Tamura Kent formally unveils his plans to add new functionality to NetBSD's audio framework (audio(9) and audio(4)) - specifically, the addition of an audio converter pipeline and in-kernel mixing. These additions along with audio device cloning would make it possible to natively support hardware mixing without the use of a software based soundserver.

Flexbeta has got a review of VMWare Workstation 5.0. This new beta includes many nice features such as the ability to capture movies, and support for 64Bit hardware.

A small startup in Microsoft's backyard is poised to begin shipping a tiny, 32-pin chip-like computer module that runs ".NET Embedded," a new Microsoft embedded software platform developed for use in watches and other "smart personal objects." The module, developed by startup .netcpu Corp., incorporates portions of Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) hardware and software.

This time Eduardo turns to issues more related to hardware. First we'll see how to enable removable drives in a Slack installation, with especial attention to floppies; and then Eduardo will examine how to setup new hardware, using a scanner as an example, since its setup was tricky. Read the whole adventure at OfB.biz. My Take: Honestly, I hope someone could come up with an administrative GUI for DevFS & uDev so users can set permissions on device nodes without having their heads explode.

The third in a three-part series on how to leverage Linux to get the most from your network, this tutorial shows how to use Samba to integrate your Linux and Windows networks (reg. req.). Sample code and configuration files are provided throughout to aid understanding.

The Smalltalk green book, Smalltalk-80, Bits of History, Words of Advice text is now online. Also, the now discontinued SharpDevelop book Disecting a C# Application: Inside SharpDevelop is now available for download.

YaifO is a modified OpenBSD installer for remote installations or updates via Secure Shell. It has been tested and should work on Alpha, i386, Sparc and Sparc64. It is especially useful for people who like to switch their root server from Linux to OpenBSD without access to a serial line or keyboard.

Debian Woody, the current stable release for over 2 years, and Sarge, the new upcoming stable release due out in a month or two, support no fewer than 11 architectures. Perhaps surprisingly, AMD64 is not one of them and it won't be in Sarge either.

BlitzMax is the new, next generation game programming language from Blitz Research. BlitzMax provides developers with a complete cross-platform 2D programming solution for OSX, Windows and Linux. The OSX version has just been released, with Windows and Linux versions to follow shortly. For more details, please visit www.blitzmax.com or read the official press release. Blitz3D is also available.

The first thing anyone considering using Fedora needs to know is this is not a safe, sane Linux distribution. It's not meant to be. Fedora is the test bed for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and is also the replacement for Red Hat Linux, with two major differences: there is no commercial edition, and it is intended to be a community project, rather than solely a Red Hat product. Read the rest of the review at LinuxPlanet.

Microsoft plans to release patches for five Windows flaws next week, it announced today.

The long wait for NetBSD 2.0 is over, the official release is here.

A test release of Fedora Core 3 for PowerPC systems has been announced, more info here.

For years, Microsoft has hammered away at the security flaws in its desktop operating system. Now the company is looking to plug another security hole: weak passwords.