The Mono project has a clear goal: to become the first-choice platform for Linux software development. Considering that Mono is an implementation of Microsoft's .NET framework, that goal might sound particularly audacious to many Linux fans, says Edd Dumbill. In the meantime it was announced today that the SPARC port of the Mono JIT engine has been completed.

Michael C. Barnes updates his in-depth review of Linux desktop operating systems. In this exclusive article at DesktopLinux.com, Barnes examines how far the Linux distributions have come over the past year, updating his popular first article and evaluating the current versions of leading Desktop Linux desktop options including Ark Linux, ELX Linux, Lycoris, MEPIS, Vector Linux, Xandros, as well as Live CDs including Puppy Linux and Flonix.

Conscious, Emotional machines, will we ever see them? How far can technology go and can technology be applied to us? In this final part I wonder into the realm of Science Fiction. Then, to conclude the series I come back down to Earth to speculate on the features we'll see in any radical new platform that appears. Update: Never let it be said I ignore my errors, in the interests of clarity and with apologies to Extreme Programmers I have revised Part 1.

After the installation and configuration articles, Tips4Free offers a full review of Mandrake 10.

Just as the legal battle over Linux was about to become even more expensive, Microsoft suggested that a hedge fund invest in the outfit. Read the report at BusinessWeek and at News.com.

In three months, Microsoft users will finally reap benefits from the company's new focus on security. The release of the second major update to Windows XP answers many long-standing design criticisms of its operating system. What does this mean for Linux?

Linux kernel 2.6.4 has been released. Get it from a mirror or read the changelog.

eMbedded VC++ 4.0 SP3 merges the functionality of eMbedded VC++ 4.0 SP1 and eMbedded VC++ 4.0 SP2 and enables development using a single development machine to target Windows CE 4.0, 4.10 or 4.20 Platforms. eVC4 SP3 installation includes previously released QFEs for eMbedded VC++ 4.0. After you install this, you might also wanna get the Pocket PC 2003 emulator and the Smartphone emulator which run on top of eMbedded VC++ 4.0.

The wait for the long-awaited Yukon and Whidbey is going to be longer still, eWEEK.com has learned. Microsoft Corp. Director of Product Management for SQL Server Tom Rizzo confirmed that Microsoft expects to ship both Yukon—Microsoft's code name for the next major update of its SQL Server database—and Whidbey—the coming update of Visual Studio—in the first half of 2005.

A basic understanding of Stop errors and their underlying causes improves your ability to locate and understand technical information or perform diagnostic procedures on Windows Server 2003.

"Thanks to its streamlined and relatively secure core, the Linux operating system has gradually been winning a place on servers in federal agencies. Now Linux is making inroads on desktop PCs as well, territory that has long been ruled by Microsoft Corp.'s Windows." Read the article at USAToday.

Savanna is back with an article about her latest upgrade to the KDE 3.2 desktop. After being on 3.2 beta for several months, she wasn't expecting too much of this upgrade.

DistroWatch reports on a quick note to say that the recently released Mandrakelinux 10.0 Community is now available for free download from the official Mandrake mirrors.

In an industry first, Silicon Graphics today announced the worldwide availability of SGI Altix systems running up to 256 Intel Itanium 2 processors within a single instance of the Linux operating system. The record-breaking accomplishment is the end result of an international Altix beta program originally targeted to achieve just half the scalability of today's 256-processor milestone.