Have you ever wondered why there is no easy-to-install desktop BSD operating system with automatic hardware detection and setup? If so, you'll be pleased to learn that things are about to change in this respect - courtesy of PC-BSD. Designed as an "easy-to-install-and-use operating system", this FreeBSD-based system comes with a graphical installer and automatic hardware detection - features that have never been seen in the BSD world!

Welcome back to another issue of my reviews of Linux distributions. Not really surprisingly, this time I decided to take a close look at the second version of the most popular Debian offshoot, Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu's performance probably was the biggest surprise that 2004 had in store for Linux users. Just 9 months ago, almost noone even knew that there was a new project underway, but then things went really fast: after a preview version in mid-September, Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, released version 4.10 in October. Being based on Debian, Ubuntu has a solid base and, despite not being supported officially, all the (18.000) Debian packages available. Ubuntu 4.10 proved to be a decent operating system (especially for a first try) and had overall pretty positive reviews (here's mine).

Microsoft Group VP Jim Allchin discusses the shift to a new era of 64-bit computing as he looks back on earlier chapters of Windows history and looks ahead to the future with "Longhorn." Bill Gates has a spin to it too. Elsewhere, Winbeta gives an overview of the latest version of Microsoft Longhorn 5048. The article includes a lot of information and many screenshots from this latest release.

MontaVista Software, Inc., today announced Mobilinux, a new product built to address key areas of development for mobile and wireless devices. Mobilinux is built on the fourth generation of MontaVista’s Linux platform, which is the most widely deployed Linux distribution in the world and the only proven Linux solution for mobile devices.

After nearly a decade, Microsoft's vision for how to protect especially sensitive information within Windows remains largely that--a vision.

Memory ProtectionOne common complaint or feature request for RISC OS improvement is to add "memory protection". This is largely a result of the relative ease of which single programs can take out the entire operating system, combined with a misunderstanding of what precisely memory protection is. In this article, Peter Naulls will try and cover some of the issues around memory protection, and why RISC OS is often so susceptible to breakage and some of the measures which can be taken to improve the situation.

The Haiku team have begun offering daily source snapshots.

Solaris Express 4/2005 (a.k.a. Nevada Build 10) was posted today, providing improved performance, X.org 6.8.2 final, and a host of bug fixes. You can obtain a free download. An overview of new features is available.

Libranet 3.0 has been a long time coming, and highly anticipated by its devoted customers. Read the review here.

Stardock's newest application allows you to control multiple computers from one workstation. While it has some of the features of Win2VNC and Synergy2, the Pro version allows you to connect to an unlimited number of computers and "copy and paste" files between them. Review here.

Users who want their OpenBSD machine to perform specific functions or need additional device drivers might want to customize their kernel. In other OS's, like some types of Linux, it is very popular to rebuild the kernel because the default is so bloated. For most users, the default OpenBSD kernel is sufficient; however, you can still apply kernel patches, which will require rebuilding and installing a fresh kernel.

Both Apple and Microsoft seem to know what's needed for the next step in desktop computing.

One of the maintainers of the Linux kernel has said that a lack of 'credit or money or anything' for those who test the open source OS could threaten its long-term stability.

Bill Brown has uncovered some interesting Slashdot comments by an Apple employee about Spotlight and future Apple's future plans. (Ed note: it's unclear whether As Seen On TV (ASOT) is indeed an Apple employee, but even if he/she isn't, the thoughts are still interesting.)