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Microsoft vs Linux | Apple's New G5s | Microsoft Drops Browser Support for Apple | Sun Tries to Capitalize on SCO Suit | Sp4 for Windows is Here
On May 29, The Washington Post reported that Microsoft lost a contract with the city of Munich when that city opted to use Linux instead. Germany's third largest city isn't the only European municipality to lean toward Linux. And according to The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "more than two dozen nations are considering proposals to promote or require the use of Linux in government offices."
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On June 23, Steve Jobs unveiled Apple's new G5 generation of Power Macs, calling them "the world's fastest personal computer" (a controversial claim, as demonstrated by the Slashdot discussions at http://apple.slashdot.org/apple/03/06/28/1346251.shtml?tid=126&tid=181 )
The new machines, which have a 64-bit processor and can use up to 8 gigabytes of main memory, outpace both the fastest Pentium 4 and a dual-processor Xeon workstation in industry tests. They come in three versions: entry level (1.6GHz processor, 256 MB memory, 80GB hard drive, Nvidia GeForce FX5200 graphics card), midrange (1.8GHz G5 processor, 512MB memory, 160 GB hard drive, Nvidia GeForce FX5200 graphics card), and top-of-the-line (two 2GHz G5 chips, 512MB memory, 160GB hard drive, ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card).
More details about the G5, including an introductory video, are on Apple's website at http://www.apple.com/
Except for two minor upgrades, Explorer 5 is the last version of that browser Microsoft plans to develop for the Mac. However, Microsoft will continue to release Explorer 5 updates to address bugs and security problems. (See "Microsoft to Quit Web Browsers for Mac," http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030614/D7RL7G280.html )
In a bid to get royalties from any product based on Unix System V source code (including the AIX operating system), SCO is terminating IBM's AIX license and suing Big Blue for $1 billion.
Seeing an opportunity to increase its business in the licensing confusion, Sun Microsystems is urging users to switch from AIX to Sun Solaris.
For complete historical background on the SCO complaint, see the "Open Source Initiative Position Paper" at http://www.opensource.org/sco-vs-ibm.html#id2854348
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