The following is a short review of Xandros Desktop OS Open Circulation Edition 2.01 otherwise known as the OC release. This is the first time there has been a freely downloadable version of Xandros in the companies history and I believed it was worth writing a review on. The OC Edition is a limited version of Xandros Desktop that is freely distributable, so you can get it for free and give it out. Read the Review at DesktopOS.com. Also at DesktopOS, a Libranet 2.8.1 review.

There are 100's of different Linux distributions and picking one can be difficult. So (:^tuxs.org) has devised the "Linux Distribution Chooser" to help you find a good distribution to try for the first time. Answer a few simple questions and the "Linux Distribution Chooser" will suggest a Linux distribution for you to try The Distribution Chooser has been now updated to version 0.2 following the feedback from Distrowatch readers.

Yesterday Apple released a security patch that addresses 15 issues, including a serious Kerberos vulnerability. The patch repairs issues in OS X versions going back to 10.2. The patch is available through Software Update, and an advisory can be found at Apple's web site.

Microsoft had released a special registry key for large customers that delays Windows XP SP2's automatic download and installation for 120 days, to give companies time to prepare for the update. They have decided to extend that timeframe to 240 days, due to pressure from customers.

Intel's high-end Itanium chip is not making the kinds of inroads that Intel had hoped. It's Xeon chip still rules the roost for servers. In response, the company will be launching a program that lets potential users try out Itanium hardware before they buy. A ZDNet article covers where Intel's going with the Itanium and Xeon.

Kompose' is an Expose'-like (OS X) full screen task manager for KDE that has just gone to release 0.4.1 in two months. You really have to see it to understand, but imagine that tiny little box in your taskbar that indicates all our running windows blown up and on the entire desktop. Then add a tiny screenshot for each app. For those without an OS X box around we have provided these screenshots of Kompose' in action.

Jim Allchin is group vice president of Microsoft’s Platforms Group and has overall responsibility for the Windows operating system. He talks about Longhorn, security, 64 bit, open source, and life at Microsoft. Read the interview.

Tim O'Reilly has spoken often over the last year about how to apply the ideals of open source with the slow and eventual shift from dependence on software to dependence on information. The new software is 'infoware'. In Applying Distributed XML toward The Open Source Paradigm Shift to Infoware, I propose that we can preserve the freedoms to innovate with data and to fork infoware by working with locally hosted xml files like we do with RSS.

DesktopOS published a Libranet GNU/Linux 2.8.1 review. The author describes the installation, configuration and community of Libranet, and gives some good tips as well.

Longhorn's woes may open a door for Linux—a very tiny door—but Linux just isn't a good choice for desktops. Instead, desktop Linux proponents should wake up and switch to the Mac OS.

Togaware has published an extensive online book to help aspiring Debian users find their way around setting up a Linux desktop workstation.

Wireless PCs and wireless laptops are being increasingly used in both business and the home. . . Unfortunately, in the enthusiasm with which people have adopted wireless, the question of security has been seriously overlooked.

When the UK's defense contractor for the Navy decided to standardize on Windows, it "prompted strong internal opposition from some , who had a sound background in Unix and who had, despite resource starvation and a companywide policy to standardise on Windows, been investigating open source alternatives as a foundation for future combat systems. They lost."

Ask some end users what Linux Standard Base (LSB) is and most likely they either won't know anything about it, or know a little bit but not enough to qualify as understanding what all the buzz around LSB is about. Ask three ISVs and only one will likely understand the implications of LSB for their business. And only a very, very few will say that they have started the process of making some of their applications LSB-compliant. Read More.