What is wrong with KDE 3.x? What is wrong with GNOME 2.8+? These seem to be the two questions arising from the recent revival of Linus vs. GNOME spat. We all know the history; Linus called the GNOME guys 'interface nazis' and advised Linux users to use KDE, which resulted in the longest comment thread on OSNews ever. That kind of fizzled out, only to be brought to light again by Linus submitting a few patches to make GNOME behave more like he wants it to behave.

Microsoft is keen to stir up enthusiasm for Windows Vista, but when it comes to the 64-bit edition of the recently released operating system, the software giant is sending decidedly mixed messages. Vista is available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, with the latter targeted at owners of recent computers with 64-bit processors. However, customers who purchase the retail version of Vista Home Basic, Home Premium or Business don't have the option of buying the 64-bit version directly. It also seems Microsoft will toughen its anti-piracy policies.

"This article shows how you can convert a physical Windows system into a VMware virtual machine with the free VMware Converter Starter. The resulting virtual machine can be run in the free VMware Player and VMware Server, and also in VMware Workstation and other VMware products. Vmware Converter comes in handy if you want to switch to a Linux desktop, but feel the need to run your old Windows desktop from time to time. By converting your Windows desktop into a virtual machine, you can run it under VMware Server/Player, etc. on your Linux desktop."

Microsoft has released a second free service pack for its popular SQL Server 2005 database application. The update makes SQL Server 2005 compatible with Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system and Office 2007 suite, and adds a number of data compression, manageability and interoperability enhancements. Microsoft has also changed the terms under which SQL Server 2005 can be run using virtualisation software.

"D-Wave Systems has presented us with the perfect quantum conundrum. On Tuesday and Thursday, they presented their 16-qubit adiabatic quantum computer to the world. However, details were scarce, leaving us in the superposition of both believing and disbelieving their claims. In this article, we'll give you a play-by-play from D-Wave's Thursday demonstration in Vancover followed by an analysis of their claims with help from superconducting quantum interference devices expert Hans Hilgenkamp from the University of Twente in the Netherlands."

The AROS team has published a new status update with a list of improvements. Wanderer now has initial support for drag and drop, along with stability improvements. Tap interface is available for networking under a hosted linux installation. The main website has been translated into Dutch, and RTL8139 and VIA Rhine network adapters drivers have also been committed. Plus various new and updated apps Lunapaint, Martin's Server Suite, Jhead and Potrace.

After MacOSX and Linux start to become viable alternatives to Windows on the desktop, more and more applications are developed to be cross- platform; all potential users can run them on their platform of choice. In the following article I will discuss different ways of creating a cross-platform application and their (dis)advantages for the user.

"Is open source still a grassroots social movement made up of idealistic underdogs trying to revolutionize an amoral industry? Or has it become a cloak used by IT vendors large and small to disguise ruthless and self-serving behavior? Some observers argue it's the latter. Despite occasional protests from old-timers - the heated backlash against the Microsoft-Novell détente, for example - open source has become so co-opted by mainstream IT, so transformed by 'accidental open sourcers' simply looking for a better business model, that it's lost its cherished moral edge."

"Exercise good memory-related coding practices by creating a comprehensive program to keep memory errors under control. Memory errors are the bane of C and C++ programming: they're common, awareness of their importance for over two decades hasn't eradicated them, they can impact applications severely, and few development teams have a definite plan for their management. The good news, though, is that they needn't be so mysterious."

"Simple Persistence for Java is an open source object-relational persistence library that uses a custom query language and built-in database support to simplify object persistence in Java applications. In this article, software architect Sami Salkosuo introduces the library and walks you through its zero-admin, zero-config approach to object persistence."

"What is it with the Windows Vista Firewall and its refusal to go away? All our PCs are secured behind two firewalls: a hardware firewall and Microsoft ISA Server. The only traffic that gets in is the traffic that we want to get in. Now we can appreciate having the firewall on by default; but after turning it off over 20 times, it’s getting to be too much."

OpenSSH is an important tool that keeps the communication and transfer of information between machines secure. Not only does it provide a secure alternative to common tools like Telnet, FTP, and RCP, it can also act as a transport protocol for other services like Subversion, X Windows System, and rsync. This article shows you how to get the best out of the main tools provided by OpenSSH.

"MEPIS Linux founder Warren Woodford began, a year ago, to migrate MEPIS from Debian to Ubuntu packages, and in July achieved the first Ubuntu-based simplyMEPIS release. In light of the recently announced Linspire/Ubuntu collaboration, DesktopLinux.com asked Woodford to clarify the MEPIS/Ubuntu relationship."

David Reveman writes: "I'd like to get all of you updated on the compiz related things discussed at the X developer conference that was held last week. My talk was mainly focused on 'what's next' and how to get desktop compositing in X to the next level." He also discussed the fork: "I had the chance to talk to Quinn Storm from the beryl project during xdevconf. I would have hoped that the current situation with beryl could be improved but it seems like Quinn at least isn't interested in that. However, after talking to Quinn it's very clear to me that the fork was partially motivated by assumptions that were wrong."