Another release candidate for Ion3 has been released, hopefully, again, the last. "Ion is a tiling tabbed window manager designed with keyboard users in mind."

For the first time the components that underlie quantum computing's great potential - qubits - have been linked on chips like those in conventional computers. Two US research teams used superconducting circuits to make two of the quantum components linked by a quantum information cable or bus. The bits that work together on calculations in a normal computer can exist in two states - either 0 or 1. But qubits can inhabit both at once, allowing them to process many calculations simultaneously when they get together.

According to at least one blogger, Microsoft should abandon Vista before it's too late. It would appear he's not alone in this opinion, as Microsoft has begun allowing users to downgrade back to XP. Amongst the reasons? Poor sales figures and shoddy Vista "Extras".

The Ubuntu team has released the beta for Ubuntu 7.10, Gutsy Gibbon. Highlights include GNOME 2.20, fancy desktop effects through Compiz Fusion, and more. Kubuntu 7.10 beta has also been released, featuring Dolphin as the default file manager, a restricted drivers manager, and updates and polish across the board.

In a move that's sure to be welcomed by customers of both parties, HP is reported to be working with Apple to allow users of Mac OS X Leopard to instantly receive the the latest versions of HP's printer drivers over Leopard's built-in Software Update mechanism. In seeding Leopard build 9A559 to its developer community last week, Apple listed only two known issues with the software, one of which instructed testers with HP printers connected to their system to perform a custom install of the next-gen operating system and de-select the HP printer drivers in the installer. "The HP printer drivers will be delivered post-install via Software Update", the company told testers.

"Two months ago, the Brazilian Linux community gathered around BR-Linux invited Novell to answer 10 questions sent and selected by the users, about the company's stance on Linux, open source, licenses, document formats and other subjects." "Novell has been very consistent on this issue and we have publicly stated that we do not believe that Linux infringes on any Microsoft patents. That being said, our agreement with Microsoft takes the patent issue off the table for customers. We have simply made the patent issue a non-event as part of a customer buying decision."

KernelTrap offers a summary of a lengthy debate on OpenBSD's -misc mailing list comparing the security features built into OpenBSD versus the security offered by the Linux kernel's SELinux feature. The main arguments presented against SELinux centered around its complexity and the difficulty of defining a secure policy. "The first thing people usually do with SELinux is turn it off", suggests the article, noting that the ease with which it can be turned off is another security shortcoming. By contrast, OpenBSD offers numerous security features that are always enabled with minimal overhead, including propolice stack protection, random library mappings, proactive privilege separation, W^X, and systrace.

"In less than two weeks time, six months after the great Mandriva 2007.1 Spring release, Mandriva 2008.0 will be ready and published. Currently, Release Candidate 2 is out, it's your last chance to test it and make sure everything is working before the final release! There were great ideas at the start of the development phase, and in in those six months that have passed, Mandriva has always been one of the most active projects on CIA.vc. This gives much hope for lots of improvements, so let's take a look at what can be expected from Mandriva 2008.0."

The internet is abuzz with the news that Apple intends to break iPhones containing third party applications. Unlocked phones are also likely to be victims of the next software update. While community reaction is generally negative, one blogger suggests sending an even stronger message to Apple by boycotting Apple on October 1. If you're running the Installer application, you may want to hold off on any iPhone firmware updates.

Ars has reviewed GNOME 2.20. "GNOME 2.20 was officially released last week after six months of development. The new version includes strong incremental improvements that contribute to a better user experience and provide more flexibility and integration opportunities for third-party software developers."

Microsoft said that Office 2008 will come in three versions. The "core" version, Office 2008 for Mac, including all the applications plus Automator and Microsoft Exchange Server support, will cost USD 399.95, with a USD 239.95 upgrade price. Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student Edition will allow three user licenses, but it won't include the Automator and Exchange Server support. It will cost USD 149.95 for the retail version, with no upgrade pricing announced. New to the lineup will be Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition, which will add Microsoft Expression Media for Mac, a revised version of the iView Media digital asset management utility. iView was acquired by Microsoft in 2006. This version will cost USD 499.95, with a USD 299.95 upgrade price.

Solaris Express Developer Edition is a free, quarterly release of Sun's next generation Solaris Operating System built from the source code repository at OpenSolaris.org. The release includes the latest tools, technologies, and platforms to create applications for the Solaris OS, Java Application Platforms, and Web 2.0. "Major highlights: new Solaris installer - the first major rewrite of the Solaris installer since Solaris 8 makes installation much easier; D-Light, the GUI tool to bring the power of DTrace to a broad developer audience; service offerings have been augmented with the addition of installation and configuration support." Update: Review here.

"The PC-BSD team is pleased to announce the availability of PC-BSD 1.4 (da Vinci edition)! This release is made available via the efforts of many developers and testers, who have spent the past months refining and improving upon the core PC-BSD experience." This release comes with Xorg 7.2, KDE 3.5.7, Compiz-Fusion 0.5.2, support for Flash7, and much more. There are release notes, a changelog, and downloads.

Microsoft on Monday said it has released a beta version of the first service pack of Windows Vista to about 12000 testers. In another expected move, Microsoft said that it has completed its first near-final 'release candidate' version of Windows Server 2008. The 'RC0' version is slated to be available for download from Microsoft's Web site within the next 24 hours.