It's been a week since FreeBSD 5.0 got released. Many argue that this release is the most important and most technically advanced, ever, for FreeBSD. I am truly disapointed though on the way the media have responded to this release.

Honda announced the Honda 'Studio E' Concept Vehicle. It is an SUV with full multimedia capabilities, running on top of MacOSX: "The personal audio computer has its own workstation with keyboard, mouse and a 17-inch liquid crystal display. To play to a larger crowd, a motorized 42-inch plasma screen rotates down from the ceiling and interfaces with the audio computer to display custom visual patterns in step with the music out the back of the vehicle, or it can play DVDs."

HelloWorld is a software application with a visual approach to connecting people, online messaging, search and transfer operations, and personal publishing, in a decentralized network environment that is owned and operated by the network community. The application (soon to be released for Windows, Linux and Mac) is literally an alternative user interface for our online needs.

The OpenPKG project released version 1.2 of their unique RPM-based cross-platform Unix software packaging facility. OpenPKG 1.2 provides 361 selected packages which include proven versions of popular Unix software -- all carefully packaged for easy deployment on the six officially supported Unix platforms FreeBSD 4.7 and 5.0, Debian GNU/Linux 2.2 and 3.0, and Sun Solaris 8 and 9.

In a Microsoft mailing list posting sent yesterday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates reports that the company is making progress on its initiative to make its products more secure, though he also notes that the demand for security has risen since Microsoft began the initiative. New versions of Windows Server 2003, SQL Server, and Exchange Server will have all passed the new, more stringent, testing, and users will notice that vulnerable services will be turned off by default. Gates also promoted the use of smart cards for authentication in the email. Read more in this PC World article.

Dell CIO says Linux killing Unix: "Unix is dead," said Randy Mott, CIO and senior vice president of Dell, in a keynote address on Thursday. Sun still sees Unix promise though. In the meantime, Linux targets the desktop as well as the server space. Reports here and here.

The Issue 34 of OpenBeOS' newsletter is out. Topics discussed is VM2, is a newly designed virtual memory system designed specifically for OpenBeOS. It is completely object oriented and designed for easier maintenance. Another topic is "Beatrice: Coordinates, Views and Messages" and the commentary "The Fate of Microsoft".

Olin Wread writes for ExtremeTech the story of Amiga, from the very beginning.

Speaking at the Oracle Appsworld here, the 58-year old Ellison, said he hoped that Oracle would soon be able to run its desktop applications on Lindows. The shrewd Ellison was however quick to sense the skepticism among the audience about the concept to make a cheap open software that runs both Linux and Windows code, but that looks and runs like Windows. "Lindows may not succeed, but it's at least possible. Even if Lindows comes close to success, the product could beget the massive transition that Microsoft perpetually fears," Ellison said.

Paul Manias of the Athene project sent word to us that Rocklyte Systems is seeking beta testers. Candidates must be running a Linux system with at least a 2.4 series kernel and have 5 or more years of technical computing experience. Testing is to be focused on the new graphics system that replaces X11. Please introduce yourself to [email protected] to apply.

Now that the Justice Department and Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly are content with the wrist-slapping meted out to Microsoft, few expect any abatement in the company's abuse of its monopoly power. Although many argue that, eventually, the markets themselves will bring about more balanced competition, the markets that Microsoft dominates operate on different economic principles than most others. The last twenty years brought such dramatic technological change that it'll be much harder for competitors to dislodge Microsoft from its perch atop the industry than it was for Microsoft to dethrone IBM a generation ago.

Jef Raskin, who helped design Apple's classic user interface, is working on a new system, THE, that could be a big improvement. BusinessWeek features an article introducing the technology. Jef also replied to our forums here and here a month ago, explaining his system.

IBM and Hewlett-Packard garnered billions of dollars in revenue from Linux-related products in 2002, the companies said this week. Update: IBM: 'Linux is here to stay'.

A judge has ordered Microsoft to make it easy for Sun's popular programming language to work with Windows. But the remedy may be too little, too late, Salon says. Update: Microsoft appeals Java must-carry ruling.