OSNews reader Andreas writes: "Recent additions to 2.5 dev kernel (2.5.65 will contain the changes) that heavily improves desktop interactivity smoothness. It's easy to overhype so I won't but I'm running patched 2.5.64 and the difference are without a doubt more then just "noticable". Here's the story at KernelTrap."

Safari Beta 0.64 was given to beta testers and it has some nice additions as ThinkSecret reports. Builder.com invited some current and former CNET developers to weigh in on the C# vs. Java debate. Big Blue is hitting back against SCO's charges that it misappropriated Unix trade secrets and used them in Linux. SuSE says it's "greatly disappointed" by SCO's actions. 'Browser Innovation, Gecko and the Mozilla Project' is the article Mitchell Baker of the Mozilla project posted. Blogger installs Lycoris on Dell Latitude CPi D266XT and writes down his experiences. Two new commercial releases for Linux: Moho 4.1 and the TextMaker word processor (works with FreeBSD 4.x when Linux ABI is installed). Update: A SCO editorial, this time from OfB: "Why SCO Needs to Go". Update 2: Mono 0.23 is out.

"We are very pleased how with how the Phoenix/Genesi relationship is developing. Genesi is in the process of formally organizing itself into two distinct activities: One to support the task oriented objectives focused on the delivery of the DTV STB by the end of 2003. The Future of the Pegasos and MorphOS, including the release of the Pegasos II using the Marvell northbridge." Read the announcement at Morphos-News.de.

"Things are looking up thanks to bridge software that lets it run Microsoft Office programs, but the Windows alternative has a long way to go." Read the article at SunSpot.net.

Opera Software recently released version 6.11TP of its Opera browser for the Solaris operating system. Additionally, Chimera for MacOSX changed its name to Camino and released version 0.7 of the popular Mac Gecko-based browser. Rick Caudill from Syllable uploaded a screenshot showing changes he made for the desktop of 0.4.4 version of Syllable OS. Also, the Mono project just released version 0.22 which incorporates a number of bug fixes, while SkyOS had its share on new features, drivers and fixes. Finally, Microsoft unveils new DirectX 9 enhancements: high-Level Shader Language integrated into DX.

SCO Group, inheritor of the intellectual property for the Unix operating system, has sued IBM for more than $1 billion, alleging Big Blue misappropriated SCO's Unix technology and built it into Linux. Update: ESR is editorializing on the issue. Update 2: Bruce Perens' responce. Update 3: Sun's response. Update 4: "Suit Not About Linux" says SCO's CEO.

Web-based applications have range, Windows programs have more functions. Can Java or .Net resolve the stand-off, and can CIOs get the best of both worlds? Read the article at TechUpdate.

F*ckedCompany reports that "rumor has it Xandros is on life support... word is some employees haven't been paid in over two months". However, OSNews reader Dennis Baptista was able to get information directly from Xandros about the future products that Xandros is preparing: "There are two versions of the Xandros server product - a deployment server (Xandros Networks Enterprise) and a general purpose server. The deployment server is targeted towards the fall time frame while the general purpose will follow after that." Support Xandros here.

Top Linux seller Red Hat may be newly profitable, but the company continues to face competition from rival vendors--especially the UnitedLinux consortium. To combat the challenge from UnitedLinux--a partnership of SuSE, SCO Group, Turbolinux and Conectiva--Red Hat has become more aggressive in the corporate marketplace, readying "advanced" versions of its server and workstation products that it also hopes will help it take on Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Sony Ericsson has unveiled its new T310 mobile phone, which will come with Activision’s Gamehit Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 preloaded and additional games can be downloaded. The phone features a mini-joystick, color display, 32 polyphonic sounds and vibrating force feedback. Some pictures can be found at Three G Mobile.

NewsForge hosts an interview with Autopackage's project leader Mike Hearn. The idea around Autopackage is to come up with a single software packaging/installation system that will work across all major Linux distributions, and resolve dependencies, too, so that neither developers nor users need to worry about distribution compatibility issues. OSNews hosted recently a feature article about the project.

The rapid evolution of Trolltech's Qtopia continues with the latest release of Qtopia 1.6, an embedded Linux application platform, and the announcement that there are now over 1000 3rd party applications available.

As reported in New Mobile Computing, it seems that Microsoft's buyout of Connectix is already bearing fruit, as the Visual Studio.Net 2003 developer tools will include Virtual PocketPC, a PocketPC envoronment that should make developing and testing PocketPC software on a Windows desktop easier.

"Pennsylvania attorney Kevin L. Ritchey has written an open letter about using Linux on the desktop -- from the user's perspective. Ritchey chronicles his successful switch to Linux, laments a few features still in need of improvement, and offers us his opinions as an average daily user of Desktop Linux. Ritchey did not make a switch because of cost or philosophical reasons -- rather he moved to Linux because it worked better and was more productive." Read it at DesktopLinux.com.