The government is taking a long look at the upcoming operating system, and wants to make sure that it complies with the antitrust ruling. The desktop version of Longhorn is due in 2006, while the server edition arrives in 2007.

Jef Raskin, co-creator of the Macintosh and author of The Humane Interface, has received a $2 million dollar boost to his Humane Environment project (now know as RCHI). You can download an early version from the projects website, and Raskin hopes to finish the project within 18 months. Will this be a paradigm shift in user interfaces?

Aiming to crack down on counterfeit software, Microsoft plans later this year to require customers to verify that their copy of Windows is genuine before downloading security patches and other add-ons to the operating system.

The source code to DTrace is now available for public download here, more info on a blog entry introducing the code here.

Apple has quietly cut prices on build-to-order (BTO) components for its new Mac mini. The company is now offering the Bluetooth and AirPort Extreme wireless option for US$99 (was $129), the 1GB DDR333 SDRAM upgrade for $325 (was $475), and the 80GB ultra ATA hard drive upgrade for $50 (was $80). Apple is also now listing an 8x SuperDrive option instead of the previous 4x model for the same $100 cost. Elsewhere, a Mac user reviews the iPod Shuffle ($149) vs the Sandisk MP3 player ($138, $118 with rebate), both with 1 GB of Flash memory and similar pricing but with different feature-set.

This is expected to be the last of the 4.X releases, and will be an Errata Branch. Well-tested fixes to basic functionality will be committed to the branch in addition to the normal security fixes. Most developers are now focused on 5.X or the cutting-edge development in HEAD.

Red Hat plans new division, software release aimed at luring government users.

LinuxTimes feature a two page review of FC3, along with screenshots.

A while back, OSNews had an article about the Open Graphics Project. The project has progressed significantly, and now there is an interview on KernelTrap.org about the progress, status, and future of this 3D graphics project. If you're interested in how the chip works, there's even a C++ software model of the OpenGL renderer you can look at.

Hannibal of Arstechnica writes "Last week, OS News published an analysis of IBM's Cell-related patents. This article presents some of the information in the patents in an easily digestible format, but it has some serious flaws, as well. And I'm not talking about Cell-specific flaws, though there are those, but what appear to be problems with the author's understanding of basic computer architecture." Read On.. In the meantime, Nicholas Blachford explained a bit more his points on a sixth Cell article, and also wrote a rebuttal on Ars' article.

"I'm tired of the constant fear mongering around intellectual property and open source software and "enterprises being sued" and thought it time to offer a different opinion" says Stephen R. Walli, an ex-Microsoft employee who worked on open sourcing projects at Microsoft (FlexWiki and Wix).

Mandrakelinux 10.2 Beta is available and it includes Linux kernel 2.6.10, Glibc 2.3.4 and gcc 3.4.3, new KDE 3.3.2 is compiled with the '-fvisibility=hidden' option of gcc to accelerate the linkage step at the program start, Gnome 2.8.1, as well as GTK 2.6.1. New features during the installation procedure, including a new package-processing algorithm. Installation may boot from a USB key. Mozilla-firefox replaces Mozilla, Gimp 2.2, cdrecord 2.01.01a21 with DVD+R Dual Layers support, OpenOffice.org 1.1.4, Postgresql 8.0, MySQL 4.1.9.

Arch Linux 0.7 was finally released today after delays waiting for kernel 2.6.10 (waiting for Reiser4 support that didn't happen). There are mirrors, torrents, and also docs. For those who don't know, Arch is an advanced Linux distribution blending the simplicity of Slackware and package management of Debian in it's lean framework. This release uses the 2.6.10 kernel with the -as patchset and the new 4.2 release of the XFCE desktop environment among other current versions of well known apps. New Arch users can then edit /etc/pacman.conf to enable the -Current and -Extra trees and download them. Editor's Take: A fantastic distribution, but it requires a substantial initial involvement by semi-advanced users to bring the distro to the wished configuration. After this point is passed, Arch will not dissapoint.

In the news media, it is generally shown that flame wars and forks are detrimental to the growth of FOSS (Free/Open Source Software) But if we see the history of FOSS, both flame wars and forks have played a crucial role in determining both growth and direction of important projects. There are also arguments that this leads to fragmentation and marginalization. There is some truth in these arguments but there are a lot of benefits which are often overlooked. This article looks at some of the benefits of forking and flame wars through history.