Ballmer Puts Linux, Unix in Microsoft's Sights, Misses the Point
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

It is not every day that I get a personal email from Steve Ballmer, the CEO of software juggernaut Microsoft, but last week, it is safe to say that many millions of us did. In that email, Ballmer made the case for why Windows is superior to either Linux or Unix as a platform for corporate computing, reiterating many of the cost and security themes that Microsoft has used in its "Get The Facts" anti-Linux, anti-Unix marketing campaign. This time around, though, Ballmer added intellectual property issues to the mix. READ MORE >

CA Releases Ingres r3 Database as Open Source
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Software wants to be free, some people say, and beleaguered software giant Computer Associates, which has been embroiled in an accounting scandal for more than a year, was able to get some good press this week as it took its Ingres relational database, which is popular on Unix servers, out to the open source community as an open source product for Linux, Unix, and Windows platforms. While the Ingres software will be free, CA is hoping to make some money on different support options. READ MORE >

VMware Previews Expanded SMP Capability for Partitions
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

While Sun Microsystems was hogging all of the press while it was visiting Wall Street, Hewlett Packard, which has two of the early pioneers of commercial blade servers (counting HP and Compaq separately), decided to create a new division dedicated solely to blade servers. The division was not just created as a PR stunt (although the timing surely looks like it was), but reflects the reality that blade servers span multiple hardware and software units and need to be presented as a single, integrated product line to customers. READ MORE >

Mad Dog 21/21: Vulture Culture
by Hesh Wiener

Of all birds, vultures may have the worst public relations. Their unglamorous image, coupled with looks only another vulture could love, threatens to kill off a few Asian varieties, and to take along with them plenty of people, very likely through the painful means of rabies. Computing environments and application suites perform similar tasks, picking legacy applications and data from the bones of obsolete systems so users can move ahead. The value of backward compatibility is widely underestimated until it is withdrawn, trapping those who had counted on continuity. READ MORE >

  But Wait, There's More

Dell, Novell Team Up to Push Linux on PowerEdge Servers . . . Mandrake 10.1 Official Ships . . . Faster Itanium 2 Due Next Week . . . IBM Launches Global Business Security Index . . . SCO Site Presents Its Spin on Unix IP Legal Issues . . . EU Clears Oracle's Acquisition of PeopleSoft . . . IDC Concurs with Offshoring Market Estimates . . . READ MORE >

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