SoftPear is a user mode Mac OS X emulator for Linux. As the news on our site say, we have just released a Preview Release that can run some Mac OS X command line tools in Linux and FreeBSD. (The download includes the GPL'ed source, binaries for Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X, some test programs and a README.) We do this by with our Mach-O executable loader, PearPC's PowerPC interpreter core, and our libc wrapper. We hope to be able to run the complete Mac OS X "Quartz" UI on Linux, FreeBSD and Darwin/x86 one day, this way.

The December issue of the Syllable Development Newsletter is now available, covering news and updates for the open source desktop OS. Highlights: 0.5.5 release, ABrowse updates, patches aplenty and more. Additionally, the SYL-CON user/coder meetup has been set for 19th and 20th of February in London - let them know if you're going.

To help TXSeries Encina users leverage the J2EE environment, this article describes how to develop Web-based applications using the Encina J2EE Connector. It walks you through various programming and configuration techniques for developing and deploying applications using the Encina J2EE Connector, introduced in TXSeries V5.1.

Linux Magazine has an extensive article the technical details and motivation behind Xen by one the developers.

SUSE Linux 9.2 was released to mirrors today. Novell is providing both the traditional Net Install Disc as well as DVD ISO's for i386 and x86_64. Here's the Distrowatch Link.

News.com has a review of the struggles of Longhorn. Among other delays and setbacks noted, word from Microsoft that the WinFS file system wouldn't be released in Windows Server until 2009.

You might think of Gentoo as a bleeding-edge distribution for development workstations, but the simple packaging system can make it a good choice for any production system that needs to stay up to date.

Xandros believes in the latter and their polished look and graphic install make it all the easier for the new user to make the transition to Linux. Read the rest of the review here.

"I love working with many distributions and always have two or three installed on my computer. In the end, SUSE meets my needs as a developer, consultant, and home user better than any other single distribution. I can run my home PC and a multinational corporation with the same code -- that is bang for your buck." Read more here.

"The seemingly constant restructuring at Sun has made it difficult to find and retain consistent contacts in their licensing program. The latest blow to our efforts was the recent notification of Sun's desire to revoke and renegotiate the FreeBSD Foundation's SCSL license" says the FreeBSD Foundation. We hope that Sun will reconsider.

Daniel is a software design engineer on the Avalon team and he's responsible for the 3D features of Avalon. Here he gives us a demo of Avalon 3D. Originally designed to only run on the next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, Avalon is now supported on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. In fact, the demo here is done on XP.

While many programs can obtain acceptable performance by simply letting the processor manage its own caching, programs with special requirements may obtain dramatically improved performance by giving the processor explicit instructions and manipulating the cache directly. More typically, boot firmware may need to flush and enable the cache.

Bill Gates is coming to your living room, whether you like it or not. Read the interview here.

The Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 1.0 SP3 Redistributable includes everything you need to run .NET Compact Framework applications, including the Common Language Runtime and the .NET Compact Framework class library. Elsewhere, Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) is a security technology that helps protect Windows users from spyware and other potentially unwanted software.