Xen is a paravirtualization technology available for the Linux kernel that lets you enclose and test new upgrades as if running them in the existing environment but without the worries of disturbing the original system. This article shows you how to install a Xen system that will give administrators a valuable sandbox for testing system upgrades (as well as a playground for running multiple virtual machines on the same Linux box).

It's quite apparent that Microsoft has put massive efforts into its 64-bit computing platform. The newly renamed Windows XP Professional x64 Edition has made significant strides in terms of usability, features and all around security and stability with the release of RC2 earlier in February.

Tomas Matousek & Ladislav Prosek talk about their PHP .NET compiler, Phalanger. They don't work at Microsoft, but Charles Torre ran into them at a recent CLR compiler lab held on MS' main campus.

Smart handheld devices or personal digital assistants (PDA) extend our access to the information on our desktops, from addresses to telephone numbers. Unfortunately, when it comes to vendor support for synchronizing this information with a *nix operating system, the options are limited. In this article, NewsForge reviews the various GPL-based suites available for synchronizing PalmOS-based devices with Linux. This one is of great interest too.

A new initiative has been started to create a BSD Certification: "The BSD Certification Group was formed in January, 2005 to create a BSD certification program that is recognized as the industry standard for administering BSD systems." Involved, among others, is Dru Lavigne of 'BSD Hacks' fame and David Rhodus (as mentioned on the DragonFlyBSD users list).

Opera 8-beta 3 was released for windows and unix with native SVG support.

Prex, a portable real-time operating system for embedded systems, is a small, reliable and low power micro kernel designed specifically for the small memory footprint system. Prex 0.1 is the first public release, and includes kernel, syscall library, sample hello world application, and some technical documents.

Sun Microsystems has announced that it will be relaxing its Java license to give developers greater access to source code and an easier path in steering its future direction and contributing enhancements, but fears of forking have prevented Sun from adopting an Open Source license.

The Mac Mini isn't just competition for Shuttle computers and mini-tower PCs. It's also competition for the much smaller embedded development boards that many users are building custom applications around. Peter Seebach takes a look at the Mac Mini as an embedded development platform.

GNU/Linux is increasingly being seen as a viable, economical alternative to proprietary operating systems, and its market penetration, especially on servers, is increasing. To continue to grow Linux's importance as a secure, low cost kernel, much more serious programmers are needed not only to keep improving it, but to develop stable drivers and most importantly to help continue the rapid Linux march to the Desktop.

Periodically we hear someone say that Linux isn't suitable for graphic design work. One common complaint is its lack of an integrated system-wide color management system (CMS). Fortunately today's Linux systems have free cross-platform open source color management alternatives. Happy Note: On an unrelated note, this is our 10,000th story! Took us 3.5 years to get here.

In this chapter (pdf), the author defines system security, specifically for OpenBSD and FreeBSD systems, but also more generally. He looks at a variety of attacks so that you, as an administrator, will have some perspective on what you’re trying to defend against. He looks at risk response and describes how exactly you can go about securing your FreeBSD and OpenBSD systems. Also, the FreeBSD 5.4-RELEASE schedule has been published.

Thirteen companies, including Motorola and Acer, have been handed letters claiming they have failed to comply with the GNU General Public License.

Brighthand has some speculative information on Tungsten T6, Zire 73 and the Tungsten-E|2 (wish). Elsewhere, InfosyncWorld is previewing the most powerful communicator to date, T-Mobile's MDA-IV.