"Last week at the BUILD conference, we had the pleasure of announcing the next version of the .NET Framework and releasing a developer preview at the same time. We have so many new things in .NET 4.5 to discuss with our developer community - we're excited to have this opportunity to begin a discussion about each of them."

The story about how secure boot for Windows 8, part of UEFI, will hinder the use of non-signed binaries and operating systems, like Linux, has registered at Redmond as well. The company posted about it on the Building Windows 8 blog - but didn't take any of the worries away. In fact, Red Hat's Matthew Garrett, who originally broke this story, has some more information - worst of which is that Red Hat has received confirmation from hardware vendors that some of them will not allow you to disable secure boot.

"Meg Whitman, eBay's former chief executive, will likely be named to lead Hewlett-Packard after markets close on Thursday, according to a person familiar with board decisions. The decision to replace Leo Apotheker, the company's chief executive, after only 11 months on the job is all but made, lacking only a final vote, said the person, who is not authorized to speak for the board. While Mr. Apotheker is going, his strategy, including consideration of spinning off H.P.'s personal computer business from other parts of the company, will remain in place."

"Samsung plans to open up its homegrown mobile software platform to outside developers and device makers next year in a bid to kick-start growth in the operating system and reduce its reliance on Google Inc.'s Android in the increasingly litigious smartphone and tablet computer business."

After the walled garden coming to the desktop operating system world, we're currently witnessing another potential nail in the coffin of the relatively open world of desktop and laptop computing. Microsoft has revealed that as part of its Windows 8 logo program, OEMs must implement UEFI secure boot. This could potentially complicate the installation of other operating systems, like Windows 7, XP, and Linux.

Why, would you look at this. All this time we were expecting Apple to be the first one to flip the switch and limit desktop users to Mac App Store applications and turn Mac OS X into a walled garden, but in fact, Microsoft will be the first to flip this switch. As it turns out, Metro applications can only be installed through the Windows Store - with sideloading only for enterprises and developers (this doesn't apply to legacy applications).

After having its SSL and EVSSL certificates deemed untrustworthy by the most popular browsers, VASCO announced that DigiNotar, filed a voluntary bankruptcy petition and was declared bankrupt today. This is unsurprising, since a report issued by security audit firm Fox-IT, who has been hired to investigate the now notorious DigiNotar breach, revealed that things were far worse than we were led to believe.

Ever since Honeycomb's release, Android has had two versions out in the wild (well, if you disregard the non-current versions, that is). The next major Android release, Ice Cream Sandwich, is supposed to fix this problem by having one single version of Android for both phones and tablets. Google now has a blog post up which presents some options for developers to prepare their applications for Ice Cream Sandwich.

Inferno for Android (codename: Hellaphone) has just been announced. Inferno runs on top of the Linux kernel in Android phones, replacing the Java services and UI that ship by default. Inferno's programming language, Limbo, allows applications to be developed quickly and easily. A video demonstrating the device is up on youtube.

With the Xeon 7600 line, Intel is finally using the 'R' word: RISC. It's targeting the mission-critical market dominated by Sun SPARC and IBM Power with the new chips, a first. Can the Xeon E7 processor deliver Intel's final blow to the RISC market, which includes its own Itanium?

"Sony is preparing to ban gamers from the PlayStation Network unless they waive the right to collectively sue it over future security breaches. The firm has amended PSN's terms and conditions and users have to agree to them next time they log in. The move comes months after a string of hacking attacks compromised over 100 million accounts of the PlayStation Network subscribers. It is, however, possible to opt out of the agreement within the next 30 days. Gamers will now have to try to resolve any legal issues with an arbitrator picked by Sony, before being able to file a lawsuit."

"Many Linux distributions have taken the path of easy GUI-based installation, in order to appeal to a broader mix of users. But not Arch Linux, which emphasises simplicity of technical complexity over general usability. Richard Hillesley explains."

Sometimes, I just want to hug the internet. As some of you may know, I'm working on an article about the history of mobile computing. Tomislav, from the PEEK&POKE computer museum in Rijeka, Croatia, got in touch with me and generously offered to loan me four incredible mobile computers: a Cambridge Z88, a Psion Series 3a, an Apple Newton eMate 300, and, the one I'm most excited about, an NCR system 3125 tablet computer from 1993. Now I need your help: I'm looking for a copy of GO's PenPoint OS (much more detailed overview) which can run on this NCR 3125.

InfoWorld's Doug Dineley and Brian Chee round up the best new features of Windows Server 8. 'If you're a large shop struggling to manage hundreds of Windows servers, Windows Server 8 should ease the job. If you're a small shop trying to squeeze high-end capability from a low-end budget, Windows Server 8 has plenty for you, too. With Windows Server 8, everything from server deployment to high availability becomes smoother and more automated.' From multiserver management, to friction-free server deployment, to flexible live migration, 'whatever grudge you may hold against Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 8 will almost certainly make amends.'