True or False: E-Waste, Dec 04, 2007

True or False: Switching from a Windows-operated computer to a Linux-operated one could slash computer-generated e-waste levels by 50%: The answer is: TRUE

Some of the biggest names in computing are pushing harder for the Linux open-source operating system as an option for desktop PCs.

Dell Inc is developing consumer PCs that can run multiple versions of Microsoft Corp's Windows and Linux software at the same time, the personal computer maker's chief technology officer, Kevin Kettler, told Reuters.

Maybe it's time to seriously think of breaking up the company into smaller companies. The individual parts would flourish and benefit the stockholders to an extreme.

Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties from distributors and users. Users like you, maybe. Fortune's Roger Parloff reports.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Monday asked Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to intercede on behalf of a Russian teacher accused of using pirated software in his classroom.

Looking for a cheap PC this holiday season? Good luck trying to find one with anything but Microsoft's Windows on it.

It's official: All mentions of Novell must now, once again, be preceded by the adjective "beleaguered."

Usually media shy, the 36-year-old Finn invited Kristie Lu Stout and the Global Office team into his home for an insight into life at the helm of the operating system that is giving Microsoft some serious headaches.

For years, Oracle and IBM have fought over bragging rights for the $8 billion database software market - a key technological battleground upon which sales of almost all other business software depend.

If you want to see the future of media, go to Slashdot.org.

South Korean antitrust regulators Wednesday ruled that Microsoft Corp. abused its market dominance, fined it 33 billion won ($32 million) and ordered the software giant to offer alternative versions of Windows.

The new software, called Asianux 2.0, will be introduced Thursday and was developed by Japan-based Miracle Linux Corp., China's Red Flag Software Co. and Haansoft Inc. of South Korea, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said.

Using the open sourcing philosophy, the students have published a recipe for beer on the Internet, available without charge and open to improvements.

PC makers and distributors are holding back from buying the new alternative version of Windows XP that Europe's competition commissioner ordered Microsoft Corp. to offer as part of the punishment in the software maker's long antitrust battle with the European Union.

Novell Inc. posted a quarterly profit Thursday as revenue rose, but the company warned that spending on information technology by companies remained weak.

Novell, a software developer that provides update services for Linux, reported a net profit of $23 million, or 6 cents per share, in the fiscal third quarter ended July, compared with a loss of $12 million, or 3 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding a one-time gain from a legal settlement, restructuring and other charges, Novell said it had a profit of $14 million, or 4 cents per share, double its adjusted profit from a year earlier.

Software company Lindows Inc. cut the price Friday of its planned initial public offering of 4.4 million shares to $7 to $9 each from a previous range of $9 to $11.

The company disclosed the price change in an amended offering document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

A federal appeals court Wednesday rejected a bid by Massachusetts' attorney general and two computer industry groups to overturn Microsoft Corp.'s landmark antitrust settlement with the U.S. government.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia endorsed the 2001 settlement and turned down appeals for stricter sanctions on the world's largest software maker.

The settlement was endorsed by District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in 2002. It gives computer makers greater freedom to feature rival software on their machines by allowing them to hide some Microsoft icons on the Windows desktop.

It's no mystery why investors may be turning away from Red Hat: The company's stock price has plummeted almost 30 percent since June 7.

But I think this is exactly the time to pay attention to the Raleigh, N.C., Linux company.

The stock, which shot from $5.95 all the way up to $29.06 during the course of this year, plummeted on two bits of news in the last couple of weeks.

SCO also faces another critical disadvantage vis-à-vis the RIAA: Despite the music industry's lawsuits, people are still buying music and Apple's iTunes is going gangbusters. But if SCO's legal strategy is shot down in the courts, do you really think companies will rush to buy its products? I think not.

It's the year of living dangerously for SCO, and its decision to borrow the RIAA's tactics and sue users -- before its case is proven in court -- could be the company's undoing.