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.

Java SE 5 brought many needed enhancements to the Java language, none with more potential than annotations. Easily build and maintain validation logic in your Web apps using the Validator component of Hibernate Annotations.

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.

"Some buyers of Apple's new MacBook notebook are hopping mad about random restarts and heat problems that don't fit with Apple's image. Still, Dell might be happy to have Apple's current problem and a bit of its banked reputation. How long can a solid-gold brand take a beating and keep on ticking? Apple Computer will find out this quarter with the growing list of user complaints about its recently released MacBook notebook model randomly shutting down."

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.

Microsoft keeps adding interesting new controls to the Visual Studio toolbox, but John Mueller regrets to report that many developers don't even know that those controls exist. Also, every programmer wants to create applications that are free of bugs. In this article, Peter Aitken explores the debugging tools available in Visual Studio.

"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."

"Are you in need of a great partitioner? Don't want to spend lots of cash for the popular commercial products? The GParted LiveCD offers most of the features that the big boys do, and even some that they don't. The key benefit? This is free."

"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."

There is at least one project that aims to build an Ajax OS from the ground up: Atomic OS. It has a ROM and a Kernel and build itself up much like a real operating system on real hardware. The only difference is that everything is written in Javascript.

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.

Mike McCullough reviews briefly on the history of the Eclipse framework and provides details and perspective on new additions to the Web-based IDE, such as Eclipse Plugin Central (EPIC), Callisto, BIRT, and CDT. Also, learn Eclipse Callisto release GMF in 15 minutes.

By picking the brains of Web developers and IT recruiters, eWEEK selected 10 programming languages that are a bonus for developers to add to their resumes. Even better, they're great jumping-off points, with loads of job opportunities for younger recruits.

With a slight delay, the next development snapshot of Ubuntu Edgy Eft has been released. As usual, it is available for x86, PowerPC, and AMD64. Edgy Eft's final release is scheduled for coming October. The proposed goals for Edgy Eft are listed on Ubuntu's Launchpad.