One old Sawfish theme I always admired is "Friday". I liked its concept of having its window manager buttons shaped after the purpose they served (the Min button was a triangle looking down, and the max button a triangle looking up). I modified the theme to my liking (undoubtly it could still be done better by a pro graphics person) and here is its mockup. Update: An alternative design, possibly much better.

Russell Pavlicek writes: "With all the talk about AMD's Opteron processors recently, we cannot forget that Intel, too, has a 64-bit platform that runs Linux. I took SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for Intel Itanium2 Processor Family for a test drive. And I liked what I found."

Longhorn will not ship in beta form until early 2004, and will not be released to manufacturing until 2005. Also, Microsoft revealed that the company's Blackcomb project will not be delivered as a major server upgrade as previously expected, but will instead be phased in over several years, beginning with technology that Microsoft will release this year as "out of band" upgrades to Windows Server 2003.

Drobe have an in-depth article detailing the upcoming new features in RISC OS Ltds latest version of their OS, 'RISC OS Select 3'. One of the big changes (amongst many other improvements) is that it will support alpha channel sprites at OS level. There's lots of screenshots as well.

Welcome back to Part 2 of Cocoa 101: Object-Oriented Programming for the Masses! I received a lot of great feedback on my previous article, and I'm looking forward to sharing with you once again what I've learned about Cocoa and the Objective-C language. If you missed Part 1 of this tutorial, read it here.

The members of X.Org announced the availability for Public Review of the proposed enhancements to the X Window System for the support of IPv6. The proposed code and documentation enhancements for both the X Window X11R6.6 Sample Implementation and the XFree86 V4.3.0. As agreed by the members of X.Org, the review of the proposed IPv6 enhancements will be open until 30th May 2003.

The new Mac OS X 10.2.6 update addresses an issue for Mac OS X 10.2.5 in which a kernel panic message may appear if certain USB hubs or devices are connected. Improves printing compatibility for PostScript OpenType fonts. Improves compatibility for Maya Auto Paint and Paint Effects features.

Mandrake Linux 9.1 packs are currently available for purchase at MandrakeStore. MandrakeStore offers a new tracking system which allows customers to monitor their orders each step of the way. The full press release is here.

In a pre-show demonstration of the Longhorn graphics subsystem at the WinHEC trade show in New Orleans Monday night, I saw for the first time some of the advanced video effects that Microsoft will enable in the next Windows version. Longhorn, due in late 2004 or early 2005, includes a completely new desktop composition system that replaces the model used in previous Windows versions with one that is more technically advanced, visually appealing, and scalable. The early test versions Microsoft is showing at WinHEC include amazing animation effects, smooth window scaling, and advanced window translucency". Read the article at WinInformant.

From the press release: "Boosting performance while lowering the price of its popular desktop for home and school, Apple today announced an entirely new eMac line offering up to a 1 GHz PowerPC G4 processor, a faster 4x SuperDrive(TM), high performance ATI Radeon 7500 graphics, up to 80GB hard drives and internal support for AirPort Extreme wireless networking. Featuring a 17-inch flat CRT and a remarkably compact all-in-one design that is even less deep than the original iMac, the most affordable PowerPC G4 system now starts at just $799." Update: New keyboard for eMacs. Read on.

Microsoft plans a major cleanup of the Win32 API set and XML application markup language (XAML) to make its next version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, as friendly for developers as it is for users.

Novell Inc. is wagering that it can hang onto its much-diminished installed base while attracting new users by offering enterprises a set of network services that's broad and well-integrated and keeps customer options open by embracing open-source components. Read the article at eWeek.

I am writing to let you know that I have created a derivative work from JaysOS, the 'Toy OS' for Gameboy advance of which you have talked here. It is called ISOS and runs on ARM's Evaluator-7T evaluation boards which feature the same processor has the Gameboy Advance.

eComStation 1.1 is finally available for purchase one and a half years after the release of eCS 1.0. What's new in this release and is it really worth $200? Read on to find out.