"Why isn't GNU/Linux taking the desktop market by storm? After all, when you make a feature comparison, Linux has a lot going for it. With Windows, the operating system is just a start; you must add applications to make it functional. Many Linux distributions provide a desktop look similar to Windows and include an extensive assortment of applications, programming tools and games. Installing Windows and sundry applications can take most of a day. Contrast that with Linux, where the process typically takes less than 60 minutes." Read the article at News.com.

Apple has released a SDK for Sherlock 3, the company's Web Services tool. "Everything required to develop a channel is provided in the Sherlock 3 Channel SDK. The SDK includes technical documentation, a sample channel, a Project Builder template, and an Interface Builder Sherlock palette," according to Apple. In the meantime, Watson 1.6 was released and includes integration with the EyeTV DVR, iCal, and the MacOSX Address Book. On other important for the Mac platform releases, WebObjects 5.2 and BBEdit 7.0 was released. Get more OSX software from VersionTracker.

Qt 3.1 introduces many significant new features and many improvements over the 3.0.x series. This provides an overview of the main changes since version 3.0.x. The Qt version 3.1 series is binary compatible with the 3.0.x series: applications compiled for 3.0 will continue to run with 3.1.

Opera's code has been reworked from the rendering engine and up, it includes new features such as the new e-mail and news client, a sleek new interface, improved Hotlist, skinning or drag-and-drop and more. Download Opera 7 Beta 1 here.

Microsoft has scratched plans for a major overhaul to an upcoming version of its Windows operating system for servers, the company confirmed Tuesday.

The KDE Project just released KDE 3.0.5. According to the SuSE README file for KDE 3.0.5, this is not exactly a full release of its own, as only the kdebase and kdelibs packages were affected from the (mostly security) updates (the rest of the packages have very minor changes). Users who already have 3.0.4 installed, will only need to re-install these two packages, while users using older versions, will have to do a complete installation.

Learn the answers to frequently asked questions about the Microsoft Windows CE .NET and Windows CE 3.0 operating systems, including questions regarding Windows CE Application Development.

Ever wanted to clone your database for testing? This article gives you the basics of cloning DB2 database for Linux and UNIX Operating System.

Forth has been a recognized programming language since the 1970's. ColorForth is a redesign of this classic language for the 21st century. It also draws upon a 20-year evolution of minimal instruction-set microprocessors. Now implemented on modern PCs, it runs stand-alone without an operating system. Applications are recompiled from source with a simple optimizing compiler.

"Windows offers more than the Linux platform, which is just an operating system, Gates said at a news conference during his four-day tour of India, during which he said Microsoft would invest $400 million in expanding operations here. "The Windows system is far ahead of its competition and its market share is increasing both on the server side and the desktops," Gates said. He said Linux was gaining popularity in some areas and its market share was improving, but only at the expense of the operating system UNIX and others - not Windows." Read the report at IndiaTimes.

The next interim release on the path to GNOME-2.2 is now available, according to release guy Jeff Waugh. GNOME-2.1.2 includes implementation of several user-requested features and cosmetics, as well as some under-the-hood changes. Read the report at LinuxAndMain.

"I would highly recommend Lindows-OS to anyone considering moving away from using Windows. If you play a lot of Windows games, I would suggest you dual boot. If you are a hard-core Linux geek, who enjoys squeezing every last nanosecond of performance out of their machines, maybe this is not for you." Read the review at PCTechForums.

The MacOSX 10.2.2 update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications and technologies: Address Book, iChat, IP Firewall, Mail, Print Center, Rendezvous, Sherlock and Windows file service discovery. It also provides a foundation for the journalling filesystem (JFS - not to be confused with IBM's JFS), which may currently be enabled via Disk Utility on Mac OS X Server systems. Journaling can also be turned on via the command line.

This sample chapter (free registration required) explores how the Linux kernel implements its virtual memory system and how it maps to the underlying hardware. On the same site you will find a Cocoa development article: Scott Anguish, Erik Buck, and Donald Yacktman describe the general features of all languages that can be used with Cocoa, and provide a brief overview of object-oriented terminology.