Micro kernel Mona with KVM virtio-net driver 0.3.0 has been released. This is the first release of Mona for daily use. You can listen to music, run a web server and do some work with an interactive shell. Major changes since 0.2.0 are ported uIP httpd, added KVM virtio-net driver, Added Scheme-based Shell, libc implementation, ported a Squirrel programing language, added standard I/O and pipe, improved thread APIs, added sound player and driver, improved CD-ROM access speed, improved console drawing speed, supported build on gcc 4.1.x, added VFS, support build on Linux, added APM support, ported Mesa, added Stack auto expansion, improved memory management, boot from CD-ROM. Also see the catalog of applications.

Let's do a little trip down memory lane. We're talking the '80s, early '90s, and we're looking at a company called Borland, which produced several well-known and popular products related to software development. Back in those days, Borland had an end user license agreement. However, contrary to the EULAs we know and despise today, Borland's 'No-Nonsense License Statement' was a whole lot simpler, and in fact, is a perfect example of how software should be treated.

Firefox will now include code to detect how a laptop or mobile device is situated in relation to the ground for devices with the appropriate hardware. "One new feature that we’re including as part of Firefox 3.6 is support for web pages to access machine orientation information if it’s available. As you can see from the you can use it to figure out if the machine is moving and what direction it’s facing. Originally built as something that we would include for our upcoming mobile browser release, we’ve made it available on desktop systems as well. Many modern Macbooks and Thinkpads contain devices and drivers that expose this information. We’ve added support for Linux, Macs and some Thinkpads where drivers and devices are available."

Those who enjoy the popular television show will be happy to know that November 8, 2009 will feature a variety show from the makers of Family Guy, and it will play for its entire allotted time without any commercial interruption-- courtesy of Microsoft. The company has made a deal with Fox to have Windows 7 propaganda integrated into a special entitled "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show," which will include varied live-action Family Guy musical performances, animated shorts, and celebrity guest appearances. Just how the show will be used to advertise Windows 7 is unclear, but the folks at Microsoft say that "you'll see us deeply integrated into the content... you'll hear a lot about how Windows 7 can help you simplify your PC -- it's simple, fast and easy to use." So sit back in the lazy chair on November 8th, take a bite out of your Windows-branded toast, and enjoy.

"Back in June, the Linux Foundation started their individual membership program and they're now expanding it with new hardware discounts. Starting this week, those who pay the $99 for an individual Linux Foundation membership will also get up to 40 percent off of Lenovo devices and employee purchase pricing from Dell and HP... When the Linux Foundation started the $99 yearly fee provided users with their very own Linux.com email address. Now users can lock-in their email address for $150, for what the foundation calls a 'permanent' address."

In what is about as surprising as the sun rising in the morning, Michael Dell has started talking down netbooks. Dell made his comments about netbooks at the Churchill Club in Silicon Valley, and considering the impact of netbooks on manufacturers' bottom lines, it's really not that surprising.

InfoWorld surveys the FOSS-on-Mac OS X landscape, detailing the most essential free open source applications for the Mac, all precompiled and ready to run. 'In many cases, you're not just getting an open source tool; you're getting a range of options to add to that tool as many of them have yet another layer of openness hidden inside. Several of the applications have their own built-in environment for extending the software. Some accept plug-ins, some have pop-up windows for writing short extensions, and some have both -- so you have even more options for customization.' From AppleJack to GIMP to jEdit, each of these top 10 open source apps and utilities for the Mac prove that the best free open source software isn't just for Windows users.

So, we have Apple who is paranoid about people installing legally purchased copies of its operating system on non-Apple labelled machines. Just when you thought it couldn't get any more ridiculous than that, we have a hardware company trying to prevent people from installing operating systems on its hardware. Wait, what?

Not too long ago, Apple open sourced its Grand Central Dispatch library, which aids in developing multithreaded code. It was suggested that it could be ported to other platforms, and the FreeBSD team has done exactly that. They have also done a lot of work related to getting GCD to work in a POSIX environment.

I barely finished and published my MorphOS 2.3 review for OSNews, and here we have the release of MorphOS 2.4. The biggest improvement, if you could call it that, is the one thing a lot of people have been waiting for: MorphOS 2.4 includes support for the entire range of PowerPC G4 Mac Mini computers from Apple.

We generally don't report on individual bugs or security issues in operating systems, but a pretty serious bug has reared its ugly head in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. If you had a guest account enabled prior to installing Snow Leopard, then you are at risk of losing all your data.

Now that all the nastiness of the discovery phase is behind us in the Apple vs. Psystar case, both parties are trying to get the case settled before it goes to court, much like the recent Vernor vs. Autodesk case. Both Apple and Psystar have filed motions asking for a summary judgement.

InfoWorld's John Rizzo chronicles the 20 most significant ideas and features Microsoft and Apple have stolen from each other in the lead up to Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. 'Some features were stolen so long ago that they've become part of the computing landscape, and it's difficult to remember who invented what.' Windows 7's Task Bar and Aero Peek come to mind as clear appropriations of Mac OS X's Dock and Expose. Apple's cloning of the Windows address bar in 2007's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard as the path bar is another obvious 'inspiration.' But the borrowing goes deeper, Rizzo writes, providing a screenshot tour of Microsoft's biggest grabs from Mac OS X and Apple's most significant appropriations of Windows OS ideas and functionality.

And another week passed by, another Week in Review. Lots of different stuff this past week, there's no theme or recurring subject, though. My item of the week is Palm's announcements regarding freeing up webOS development. What's yours?