This is an editorial by Brad Chamberlin on how he sees Mandrake Linux's 9.1 usability. Before starting bashing the author , take note that he is a Mandrake user for many years, but he is sensitive on UI and usability issues. This user likes a clean, logical and well-thoughout experience and he simply outlines the unpolishness and incosistency that a user finds on any Linux distribution today, not just on Mandrake.

An interesting Palladium editorial is at Linux-mag, going through the pros and cons of the technology.

A few days ago we featured an interview with one of Fink's project leaders regarding their package management solution which breeds more Unix software to MacOSX. Today, we host an interview with Jordan Hubbard regarding the DarwinPorts, speaking for the DarwinPorts Team which a similar effort to bring more Unix software on Mac OS X. Jordan is currently working at Apple and OpenDarwin (while many will know Jordan as the FreeBSD co-founder).

SuSE released the "live" bootable CD of SuSE Linux 8.2 for everyone to try out this new version of the OS. More details here.

Novell plans to launch at BrainShare 2003 this week the open beta of NetWare 6.5 and update attendees about its Liberty Identity Provider for eDirectory and exteNd 5 Web services platform. The company is expected to announce not only the open-beta availability of NetWare 6.5, code-named Nakoma, but its slated release date of June, sources said. Also, Novell adopts Linux as NetWare migration path.

Apple is on the verge of announcing a trio of speed-bumped eMacs, sources confirmed to Think Secret. 'Highly reliable' sources said that Apple's consumer eMac lineup will be expanded to three models at 800MHz and 1GHz, and with larger hard drives. But other changes are also in store.

The paper considers a mathematical model of the behavior of an assembly of N stars. The 'Kepler' Microsoft Windows demo application based of this model enables to perform real-time simulation of star clusters dynamics for N~=2500. Such performance rate is possible through the use of the Intel Integrated Performance Primitives (IPP) library. The paper also estimates the efficiency of the IPP application and provides an example of C-code with the IPP functions calls. Computer-simulated images of the spiral galaxy forming process, as well as the real galaxies photos, are presented.

The new issue of the LinuxJournal magazine features two articles, a preview of the 2.6 kernel and an article regarding memory allocation: Keeping memory requirements low can save your time and money. Here's how to bend malloc() to your will.

MacObserver editor Bryan Chaffin said that even though a new agreement between the two companies is improbable, Microsoft still has incentive to continue developing Office for Mac. Read it at NewsFactor. Update: On other Apple news, Mac OS X Server 10.2.5 has been released via Software Update.

Microsoft on Monday will detail a future version of Windows that will make it easier to detect and isolate viruses. Read the article at News.com.

The 64-bit version of Microsoft's database will cost the same as the 32-bit version and perform better--part of the company's bid to undercut Oracle and IBM. Read it at News.com.

Frank writes "Performance breakthroughs seem to come in two varieties: easy and hard. That's no platitude; the boundary between the two is surprisingly clear. Although in some cases it has taken considerable genius to realize their first application, they're easy to understand. The other kind involve careful measurement, specific knowledge, and a fair amount of tuning. Good programmers can operate in either the "hard" or "easy" mode. This article offers a paired collection of 4 hard and easy tales from real (programming) life."

The number of sites running Windows Server 2003 is already more than the number running Sun Solaris 9, even though the former has not yet been formally launched, the latest monthly web server survey from Netcraft has found.

The Nomad Team has revealed their first piece of software for the AmigaDE and AmigaOS, NomaGMS a Game and Multimedia application programming interface. For the latest Q&A session with the Amiga CTO, turn to the AmigaWorld community portal.