OpenOffice.org 2.0.4 is now available for eComStation and OS/2 users. "Effective immediately, Serenity Systems International will be distributing a GA version of OpenOffice.org 2.0.4 to all users who ordered the Support Agreement for OpenOffice.org product. This version has been compiled to run on IBM OS/2 and eComStation as a native application. OpenOffice.org version 1.1.5 will no longer be distributed."

At its 10th anniversary and after a period of uncertainty for the RPM community, together with a new roadmap towards version 5.0 the project environment of the popular Unix software packaging tool RPM Package Manager was relaunched under the domain rpm5.org by the newly formed RPM project team, further on lead by RPM's primary developer Jeff Johnson. The primary goals of RPM 5.0 are the additional support for the XML based archiving format XAR, an integrated package dependency resolver, further improved portability and extended cross-platform support. Note: Please note that rpm5 is a fork of the 'real' rpm project.

"One of the highlights of my visit to San Diego for the Red Hat Summit was the opportunity to sit down one-on-one with Professor Eben Moglen. From that interview, we have selected six segments on various topics for your viewing pleasure, and will be publishing one each day this week. First up, an explanation of all the things that GPLv3 is about other than the MS/Novell deal."

"Recently I had a chance to spend some time with Fujitsu's P7230 ultraportable notebook. With a 10.6" LED-backlit LCD and a weight of less than 3lbs the system is just what many mobile fanatics are looking for, but such portability comes at a price. The P7230 is powered but a 1.2GHz Intel Core Solo U1400 processor, something that is great for the battery life, but does not have the power of its Core 2 Duo brethren. The single-core, low-voltage processor works well much of the time but chokes under the load brought on by intensive programs as well as multi-tasking. In attempt to get the most possible from the P7230 I decided to completely remove Vista in favor of Ubuntu 7.04."

DistroWatch has a review of PCLinuxOS 2007. "While they are not quite there yet, PCLinuxOS are certainly on the right track to achieving their goal of being 'radically simple'. Currently the system feels like a bit of a mixed bag, but if they can start to make their own path a little more independent there will be no stopping them."

Alex Ionescu, one of the lead developers behind the ReactOS project, has published a detailed article on the XP/Vista application compatibility system. "For the last few days, I've been intimately becoming aquainted with a piece of technology in Windows XP and Vista that rarely gets the attention it deserves. It has raised my esteem and admiration towards Microsoft ten fold, and I feel it would be wise to share it, publicize it, and then of course, find (positive) ways to exploit it to turn it into a powerful backend for various purposes."

"We thought it was already clear what graphics processors and drivers work and don't work with Linux desktop eye candy such as Beryl and Compiz, but it seems based upon the number of e-mails we have been receiving along with messages in community bulletin boards that the line isn't so clear after all."

"A startup in Alameda, Calif. plans to release a kind of holy software grail the third or fourth week of June. Lina said its dual-licensed Lina virtual Linux machine will run more or less normal Linux applications under Windows, Mac, or Linux, with a look and feel native to each."

The GNOME Community Roadmap is a big-picture view of functionality we expect GNOME to include in short-term and long-term future. The roadmap is based on feedback from current GNOME developers and other community members. This roadmap shows the ideas and hopes of GNOME contributors for the near future.

Microsoft is launching a slew of initiatives to help Web sites identify visitors. First, the company is kicking off four open-source projects to support the development of ID cards for online users. Microsoft is also releasing one of its identity management specs, Identity Selector Interoperability Profile, under its OSP, meaning the specification is clear of licensing fees or patent worries.

A lot of new releases in the GNUstep world during the past few days: Make 2.0.1, Examples 1.2.0, Startup 1.18.0, and Zipper.app 1.2. In addition, the first European GNUstep Developer's Meeting has been announced.

Apple on May 24 released patches for 17 vulnerabilities spanning a host of technologies and a slew of potential unpleasantness: from system takeover to denial of service to password snatching. The patches can be downloaded automatically by enabling Software Update or they can be downloaded at Apple's download site.

When Dell put up its IdeaStorm community-feedback site, the company was surprised by the strong response in favor of shipping personal computers with Linux. The PC company then announced that it would offer Ubuntu Linux on select systems, and as of yesterday, they are taking orders. Ubuntu Linux is now available on the XPS 410n high-end desktop system at USD 849 (compared with USD 899 for the same machine with Windows installed), the E520n desktop at USD 599, and the E1505n notebook at USD 599. For now, the Ubuntu systems will only be available to customers in the United States. Availability is expected 'in the coming weeks' according to an announcement given on May 1, but Dell.com lists a shipping time of three to five days.

Seven months after announcing plans to take up where Microsoft left off with its Windows Longhorn client development, a group of members of the Joejoe.org site have built a working prototype of what they’re calling 'Longhorn Reloaded'. Earlier this week, the Longhorn Reloaded developers and testers posted for download Milestone 1 of Longhorn Reloaded. "Longhorn Reloaded is a Project dedicated to the revival of the Operating System known as Code Name 'Longhorn'. To put the projects aims simply, we aim to finish off what Microsoft started before the operating system was canceled. It is a modification of Windows 6.0.4074, which was originally released during the 2004 Windows Hardware Engineers Conference," explained the Longhorn Reloaded team on the Joejoe Web site.