TopDesk is an Exposé Clone for Windows XP.Features include support for minimized windows and multiple monitors, live window updates while in Exposé mode, display of window titles while in Exposé mode, customizable mouse and keyboard shortcuts, and mouse hotspots. New features in TopDesk 1.3 include multi-monitor support, improved performance and spatial window tiling, and unicode font support. To try it out, download the trial version. For more information, visit the TopDesk website.

When Firefox’s Mozilla came onto the scene four months ago it looked like an end to the constant struggle against Microsoft’s Internet Explorer security vulnerabilities was finally in sight. The promise was almost too good to be true: a viable alternative that had been designed with a security conscious approach, no pop-ups and none of IE’s vulnerabilities. read more

I wrote a little article about my experiences with my new powerbook, Mac OS X and Linux.

ReactOS 0.2.6 is out. Look at the changelog. Screenshots you will find here, here and here.

This article describes an example bash shell script which demonstrates a simple method of creating backups of multiple filesystems to several tape drives simultaneously. The example script can easily be modified to write to other device types and to create a different number of backup streams.

VMware Workstation 5 now has memory sharing technology borrowed from the company's ESX Server, plus a Teams feature that connects multiple virtual machines together in order to simulate and test higher-end applications on a programmer's desktop system.

The NetBSD Foundation published its first quarterly status report in 2005, covering the months January through March of 2005. Among many other things, this status report covers the addition of TCP/SACK and PAM support, the opening of the Foundations Online Store, the new stable pkgsrc branch and various port-specific items.

The GPE project updated their web site with brand new screenshots of their X-based PDA interface. Elsewhere, GTK+ 2.6.5 was released with bug fixes.

In the last few weeks, the tech industry has been buzzing with speculation that Microsoft's next OS release, Longhorn, will not be ready for its planned 2006 unveiling. If the OS is put off until 2007, some competitors could win more profits, but many analysts say that software and hardware partners will face the most serious challenges and could end up losing more than they anticipated.

The Open Source Initiative has published a statement about license proliferation. According to the statement OSI introduces three new criteria that approved open source licenses must meet: They must be (a) non-duplicative, (b) clear and understandable and (c) reusable. Read more in the statement.

Debian just added the kernel of FreeBSD to the unstable branch of its GNU/Linux distribution. The package contains pristine 5.3 kernel source together with patchset for conformance to Debian's requirements. This is a first step towards inclussion of the Debian GNU/kFreeBSD port as a candidate for future Debian releases.

Microsoft will provide a variety of patches; some of which are described as critical. The patches are part of Microsoft’s monthly security updates. Read more.

Microsoft Research scientists, in cooperation with University of Maryland researchers, have designed two interfaces to support easier use of PDAs and cellphones. Although existing stylus-based gesture systems do not preclude the use of the thumb, no systems have been specifically designed to be operated using the thumb, according to the researchers.

Indigo is the managed communication stack that will ship with WinFX. It is the "V.Next" for ASP.NET Web Methods, .NET Remoting, Enterprise Services, System.Messaging, and WSE. Steve Swartz provides a conceptual overview of Indigo, walks through some code, and introduces you to his jackalope.