A company called Stratus Technologies, that makes expensive, multiply redundant server hardware, guarantees that its high end four processor machine running Windows 2000 Advanced Server (cost: $150,000) will not have a hardware or OS-related failure or they will pay you $100,000. Stratus works on the device drivers to further ensure that they will not bring the OS down. See a Stratus Press Release for more information.

Samsung has licensed Symbian OS for a new line of PDA-enabled mobile phones. Now all five of the major mobile phone manufacturers have licensed the OS, though only Nokia has released a major handset running Symbian. Samsung will release a phone that uses Nokia's Series 60 user interface. Some handset manufacturers have licensed more than one OS. Samsung has licensed OSes from all three major makers: Symbian, Palm, and Microsoft. A ZDNet article and and PC World article have more. Update: A PC World article reports that the first Microsoft powered smart phone has been launched by European carrier Orange SA. AT&T will be the first US-based company offering a Microsoft-powered phone, in mid 2003.

When you think of open source and Unix, is your next thought Mac OS X? The O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference is the third Mac developers conference this year that company founder and president, Tim O'Reilly has keynoted. Sure this is his conference and he can do anything he wants, but earlier this year he spoke to developers at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference and to hardcore Mac geeks at the Mac Hack conference. And then there's Jordan Hubbard. Sure, he's now an Apple employee, but he's known for his work on FreeBSD." Read the article at OReilly.

"Who should your computer take its orders from? Most people think their computers should obey them, not obey someone else. With a plan they call "trusted computing," large media corporations (including the movie companies and record companies), together with computer companies such as Microsoft and Intel, are planning to make your computer obey them instead of you. Proprietary programs have included malicious features before, but this plan would make it universal." Read RMS' editorial at NewsForge.

Lycoris partners with TransGaming and brings ross-platform gaming into the hands of Desktop/LX users. With the new Lycoris GamePak, Desktop/LX users gain simple installation of improved and enhanced Open Source games, plus the ability to play top Windows games, all in one box. Access to TransGaming's WineX software, which allows DirectX games to run on other platforms, will be included with the Lycoris GamePak, on retail store shelves this Holiday season.

A number of screenshots of Windows Longhorn were leaked, and some people in the know have confirmed that these shots are authentic. The new UI is called "Plex" and it is clear that Microsoft is moving away from the traditional UIs, to highly task-based ones. Check out the shots before they vanish.

Apple's senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Avie Tevanian, and Director of Mac OS Product Marketing Ken Bereskin met with InfoWorld Test Center Director Steve Gillmor, News Editor Mark Jones, Editor at Large Ephraim Schwartz, Test Center Lead Analyst Jon Udell, and Technical Director Tom Yager to discuss Web services, digital rights management, Bluetooth, and Apple's plans for the enterprise.

Mandrake Linux 9.0 from MandrakeSoft has established a reputation for being one of the easiest to install and user-friendly Linux distribution (often called a distro) on the market. That reputation is well deserved, and the latest release continues to improve on what has been previously offered. Like SuSE 8.1, Mandrake 9.0 has excellent documentation, designed with the beginner in mind. allowing the inexperienced or potential Linux user to easily install a system. Read the article at ExtremeTech.

PGI is a multi-architecture graphical installer creation system for Debian GNU/Linux, originally developed by Progeny Linux Systems, Inc. for the Debian-based "Progeny Debian" operating system. Get screenshots here, and version 1.0, here.

I haven't been in the Amiga scene for quite some years now as I have long since left for the shores of planet BeOS. However I recently had the chance to re-enter the Amiga World at an Amiga show in the South-East of France when I went to meet a potential employer - after being "discovered" on OSNews! You'd think that a computer which hasn't shipped in years would have a small dwindling community. If you thought that well, you'd be wrong. This show dwarfs the BeOS BeGeistert shows I go to in Germany. Yet, Begeistert is for all of Europe and held every 6 months, this was just one French Amiga show and they are held around Europe nearly every week.

"This is a critical review of Debian 3.0, but I want to say right from the start that I'm not trying to bait anyone. However I feel that reviewers often root for Debian as the open-source underdog, and give it marks which it doesn't deserve. If RedHat 8.0 came out with installation software like Debian 3.0 it would be savaged. I think it's time for an honest review, to spur the Debian developers into making the best possible distribution. I really want Debian to succeed. I want to use it daily, and recommend it to my friends. But I can't do that right now and I think it's important people understand why." Read the review and its (already long) discussion at DebianPlanet.

The £250 PC hasn't been part of the British computing landscape since the days of the eight-bit micro. Evesham Technology has changed that, with the launch of the E-scape Li -- no monitor or speakers, but everything else you need for a working computer. It includes, for the first time in the UK market, a version of Linux aimed at the consumer, Lindows. Read the review of the machine and OS at ZDNet.

"There is an idea going around that Linux is not just for geeks ... some say that a good distro, like Mandrake, is easy enough for most ordinary PC users to adopt. I want to tell you my experience..." The editorial is published at NewsForge.

In this second and final part of my interview with Ted Shelton, Borland's chief strategy officer, Shelton focuses on Microsoft .Net's support for multiple languages and reveals a hidden .Net stumbling block. First part here.