Here is a comparison of a C and Java speech librarywhere the Java version is 2-3 times faster, with server VM configuration. And here are some more C++ and java comparisons, with various algorithms. Elsewhere, Java 1.5 is 20% faster than C says JavaLobby. And some of our tests.

After a (somewhat) long discussion in the FreeBSD 'current@' and 'hackers@' mailing lists concerning the status of KSE in -CURRENT, the FreeBSD Release Engineering Team have decided to drop tier-ness of the alpha port to Tier-2 before 5.3 hits the road. This means, among other things, that 4-STABLE will be the last FreeBSD -STABLE branch for the alpha platform.

An Internet security firm claims to have found the first worm in the wild for Symbian OS, and it spreads via Bluetooth.

"While we can only speculate about Sun's motivations, it is fair to point out that emulation is a sign of respect. We emulate mentors, teachers or role models. Imitation, on the other hand, is a sign of flattery. We imitate rivals or competitors. Perhaps, in the long run, this distinction will provide all the insight we need into Sun's decision." Read the editorial at LinuxInsider.

"Ever seen some Linux application and thought: "the source is available, why can't we have that on RISC OS?" And indeed, because of the efforts that have been made on the GCC port for RISC OS and its C library, Unixlib, this is possible for a large number of Unix applications." Read the article at Drobe.

DotGNU has been ported to SkyOS. With help from the developers of DotGNU, the CLI is now available for SkyOS. Compilers, runtimes, and various tools are already fully-functional. Launching C# programs compiled in SkyOS, Windows, or Linux works. DotGNU will be tightly integrated into the system. In progress now: porting of all remaining classes of the mscorlib.

The recently released QNX 6.3 is now available for a test run by developers. It doesn't seem to be a fully free for no commercial purposes no-IDE version of QNX RtP anymore.

Windows XP SP2 RC2 is now available for download from BetaPlace. The build number is 2149 and there is currently a network install only, no express. More at Flexbeta.

There already exists a good deal of reviews of Mandrake 10 already. Instead of doing the typical review, I'm going to do things a bit differently. You see, there are a few things my OS needs to do perfectly, to warrant it a chance to stay on my PC longer than an hour or so. If any one of these necesseties fail, I may end up not liking the OS altogether. My OS needs to support good hardware acceleration, it must be able to play MP3's, I absolutely need Zsnes, and it has to be fast and stable.

Philippe 'Elwood' Ferrucci has written an article about AmigaOS4 and its differences with AmigaOS 3.9.

Apple is a famously secretive company. Its hush-hush culture makes it impossible for employees to talk about their work, even with spouses or family members. Today's the Day. This may help keep new products a surprise, but it has a downside: In the past few weeks widely publicized security holes in OS X were discussed everywhere and by everyone, except Apple, says Wired.

Recently, I got my hands on version 0.2 of Cobind, a Linux lite desktop, based on Red Hat/Fedora Core 1, from a software company in Pittsburgh. Not yet in general release, Cobind is a one disc wonder.

The Debian Project announced their AMD64 port is ready for inclusion in Sid. The port is currently at 97% compiled with most of the remaining packages having FTBFS RC bugs filed for unrelated reasons.

Microsoft says its set of upgrades for Windows Server 2003, due to be included in Service Pack 1, will make its products more secure by default and give enterprises more options for locking down servers.