PCLinuxOnline has managed to acquire some extra information from MandrakeSoft in regards to their Corporate Server 2.1.

"The "best" product doesn't always win since, given advantages of predatory pricing and clever marketing strategy, "good enough" is almost always good enough to carry the day. I'm talking, of course, about Microsoft, its software and its business practices, and if you're a fan of BeOS, OS/2 or another innovative software product that ended up mangled on the side of The Road Ahead, you've seen these sentiments expressed before and you've probably expressed them yourself." Editorial at eWeek.

Leading Linux seller Red Hat quietly released an updated version of its Advanced Server product last week that adds support for IBM's x440 server, an important expansion for both companies. IBM has high hopes for multiprocessor Xeon systems, Big Blue has been cooling toward Intel's Itanium processor, said Illuminata analyst Gordon Haff. IBM canceled a plan to release its own AIX version of Unix for Itanium servers and recently transferred a handful of programmers working on Linux for Itanium to work on Linux for IBM's Power server processors. Additionally, a third Phoebe beta of Red Hat Linux 8.1 is expected tomorrow for the x86 architecture.

InnoTek Systemberatung GmbH today announced the availability of OS/2 Kit for Java (Beta). The InnoTek OS/2 Platform Enablement Kit for Sun Java 2 Standard Edition Version 1.4.1_01 ("OS/2 Kit for Java") is a software package designed to address the needs of enterprises still running the IBM OS/2 platform while requiring access to the latest Java technology from Sun Microsystems.

"IBM has fired up a computer running IBM's forthcoming Power5 processor, a top IBM executive said Monday, predicting that systems with the new chip will have four times the performance than those using the current Power4." Read more at ZDNet.

SciTech Software Inc. and Hyperion Entertainment VOF announced that they have enterered into a strategic partnership which will see SciTech's SNAP technology integrated into AmigaOS 4.x which is currently under development by Hyperion for PPC based systems.

DistroWatch is reporting that the first release candidate of the new Mandrake Linux 9.1 has started appearing on some of the Mandrake mirrors.

Yoper limited announced the fourth public release candidate of Ydesktop. This is the first part of Your Operating System that Yoper Limited ("Yoper") is developing. The distro contains the latest software, which includes Linux-2.4.20, KDE-3.1, Mozilla 1.2.1 and OpenOffice-1.0.2. The CD is optimized for i686 and higher X86 CPU's.

Motorola, who has seen its fortunes in the phone market decline a bit thanks to nimble European and Asian competition, is hoping that the Linux operating system and Chinese manufacturing and engineering talent can turn the tide, according to an article in The Register. These phones will run Linux but most of the applications that run on top will be Java.

"Wi-Fi's rise through the corporate structure has been meteoric. The technology has quickly progressed from an alternative wireless method to the de facto means to transfer data wirelessly within a LAN. However, before the mass adoption of Wi-Fi in the enterprise occurs, the advantages and disadvantages of 802.11a and the emerging 802.11g must be understood." Read the article at InfoWorld.

The version 0.73 of MenuetOS includes a tiny HTTP & Mp3 server, IRC client, real-time additions & demos. Also, SkyOS redesigned their driver handling, while Syllable is preparing an IDE driver.

Network software pioneer Novell Inc. is dusting off its operating system and readying a version that highlights improved management and administration capabilities, as well as features targeted at the developer community. Read the article at eWeek.

When I first got in touch with the Linux world - it was back in 1998 -, I started with an old Slackware distribution. Of course I cannot say it was a wise choice for a beginner, and I soon moved to Red Hat, and then tried various SuSE, Mandrake and Debian flavours; now I am using this good Slackware 8.1. Everyone can see the Linux world has been making giant steps towards usability during the last five years. Applications have dramatically improved, too, both in quality and quantity: OpenOffice, AbiWord, Mozilla, Evolution, Gimp are examples of packages allowing Linux to be used for everyday work. So, is Linus Torvalds' creature now ready to conquer the desktop?

A handfull of well known --to the BeOS community-- developers have come together to create a new OS, which starts where BeOS left off. Bear in mind that this OS, named Sequel, is not a BeOS clone, but a brand new OS which adds new things in the mix while retains the best features found on BeOS and other OSes. The OS is closed source and it is in early stages: it currently boots off a floppy and has a shell. Editor's note: I am part of the small team, since its first days, a few months ago. I designed part of the UI for this OS, but I am looking forward to get a working GUI system before I dive in and do some "real" work on the UI and usability. Stay tuned for more news about Sequel in the future. UPDATE: Please note that this is NOT "my" project. I merely help out the guys on the UI, and nothing more. UPDATE 2: March 2003: I have resigned of my role on Sequel.