Borland released a new Interbase version. New features include VLDB Support (Very Large Database: 64 bit I/O), enables the creation of large files without creating a multi-file database and XML Data-generation, allows InterBase developers to generate XML documents directly from InterBase. In the meantime, Sleepycat Software released version 4.0 of the Berkeley DB just a few days ago. This version adds support for replication, so apps can survive single- or multi-node hardware or software failures without interruption in service.

Apple released today MacOS 9.2.2 and the upgrade is available fo download. The new version improves Classic application compatibility in MacOSX and delivers updated support for Macintosh systems that are based on the PPC G3 or G4 CPUs. MacSlash also reports that "John Siracusa, author of many great in-depth articles on OSX at ARSTechnica has begun a petition to try to convince Apple to continue using metadata in the filesystem. Basically, without the metadata OSX relies on file extensions to know what type of document each file is, just like Windows. For a more in-depth explanation read John's 'Metadata, The Mac, and You'..." Sign the petition.

From the latest Open BeOS Newsletter: "Imagine this. GUIs designed completely outside of the realm of the application. Something like, say, SoundPlayer, coming with a default interface. You can do more than "make a skin", you can redesign the whole UI, so long as you send the right messages. Applications basically become servers. The GUI becomes a client. It shouldn't be too hard to make an add-on to a web browser that could display this hypothetical solution. And, if BMessages could be sent across a network, one could run their apps from anywhere in the world. Imagine that." What are your throughts on the subject? Discuss.

"Palm Inc. has revealed that it will release a 32-bit operating system and devices next year, and that it is gearing up for a fight against Microsoft Corp. to maintain its lead in the enterprise." It seems that Palm is going full speed, with the help of the Be engineers and the Be IP they bought recently from Be, Inc.

Apple has announced Final Cut Pro 3, a version of its professional video-editing program designed to run under Apple's Mac OS X operating system. With the latest version of Final Cut Pro, Apple is introducing a new format, OfflineRT, which can store 40 minutes of video per gigabyte of hard drive space. Final Cut Pro 3 will be available later this month for $999, or $299 for registered owners upgrading from an earlier version of the software. The software requires Mac OS X version 10.1.1 or Mac OS 9.2.2, a 300 MHz or faster PowerPC G3 or G4 processor, a built-in FireWire port and at least 256MB of RAM. In related news, rumours want the new QuickTime 6 to be built around Mpeg.

IBM's OS/2 has a great history as a workstation operating system, it was a major alternative OS in the '90s. At its peak time in the mid-'90s OS/2 had about 2 million users but the Windows NT and Windows 95 releases broke its further development. This year Serenity Systems has released a new client version of OS/2. This article will introduce you to what OS/2 is all about. You will learn its history, its user interface, and its power under the hood. The article is also accompanied by a number of screenshots.

"Despite all the praise the FreeBSD ports system gets, it has limitations. One of these limitations is actually related to one of FreeBSD's other strengths -- the upgrade system. The two interact in a very clumsy way." Michael Lucas discusses how to go over the potential FreeBSD ports problems by unveiling the 'portupgrades' application.

NewsForge holds a preview for Opera 6.0, Linux edition. BitStream, the world leader in Font Rendering engines, suggests opening their PFR technology to Mozilla. Zope founder Paul Everitt gives an interview to Zopera.org. WinPlanet features two reviews on office suites. One for the Software602 office suite and a brand new article, a preview for gobeProductive3. On WindowPlanet you will also find a short review of VMWare 3.0 Workstation.

Mandrake Software sent us the following announcement: "With Mandrake Linux 8.1 for Itanium-based architecture, MandrakeSoft is proud to provide businesses with a robust and scalable Linux solution for high performance computing. Mandrake Linux 8.1 for Itanium has been fully tested with numerous HP, IBM and Bull configurations. This new release offers the same features as Mandrake Linux 8.1, but has been optimized for the IA-64 architecture."

I was meaning to write a message like this for quite some time and leave it at the top, so more readers can see it. People, STOP complaining when we put up development articles or when we put .NET or Microsoft articles or sci-fi news.

In the latest NetCraft survey, the Queen of England has switched from Linux to IIS. Two years ago the Queen of England became an unlikely icon for the Linux revolution when her webmaster replaced Solaris as the platform for the Royal Family's site, with the Dell/Linux platform when the previous incumbent, Sun/Solaris, had reached the end of their life cycle. The open source community celebrated and speculated on when the Apache web server might receive the "By Royal Appointment" moniker. This week the site has changed platforms again, this time to Microsoft-IIS.

Ximian, Inc., an open source software company, not only announced the 1.0 release of their Evolution e-mail client, but also the availability of Ximian Connector for Microsoft Exchange. Ximian Connector for Microsoft Exchange will finally allow users to connect to their business' Exchange servers from their Linux workstations. Update by ELQ: An interesting editorial regarding Ximian's flirt with Exchange can be found at the LinuxPlanet.

"Xbox and GameCube both have gamers slathering, and for the same basic three reasons: games, games, and yes, games. Content is what decides which console succeeds and which one augers in, and both Xbox and GameCube look strong out of the gate. So the game-based buying decision will come down to a matter of game preferences, and how addicted you are to Miyamoto-designed games, which can only be had on the GameCube. But let's look past the games for a bit. Who's got the better hardware design? Whose is more forward-looking? Which is more likely to run out of gas first? For the answers to these and other vexing techie questions, read on." Second part of the very interesting three-part article over at ExtremeTech. First part of the article can be found here.

"Obviously, Kylix OE is not a moneymaker for Borland. It is a gift to the open source community. That community does not even represent Borland's target developer market. Borland customers are, for the most part, programmers and IT shops firmly entrenched in the Windows world. It's aimed at Delphi users who are branching out from writing for the Windows platform to Linux. Not the other way around." Get the rest of the story at LinuxWorld.