Momentum Computer, a developer specializing in quick turnaround of high-performance board-level solutions, has announced that all of their PowerPC-based single-board computers will now be available with the complete Yellow Dog Linux (YDL) operating system package from Terra Soft Solutions, Inc. Additionally, HackInTheBox recently posted a review of YDL for Macs.

Microsoft has just released a downloadable version of the "evaluation edition" of Windows XP Embedded with Service Pack 1. Previously, the evaluation edition was available in CD/DVD format only, and had to be ordered from Microsoft for a nominal charge. The first downloadable evaluation version of Windows CE was made available earlier this year.

Just as access can be granted based on a fingerprint or retina scan, biometrical analysis of the keyboard typing style can produce a unique pattern. A project to produce an authentication scheme based on hardware that every computer has already (unlike a retina scanner) was started in 1999 for BeOS but now is available on MacOS X, in a beta release.

It is not fashionable nowadays to speak of the merits of the command line, in an age where things like streaming video and Aqua are an integral part of our daily life. However, I do not think that typed-in commands must necessarily be consigned to the dustbin of computer history. Of course, I am not suggesting that we all drop X and Windows and pretend like we are living in the early eighties. The command line interface still has much to offer us, and many of its benefits simply cannot physically be emulated or even replaced by graphical ones.

During development of eCS 1.1 operating system defined standards was used. The eCS DevGroup published the eCS File and Directory Standard (eFDS) so you can test your own software product to compliance of operating system standards and release updated version if needed.

The company lands a big customer for its Power Mac G5: Virginia Tech, which will use 1,100 G5s as part of a cluster designed to make the list of the world's largest supercomputers. In the meantime, Apple delays the shipping of its dual-processor Power Mac G5 to individual consumers, opting instead to send the first of the fast desktops to schools, Europe and selected customers.