The OpenBSD folks are pleased to announce the official release of OpenBSD 3.4. This is their 14th release on CD-ROM (and 15th via FTP). They remain proud of OpenBSD's record of seven years with only a single remote hole in the default install. As with previous releases, 3.4 provides significant improvements, including new features, in nearly all areas of the system:

Free UNIX-derived operating systems have traditionally have a simplistic approach to process synchronization which is unsuited to multiprocessor application. Initial FreeBSD SMP support kept this approach by allowing only one process to run in kernel mode at any time, and also blocked interrupts across multiple processors, causing seriously suboptimal performance of I/O bound systems. This paper describes the work done to remove this bottleneck, paying particular attention to the project management aspects and the particular challenges of a large open source development project.

More commentary on the GNOME front: Jared White of 'The Idea Basket' compares the GNOME Storage project with the new WinFS technology in Microsoft Longhorn. Can Storage gain enough momentum and developer involvement within the open source community? Will it be ready to compete with WinFS in 2006? Havoc Pennington has a similar question on his blog.

"Apple's BSD-based MacOS X 10.3 Panther offers 64-bit processor support and new features wrapped in the latest version of a GUI that has its roots in the NeXT desktop. While Panther sets a new standard for ease of use and interface look and feel, it still lacks features that Linux users have long enjoyed." Read the article at NewsForge by C. Gulker. Update: SunSpot has a review too: "One more cool cat".

On MorphOS-news.de, Genesi announced today that four patents owned by Raquel Velasco will be included in Genesi intellectual property portfolio. Read more here.

Two weeks ago we featured an early pick on iTunes for Windows, but today iTunes' main competitor Napster 2.0 was released for a free download. We had a play with it and here is what we think about it and how it compares to iTunes.

MacSlash reports that when a file is accessed on Panther, a check is made to see if it is fragmented. If so, and if it is less than 20 MB in size, the filesystem will copy the file over to a contiguous area on the HD that will hold the file in it's entirety in concurrent sectors, and then free up the HD space the fragmented version used to occupy. There are cases though, where a third party defrag utility will be required for best results.

"Today I'll talk about two of those technologies into more detail. Now, my understanding about the advantages of some of this is sketchy and incomplete since we are, after all, talking about an OS that won't ship for 3 years. Anyway, those two technologies are: WinFS and managed code in the form of the API called WinFX." Read the article by Stardock's Brad Wardell. Update: A reply.

Linux kernel creator Linus Torvalds last weekend released a test version of the Linux 2.6 kernel called test9, a sure sign that a production version of the next kernel is fast approaching. In this e-mail exchange with SearchEnterpriseLinux.com, Torvalds explains what kind of insight he hopes to gain from enterprises that install test9, and he reveals a tentative release date for the kernel.

Xandros, inheritor of the software from Corel's ill-fated foray into the desktop Linux market, has named a new chief executive and plans to release a new version of its product in late November. Xandros founder and former CEO Mike Bego remains a full-time employee, but Xandros wanted a leader with more business experience. Meanwhile, Xandros 2.0 is expected in the coming months.

The CEO of the legendary Mac software house Ambrosia Software wrote an article about the economics of Open Source and how does it fit to the market.

The best ever version of Mac OS X, 10.3 Panther, is now available. Panther includes more than 150 new features, enhancements and optimizations. However, anything that's 'great' can become 'near-perfect' with a bit more effort, right? Read our 10.4 wish list and then use the comment section to post your own wish list for the next version of OSX. Apple engineers and product managers, take notice!

Microsoft will enhance the handwriting recognition characteristics of its Tablet PC operating system in an interim edition code-named Lonestar. More advanced ink and personalization features are targeted for a Longhorn edition further out.

The latest OS X upgrade isn't a huge improvement, but it's faster and loaded with small enhancements that'll make your Mac purr, says BusinessWeek. In the meantime, Internet security company @Stake has warned of newly discovered vulnerabilities affecting Apple Computer's Mac OS X operating system. UPDATE: Apple Computer's latest version of its Mac OS X operating system, Panther (fourth release in 2.5 years), patches security flaws that affect previous versions of the operating system, leaving security experts wondering if users will have to pay the $129 upgrade fee to be secure.