The unexpected fifth release candidate of Slackware Linux 11.0 has been announced in the current changelog: "This is the last one, scout's honor." Last week has brought a number of updates, including Subversion 1.4.0, an svn release of espgs 8.15.3, security updates to Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey, as well as many rebuilds of existing package versions to fix bugs or add new functionality. As usual, there are no official ISO images released for download, but a good list of Slackware mirrors can be found here, while a recent unofficial CD image set built from the current tree is available here.

MadPenguin has published a short overview of SymbianOS 9.3. "Symbian has added plenty of features to v9.3, but do we need to rush? Well, the answer is no. This is because no handset manufacturer has still come up with a device based on the new operating system. According to industry sources, one may expect a plethora of such devices to be launched in early 2007 during high level mobile conferences such as Nokia Mobility Conference and Symbian Smartphone Show. Until then, enjoy your current handset."

This article gives a visual walkthrough of some of the new features included in the latest version of Vim. "These are not the only new features. There are scores of others like Remote file explorer which allows one to directly edit a file residing in a remote location, better POSIX compatibility, Vim's own internal grep and so on which I have not covered here because this article is after all a visual walk through of the new features in Vim 7.0. It takes real genius and stellar coding skills to create and maintain such a versatile editor and Bram Moolenaar has proved yet again that he has the necessary ingredients to qualify him for the post."

The NetBeans project recently released the second beta of version 5.5 of its IDE. At the same time, NetBeans 6.0 is at its second milestone release. Artima spoke with NetBeans evangelist Tim Boudreau about new NetBeans features and about the NetBeans community. In Part I, he discusses upcoming features of NetBeans 6.0, and compares the NetBeans and Eclipse approaches to open-source IDE development. In Part II, Boudreau talks about the NetBeans rich-client platform, how the NetBeans Matisse UI builder and GroupLayout layout manager address the challenges of cross-platform and internationalized UI design, and about support for languages other than Java in NetBeans.

A secret investigation of news leaks at Hewlett-Packard was more elaborate than previously reported, and almost from the start involved the illicit gathering of private phone records and direct surveillance of board members and journalists, according to people briefed on the company's review of the operation.

Mandriva Linux 2007 RC2, likely the final release candidate, has been released, featuring various bug fixes as compared to RC1. Be sure to check out the RC2-specific release notes and the 2007 release notes before downloading from any Cooker mirror's /devel/iso/2007.0/ directory.

The open source wxWidgets library makes programming GUIs incredibly easy, far easier than with most platform APIs. Jeff Cogswell shows how this handy C++ library can shorten your programming time with powerful classes that are simple to use.

Having accurate information about the computers in your company can be critical for any number of tasks. General inventory, purchasing decisions, software license compliance, tracking usage patterns, theft identification, upgrade planning, and update deploying rely on knowing as much as possible about the computer you manage. Constantly keeping track of that kind of information is typically a daunting challenge unless you make use of Apple Remote Desktop's vast reporting capabilities. In this third installment of Ryan Faas' Apple Remote Desktop 3 in-depth series, find out how easy it can be to have detailed and current reports on everything you need to know.

The Customer Preview Program for Windows Vista has reopened. Release Candidate 1 can be ordered on DVD from Microsoft or can be downloaded directly. The site is issuing new evaluation serial numbers as well, so that new testers, who do not have previously handed-out keys, can also download this release candidate. You can obviously post your experiences in the comments.

"OS/2 has many applications that had been created by companies, individual developers and hobbyists. Many of these applications still works under the newest version of eComStation and have demonstrated a good quality. The only issue is that they are turning into abandonware since developers had switched to other platforms, but there is a chance to extend their life with the 'Open Source Long Live Elixir'. Here at OS2World.com we will like to make a call to OS/2-eCS developers and ex-developers to open source their creations. We believe that the software can be expanded for the benefit of the community and allowing a learning experience from the code of these applications."

Apache Geronimo is making news with its latest release, version 1.1. At its core is the Inversion Of Control model, which is also the core pattern for the Spring Framework. The Spring Framework was built on the principle that Java EE should be easier to use. This article provides information about the Spring Framework modules and how they relate to developing Java EE applications on Geronimo.

"With 20 years of experience in software development, Simon Phipps has helped guide Sun's open source strategy, including the OpenSolaris project. Now, as chief open source officer at Sun, Phipps has been given the weighty task of deciding how to open source all of Sun's software. Inner Circle recently sat down with Phipps to discuss open source licenses, working with communities of developers, and how governance of open source projects is critical to success."

FVWM-Crystal is an eye-candy, functional and ultra-fast desktop environment for GNU/Linux and Unix, based on FVWM. Crystal can be used even on very old machines, thus it is a noticeable alternative to popular desktop choices like XFCE or Fluxbox.

BSD devcenter at onlamp.com has an interview with Charles M. Hannum, one of the creators of the NetBSD Project and the NetBSD Foundation, about the evolution of the project, funds management, problems with licenses and hardware documentation, the link with vendors, past and current mistakes, and what we can learn from the Linux development process.