OStatic

Have Mac, will open source. If you're a Mac user, check out this list of top open source applications.

5 things Microsoft does not want you to know about Windows. What gets swept under the rug?

Linux Mint 7 (XFCE) review. It's easy to install, and you can use either KDE or GNOME. Here's more on what's under the hood.

Will mobile Linux distros hang separately? Will you be able to move software between Moblin, Android, LiMo and Maemo platforms?

Danish FreeBSD developer sues Lenovo over Microsoft tax. Poul-Henning Kamp is suing over Lenovo's refusal to refund the Windows Vista Business license, though he declined the EULA during installation.

One thing that both Google and Apple share is that almost the instant that they announce a new product, the public loves it. That's partly because they tend to deliver winning products, but they don't always do so. Google has shuttered a number of projects from its labs, and its productivity applications are popular, but haven't come close to toppling Microsoft Office. And remember the Apple Newton? I barely do either.

For these reasons, and because an operating system is a complex thing to build and gather support for, it makes sense to scrutinize Google's actual chances of delivering a hit with it's newly announced Chrome OS. Here are some things that will work in Google's favor, and some that will not.

Red Hat sues Switzerland over Microsoft monopoly. Along with 17 other vendors, it has protested a Swiss government contract given to Microsoft without any public bidding.

Moblin netbook Linux preview. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols says it looks great, unlike any other desktop that he's seen.

Google's Rubin: Android 'a revolution.' Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms, discusses what's coming up for the OS.

White House to appoint Internet czar. The Washington Post reports that President Obama is set to appoint a 'Cybersecurity czar with a broad mandate.'

Linux pre-installed. The Berkeley LUG rounds up places where you can acquire a desktop, laptop or netbook with Linux pre-installed.?

As the story broke yesterday that Novell and Intel were joining forces to encourage OEMs and ODMs to use the Linux-based Moblin platform on netbooks and small devices, a number of comments -- and questions -- began swirling in the open source world.

InfoWorld wonders if the collaboration efforts aren't a bad omen for Novell's SUSE Linux, while CNet's Matt Asay thinks the move could be a positive one for Moblin and Novell, and one that could ultimately give Google's Android a real fight.

David Coursey at PCWorld knew full well he'd opened a can of worms when he asked why anyone would want an Android netbook. Personally, I'd rather have an Ubuntu Netbook Remix powered one, or one with an operating system tailored with the latest Moblin Image Creator utility, but I'm sort of one of those types anyway.

I love and use open source software, nearly exclusively. I think the last time I really sat down to run Windows was when I transferred Windows XP on to my husband's newly built mostly playtime machine. As much as I love open source software, however, I am a stronger advocate for having the right tool for the job, and using the software that works best for the user and the task at hand. The right tool can vary greatly between users, tasks and even hardware. I have a few qualms about Coursey's statement that nobody could possibly ever want an Android netbook, unless the price was signficantly lower. I just don't believe it, and the nature of netbooks, people's expectations of what they can (or can't) do, and hardware disparities between Linux and Windows models further complicates the netbook operating system war.