Sun Microsystems loaned OSNews the high-end version of the new Sun Blade 150 series workstation, which sells for $3,395 USD (no monitor). Since this Solaris 9/SPARC machine is intended as a workstation, it is here reviewed as such in this article and not as a server.

"The latest gcc holds it own against Intel C++, winning some benchmarks it lost previously. There are still applications where Intel shines, but the differences between the compilers have narrowed. So which compiler is better? Like Einstein, I have to say the answer is relative." Read the article here.

As the open-source movement is gains momentum, the debate over its future heats up. Can this loosely-formed coalition be able to withstand the pressure of Microsoft and other big companies that live off proprietary software? Read about it at ZDNet.

The leading OpenBSD programmer, Theo DeRaadt, has accused Sun Microsystems of hindering development of the open-source software for its newer computers, causing Sun to scramble to cooperate with the project in response.

When it comes time for you to buy toys for all the good little boys and girls on your shopping list, don't forget OSNews' price comparison engine. It will help you find the best price on electronics and computer stuff, even factoring in shipping charges. There's even a new feature that allows you to search for mail-in rebate information. If you've never used the price comparison engine before, give it a try, and let us know what you think.

"Slackware 8.1 is a four-disk set. The first disk in the set is the only one you really, absolutely need to install Linux. The second CD is a live filesystem CD that can be used to boot into Linux without installation. Disks three and four contain source code and the "contribs" — software that's not part of the main distribution, but that you might want anyway." Read the review at UnixReview.

Red Hat Chairman and CEO Matthew Szulik said Microsoft's legal efforts to challenge open source by employing patent infringement law represent a big threat. "It's a credible threat, no doubt about it," said Szulik. "We see the threat of costs of litigation could be harmful, cause a disenfranchisement of the global collaborative community and disrupt the speed of innovation. Yes, I think it's quite credible." Read the report at CRN.

Bochs, the x86 emulator, will celebrate its version 2.0 soon. Changes include: CPU optimizations boost simulation speed by around 2x, Bochs now supports up to 8 hard drives, or 8 CDROMs, or any combination, added support for the AMD x86-64 instruction set used in their Hammer processor, added support for MMX instructions, added support for SSE and SSE2 instructions, remote GDB stub support.

"In my previous article, I introduced the C# programming language and explained how it works in the context of the Mono environment, an open-source implementation of Microsoft's .NET framework. I will now go on to some details on the data types supported by the C# programming language." Read the second article at LinuxGazette. Another development article ("Writing Portable Code") is here.

This is a possibly the last beta before the Amethyste Update 3 general release of Lycoris. Announcement, download the ISO and submit bugs.

Software vendor Red Hat will align its workstation and server OSes to encourage the development of more applications. Another article, says that immediately after its release and apart from the usual rough edges of every .0 version, Red Hat 8.0 generated a lot of heat. Much of it came from the Bluecurve desktop and from the changes RH made to standard KDE.

A survey recently released by IDC finds that large networks of Windows servers are cheaper to run and maintain than Linux servers, even taking into account the higher software licensing costs for Windows. The catch? That survey was commissioned by Microsoft. A Reuters article about the study covers mostly how this study indicates a shift in Microsoft's marketing strategy toward Linux -- moving away from criticizing open source toward focusing on Windows' benefits.

A Yahoo Mac Central article notes that, due to the new Apple OS' support for familiar tools and services, IT managers that formerly turned up their noses at the Macs in their organizations are now embracing them. This is particularly true in organizations with a lot of Unix workstations, of course, though the efforts that Apple has made to integrate the Unix tools that make interoperability with Windows easier have benefitted OS X in Windows-heavy offices too.

Terra Soft Solutions, Inc. will announce tomorrow world's first consumer priced ATX form-factor PowerPC motherboard with full Linux support. Terra Soft, also creators of Yellow Dog Linux, will be selling both the PPC motherboard and a fully equipped computer that will be capable of running YDL 2.3. This will give a new face to the consumer Linux landscape, as Linux effectivelly gets its own platform rather than getting installed side by side with other OSes. Check inside for two pages with pictures of the hardware, information and an interview with TerraSoft's co-founder, Kai Staats.