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A UK government report into the viability of open source software has concluded that it is not only a credible alternative to proprietary software like Windows, it will also meet most of the requirements of desktop users.

Microsoft's latest attack on Linux, in which its chief executive Steve Ballmer repeated the key themes of Microsoft's "Get The Facts" campaign, has evoked a strong response from Novell which accuses the software giant of of selectively using biased reports to back up its claims. In the email sent to Microsoft customers and partners on Wednesday, Ballmer claimed that Windows was a better choice than Linux in terms of security, training, total cost of ownership (TCO) and protection against legal action over patent violations.

Hewlett-Packard made news last June when it announced it would start a Southeast Asia rollout of its Multi-user 441 Desktop, a low-cost Linux-based computing setup that allows up to four users to share one computer, each with his own monitor, keyboard, mouse, and piece of the CPU. But Userful, a computing services company in Alberta, Canada, has been selling its own multi-user Linux, called 1-Box, for two years already. The system makes it possible for up to 10 users at a time to maximize the efficiency of one computer.

Open source software is now a viable option for the public sector's desktops, says Whitehall buying arm the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). [In the United Kingdom] The agency is publishing its conclusions today following a series of year-long trials of open source technology across a number of public sector organisations.

The already-bruising battle for control of the fast-growing Linux market has become even tougher after Dell announced Wednesday that it will distribute Novell's version of the upstart operating system on its servers. At the same time, Microsoft has ratcheted up its fight against the open-source software by blasting Linux customers and partners with an email from CEO Steve Ballmer extolling the advantages of its proprietary Windows platform.

The "C++ GUI Programming with Qt 3" book written by Trolltech software engineer Jasmin Blanchette and Trolltech's documentation manager Mark Summerfield, already featured by the dot, can now be downloaded in PDF format from the publisher's homepage in the "Downloads" section.

In the face of growing competition from Linux, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer delivered a four-page memo to customers on Wednesday outlining the economic and security advantages Windows has over Linux, the potential dangers of open source involving indemnification, and the intent to aggressively convince Unix shops to migrate to Windows.

As time pushes onward, the computer word grows exponentially in size, accomplishments, features, advances, and of course... system requirements. The latter is more a burden than a benefit if you ask most people who have the pleasure of working with computers day in and day out, but the Linux community has a decided advantage over most: They have the ability to control their destiny and the hardware it will run on.

Aurox 10.0 (code name: Amber) is available for download.

As the attorney for Linspire, the software company formerly known as Lindows, Daniel R. Harris has an insider's view of the battle between open source and proprietary software forces. In this exclusive interview, Harris discusses why and how Microsoft will use its intellectual property as weapons against Linux and open source software. He also predicts where the next battleground might be. He serves as global head of Intellectual Property at Clifford Chance US LLP, the world's largest law firm, in Palo Alto, Calif.

An e-mail Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer sent to customers around the world yesterday highlighted a new thrust in Microsoft's campaign against Linux. Ballmer played up the insurance Microsoft offers to customers against intellectual-property lawsuits resulting from using Microsoft software.

The Web is filling up with rumors about an alliance between search giant and browser maker Firefox.

MySQL on Wednesday announced general availability of Version 4.1 of its MySQL open source database, which the company is positioning as production-ready for large-scale enterprise usage.

Linux users are often smug about the state of their computer security, rightly criticizing Windows for its numerous security holes, but overlooking their own vulnerabilities. Now it's their turn to suffer. Over the last several days, Linux users have been targeted by a phony email...

Today we have our first Firefox 1.0 candidate builds available for testing. You can get these test builds from http://FTP. If you've already downloaded 1.0 PR (the "feature complete" preview) and you're not really interested in testing and bug reporting, then you should probably stick with 1.0 PR for a couple more weeks and upgrade when we release the official Firefox 1.0.

Linux devotees like to talk about the operating system and its various distributions as pretty much invulnerable to the kind of virus, worm, and trojan attacks perpetrated against Windows. The recent Red Hat Linux email scam does not refute this idea, but it does highlight the change in threat that comes along with a growing and changed Linux user universe, which now includes newbies and others who just might fall for an amateur phishing scam or other trick.

UK government departments moved a step closer to using open-source operating systems such as Linux after a study found that they were "viable" products.

Mozilla 1.0 release candidate has been released.

How to replace your Zaurus' original ROM with OpenZaurus.

Novell recently opened a limited beta of SUSE Linux Professional 9.2, and I've been using it for my work/production machine ever since I got my hands on the five-CD download. No, using a beta release of an operating system as your production system is generally not a good idea. Yes, there are bugs, as expected in beta software. There are also improvements and refinements, as is also to be expected. But overall, well, read on and see.