Microsoft this week started beta testing its Virtual Server, a program that enables a single server to run multiple operating systems. Microsoft has also released build 1159 of Windows Server 2003 SP1 to their beta testers this evening.

I considered reviewing Debian for this article. I downloaded a copy of Debian 3.0r2, making sure to get the disk with the 2.4 kernel. Everything you've heard about Debian being difficult to install? It's not totally true, but it's pretty close. I really wanted to try Debian, though, if only to use the vaunted apt-get system. I'd tried apt-rpm on a previous Red Hat installation, and it was great. Since Debian was turning out to be too difficult to put together, I decided to look for a debian-based distro.

"Red Hat Professional Workstation was designed to allow former users of the company's consumer product line to continue to use a supported platform without having to migrate to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Unfortunately, it fails to live up to its predecessors in key areas, and is considerably more expensive in some usage scenarios. Home users should look to the Fedora Project if they wish to continue using Red Hat technology, or consider migrating to another Linux distribution. Small businesses should analyse their current expenditure and consider migrating to another vendor." Read the rest of the article at NewsForge.

"These days, embedded Linux pretty much means TiVo, a Sharp Zaurus handheld, or the wireless LAN gateway you may having running at home. Although EL is not exactly taking IT by storm at the moment -- and because a whole lot of experimental EL products have come and gone quickly -- it is nonetheless establishing its own place in the world. And there are those who firmly believe that EL will play an increasingly important role in gadgets to come." Read the rest of the article at NewsForge.

An internal Apple memo has been posted that states that Apple has just paid off its remaining $300 million in debt and is now debt-free. This concludes an amazing journey that has taken the company from a debt of $1 billion in Apple's darkest days to the current cash reserves of $4.8 billion.

Microsoft Corp. today announced at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco that its Windows OS for 64-bit extended systems will be fully compatible with Intel Corp.'s newly announced processors with 64-bit extension technology. The 64-bit extended systems versions of Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP provide customers with the versatility to run both 32-bit and 64-bit applications, enabling them to move to 64-bit computing at their own pace while preserving their current investment in 32-bit apps.