Joe Brockmeier looks at EJB Solutions' Out-of-the-Box 1.0, a collection of open source Java software. Out-of-the-Box has everything you need to develop Java applications using open source tools on Linux or Windows?if you don't mind a few rough edges.

Gobe Software, the company behind the popular Gobe Productive office suite has re-instated their web presense and published the following short message on their site: "We are currently working on the next version of Gobe Productive, the popular award winning software. Stay tune for more news on products, distributors and resellers."

Forget the $1 per year Steve Jobs got during his first year of return at Apple. According to Forbes, Steve Jobs is today the most well paid CEO in US with $116+ million for the previous year.

Before I get started on my views, I would like to point a few things out. I'm not in high school or college. I'm 35 years old and have been in the computer business a long time. My experience goes all the way back to the hey days of punch cards. I still have a few cards over at my folk's house. I think one of the 'programs' prints out a snoopy. I've worked for several large corporations including IBM and GTE. I'm bringing this up not to brag but to point out that I know a thing or two about computers. Now that that's out of the way, I'll continue.

The pending launch of Windows Server 2003 will be a milestone not only for Microsoft, but for the other half of Wintel, too. It's been eight years since Intel got into the server market and two years since it shipped a 64-bit processor, the Itanium. On April 24, a 64-bit version of Windows that takes advantage of Intel's 64-bit design will become generally available.

Microsoft Corp., bowing to federal government demands, will make it easier for computer users to substitute rival Web browsers for the company's Internet Explorer, people familiar with the matter said.

"Long-awaited OS a strong performer with good scalability" InfoWorld states in their 3-page review.

IBM today announced the availability of a 'special edition' of SciTech SNAP Graphics for OS/2. The SciTech System Neutral Access Protocol (SNAP) Graphics for OS/2 IBM Special Edition (a.k.a. SNAP Graphics/SE) is a set of graphic adapter device drivers (GRADD) supporting a variety of chip sets from the leading chip set manufacturers. SNAP Graphics/SE is the new compatible replacement for previous versions of SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2 IBM Special Edition (SDD/SE).

SuSE Linux AG now plans to ship its SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop operating system in June, a delay from original plans to ship it during the just-ended first quarter of 2003. SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, which is in beta testing phase now, will cost $129 per desktop, although discounts would apply to high-volume purchases, InfoWorld reports. OSNews recently posted a review of SuSE's other latest product, SuSE Linux 8.2.

Slashdot carries a story about Sun trying to speed up the UI of Java applications by using native OS looks. Sun released J2SE version 1.4.2 beta1, release notes here. Footnotes ran an interview about the integration of Java and GTK+ and they feature three screenshots. In other developer/GTK+ news, Inti 1.0.7 is released. Inti is a C++ wrapper for GTK+ (similar to gtkmm).

A significant number of Apple Authorized Resellers were deauthorized this week, objecting to the company's new contracts for dealers. One reseller estimated that about 50 resellers haven't signed the contract, representing over $300 Million in revenue for Apple.

The main commercial company behind NetBSD is Wasabi Systems. The company has contributed advances and big chunks of code to the open source project, while they do offer a boxed release of NetBSD. However, their main business for the company is the embedded market and NetBSD is marketed as an embedded OS. Today, we talk to the Vice President of Wasabi Systems, Jay Michaelson.

Hewlett-Packard has cut prices for its midrange Unix servers by about 20 percent, in an attempt to thwart renewed competition from rivals Sun Microsystems and IBM.

The AROS team has updated their web site with new information about their operating system, plus a number of new screenshots. The team is also looking for active developers to help out the project.