent Organization. Bad luck, because everybody knows that patents stimulate innovation. Pythagoras invested much time in contemplation. Now, anyone could use this new mathemathical method for free. How could others be stimulated to make the same investment for no financial benefit?

TuxJournal interviews Mandriva's co-founder Gael Duval.

A truly in-depth review on Libranet 3 here.

Novell's Mono open-source group had been successful in porting Microsoft's .Net Framework, but Microsoft is insisting its Avalon and Indigo intellectual property rights requires that any attempt to produce open-source versions of these two will require licensing.

Read a multi-page Gentoo review here.

"If patent law had been applied to novels in the 1880s, great books would not have been written. If the EU applies it to software, every computer user will be restricted, says Richard Stallman.

Solaris Express 6/2005 (a.k.a. Nevada Build 15) was posted today, providing a host of improvements including aggressive use of large pages, desktop enhancements, the "Nemo" (GLDv3) network driver framework, DTrace enhancements, and a host of bug fixes. You can obtain a free download. An overview of new features is available.

The KDE Project today announced the immediate release of KOffice 1.4 for Linux and Unix operating systems. The KOffice 1.4 release is a large step towards embracing the OASIS OpenDocument file format which has become an approved standard for office file formats. This format is also used by the upcoming OpenOffice.org 2.0, thus providing high interoperability. New applications in the 1.4 release: Krita - A pixel based image manipulation application and Kexi - An integrated data management application.