The KDE Project made KDE 3.0 Beta 1 available to the public yesterday. The new third generation beta of KDE moves the desktop to the QT 3.0 development platform, and sports numerous improvements.
NewsForge is running the article that makes this claim, not to mention a heap of evidence to back up the statement. “Windows addicts curious to see how the other half lives but wary of the installation challenges Linux is supposed to present will find Mandrake 8.1 considerably easier to install and configure than Win-XP. It's quite nearly Harry Homeowner-proof.”
The KDE Project has announced the release of KOffice 1.1.1, an update to the official KDE office suite. The new release promises better stability, which could help make KOffice the suite of choice for light productivity needs.
According to a report at CNet.com, Sun has been saturated with so many comments from beta testers for StarOffice 6.0, they will be ending the beta program December 31st. “'We've got all the feedback we can handle here,' spokesman Russ Castronovo said. 'We are at saturation point. I think we've satisfied the requirements of the program.'”
Linux Journal has an interesting article on Caldera's Volution Messaging Server, a Microsoft Exchange replacement for the SMB market. “Caldera's VARs, picked up with the acquisition of SCO last year, had a problem: Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft's notoriously complex mail server package was impractical for small and mid-sized businesses, but in order to sell those customers on a replacement, VARs had to offer compatibility with the shared address books and calendars that are part of the popular mail client Microsoft Outlook. “
TuxPPC has a review of SuSE Linux 7.3 for PPC. If you've been looking for a way to move towards PC's, or mix PC's with your Macintosh computers, this might be ideal for you. “Well, now that SuSE 7.3 has been released…and I have to admit, it was worth waiting.”
Computerworld has an opinion piece on a recently leaked memo from Microsoft. The memo, bemoaning the fact that many people are migrating from RISC UNIX to Linux rather than Windows, gives Nick Petreley a chance to delve into the advantages of the X Windowing System. “X11 is essentially a graphical user interface library, but don't make the mistake of thinking it's anything like Win32. X11 and the Win32 application programming interface are as different as night and hot. They're not even similar enough to deserve a comparison like night and day or cold and hot.”
Ximian, the creators of numerous enhancements to the GNOME desktop environment, announced the development of Ximian Connector today. According to the press release, Ximian Connector will add Microsoft Exchange client functionality to Evolution, Ximian's e-mail and information management package.