The OpenOffice Project has sent a letter to Michael Dell, showering praise on Dell's chairman and CEO and asking him to consider pre-loading OpenOffice onto PCs. The letter is the result of a flood of requests on Dell's online suggestion box, IdeaStorm, for Dell PCs pre-loaded with both Linux operating systems and the open-source suite of desktop productivity applications. John McCreesh, marketing project lead for OpenOffice.org, also asked Dell to consider making a financial contribution to the software's development.

I have been both a Windows and Linux user for a long time (I started with Windows 3.1 and RedHat 5.1 kernel 2.0.x if I recall correctly) and have stuck with both for various reasons. I'm writing this article not as a DIY lofty vantage platform by which I can bash MS nor as a 'Why you should switched' flame bate piece, but have tried to keep an open mind and reflect the actually experience that I have had with Vista so far, regardless of OS political propaganda. Please keep in mind this is still an opinion piece and most probably to be taken with a pinch of salt.

"Last week, the Gentoo project entered the lowest point of its 7-year old existence. The single most telling statement attesting to this fact is this brief excerpt from the current issue of Gentoo Weekly News. 'The following developers recently joined the Gentoo project: Daniel Robbins; the following developers recently left the Gentoo project: Daniel Robbins' Yes, this is the same Daniel Robbins who founded Gentoo Linux back in the year 2000 and who left the project in 2004 for personal reasons. He officially re-joined the Gentoo development team two weeks ago - only to resign a few days later. The reason? Strong personal attacks by some of the current developers of the project."

Hi-Mobile.net sent us in a review unit of Panasonic's flagship point-n-shoot camera, the LX2. This camera kept the first place among other similar products in the past year with its two unique features: HD video recording and wide-angle for landscape shooting.

Mandriva has launched the beta program for version 4.0 of its Corporate Desktop. "Mandriva is pleased to announce the launch of the beta program of Corporate Desktop 4.0, the brand new version of its enterprise-dedicated work station. Ergonomic, secure, comprehensive, easy to use and to administer: by consulting its corporate clients and by exploiting its experience in the desktop area, Mandriva developed Corporate Desktop 4.0, a distribution that can be installed in less than 10 minutes and extensively customized thanks to a new post-installation tool."

"Magnussoft launched this week their new online hardware database, which is open to everyone using ZETA to add their own workinig (or not) piece of hardware to the database. They also hope it'll be a valuable tool and resource for anyone wanting to try ZETA out on their machines, but aren't sure if their equipment will work on ZETA or not." Thanks to IsComputerOn for pointing this out.

The extension of daylight-saving time by a month in the United States is causing enormous grief for some IT administrators running Microsoft software, as many of the software programs running on their users' systems need to be individually patched to reflect the change. This year, daylight-saving time starts today - three weeks earlier than usual - and ends a week later than usual on Nov. 4.

"Explore how to remotely debug a FreeBSD kernel that is running on a target machine without affecting system performance. In this article, examine setting up the debug environment using serial communication port, compiling modified kernel code, debugging, and troubleshooting tips."

"Debian GNU/Linux used to have a reputation as the toughest GNU/Linux distribution to install, yet the easiest to maintain. In fact, Debian's package management system has played a huge role in the proliferation of projects based on Debian. Suffice it to say that anyone who can install their own operating system can generally install Debian Etch with little or no trouble. If you've never installed Debian before, it's fairly easy to walk through the default installation without realizing you have options. Let's explore the Debian Installer, to find out just what options we do have."

"Not too long ago, ad agencies, design firms and other creative companies were about the only businesses that widely deployed Macintosh computers to their employees. But for a number of reasons, word of the benefits of Apple hardware - and software - on enterprise desktops is now spreading."

Sun has announced a new set of products and services targeting developers, startups, and internet companies seeking to build and deploy their web infrastructure on Solaris 10. The three offerings are Solaris Express, Developer Edition, Solaris + AMP (Apache/MySQL/PERL or PHP), and an expanded Sun Startup Essentials program.

OpenAddict 'reviews PCLinuxOS 2007 Beta 2, and concludes: "In all honesty, any review of PCLOS will be lacking as the qualities that make PCLOS what it is are in the details. There is no one' shining point regarding this distro. The whole PCLinuxOS distribution is the shining point."

"Ubuntu is a strong desktop distro, but it falls short for some users in a few areas. Where are the multimedia codecs and DVD support, and what's with all the brown, for heaven's sake? If you'd like multimedia support with a minty fresh theme, try Linux Mint 2.2, an Ubuntu-based distro that throws in support for Flash 9, Windows Media Format, DVDs, MP3s, and troublesome wireless cards."

"This article is an overview that discusses the differences and similarities between Windows XP Starter Edition and Windows XP Home Edition. These differences are discussed for entertainment, networking and sharing, printers, system requirements, languages, and security and safety features. This article is part of a series written to provide support to independent software vendors interested in designing programs for Windows Starter."