"While the next major revision for DirectX is not expected until Longhorn’s launch, Microsoft’s DirectX group has been briefing developers on what’s in store for “DirectX Next” with presentations at Microsoft Meltdown and other developer conferences. Recently, this presentation was made available to the public via Microsoft’s Developer Network. The intent of this article is to give a more thorough treatment of the features listed for inclusion with DirectX Next and hence explore the types of capabilities that DirectX Next may be offering." Read the article at Beyond3D.

In the steps of OSX's QuartzExreme, freedesktop.org's new X and Longhorn, PalmSource seems to be seeking an engineer to take on "responsibility for a new high-performance graphics system, based on OpenGL and Postscript." According to this bit of information it might be safe to assume that a future PalmOS will be basing its UI on GL.

When we first asked for suggestions for inclusion in the Samba HOWTO documentation, someone wrote asking for example configurations -- and lots of them. This article offers extensive descriptions of Samba configuration possibilities.

Genesi today announced a new, PowerPC-based, modular MicroATX mainboard release that brings flexibility and efficient processing power to performance-intensive applications, including desktops, workstations, servers, and communications products. Read the rest of the press release.

Microsoft broadens its intellectual property licensing, and adds new IP licensing programs, including one for its FAT file system.

This study focuses on the distinguishing traits of the Linux managing model. It introduces the concept of process to capture the idea of impermanence, dissolvability and change. Far from being a predictable flow of programming, assembling and releasing activities, it is suggested that the Linux development process displays a stream of activities that keep feeding back into each other, thus creating a complex and unpredictable outcome. Read more articles at FirstMonday's issue index.

In this technical article titled "Scripting your Windows XP Embedded components", software consultant Hans de Vetten offers guidance on how to script Windows XP Embedded components. The article describes some steps that lead to more user-friendly components.

"Finally I think there needs to be a public call to Red Hat to provide critical security updates for Red Hat 7.x, 8.0 and 9. While I realize that this will not create any revenue for Red Hat, quite the opposite, it will reduce short and medium term revenues as customers will continue using "free" products". Read the article at the Security-Site by Kurt Seifried.

Here is an excellent OS-related case mod. Ingeniously simple and practical.

Captive is a project to create a wrapper around Microsoft's ntfs.sys driver that allows linux users to get read-write access to their NTFS partitions. They are using WINE and ReactOS code to emulate parts of Windows environment needed to make the driver work.

This article kicks off a six-part series that focuses on important data structures and their use in application development. We'll examine both built-in data structures present in the .NET Framework, as well as essential data structures we'll have to build ourselves. This first installment focuses on defining what data structures are, how the efficiency of data structures is analyzed, and why this analysis is important. In this article, we'll also examine the Array and ArrayList, two of the most commonly used data structures present in the .NET Framework.

Sun's Schwartz says his company's partnership with EDS and its deal with the Chinese government establish Sun as a leading desktop provider and competitor to Microsoft.

OReilly's OnLamp site has two articles, Part I and Part II titled "Real Desktop Linux". Elsewhere, Bruce Perens posted a white paper of his UserLinux initiative titled "UserLinux: Repairing the Economic Paradigm of Enterprise Linux".

They say that "diversity is the key of survival and evolution in any domain. In software world though, variations are so big that they have started to prevent cooperation between software users and developers." Diversity is the key of survival and evolution in any domain. Because of variation, individuals from same species will react differently in the same environment, some surviving and becoming stronger, others disappearing. In software world though, variations are so big that they have started to prevent cooperation between software users and developers.