"In Vernor Vinge’s sci-fi novel A fire upon the deep, he presents the idea of “software archeology”. Vinge’s future has software engineers spending large amounts of time digging through layers of decades-old code in a computer system — like layers of dirt and rubbish in real-world archeology — to find out how, or why, something works." Good stuff over there from UI designer Matthew "mpt" Thomas.

BlueEyedOS has made some progress in the past few months, and here are two brand new screenshots showing the progress. In the meantime, the DirectFB-based Cosmoe 0.6 is expected to be released around Christmas, but Bill Hayden has already released a developer release. Update: More BeOS-related news today: Unconfirmed rumors want OpenBeOS to have been renamed to "Walter Operating System", while OpenBFS 1.0 Beta3 is posted for testing.

PowerToys are additional programs that developers work on after a product has been released to manufacturing. They'll add fun and functionality to your Tablet PC experience. Microsoft also released the Office XP Pack for Tablet PC. In the meantime, ZDNet published a 3-page article regarding Tablet PC: "What will it do for you"?

"Microsoft has decided to skip a Windows server release to coincide with the Longhorn client and instead jump directly to Blackcomb, company officials confirmed Friday. Until recently, Microsoft has been talking up plans to synchronize its Windows server and client releases, starting with the next major version of Windows, code-named Longhorn." Read the report at eWeek.

"What a mess. Less than a week after a court-approved deal ends the antitrust case, Microsoft's back in the spotlight. The latest Halloween memo portrays your company as utterly obsessed with the open-source software movement but utterly confused about how best to proceed. I can only imagine the state of confusion. Microsoft has tried to persuade developers and users for the last four years that there's no there there--and to no avail." Read the editorial at ZDNet. In the meantime, Business 2.0 posted a story called "Fighting Microsoft the Open-Source Way": Apple, IBM, and Sun have opened up their software code to the public in their battle against Redmond. It just might work. And here is another, interesting, editorial about the DOJ settlement. Update: Another one at PCWorld.com.

This is an initial FreeBSD beta driver for 2D and OpenGL for FreeBSD. It requires FreeBSD -STABLE, version 4.7 or later. It can run single threaded aplications even in linux compatability mode.

"The release of a production version of the free GNU operating system (OS) has been delayed beyond the end of the year, as the current development version of the system does not support large disk partitions and high speed serial I/O (input-output), according to Richard Stallman, president of the Boston-based Free Software Foundation (FSF)." Read about Hurd at LinuxWorld.au.

MandrakeSoft today announced the availability of boxed versions of Mandrake Linux 9.0 -- the latest evolution of its popular operating system designed for both home and professional computing. Customers are provided with three packaged versions from which to choose: the Mandrake Linux PowerPack and Standard editions are designed for individual users, and the ProSuite Edition is created for small and medium-sized enterprises. Mandrake Linux 9.0 packs are available through a number of retail outlets worldwide and online.

"At the USENIX Security Conference held here recently, Microsoft developers touted the company's upcoming Palladium architecture as technology that would enhance privacy, stymie piracy and increase a corporation's control over its computers." Read it at ZDNews.

"The software industry has two problems as it looks to jump-start Web services -- expected to be the next big thing in business computing -- the economy is weak and Microsoft is strong. So, when executives and chief technology officers gathered in Monterey, California on Wednesday for Merrill Lynch's Shaping Software 2002 conference, conversation centered on Microsoft Corp. -- the industry's 800-pound gorilla -- and still-slumping corporate spending." Read it at Reuters.

Microsoft has high hopes for its new specialized operating system for pen-based computing. But a crop of new gadgets based on the OS may have trouble attracting buyers. Read reports at C|Net and eWeek.

"Once again, the buzz says its end is nigh. Too bad Jobs & Co. is too busy satisfying consumers to go along with the doomsayers". Read the article at BusinessWeek. "Until recently, very few users and essentially no enterprises would give any thought to Apple as a server vendor. Small wonder, since Apple hadn't been trying to compete seriously in the server market. Things have changed." Read the article at ZDNews. Also, Apple Computer on Wednesday updated its entire portable line, most notably adding its first PowerBook capable of burning DVDs and a faster iBook.

"The document reproduced below was presented at a Microsoft internal Linux Strategic Review held at the Microsoft offices in Berlin during Sept. 2002. I received it on 5 November 2002." ESR's review for OpenSource.org.

"Subversion is an open source revision control system, similar in purpose to the well-known, widely deployed, and aging CVS. It is designed to provide state-of-the-art versioning, built from modern technologies. Subversion is still in development and has not reached version 1.0 yet. However, it's pretty stable and you can use it right now." Read the article at OnLamp.