"My verdict: Even in the relatively slick Ubuntu variation, Linux is still too rough around the edges for the vast majority of computer users", says Mossberg. Among others, he complains about one of the things I did too when I was writing my stream of Ubuntu reviews back in Spring.

ReactOS 0.3.3 has been released. "The Win32 subsystem is in the beginning of a total overhaul to make it completely compatible with NT5 which may introduce various drops in application compatibility from time to time, however in the 0.3.3 release it has had a positive impact on stability and compatibility with Win32 applications. As a generic result of these internal changes, the system feels a lot more stable in comparison to previous releases, and could be run on a real hardware (though usual limitations still apply - no USB, SATA, NTFS)." The screenshots page has been updated as well.

Microsoft and Novell on Sept. 12 will open their 2500-square-foot interoperability lab in Cambridge, Mass., where technical experts from both companies will collaborate on technologies to help Windows Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise work well together. The first priority for the team is to ensure interoperability between virtualization technologies.

Unicap has an article on the Asus EeePC. "In spring 2007, Asus announced the EeePC, a low cost, small sized mobile computer, which is expected to be available to the public in October 2007. The system is equiped with a 900 Mhz ultra low power Intel CPU, a 7'' LCD monitor, 512 MBytes of RAM and uses flash memory as permanent storage. On the software side, the system comes with a custom version of Xandros Linux preinstalled."

Daniel Stone is announcing the avalability of the first AMD/ATI specs - chips RV630 and M56 apparently. The specifications are released without an NDA.

APCMag interviews Microsoft's Craig Mundie. "Bill Gates has left the building - almost. In July 2008, the self-made billionaire will make his final exit from Microsoft, and his role will be taken over and shared by two Microsoft veterans: Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie. Ozzie will be Microsoft's Chief Software Architect, looking after technical strategy and product architecture, but Mundie has the role of setting Microsoft's strategy across the board as well as heading up all of Microsoft's research and development."

"I recently gave a presentation at the Portland Java Users Group about Java FX. After talking to some of the fine members of PJUG I realize that there is a lot of confusion about JavaFX and JavaFX script. JavaFX Script is just one part of the larger JavaFX umbrella. In fact, you don't even have to use JavaFX Script to gain many of the benefits of JavaFX! This weblog posting is my attempt to clear up a few things and get you excited about the future of client Java. After reading it I hope you will come away with a better understanding of what JavaFX is and why we created it."

QNX has announced that they are going to open up the source code to their QNX microkernel operating system. The press release reads: "Effective immediately, QNX will make source code for its award-winning, microkernel-based OS available for free download. The first source release includes the code to the QNX Neutrino microkernel, the base C library, and a variety of board support packages for popular embedded and computing hardware." Read on for more information, as well as an interview with Dan Dodge, CEO of QNX.

As VMware steps into the virtualization limelight in San Francisco at its VMworld conference Sept. 11, Microsoft is trying to steal some of that thunder by making a number of announcements of its own. Microsoft is announcing that it plans to deliver the first release candidate of Windows Server 2008 later this month. The first Community Technology Preview of Windows Server Virtualization, code-named Viridian, will be released at the same time, Larry Orecklin, Microsoft's general manager of marketing for System Center, said at a media event Sept. 10.

"For the next round of Linux Releases (Ubuntu Gutsy, Fedora 8, OpenSuse 10.3, Mandriva 2008, etc.) Compiz Fusion should be installed by default in those releases and with the release date looming not far ahead the time is ripe to give you a preview of what to expect from the latest Compiz Fusion."

It does not happen every day that news related to computer technology - news we report on every day - makes its way to the headline news programs and newspapers here in my home country, The Netherlands. So when it does, I am usually on the edge of my seat, simply because it offers an interesting glimpse into how 'normal' people perceive our little world. The last few days, however, that casual interest has made way for something else - tooth gnashing irritation.

"This morning at the X Developer Summit in the United Kingdom, Matthew Tippett and John Bridgman of AMD have announced that they will be releasing their ATI GPU specifications without any Non-Disclosure Agreements needed by the developers! In other words, their GPU specifications will be given to developers in the open. Therefore you shouldn't need to worry about another R200 incident taking place. The 2D specifications will be released very soon and the 3D ones will follow shortly."

Recently, Free Pascal (FPC) version 2.2.0 was released. This open source Pascal compiler has - since its initial release in 1993 - grown to be one of the most sophisticated open source compilers available today. Daily, more programmers discover FPC and develop their applications in Object Pascal. Specifically, the development of Lazarus has contributed to this phenomenon: Lazarus is a graphical open source IDE for FPC, with an extensive tool kit to design graphical (GUI) applications.

AMD has unveiled its first set of quad-core processors, three months after its original launch date. This 'complicated' design that resulted in the delay and puts the chip maker a full generation behind its archrival in terms of chip manufacturing processes.