The Linux kernel 2.4.21 has seen a number of cleanups, and a patch which increasing performance of the system under heavy disk IO, especially on IDE systems. Changelog here.

Bangkokpost says that the dev tools on Macs are not so great. And there is already a rebuttal article on the subject. Elsewhere, Roz Ho, the general manager of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, has confirmed that no future versions of Internet Explorer will be released for the Mac. In the meantime, Apple Security Update 2003-06-12 for OS X Server 10.2.6 only is out and available for download.

ILug-cal features a quick review of Slackware 9.0.

TuxReports offers a peek at Ximian Desktop 2. I also installed XD2 just a few hours ago on my RHL9. Between 2 rcd random crashes (which brought Red Carpet down too) and 5 unresolved dependancies (metacity-devel, bonobo-devel etc), XD2 managed to install successfully. I only use it for a few hours, but it seems like a nice distribution of Gnome2 with added bonuses. It could have been even better though.

Apple Computer plans to discuss how it will incorporate HyperTransport, a rapid chip-to-chip communications technology, into future computers later this month at its developer conference.

"These are syntactically interesting features, not life-changing events. Most programmers who've spent a few years in the industry learn large numbers of languages. C# is just a particularly interesting addition to the pack." Read the article at ZDNet.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer talks about sharing source code, the threat from Linux and where Microsoft is going.

From the June issue of LinuxGazette: how to install and secure Slackware.

"Instead of a hot new model, Apple needs a new manufacturing process that will enable it to compete price-wise with Windows. Of course, the G5's release instantly lowers the price on the G4. And those G4 Titaniums are still looking good." Read the editorial at OSOpinion by James Maguire.

Ximian and SourceGear have announced a partnership which will help SourceGear distribute their applications across platforms. SourceGear will help complete the missing parts in Mono.

Back on June 9 2003, OSNews posted an article by Joshua Boyles entitled "The Edge Computing System". In that article Joshua lays out his vision, "of a new and very unique computing system". In this new article, an attempt will be made to further build on Jonathan's ideas through what can be termed, "Open Peripheral Hardware Connectivity".

Apple Computer is being sued by The Open Group, the San Francisco company that claims ownership of the Unix trademark, for using the term Unix in conjunction with its Mac OS X operating system without a license. Apple has countersued, asking a judge to declare that the trademark is invalid, because the term Unix has become generic. This legal battle, though separate from SCO's recent claim that Linux uses copyrighted Unix source code, adds further fire to the debate over the custody of Unix--the 30 plus-year old OS originally developed by AT&T.

SuSE is close to wrapping up OEM deals with Sun and Hewlett-Packard that will call for the Linux distributor to bundle its version of the open source operating system on select client and server systems from Sun and on HP's lower-end servers. SuSE challenges analyst warning not to experiment with Windows alternatives until 2005 and has claimed that demand from enterprises prompted it to release a desktop product and that take-up will grow rapidly, according to chief executive Richard Seibt.

Executives at Sun Microsystems on Tuesday offered a glimpse of its Java roadmap through 2006, when its "Mustang" revision is scheduled to debut. eWEEK has a Java special too. Elsewhere, Hewlett-Packard and Dell Computer will be shipping the latest version of Java with their PCs and laptops running Windows and Linux, said Rich Green, vice president of developer platforms at Sun Microsystems. Also, there will be no macros for the Java language, it seems.