Review: Microsoft Office 2007

  Submitted by Bob Stein Microsoft 18 Comments
ActiveWin reviews Office 2007, and concludes: "It's an innovative interface yes, but will the benefits outweigh the changes? That's for users to decide. My personal say is getting used to the interface should not be a problem for many since the familiar tools are organized in ways that makes it convenient for the user to access both new and previously hidden features. This makes the interface more intelligent and more aware of what the user is doing, presenting the right tools for the task at hand. I am proud to say: this is an Office release I definitely look forward to using everyday."
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Schwartz Slams Microsoft-Novell Deal

  Submitted by Mola Oracle and SUN 15 Comments
Some more news on the Novell-Microsoft deal (I'm starting to suspect the free publicity is all what this deal was for, but anyway). Sun boss Jonathan Schwartz has joined in criticism of the Microsoft-Novell deal, saying it is bad for the open source movement. Following Samba's criticism early this week, Schwartz said profoundly disagreed with the idea that open source software is unsafe without the 'no use' arrangements agreed between Microsoft and Novell.
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Is the Microsoft-Novell Deal Dead on Arrival?

  Submitted by Think4 Myself Open Source 38 Comments
The potentially historic Microsoft-Novell pact announced last week, whereby Microsoft would grant patent peace to users of Novell's Suse Linux software in exchange for royalty payments paid by Novell to Microsoft, will be dead by mid-March, promises Eben Moglen, the general counsel of the Free Software Foundation. The FSF controls the license that governs the distribution of Linux and many other key forms of free and open-source software. "It will surely violate GPL version 3," said Moglen, referring to the forthcoming version. "GPL version 3 will be adjusted so the effect of the current deal is that Microsoft will by giving away access to the very patents Microsoft is trying to assert."
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Winners and Losers in the New Linux World

  Submitted by anonymous Linux 94 Comments
"Would you have believed at the end of last summer that Microsoft and Novell would partner over Linux, or that Oracle would create its own brand of Linux? Yeah, I wouldn't have believed it either, but here we are. So, what does it all mean? Rather than make a snap judgement I decided to sit, wait and watch before trying to make sense of it all. Now, I'm ready to give you my two-cents on who are the winners and losers in this post-deal Linux world."
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RISC OS Firefox 2 Port Iyonix Only

  Submitted by teigetje RISC OS 15 Comments
The next release of the RISC OS Firefox port will be Iyonix-only, developer Peter Naulls revealed today. Although the updated port, dubbed Firefox 2, is said to be working, Peter, pictured, will first need a further five grand in cash donations from users - even though the revised port may ship without https support, which is crucial for online banking and shopping.
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Microsoft May Indemnify Some Red Hat Linux Users

Red Hat 65 Comments
While Microsoft is hoping to enter into a patent deal with Red Hat similar to the one it has with Novell, the software giant has not ruled out going it alone and providing some sort of indemnification for its customers who use Red Hat Linux. Bill Hilf, Microsoft's general manager of platform strategy, acknowledged that it is an awkward situation having Microsoft's customers who use Novell's SUSE Linux covered by the covenant not to sue, while those Windows users running Red Hat Linux are not.
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Vista Released to VL Customers; EU Sets Ultimatum

Microsoft 57 Comments
It seems Microsoft has released the long awaited Windows Vista to a selection of its larger customers. If you're a Microsoft Volume License customer, you can now download Vista from the MVLS Volume Licensing site. Since around 10am (GMT) this morning, Vista has been properly released into the wild via MVLS - but no news yet as to when it will be available to the developer-centric MSDN community. The Inq also gives a rundown of what Aero-capable video cards you can buy if you have a machine that lacks AGP or PCIe slots. Meanwhile, the EU is threatening to fine Microsoft again.
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Details Revealed On Longhorn Server; PowerShell Launched

Windows 44 Comments
Fresh from an almost missable US launch of Zune, Microsoft was back on familiar ground Tuesday touting server, security and admin software to reassure shareholders the company's future is bright. Bob Muglia, Microsoft's senior vice president for server and tools opened the company's IT Forum in Barcelona, Spain, by promising a third, and final, beta of Windows Longhorn Server during the first-half of 2007 with full product availability by years' end. Microsoft also officially launched its PowerShell.
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Benchmarks: the Unofficial Eight-Core Mac Pro

  Submitted by Governa Benchmarks 32 Comments
"We might be ahead of Apple's product release cycle, and we've probably violated our Mac Pro's warranty, but we just had to see what the Apple Mac Pro could do when populated with a pair of Intel's brand-new quad-core Xeon 5355 processors," Daniel A. Begun reports for CNET. They conclude: "Unless you do work normally relegated to high-end workstations, perform massively multitasking workloads, or just want the bragging rights, eight cores is definitely overkill - at least for now."
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First International Workshop on Plan 9 and Inferno

  Submitted by 9fan OS News 9 Comments
The first international workshop on Plan 9 aims at bringing together researchers and developers working on Plan 9 from Bell Labs and Inferno, or working on related ideas and projects. Workshop topics will include system architecture, system services, file systems and servers, applications, projects for other platforms related to Plan 9, security issues, and others. The workshop will take place on December 4th and 5th at the University Rey Juan Carlos of Madrid in Spain.
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