Because of violations of the BSD license the MicroBSD project has been completely removed from the internet, and all MicroBSD users are asked to remove it from their computers.

Andrew from SciTech writes: "SciTech SNAP Graphics now supports 180 different graphic chipsets. With that said we have been hearing that we now support too many different cards. So OSNews faithful, how many graphics cards should we support and which cards should make the cut in the next release?" And to add to this question, which OSes SciTech should add support for?

They say the best things in life are free, and for UNIX computers, open source software certainly goes a long way towards proving that statement. KStars, a planetarium program written for UNIX machines running the K Desktop Environment, has been ported to OS X via Fink and X11, and offers Mac users a sophisticated but free planetarium program. Neale Monks takes a closer look at KStars and sees how it stacks against the shareware and commercial Mac OS planetarium programs. Not directly an OS news item, but definately of general interest especially for our geek readers. At the end of the article, you will find links to five more reviews of astronomy applications for the Mac.

Redmond's Tim McDonough says Mac lovers have no need to fret over the giant's purchase of the cross-platform franchise from Connectix. Read the interview at BusinessWeek.

"AMD and Apple will likely tout that they can deliver 64-bit computing to desktops this year, but Intel is in no hurry. Two of the company's top researchers said that a lack of applications, existing circumstances in the memory market, and the inherent challenges in getting the industry and consumers to migrate to new chips will likely keep Intel from coming out with a 64-bit chip--similar to those found in high-end servers and workstations--for PCs for years." Read the article at ZDNet.

Nicholas Petreley installs and compares the two most popular desktop environments for Linux & other Unixes. His recommendation? It depends... Update: OSNews reader Cesar Cardoso just sent us this: "Why not a UI-fight between Havoc and Mosfet?" This is Mosfet's rebuttal article answering to Havoc Pennington's article, while the first part is here.

Lindows.com on Thursday unwrapped an inexpensive and lightweight notebook PC based on its version of the Linux operating system. The San Diego, Calif., software maker's new Lindows Mobile PC will sell for $799. It includes a 12.1-inch screen and a 933MHz Via Technologies C3 processor, along with LindowsOS, a version of the freely available Linux.

In a report inspired by the advice of a departing Microsoft manager, a Merrill Lynch technology analyst wrote that the software company must "notch up the innovation component" if it wants to succeed in an era of networked systems and increased pervasiveness of open-source applications. The report, released Wednesday by Merrill tech strategist Steven Milunovich, analyzes points raised in an essay recently published by retiring Microsoft program manager David Stutz.

Blackdown Java-Linux Java 2 SE v1.4.1-01 for ix86 and SPARC is available from ftp mirrors . Both the ix86 and the SPARC version include the HotSpot Client and Server VMs, as well as an enhanced version of Java Web Start 1.2 and a Java Plug-In for browsers based on Mozilla. The ix86 version also includes a Java Plug-In for Netscape 4.x browsers.

I'm a web designer and a recent Linux convert who has tried several of the large distros. This article is the summary of my experience over the last few months. I decided to start using Linux a few months ago around the time Mandrake went to version 9 and Red Hat to version 8. With all the hype I figured I'd give it a try.

A mini-review of Lindows 3.0 can be found at MeetTheGeeks.org.

Roberto J Dohnert writes: "Winsupersite has an excellent two part story on the development of Windows NT and how it has affected the release of Windows 2003 Server." Read the first part and the second part at Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows.

"Palm and AT&T Wireless said they plan to have the Tungsten W, the handheld maker's combination phone, e-mail device and organizer, on store shelves by the end of the month. The two companies were set to make a formal announcement about the launch of the Tungsten W on Tuesday, but held off because one element of the certification process for the device had not been finalized with the PCS Type Certification ReviewBoard, a wireless certification board." Read more at ZDNet.

Microsoft plans to take a giant leap into the server consolidation space this week by announcing the acquisition of virtual server software company Connectix. The software giant, which is expected to formally unveil the deal Thursday, will use the technology to allow customers to carve out multiple partitions on a single Intel-based server, allowing them to run multiple instances of a single operating system and multiple workloads. Update: Read more for info on the fate of the MacOSX version.