Recently, a few independent departments (Solaris, java, Netscape and other middleware) at Sun Microsystems got integrated into one, the Platform/Software Group. We had a quick chat with Mr John Fowler, Sun Software's CTO about Solaris 10, Java, the competition and more.

I heard so much about this product (some good, some bad), but I had never really tried it before Lindows.com sent us in the latest version of their OS, LindowsOS version 3.0. I took it a spin for two weeks now, and here is what I think about it (and for the eye-candy seekers, screenshots included).

Learn the fundamentals of session beans: their characteristics and types; how instance pooling, activation, and passivation are applicable to session beans; and examine session bean methods and their life cycle diagrams. Also, Jamie Jaworski covers the fundamentals of the Java language. Learn how to create packages, import classes and interfaces from other packages, and create a program's main() method; how to access command-line variables and form identifiers; and discuss each primitive type, its range of values, and how to create literal values of each type (free reg. req).

Left on its own to interpret the order of the universe, IBM would have you believe any IT decision maker with any common sense would choose to migrate from Solaris to Linux any day: And they have the SWAT team to do it. With the momentum for Linux Intel servers, IBM is throwing its weight behind Solaris-to-Linux migration to gain market share. Read the article at OpenMagazine.

When it issues a second Windows .Net Server 2003 release candidate, Microsoft also plans to announce a new, per-user licensing option. Plus, other tweaks are being offered. Additionally, major Longhorn revision shows AMD 64 support.

eWEEK Executive Editor/News Michael R. Zimmerman and EiC Eric Lundquist caught up with Ruiz at Comdex in Las Vegas recently for a candid conversation about AMD's challenges, its future and Intel's influence in the market. On another CPU-related interview, HP has the task of migrating its Unix customers running HP-UX on PA-RISC, as well as recently acquired Tru64 Alpha customers from Compaq, over to Intel's Itanium architecture. Making sure this transition happens smoothly in Australia is Steve Williamson who transferred from Compaq and now is business development manager in HP's business critical systems division.

"Apple picked the worst possible time to take the biggest risk imaginable. Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server are unqualified hits on everything from $999 notebooks through entry servers. Developers are climbing onto the platform in droves, as well they should. I can't say it emphatically enough: Apple is a serious player in the broad IT market now." Read the editorial at InfoWorld.

Fred Langa test-drives the latest version of LindowsOS 3.0, this Linux-based Windows work-alike operating system to see if it's ready for prime time.

Con Kolivas recently posted some interesting kernel benchmarks generated with his contest benchmarking tool. Using resources provided by the OSDL, Con compared 2.4.19, 2.4.20, 2.5.49 and 2.5.50, each with a single processor enabled and with dual processors enabled. On KernelTrap you will find many of the tests, Con makes some quick observations about the results.

There was a very long break in development of this operating system, and people could only download the boot code and a nearly empty file that promised to contain AuroraOS. But this is over now!

I would like to thank everyone for your support this 1,5 years after the OSNews relaunch on August 2001. I worked really hard all that time, designed and coded OSNews, writting a huge number of articles etc. I brought OSNews from 700 impressions per day to 92,000 per day, for last month. But this is exactly what will also make me leave my baby (OSNews :). Too much work.

"The version I've been using is Red Hat Linux 8.0, shipped by Raleigh, N.C.-based Red Hat in late September. This is the first Linux distribution I've tried that hasn't made me feel as if I'm about to step on a rake and have its handle swing into my face. Parts of this are still infuriatingly convoluted, but if you've been thinking about trying out Linux on part of your hard drive -- or about dumping Windows entirely -- this is what I'd recommend." Read more at WashingtonPost.

It could have been an "X-Files" episode: More than 20 years ago, U.S. airmen reported seeing a "strange glowing object" near a British air base. Before this week, the document has only been seen by about 20 people who requested access to it through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. Update: Stop being a pain, ok? Read Rule No8 before posting too.

The PostgreSQL Global Development Group announced yesterday the release of PostgreSQL v7.3, now available for download. Numerous changes include: support for the SQL 92 Schema spec, enhanced dependency tracking for complex databases, prepared queries for maximized performance on common requests, expanded logging options, supports data in many international characters sets, dozens of performance enhancements. Update: A report at eWeek about mySQL & PostgreSQL's progress.