"We evaluated the security features of Windows XP SP2 on a test machine, following a clean install of XP Pro with no configuration changes and no third-party software or drivers installed. We installed XP with the NTFS file system, choosing all of the factory defaults, then patched it with each recommended security update including SP-1 (required), before installing SP2." Read the rest at TheRegister.

Rocklyte Systems' Athene operating environment is at once fascinating and frustrating. It's a custom GNU/Linux distribution optimized for i686 machines that employs a proprietary graphics toolkit and video drivers, which means it's visually impressive and extremely speedy. Athene is by far the most unique and technologically advanced GNU/Linux derivative to date, but it needs some better administrative features and it doesn't come with much software. Linux.com has the full review.

Redhat Network Account users appear to now have access to the Enterprise 3 Update 3 release. Updates appear to only be available through the up2date feature. ISO's are not listed on the RHN Download site at this time.

As a programmer and manager of embedded software products for a living, I think that operating system programming is so much fun that it will eventually be outlawed. I've previously published two articles on OSNews, So, you want to write an operating system and Climbing the kernel mountain, and tried to summarize my experience in designing operating system kernels as well as technical traps that can be easily avoided.

Purchasing decisions today are "based upon business metrics -- not how good the technology is," says Dan Kusnetzky of IDC. "If the business decision maker is unaware of a company or its products, the products won't be considered. If the products aren't considered, they certainly won't be selected." So, if Mandrakelinux is so user-friendly and powerful, why is it not a household word -- even compared to other Linux flavors? In a word: marketing. There is a widespread, if not universally shared, perception that Mandrakesoft's marketing efforts are far less sophisticated then its technical attributes.

Managers, mind your patches and VPNs! While none has yet been reported, exploits of the Kerberos vulnerabilities uncovered by MIT researchers could wreak havoc on a network.

Release Candidate 1 marks the start of the Hard Code Freeze, on the way towards the final GNOME 2.8 release in a couple of weeks.

The August edition of the Syllable Development Newsletter is now available, nutshellising the OS' progress over the last month. Highlights include a website redesign, driver updates and VMware images. Additionally, LinuxBeta.com has assembled a superb slideshow running through Syllable's new desktop and apps.

Apple Computer Inc.'s Senior Vice President of Hardware Product Marketing, Phil Schiller, officially kicked off Apple Expo Paris this week introducing the iMac G5 during his keynote address. Analysts are unanimous in their support for the new consumer machine and the strategic ties Apple has drawn between the iMac and the iPod in marketing the computer. Read the interview here.

While Linux clusters can handle the demands of high performance computing, they're still lacking in some key features, said Eric Pitcher, vice president of technical marketing for Linux Networx, a cluster systems provider in Bluffdale, Utah. In part one of this interview, he championed Linux clusters, citing their productivity and scalability. In part two, he discusses pricing and points out Linux clusters' current shortcomings.

We are pleased to announce a new stable release of Valgrind, version 2.2.0.

This paper on how to tune FreeBSD to better withstand DoS attacks was at OnLamp a few months ago. It is now up on Silverwraith.com, along with several other FreeBSD tuning papers by the author.

MyXaml is proud to announce the release of version 1.0 of its declarative parser. MyXaml allows the programmer to write declarative programming instructions in XML to construct complex object graphs and property initialization for the .NET/ASP.NET framework and third party classes.

DistroWatch reports that a new development version of Mandrakelinux 10.1, PPC edition, is now available. Highlights: Linux kernel 2.6.8rc2; NPTL support; X11R6.7.0, GNOME 2.6, KDE 3.2.3, etc.