Linspire has announced an agreement to license voice-enabled instant messaging, Windows Media 10 codecs, and TrueType font technologies from Microsoft for its Linux distribution. Additionally, Microsoft will offer protection to Linspire customers against possible violations of Microsoft patents by Linux.

The yes-no-yes-no saga concerning ZFS in Leopard continues as Apple has released a new statement concerning the availability of ZFS in Leopard. So, let's recap: in April 2006, Apple expresses its interest in Sun's ZFS for the first time. After a first hint, the first screenshot popped up which showed ZFS on Leopard, followed by the definitive proof Leopard could create ZFS disk images. Fast forward six months, and Sun's Jonathan Schwartz announces that ZFS would be Leopard's default filesystem; a statement contradicted by an Apple official yesterday. In fact, this Apple official said ZFS would not be in Leopard at all. Then we arrive at today, and we have Apple stating that ZFS will in fact be included as a limited option in Leopard, only from the command line, read-only. Let's see what tomorrow will bring.

Ars has reviewed the new MacBook Pro. "The latest MacBook Pros are a solid upgrade from their predecessor, thanks to the new Santa Rosa platform. If you already have a 17" MacBook Pro and aren't dying for the higher-resolution display, don't bother upgrading. If, however, you have been sitting on the fence with an old G4 or Core Duo laptop, this is a worthy upgrade. If you like your laptops large and in charge, I strongly recommend the 17" MacBook Pro."

An Apple official on Monday said Sun's open-source file system would not be in the next version of the Mac operating system, contradicting statements made last week by Sun's chief executive. During an interview with InformationWeek, Brian Croll, senior director of product marketing for the Mac OS, said, "ZFS is not happening," when asked whether Sun's Zettabyte File System would be in Leopard. Instead, Leopard would use Apple's current hierarchical file system, called HFS+. The Apple file system was first introduced in 1998 in Mac OS 8.0.

As you have surely noticed by now, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs held his keynote speech yesterday at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. So far, the responses have been mixed; I have seen a lot of excitement, but also a lot of disappointment. Personally, I am not really sure where I stand.

Google Inc.'s privacy practices are the worst among the Internet's top destinations, according to a watchdog group seeking to intensify the recent focus on how the online search leader handles personal information about its users. In a report released Saturday, London-based Privacy International assigned Google its lowest possible grade. The category is reserved for companies with "comprehensive consumer surveillance and entrenched hostility to privacy."