I just came back from the CeBIT, the anual fair in the Messehalle in Hannover Germany. It is one of the biggest computer and communications technology fairs in the world and certainly the biggest in Europe. Here's my mini report (which also includes information about YellowTAB's Zeta).

There's lots of cool stuff over at NewMobileComputing today, as the CeBIT and CITA conferences are resulting in a lot of product and prototype rollouts. Some highlights: Mercedes and BMWs decked out with computers, a new Samsung watch phone close to production, Nextel handsets that speak 802.11, and RIM's licensing deals. We need your help! NMC readers are so far not quite as opinionated as OSNews readers are, so we need some of you to visit and make comments on the articles and forums.

ThinkSecret reports that Apple provided a pre-release seed of Mac OS X v10.2.5 to developers Friday, releasing updates to both the client and server version. Version 10.2.5 contains a variety of fixes, including updates and enhancements to QuickDraw, IPSec, TCP performance, web services, Sound Manager, and Windows 2000 compatibility.

Holger Dyroff of SuSE talks to Roblimo about SuSE, SCO and more.

A 16 page long, illustrated history of Windows, from 1981 untill today, at NeoWin.

"Desktop Linux doesn't seem to keep Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates awake at night. But it should - the same way that Linux on the server gives Microsoft brass nightmares - claims Michael Robertson. Robertson is the CEO of Lindows.com, the company that's selling dirt-cheap Linux PCs in Wal-Marts." Read the interview at MicrosoftWatch.

I am not a seasoned Linux user. I am not command line veteran (unless you count DOS way back in the day). In fact, let's face it, I am a noob (newbie, nooblar, n00b, etc). For awhile I have been looking at the Gentoo distro hungrily. I have wanted to install it, considered installing it, even downloaded the isos, but I always chickened out before doing it. One look at the installation guide and I would always lose my nerve. However, about two weeks ago I finally got myself together and took the plunge. I popped in my Gentoo 1.4_r2 CD and decided to give it a whirl. I thought there was no way I would really ever succeed, but the results were surprising.

"There are dozens of reasons why people have underestimated how quickly Linux has been grabbing Windows' market share. Windows starts out with a false boost and maintains its illusory market share even as it gets replaced by Linux. In 2004, don't be surprised when Linux overtakes Windows to become the main focus for developers." Read the editorial at LinuxWorld.

The XPde Team released XPde 0.3.0, a major upgrade to the XPde desktop environment and window manager. Check out the announcement, view the screenshots or read the detailed ChangeLog. Go to the downloads section to get the binaries and sources. Read more for a quick commentary.

The entire Source Mage GNU/Linux team would like to announce the release of their very first offical release, code named "Shillelagh". Source Mage is a source-based GNU/Linux distribution based on a Sorcery metaphor of "casting" and "dispelling" programs, which the team refers to as "spells".

Virtual Dimension has released an English version of their Amiga + Retro-Computing 2002 show report. New products which were sold at this small fair, include AmigaOne systems running Linux, Pegasos systems running MorphOS and even a new C64 compatible Retro motherboard, called the c-one, was being presented at the fair. Regarding the AmigaOne motherboards, initial G3/G4 benchmark comparisons are now available.

Amiga.org reports that Fleecy Moss of Amiga Inc replies to the first batch of questions from the AmigaWorld thread created for this purpose. This is the first of a planned series of similar sessions.

Scott Long recently posted this year's first FreeBSD status report. The document begins with a quick look at the recently released FreeBSD 5.0, then looks to the future roadmap with the 5.1 maintenance release coming within a couple of months, and the stable 5.2 release by the end of the summer. Also mentioned is the upcoming 4-STABLE release, 4.8 (24th March), which includes XFree86 4.3 and support for HyperThreading. Read the detailed report at KernelTrap.

"For a company that helped create the personal computer, it seems Microsoft wants to talk about anything these days but the PC. And for good reason. With PC sales slumping, the world's biggest software company is turning to everything from video game consoles to watches to help it maintain its status as one of the most successful technology companies ever. With about 70 percent of its revenue still coming from software for traditional computers, Microsoft's ongoing diversification push is a gamble that puts a company that has grown accustomed to a monopoly in cutthroat competition with a host of adversaries." Read the article at ajc.com.