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Dell is developing consumer PCs that can run multiple versions of Microsoft's Windows and Linux software at the same time.Users of the new Dell PCs would be able to simultaneously run multiple, software-generated computers on one machine, using an increasingly popular technology known as 'virtualisation' that allows greater flexibility and computing security.One virtual machine might run Windows Vista and handle every day computing tasks, while another could be used only to browse the internet, limiting any security threats to the parameters of the virtual machine - which could be deleted.A third virtual machine might run a version of Linux that...

Ready to try Linux but want some hand-holding when you do? Here are three videos that walk you through the process of installing Kubuntu, the KDE-based version of Ubuntu. The first video shows how Kubuntu looks running directly from live CD, and gives you a brief look at the software included on the CD. Video number two steps you through the process of installing Kubuntu to your hard drive, and video number shows you how to install and remove software in Kubuntu. This Kubuntu video tour is the first of a series. In coming weeks and months we'll do similar...

Microsoft is spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt among open source users, Linus Torvalds said in an interview published last week. The software giant is falling short with its technology and, because it cannot win against open source on price, it is trying to encourage inertia in the IT industry, the creator of the Linux operating system said. Microsoft has been at the centre of considerable controversy over the last 12 months, mainly ;arising from its statements on open source and its technology partnerships with a range of Linux distributors.Microsoft has claimed that open source software violates 235 of its patents,...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- A federal judge's ruling Friday may help proponents of Linux open-source software sidestep a significant legal threat. SCO Group Inc. does not own the copyright to Unix operating-system software, as it had claimed, and Novell Inc. is the proper owner, U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball said in a filing in federal court in Utah. SCO Group had sued Novell in 2004 for falsely claiming ownership of Unix. In 2003, SCO Group filed a high-profile lawsuit against International Business Machines Corp. for contributing code to Linux open-source software that it said included some of SCO's Unix-related intellectual...

A US federal court judge has ruled that Novell, and not the SCO Group, is the rightful owner of copyrights covering the Unix operating system (OS), a ruling that should have a major effect on a number of lawsuits, including SCO's actions again Novell, IBM and Red Hat. The 102-page ruling by Judge Dale Kimball refuted many of SCO's claims against Novell, and seemed to remove the basis for its lawsuit against IBM. SCO had previously charged that the Linux operating system was an unauthorised derivative of Unix, which it claimed to have purchased from Novell in 1995. "The court's...

Linux for Consumers in the U.K. France, and Germany; Dell/Red Hat Solutions & More I hinted at this before, but today, it's official: Dell announced that consumers in the United Kingdom, France and Germany can order an Inspiron E1505N 6400 notebook or an Inspiron 530N desktop with Ubuntu 7.04 pre-installed. Since we began offering Ubuntu in the United States back in May, it's no secret that we've received many requests from customers all over the world to offer Linux there. This represents another step in broadening that offering. Before Ubuntu, we've offered Red Hat Linux as an option for Dell...

Kevin Rose founded Digg in late 2004. It was the beginning of something phenomenal... to be precise, the Digg phenomenon. Digg was all about the tight-knit community of techies who wanted to get in there, share relevant tech news, vote for it, and talk about it. And what a fabulous idea it was. So fabulous, in fact, that according to an article about Digg, Kevin and co literally had potential investors beating down the doors, offering fantastic quantities of money to them because of their potential. They accepted a couple of million in late 2005 and the rest, as they...

August 2, 2007 (The INTERNET). The KDE Community is happy to announce the immediate availability of the first Beta release for KDE 4.0. This release marks the beginning of the integration process which will bring the powerful new technologies included in the now frozen KDE 4 libraries to the applications.

Who remembers Red Flag Linux? Born during the dot-com boom and officially financed and adopted by the Chinese government, Red Flag Linux was supposed to be China’s answer for avoiding the double-team of Windows and Microsoft Office that dominates the rest of the world’s PCs. In some circles, the potential spread of Red Flag Linux in the world’s most populated nation was even hailed as a critical sign that Microsoft was not going to be able to spread its domination of the software market to the rest of the world. However, Red Flag Linux has turned out to be little...

Microsoft wants more open source software to run on Windows. Microsoft also wants its own Open Source Initiative (OSI) approved license. Perhaps they really can get along. On the software side, Microsoft today announced a partnership with open source solution vendor SpikeSource to eventually certify all of SpikeSource's SpikeIgnited solutions on the Microsoft Windows platform. The move could make dozens of popular open source solutions available to Windows users in a fully supported manner. SpikeSource solutions include the gambit of content management, CRM and collaboration solutions. The first SpikeIgnited solution being made Windows-certified is the Drupal content management solution. Throughout...

Companies like his privately held Canonical Inc, Red Hat Inc (RHT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Novell Inc (NOVL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) make money by selling standardized versions of Linux programs and support contracts to service them.

