Book Review of Maximum Wireless Security

"Wireless networks are replacing wired networks very rapidly. More and more people want to stay connected on the road. What this transition brings is - more security problems. While wired networks have been around for ages and have had the time to make good security defences, wireless networks and new in comparison and still have a long way to go. This book aims to give you the knowledge you need to bring maximum security to your network, by teaching you how that security can and will be broken." Read the review at Help Net Security.

Palm, AT&T Pitch All-in-One Handheld

"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 To Buy Connectix To Enter Server Consolidation Market

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.

Living in an Alternative OS World

As the Microsoft Windows monopoly becomes ever more entrenched, the world seems to be becoming an increasingly more difficult place for a new operating system, or even some that have been around for a long time but have a limited share of the desktop PC market. Proponents of alternative operating systems seem to spend their time alternately griping about Windows' grip on the desktop and asserting that it doesn't matter all that much because they can get their work done with their OS of choice.

When ‘Good Enough’ is Better

"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.

A User Review of Debian GNU/Linux

Mention the word "Debian" in a group of Linux users and emotions are immediately stirred up. One of the largest volunteer cooperative projects in software history continues to attract attention of media, selfless effort of some of the world's best software developers and endless end users debates. No matter what your Debian feelings and experiences are like, there is no doubt that the Debian project has made an enormous impact on the history of modern software development. Alexander Antoniades looks at the Debian's latest stable version 3.0r1 and describes his own observations in this review at DistroWatch.

Red Hat Upgrade Backs IBM Intel Server

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 Announces Availability of OS/2 Kit for Java

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.

NeTraverse: Moving Windows Users to Desktop Linux

In this DesktopLinux.com interview by Jill Ratkevic, NeTraverse's CEO Jim Curtin explains how Win4Lin 4.0 helps move Windows users to Desktop Linux. Curtin also offers his view on why IT managers should use migration strategies in a move to Linux, examine the value proposition of Linux, and discusses what the future holds for the desktop. OSNews featured a review of Win4Lin 4.0 last year.

Yoper RC4 Released

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.

You Think You’re Serious About the Mac vs. PC War?

John Droz is a Macintosh-using consultant and software developer who lives in North Carolina. When he and some other members of the community learned that the local school board was planning to scrap its Macs and standardize on Windows PCs, he decided to catalog as much information as he could on why the switch would be a bad idea. It's the kind of treasure trove that could fuel a flamewar of epic proportions. It makes for an interesting read, and is useful for ammunition for any Mac proponents that would be interested in launching their own holy war on this issue. See it all at macvspc.info.