Microsoft Corp. said on Monday that retail and new PC sales of Windows XP, its flagship operating system, have grown to more than 210 million copies since the product was launched two and a half years ago. The world's largest software maker also unveiled on Monday the latest version of its anti-piracy software for digital files, music and movies, which it said would work with a wider class of online services and devices. In the meantime, a new generation of PCs based on Microsoft's next operating system won't arrive until perhaps 2006, but engineers at a conference in Seattle this week will learn how to build the new machines.

James Gosling for CMP.net.Asia: "When people talk about opening the Java platform, they want to take the source code, remove the licences, and let everyone do what they want with it. But that really refers to people who work on the Java platform itself. We try to make Java as open as while still preserving the interoperability of Java for the large developer community. One way to look at it is, either we annoy the people who build the platforms or those who build the applications." In the meantime, GNU Classpath 0.09 was released.

This beta of BeOS LiveCD(XBEOX) contains the BeOS 5 Personal Edition with some drivers. It is the first BeOS live CD since the 4.5 days in 1999. The LiveCD includes the "Installer" application so users can install the full BeOS PE on its own hard drive partition if needed. To get to the internet you will need a normal floppy drive (no external USB ones). Apparently, the upcoming BeOSMax Edition 3.1 will be a LiveCD too in addition to being a normal installer bootable CD.

The Cocoa Bindings system is a toolset available in Panther which allows you to define relationships between user interface and data objects. This means a lot less code, and a lot more functionality for free. This tutorial walks you through the conversion of a standard application into a bindings application.

Most are aware of the success C# is enjoying in the Windows community, and we have been hearing about how the Open Source Community fears the technology in Longhorn enough to take the drastic step of co-opting Microsofts strategy and doing it first. But what about the Apple community? Turns out they have the same idea according to DrunkenBatman. Our past commentary is here.

We are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 3.5. This is our 15th release on CD-ROM (and 16th via FTP). We remain proud of OpenBSD's record of eight years with only a single remote hole in the default install. As in our previous releases, 3.5 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system. Read the official release announcement and changelog.