From MSDN: "Welcome to Beta 2 of Microsoft Visual J# .NET, a development tool for Java-language developers who want to build applications and services on the .NET Framework. The tool integrates the Java-language syntax into the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET IDE, and supports the functionality found in Visual J++ 6.0, including Microsoft extensions such as JavaCOM and JDirect. Microsoft Visual J# .NET is not a tool for developing applications intended to run on a Java virtual machine. Applications and services built with Visual J# .NET will run only in the .NET Framework; they will not run on any Java virtual machine. Visual J# .NET has been independently developed by Microsoft. It is not endorsed or approved by Sun Microsystems, Inc." The installation file is 12 MB.

From the press release: "MandrakeSoft is proud to introduce Mandrake Linux 8.2 as the most feature-rich, multi-purpose Linux operating system ever made available to the public. New server features include the ability to use an encrypted filesystem for protecting sensitive data; "kernel-secure" adds important security features to the default Linux kernel; and an "Enterprise" kernel delivers SMP and Hi-memory support (above 1024 MB) for high-end servers. Mandrake Linux 8.2 also introduces a quick and efficient way to set up printers and scanners; a new file sharing feature for easily sharing files and directories in a networked environment; and improved "hot-plug" support that lets users install new devices quickly and painlessly without having to reboot the system. A new remote desktop utility, RFBdrake, is extremely useful for controlling machines remotely within a LAN or securely through the Internet."

Shawn Gordon is founder and president of theKompany.com, producer of a variety of open source and other software for Linux and other platforms. In his essay at LinuxAndMain he explains why the GPL is not so good for graphical or end user friendly applications.

Two months ago a lot of online magazines and "tip" web sites reported that WindowsXP reserves 20% of your network bandwidth so in case of a crash, debug information can be sent to Microsoft. InfoWorld says that this is not the case exactly and that there is a good reason behind the limitation.

"Remember Steve Jobs' "sand" concept for the creation of personal computers? About the time he lent his star power to the creation of the original Macintosh back in the early '80s, Apple's founder famously described his dream factory: an oceanfront site that would haul raw beach sand in one end, cook up its own silicon and deliver fully configured PCs out the other end. This vision of vertical integration and rugged self-sufficiency is a cornerstone of Apple's culture that has informed the company's every move during Jobs' two tenures there. (It's telling that the only time Apple ever seriously toyed with opening up its hardware and software specs - porting the Mac OS to Intel processors and allowing a short list of third-party vendors to create a tightly controlled roster of hardware "clones" - was during Jobs' exile in the late '80s and early '90s.)" Read the rest of the editorial at ExtremeTech.

Be, Inc disolved the company and stopped public trading on Friday. They now sell the www.be.com domain name as well. The company will still live on for at least 3 more years (without employees, but with a Board of Directors in charge), therefore their trademarks are still active. However, this did not stop a team of BeOS German enthusiasts, BeOSOnline.com, to release a 230 MB bootable ISO distribution of BeOS and name it "BeOS 5.0.4". Users should not confuse this release with any official means, as it is a plain BeOS 5.0.3 with additional developer tools and applications as found freely at BeBits.com.

"Miguel de Icaza is a nice guy in a multitude of senses: He's warm, friendly, and open -- sometimes that openness has cost him, as recently when it was reported that he had said the GNOME desktop would be moved to Mono, an effort by Ximian to create an open source version of Microsoft's .NET platform." Read the interesting interview with Miguel de Icaza at LinuxAndMain.com

"Windows, one of the best-known trademarks in the world, may not be a name Microsoft Corp. can own and use exclusively, a federal judge ruled yesterday. In a narrow, preliminary ruling that could change at trial, Chief U.S. District Judge John Coughenour wrote that there are "serious questions regarding whether 'Windows' is a non-generic name and thus eligible for the protections of federal trademark law." This probably means that Lindows won the case and they would be able to continue use the Lindows.com name. Read the report at NWSource.com.

The Microsoft Windows CE .NET Device Emulator is a tool that allows you to view an Emulation Project Kit. An Emulation Project Kit contains an operating system image for a Windows CE-based platform. The platform is designed to run in the Device Emulator. The Device Emulator provides a viewer that allows you to run the Windows CE .NET OS on your desktop computer without specialized hardware. The Device Emulator makes it possible to download and view a Windows CE .NET-based device without acquiring additional hardware. They are sample platforms, each with a custom skin to showcase some of the capabilities of Windows CE .NET. The Microsoft Windows CE .NET Emulation Kit Creator is a tool that allows you to create an Emulation Project Kit for your Windows CE .NET-based platform. The Windows CE .NET Driver Development Program (WCEDDP) enables independent hardware and driver developers to get to market faster with free grants of Windows CE .NET.

Wind River Systems announced the release of version 4.3 of BSD/OS, the company's commercial UNIX-based operating system, and detailed roadmap plans for the product. Version 4.3 of BSD/OS is available now. Future releases of the operating system will target server appliances, security and traffic management appliances, network attached storage (NAS) devices, and telecom application processing blades as part of Wind River's strategy to provide end-to-end development platforms across the entire spectrum of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and embedded market segments.

Many are the developers who prefer Perforce in favor of CVS. There is a new player in the field now though. It is called Vesta and it is a replacement for both CVS and 'make'. It handles source revision control and automated construction. It is the result of over 10 years of research and development at the Compaq/Digital Research Center. Just last August Compaq gave the 'ok' to LGPL Vesta and since then the 4-member team worked hard to finish up the port to x86 Linux (prior to that, Vesta only worked on Alpha and Tru64 systems). Now, the first Free version is available for download. For a summary of some of the features that make Vesta interesting, see this page.

"The loser in the browser wars has filed a private antitrust suit against Microsoft. But the company doesn't deserve to win. It isn't fair. Netscape gave us a revolutionary product that has touched the lives of everyone in America, and in exchange we took away its market and made the company a minor subsidiary of AOL Time Warner. But we can't fix things by exchanging the rule of law for a popularity contest. I know that if it were me I'd be mad as hell -- but nevertheless this is one fight that Netscape deserves to lose." First of a two-part series editorial on the legal battle between Netscape and Microsoft. Update: Second part is online: "Microsoft should be punished".

"Remember when people fought over getting Linux company stock options? Today, it's the Linux companies fighting to keep their stock prices above water. Caldera, in danger of being delisted by Nasdaq thanks to a stock price lurking around 50 cents a share for months, is taking the radical step today of a reverse stock split. For every four shares of Caldera International, stock owners will now receive one pumped-up share." Read the rest of the story at NewsForge.

This paper at IBM.com is a summary of problems encountered by the LAN Distributed Platform (LANDP) for Linux team whilst porting LANDP from OS/2 to Linux. This paper should be useful to other teams that are porting OS/2 applications to Linux.