Support is arguably one of the most important concerns when dealing with the choice of an operating system for a corporate network environment. The most significant cost related to computers is neither the hardware nor the software, but rather the cost to keep these systems up and running.

...That is where wine (wine is not an emulator) would shine. It is independent from Microsoft's whims, and would enable the average consumer to retain an investment in all the software that comes on these CD-ROMs. Without allowing Microsoft to invalidate such an investment at one fell swoop in order to punish some hopeful competitor.

So, will Microsoft take that jump into the dark and start work on a new OS that can be used across a wide range of architectures, from key-ring PDAs to massive multiple CPU mainframes? Linux has shown that it's possible and not at any great cost either. I think they will and the recent shake up of the top level management within Microsoft is the first stage.

Early in January, Intel announced plans for new Intel-branded Internet appliances that would run on Linux. They also showed and demonstrated some of these at their booth at CES--the Consumer Electronics Show--in Las Vegas. It was there that I got to play around briefly with two devices: a computer-like thin client, sitting in an ersatz kitchen, and a TV set-top box in an ersatz living room. Both were beyond impressive. They were scary.

Oracle Corp. announced the pending availability of Oracle8i Release 2 on Linux. The latest offering from Oracle will provide dot-coms and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) with a reliable, scalable, and secure Internet database based on Linux, the low-cost operating system that has enjoyed an explosive adoption rate among e-businesses.

Last week, Corel and Inprise, two companies that in recent years have struggled to find their places in a Microsoft-dominated software market, forged a relationship bound by Linux. Armed with a strong core of users, engineers, and equity, the two will now plow ahead arm in arm, looking for the market share that has eluded them on their own.

Wearable computers need a nanosize operating system. That's the philosophy of MIT spinoff InfoCharms, which will describe Nanux, its forthcoming wearable computer OS, later this month at the Everywhere Internet show in San Francisco.

This Thursday, as Microsoft finally unveils its Windows 2000 operating system in San Francisco, software fans will finally get a chance to see whether the aging champ has what it takes to take on its first serious challenger in nearly a half-decade. Of course, we're talking about Linux, the Rocky Balboa-inspired operating system that went from beating up on dead carcasses in the Unix meat locker to outpunching more agile rivals such as SCO and Sun.

As the release of the new stable kernel series is approaching us, I thought I'd summarize some of the new additions, and try to present what the average desktop user is going to get out of all this.. Will it be worth it, or is it just going to be a hassle?

Interbase's decision last month to release its upcoming InterBase 6.0 database under the open-source Mozilla Public License 1.1 will give this wallflower a chance to bloom.