Review: VMware Workstation 4.0.5

OS News 8 Comments
"Part of what I do involves trying out and working with a large number of Linux distributions. It's important for me to know what's out there and how it compares with other products. When I'm not being a writer, I run a small computer consulting business that makes similar demands. My customers expect me to support and work in a number of different environments and operating systems." Read the rest of the article at UnixReview.
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XML Patent Paradox

  Submitted by Sam Hiser Legal 30 Comments
OpenOffice.org has offered a free, open XML file format for over 3 years, while Microsoft has just begun to introduce their own implementation of XML in their new office suite products. MS is attempting to patent their software's internal methods of handling XML as well as their own XML schemas.
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Embedded Linux becoming ‘disruptive force’

Linux No Comments
"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.
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Finder designer talks of iFile and Apple advice

In the News 4 Comments
"Bruce Horn, one of the members of the original Macintosh team and the person who designed and implemented (along with Steve Capps) the Finder, is still a Mac user and Mac fan. He's also developing new projects, including iFile under the banner of his Ingenuity Software company. iFile is an information management system that runs under Mac OS X. Although still in development, Horn thinks that, when it's completed, it could someday offer "a nice alternative to the Finder." A new public release is slated for the spring." Read the rest of the article at MacMinute.
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A Computer Lab with No Windows, Part I

Linux 13 Comments
"Sisler High school is the largest high school in Manitoba, with approximately 1,600 students and 120 staff members on campus. The school offers many computer courses at different levels, ranging from computer programming and office skills to vocational subjects, such as trouble-shooting personal computers, networking and advanced operating systems. In 2002, due to a letter from CAAST (Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft), the school spent more than $50,000 to make sure we had all the necessary licenses for our software." Read the rest of the article at LinuxJournal.
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Apple Now Debt-free with $4.8B in Bank

  Submitted by Charlie Apple 57 Comments
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.
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Windows Fully Compatible With New Intel 64-Bit Extension CPUs

Windows 38 Comments
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.
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New 3D Effect Could be a Bright Spot for Sun

Oracle and SUN 45 Comments
"The 33-year-old creator of this 3-D effect, dubbed Looking Glass, is a programmer at Sun Microsystems in Santa Clara. He's part of a crew creating desktop software for the freely available Linux operating system. So far, many desktop versions of Linux emphasize how it can mimic the functions of Microsoft's Windows and Office software." Read the article about Sun's Project Looking Glass here. Looking Glass is a 3D Java application running atop X11, simulating a desktop environment with nice 3D effects, but it is not incorporated to Gnome or X11.
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Improvements in kernel development from 2.4 to 2.6

Linux 13 Comments
The long-awaited 2.6 kernel is finally here. The author takes a look behind the scenes at the tools, tests, and techniques -- from revision control and regression testing to bugtracking and list keeping -- that helped make 2.6 a better kernel than any that have come before it. Some interesting changes took place in the way the Linux kernel is developed and tested. Several key changes have improved overall stability as well as quality.
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French Officials Eye Open-Source Apps

In the News 15 Comments
The French government will install open source software on the desktop as part of Project ADELE, a plan to computerize much of the country's administration by 2007, a government official says. The administration will migrate a significant number of its desktops to open source operating systems and application software, Jacques Sauret, director of the French Agency for the Development of the Electronic Administration, said at a recent meeting of the French IT and Telecoms Press Club.
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A Proposition for Apple: Port Cocoa to Java

Apple 75 Comments
Apple Computer is possibly in a better shape than it has been in for a long while. With the second coming of Steve Jobs and the renewed focus on innovation, Apple scrambled back from the brink to a relatively healthy company. The question is how will Apple ensure its position, if not strengthen it going forward?
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Sun Fires Back over Open Source Java Accusations

  Submitted by Matt Whipp Java 51 Comments
Sun has offered a frank response to the open letter from Eric S, Raymond, President, Open Source Initiative, in which he called on Sun to make its Java platform Open Source and described the company's Open Source strategy as 'spotty' and 'confused'. 'I'd say this is 100 per cent rant,' Sun's Chief Technology Evangelist, Simon Phipps said. 'His simplistic accusations don't hold water... If this is the way that Open Source treats its friends, I'd hate to see how it treats its enemies.'
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