SuSE Linux, the SCO Group (formerly Caldera International), Conectiva and Turbolinux are all expected to launch on Tuesday the latest versions of their Linux enterprise distributions powered by the UnitedLinux core, according to industry sources late Thursday. Read the report at eWeek.

"On the contrary, I would argue that Open Source and JBoss in particular are already Sun's best defense against Microsoft .NET. Only Open Source has proven uniquely resilient to a Microsoft onslaught. In the same way that Linux has prevented MS NT from dominating the server operating system, JBoss will prevent .NET from making serious inroads into the application server tier, the crucial gateway to enterprise software applications." Read the article at Jboss.org.

"Are you looking for a desktop Linux that you can use right out of the box? If so, give Mandrake Linux 9.0 a quick spin. Whether you are an experienced Linux user, a Microsoft Windows user, new to computers, or an IT-IS manager, Mandrake Linux 9.0 could be the operating system (OS) for you or your organization." Read the review at MozillaQuest.

"Why isn't GNU/Linux taking the desktop market by storm? After all, when you make a feature comparison, Linux has a lot going for it. With Windows, the operating system is just a start; you must add applications to make it functional. Many Linux distributions provide a desktop look similar to Windows and include an extensive assortment of applications, programming tools and games. Installing Windows and sundry applications can take most of a day. Contrast that with Linux, where the process typically takes less than 60 minutes." Read the article at News.com.

DistroWatch is reporting about an announcement from Lindows about the imminent release of LindowsOS 3.0 on Monday. If you pre-order before Saturday, you can get a better deal, while this time the OS comes with a 30-day money back guarantee. Please note that LindowsOS 3.0 comes out only 2 months after LindowsOS 2.0 was released (our review is here). This version scheme seems to work well marketing-wise for Lindows as big sites (e.g. news.com) get to report on it.

Qt 3.1 introduces many significant new features and many improvements over the 3.0.x series. This provides an overview of the main changes since version 3.0.x. The Qt version 3.1 series is binary compatible with the 3.0.x series: applications compiled for 3.0 will continue to run with 3.1.

This is an unsupported Pre-Release version of DirectX 9.0 and may contain bugs or issues that prevent correct operation of DirectX applications. The DirectX 9.0 runtime cannot be uninstalled, so users should create a “System Restore” point before installing. This pre-release version expires on March 19, 2003. On other 3D news, here is an article about OpenGL's future.

Microsoft has scratched plans for a major overhaul to an upcoming version of its Windows operating system for servers, the company confirmed Tuesday.

LindowsOS has announced it is currently working on a tablet computer running its GNU/Linux-based operating system and expects it to be ready early next year. According to the article, Lindows does not plan to use handwriting recognition as Microsoft's TabletPCs support.

Learn the answers to frequently asked questions about the Microsoft Windows CE .NET and Windows CE 3.0 operating systems, including questions regarding Windows CE Application Development.

"If you look back 10 years, you would see a world without Linux. Linux has developed in leaps and bounds into what it is today or what it will be tommorow. It's like Linux has grown in Real-Time. From geeks computers to budget tight companies, from non-technical desktops to big corporations, from hand held computers to embedded devices, Linux has transformed the way we look at computers. And guess what, it ain't stopping here." Read the article at LinuxLookup.

Forth has been a recognized programming language since the 1970's. ColorForth is a redesign of this classic language for the 21st century. It also draws upon a 20-year evolution of minimal instruction-set microprocessors. Now implemented on modern PCs, it runs stand-alone without an operating system. Applications are recompiled from source with a simple optimizing compiler.

KDE 3.1 RC3 is released and it is likely to be the last RC release. Download, install and report bugs.

The next interim release on the path to GNOME-2.2 is now available, according to release guy Jeff Waugh. GNOME-2.1.2 includes implementation of several user-requested features and cosmetics, as well as some under-the-hood changes. Read the report at LinuxAndMain.