IBM is pushing Linux as the upgrade path for current users of IBM's venerable OS/2, but most customers of OS/2 computing, especially branch banking, are looking towards a Windows migration.

This is mainly a bugfix release, but contains a very important new piece: Java Update feature is installed when the J2RE is installed, and it can automatically update your computer with the latest J2RE release. It also contains new java logo. Read the release notes and download.

Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced significantly expanded hardware support for the Solaris Operating System (OS) x86 Platform Edition. Sun's goal is to ensure that the Solaris OS x86 is available on the widest range of x86 systems by adding 100 new third-party systems and 100 new components to its Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) delivering more value, choice and flexibility to customers. Read on for the rest of the press release.

One of the major roadblocks for Unix was the lack of one single standardized platform for applications. Linux seems to be following along the same line, although on a different parallel. To compete head-to-head with Microsoft, Linux advocates should standardize the platform, A. Russell Jones says.

On the 25th IBM released beta compilers for Mac OSX, there is both a c/c++ and a fortran compiler, these compilers is for use with the G5/PPC970 processor. Elsewhere, on a TechNewsWorld review it is stated that "while decidedly Apple, Xserve puts to shame many of the Linux distributions available by tying together the diverse number of applications that are needed to administer an equivalent Linux server into a simple, GUI-driven interface."

Trolltech today announced the release of Qt, version 3.2.1 Qt, Trolltech's C++ multiplatform application framework, is the industry-leading C++ tool used to create applications that run natively on Windows, Linux/Unix and Mac OS X, all from the same codebase. Here is a report on the future of Qt, on 4.0.

Ch is a superset of C language. It parses and executes C code directly without intermediate code or byte code. It does not distinguish interpreted code from compiled C/C++ code. The new Ch 4.0 is the most complete C interpreter in existence and is embeddable in other programs and hardware.

Apple news from around the web: "Apple seeds Panther build 7B44, Server, Xcode", "Apple Issues New G5 Benchmarks", "Dual-2GHz G5 to reach education buyers first", "Apple forms new Enterprise sales group", "Virtual PC not compatible with G5 yet".

Today, Mozilla 1.5 Beta, the next version from the Mozilla Team was released. As per usual; Linux, MacOSX and Windows packages are available. A spellchecker for Messenger and Composer in addition to many bugfixes are just some of the updates in this beta. For more info, read the release Notes.

Despite trolls' claims to the contrary, BeOS is still alive and well, and no one shows it more than active BeOS usergroups . The German BeOS User Group, DeBUG, has reformed and reorganized and the next BeGeistert is planned for mid-October. More details within.

Red Hat is making no secret of the fact that it's trying to focus on revenue-generating enterprise customers, even if that means losing throngs of small users who provide little to no revenue. Many of the largest hosting companies use Red Hat Linux, but as the company changes its focus, that may change, especially if Red Hat is slow to release important patches for non-paying customers, says a Netcraft report.

I started rsync'ing a Mandrake 9.2 beta 2 CD this morning and when I went to start the second CD this afternoon, I noticed that the beta 2 CDs were gone and there was a RC1 CD becoming available.

This column explains how to write secure applications; it focuses on the Linux operating system, but many of the principles apply to any system. In today's networked world, software developers must know how to write secure programs, yet this information isn't widely known or taught. This first installment of the Secure programmer column introduces the basic ideas of how to write secure applications and discusses how to identify the security requirements for your specific application. Future installments will focus on different common vulnerabilities and how to prevent them.

Contiki is a usable (internet-enabled) OS for Commodore 64 hardware. System requirements for Contiki is about 20K RAM for the base functionality and about 50K for full functionality (desktop icons, web browser, web server, etc.) See the videos of Contiki in action.