Microsoft Office 2003 Beta 2 Screenshots

Microsoft 55 Comments
Over at ActiveWin you will find a variety of shots, including those of Outlook, Excel, Word etc, from the second beta of Microsoft Office 2003. Our Take: You can clearly see the task-based interface being more prominent than ever in these Office shots, and despite the questionable choice of colors used, Outlook's three-vertical-pane interface as the default makes sense UI-wise (documents are generally long, not wide).
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The Future of Java

Java 36 Comments
"Since Java is no longer the "next big thing," and hype-heavy headlines about it have largely disappeared from tech and mainstream publications, one might harbor the impression that the language and platform are falling by the wayside. In fact, Java has finally achieved one of the highest honors the tech industry can bestow: It is taken for granted as part of the infrastructure on which many companies depend." Read the article at Yahoo!News by Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier.
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Coping With Choice: The Double-Edged Sword of the Linux Desktop

  Submitted by John Gowin Linux 36 Comments
"When someone mentions "Microsoft Windows", most experienced computer users have an idea of what the operating system does. Whether it's Windows 95/98, ME, 2000 or XP, Microsoft has managed to maintain an identity for their OS that has translated into a monopoly-sized chunk of the desktop business and home market. Maintaining the look and feel of their desktop OS over several revisions and upgrades, Microsoft has established a standard for most desktop computer users." Read the editorial at LinuxOrbit.
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Red Hat: Debating Enterprise Linux Momentum Futile

Red Hat 1 Comment
The days of defending Linux momentum in the enterprise may rapidly be coming to a close. Red Hat executive Mark de Visser gets to the heart of the matter with SearchEnterpriseLinux.com, pointing out that moving from a proprietary Unix system to Linux on Intel results in "10x price-performance improvements" in many cases. De Visser covers more in this question-and-answer interview, specifically the inhibitors to Linux adoption in the enterprise, Red Hat's focus on certain vertical markets, customer demands and the maturation of the open-source platform.
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IBM’s New Rational Software Resource Center

  Submitted by Frank IBM 12 Comments
Rational's open, industry-standard tools for developers can improve the speed, quality, and predictability of application development on J2EE, .NET, Linux, and other platforms. Rational Software is a founding member of Eclipse and has taken a leadership role in the growth of Eclipse as the Open Source standard. Take a look at the new resource center for Rational software, and what they are creating for the Open Source community.
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ZD Net Asks: Does Intel Still Matter?

Intel 55 Comments
Intel's recent announcement that it will start shipping motherboards with built-in 802.11b sparked an interesting question in a ZD Net article: is this a sign that Intel has realized that most people don't need faster processors? If demand for 3 and 4 GHz processors is going to be mild, then the logical step for Intel is to move into other areas, like building more stuff onto the motherboard.
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PCMCIA Working on Smaller, Cheaper, Faster Card Standard

Hardware 6 Comments
The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association is working on a replacement for its PC Card/Cardbus form factor. In addition to being smaller, faster, and cheaper, the PCMCIA is working with other standards bodies to assure that the new format is compatible with USB 2.0 and PCI Express serial input/output technologies. The new standard is primarily for laptops, but this article in PC World mentions that it is also being intended for desktop use.
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