Dell knows it won't happen overnight, but along side wanting to ship audio/video codecs, Intel Wireless 80.211N support for Linux, Broadcom Wireless for Linux, and being able to ship notebooks and desktops with Compiz Fusion enabled, Dell would like to see improved ATI Linux drivers. At Ubuntu Live 2007, Amit Bhutani had a session on Ubuntu Linux for Dell Consumer Systems, where he had shared a slide with Dell's "area of investigation", which Amit had said is essentially their Linux road-map. Amit had also stated that the NVIDIA 2D and 3D video drivers were "challenges in platform enablement". Dell wants...

People used to think the very idea that a major PC vendor would offer desktop Linux was beyond a joke. HP will soon be joining Dell in offering at least one Linux desktop line in its SKU sales listing. Here's why I believe this. First, Dell successfully broke the Windows-only wall when it added Ubuntu Linux 7.04 to three systems in its consumer line in May. While Dell hasn't released any sales numbers, its Linux sales must be doing well. You don't start offering Ubuntu on another brand-new laptop line and announce that you'll soon be selling Ubuntu to SMBs...

The BBC Trust met with the Open Source Consortium (OSC) yesterday to discuss the controversy raised by the BBC's iPlayer, which will only work on Windows XP. The Trust expressed surprise at the strength of feeling raised by the issue and promised to take it up with senior BBC management. The BBC Trust oversees the BBC and: "ensures the BBC provides high quality output and good value for all UK citizens ". Officials reiterated that the BBC Trust is fully committed to users of both the Linux and Mac operating systems having full use of the BBC iPlayer. However, the...

James Bottomley is really on top of things (sorry -- we had to say it) when it comes to Linux. The CTO of SteelEye Technology is also on the board of the Linux Foundation. In that capacity, he helps smooth the transition of disparate Linux organizations into the still fairly new Foundation. As such, Bottomley's obviously got some insight into Microsoft's continued patent deals with Linux distributors. Those patent deals took another turn this week as Redmond claimed that its deal with Linspire didn't cover software developed under the latest version of the license that governs Linux use, the now...

In a February report from Web site tracking and analysis firm Netcraft, the Apache Web server dipped below 60% market share for the first time since September 2002. Subsequent monthly reports indicated that the downward trend had continued unabated. Now, five months later, Netcraft's July Web Server Survey confirmed this decline: Apache again lost ground to Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS).In July, Microsoft added 2.4 million sites, bringing the total number of Windows Server sites above the 40 million mark, Netcraft found. Microsoft's market share also received a boost, increasing 1% since June to reach 32.8% overall. Apache saw an...

Microsoft Windows is emerging as an acceptable operating system for high-performance computing (HPC) clusters in place of Linux, lowering the bar for entry into that space, according to some analysts and major vendors. In 2006, Microsoft announced the release of Windows Compute Cluster Server (CCS) 2003, marking the company's first attempt at an operating system for HPC applications. Industry observers say that Windows CCS has been well accepted, particularly for small computing clusters. Vendors have jumped on the Windows CCS bandwagon, including HP, which recently extended a multimillion-dollar investment agreement with Microsoft to drive high-performance computing into the mass market...

Today HP execs wrote to tell us that their company has been awarded a top international Linux security certification. The certification, called the Evaluation Assurance Level 4 (EAL4+) Common Criteria security certification for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, applies to HP servers, workstations and notebooks. In June, if you’ll remember, IBM was awarded the same EAL4+ certification for RHEL5 running on IBM System x, System p, System z, and BladeCenter servers. This cert is part of the Common Criteria Evaluation and Validation Scheme (CCEVS), an internationally recognized standard used by governments and businesses worldwide to determine the level of security...

When Dell first announced that it would be releasing Ubuntu Linux-powered consumer desktops and laptops, some people saw it as more of a stunt than a serious business move. They were wrong. Dell has already expanded its consumer Linux line, and now it has announced that it will soon be offering Ubuntu Linux systems outside of the United States and for new businesses. On Dell’s Direct2Dell site, Lionel Menchaca, Dell’s digital media manager, said, "Wanted to be clear that Dell does have plans to offer Linux to more consumers in additional locations outside the United States. More details to come...

Sun Microsystems is working on releasing an easy-to-install binary version of its OpenSolaris open source operating system Manage remotely with one interface -- the HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server. with delivery planned for early 2008, the company told the press Thursday in a meeting in San Francisco. The idea is to deliver OpenSolaris in a packaged distribution method modeled after the ease of distribution used with Linux. The initiative is called "Project Indiana," and it's a key component of Sun's open source efforts. It, along with Sun's OpenSolaris.org community, is facing a mixed bag of challenge and opportunity.