A while ago I wrote a short article on a rumour about Apple potentially using a POWER4 derived CPU. Since then there has been a lot of talk of Apple switching to an x86 based solution and now a desktop POWER4 derivative has been announced. Some people suggest this will be too expensive and in it's cut down form slower than a x86. What is Apple more likely to go for?

This interview took place just a few months ago, but for some reason we didn't got around in publishing it. (oops... :-) Some things have changed since the interview took place, but most of the information presented there is still valid. Read more for the interview with Xandros' VP, Mr. Michael A. Bego.

Amiga Inc have posted the list of changes for AmigaOS 4. The main point is that the Exec kernel, which is currently in 68k assembler, is being rewritten in C with major enhancements. Update: The Register is also covering the latest news regarding AmigaOS4 and other Amiga related products.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has said that building the company's .Net software architecture is more difficult than "getting to the moon or designing the 747. Read about it at News.com.

A security expert makes the case that Windows' architecture encourages insecure applications and is vulnerable to the 'Shatter Attack' but Microsoft disagrees. Read about it at ZDNews.

Microsoft .NET Framework Service Pack 2 (7 MB) provides the latest updates to the .NET Framework. Service Pack 2 is highly recommended by Microsoft for all users of the .NET Framework, including customers of Visual Studio .NET.

As the founder and leader of the GNOME Foundation, Miguel is one of the foremost luminaries in the Linux development community. He brings this same excitement to his role as CTO of Ximian. Miguel was instrumental in porting Linux to the SPARC architecture and led development of the Midnight Commander file manager and the Gnumeric spreadsheet. He is also a primary author of the design of the Bonobo component model, which leads the way in the development of large-scale applications in GNOME. Today, his primary project is Mono. Read more for an exclusive mini-interview with Miguel.

"I've considered--and rejected--this idea in the past. My feeling has been that, unless Apple were ready to cut the cord with Microsoft, it wouldn't attempt this kind of head-to-head platform competition. Well, guess what? With Apple ads encouraging Windows users to switch platforms, and Microsoft whining about supposedly slow sales of Office for OS X, it's clear that the relationship is in trouble. As the two drift apart, Apple has little reason not to make a processor change." AnchorDesk's David Coursey on the Mac/Intel issue.

Linux sales lost some ground to Windows last year, but are expected to climb in coming years as distributors create new revenue streams. Meanwhile, Windows showed hefty gains. Read it at ZDNews.

I was reading Adam's preview of Red Hat Limbo beta 2 the other day, and was also checking out his screenshots. I already did a Gnome 2 review a few months back, and a month ago I did a more constructive article on KDE 3's UI. This time, I just picked a random screenshot off Adam's article, and I will suggest some UI changes to make it look better. IMNSHO, as always of course, so be prepared. Update: My post to Gnome Usability mailing list, regarding a more refined/fixed version of my GUI suggestion for the specific theme discussed.

"Borland Software Corporation today announced Borland Delphi 7 Studio, featuring full support for new and emerging Web Services, integrated model driven development, and preview capabilities for the Microsoft .NET Framework. Using Delphi 7 Studio, the estimated one million Delphi developers can begin developing their skills for .NET and preparing applications for .NET without abandoning their existing work and skills on the Windows platform." Read the rest of the press release at Borland USA.

OSNews today hosts a very interesting interview with Xandros' Vice President Michael A. Bego, discussing about the new Xandros Desktop and Server 1.0, the Linux market, Microsoft and a lot more. Read more to also see a full size screenshot of the Xandros Desktop too.

"Over the last few years, refactoring -- the process of gradually improving a code base by renaming methods and classes, extracting common functionality into new methods and classes, and generally cleaning up the mess inherent in most 1.0 systems -- has gained a lot of adherents. Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) like Eclipse and IDEA can now automatically refactor code." Read the 10 reasons at OnJava.com.

Just a few weeks after the beta release of the next version of their Linux based OS, Red Hat has released 7.3.93 of their software, once again, code-named Limbo. Those of you who read my first Limbo review know that I gave it a favorable review. After downloading and installing the second beta, I had to take a few days before writing this article.