A few weeks ago Apple said that they will unveil their "multimedia strategy" in the NAB conference. Indeed, new press releases describe Shake 3, DVD Studio Pro 2, Final Cut Pro 4 and there is also the recent Logic 6. This strong line up seems to aim on bringing Mac OS X closer to the same position SGI with IRIX were a few years ago: the high-end creative/media market. Additionally, Alias|Wavefront today announced Maya 5, the latest version of its Oscar award-winning 3D software. Update: New, 900 Mhz G3 iBooks soon!

From the review: "As a linux user for the past three years, I have used a lot of distributions, and read many different reviews. Most of those reviews spend a lot of time on the installation, and give details of which versions of the gcc compiler, kernel, xfree86, KDE, and Gnome are included. This is not one of those reviews. This is the kind of review I wish I'd had when I was still looking for just the right distro. This is the review that says "Here is your linux distribution. Just install it, and your stuff will work."'

In this column, Pierre Igot would like to review some of these benefits, in order to get a better idea of how much things have improved in the area of Mac OS stability ? but also of what 'still remains to be improved in the never-ending quest for the perfect computing experience for inexperienced and advanced users alike'. On another Apple-related story, Steve Jobs' appearance at an Intel internal sales conference reignites rumors of collaboration between the two companies.

Fleecy Moss of Amiga Inc, answers a fourth session of the community's questions over at AmigaWorld.net.

Joe Brockmeier looks at EJB Solutions' Out-of-the-Box 1.0, a collection of open source Java software. Out-of-the-Box has everything you need to develop Java applications using open source tools on Linux or Windows?if you don't mind a few rough edges.

Gobe Software, the company behind the popular Gobe Productive office suite has re-instated their web presense and published the following short message on their site: "We are currently working on the next version of Gobe Productive, the popular award winning software. Stay tune for more news on products, distributors and resellers."

Forget the $1 per year Steve Jobs got during his first year of return at Apple. According to Forbes, Steve Jobs is today the most well paid CEO in US with $116+ million for the previous year.

Before I get started on my views, I would like to point a few things out. I'm not in high school or college. I'm 35 years old and have been in the computer business a long time. My experience goes all the way back to the hey days of punch cards. I still have a few cards over at my folk's house. I think one of the 'programs' prints out a snoopy. I've worked for several large corporations including IBM and GTE. I'm bringing this up not to brag but to point out that I know a thing or two about computers. Now that that's out of the way, I'll continue.

The pending launch of Windows Server 2003 will be a milestone not only for Microsoft, but for the other half of Wintel, too. It's been eight years since Intel got into the server market and two years since it shipped a 64-bit processor, the Itanium. On April 24, a 64-bit version of Windows that takes advantage of Intel's 64-bit design will become generally available.

Microsoft Corp., bowing to federal government demands, will make it easier for computer users to substitute rival Web browsers for the company's Internet Explorer, people familiar with the matter said.

"Long-awaited OS a strong performer with good scalability" InfoWorld states in their 3-page review.

IBM today announced the availability of a 'special edition' of SciTech SNAP Graphics for OS/2. The SciTech System Neutral Access Protocol (SNAP) Graphics for OS/2 IBM Special Edition (a.k.a. SNAP Graphics/SE) is a set of graphic adapter device drivers (GRADD) supporting a variety of chip sets from the leading chip set manufacturers. SNAP Graphics/SE is the new compatible replacement for previous versions of SciTech Display Doctor for OS/2 IBM Special Edition (SDD/SE).

SuSE Linux AG now plans to ship its SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop operating system in June, a delay from original plans to ship it during the just-ended first quarter of 2003. SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, which is in beta testing phase now, will cost $129 per desktop, although discounts would apply to high-volume purchases, InfoWorld reports. OSNews recently posted a review of SuSE's other latest product, SuSE Linux 8.2.

Slashdot carries a story about Sun trying to speed up the UI of Java applications by using native OS looks. Sun released J2SE version 1.4.2 beta1, release notes here. Footnotes ran an interview about the integration of Java and GTK+ and they feature three screenshots. In other developer/GTK+ news, Inti 1.0.7 is released. Inti is a C++ wrapper for GTK+ (similar to gtkmm).