February 19, 2006 -- Coming out next month will be GNOME v2.14, which possess some truly incredible traits for Linux desktop users, and as always it looks incredibly attractive. In addition to boasting a speed advantage over previous GNOME builds, as well as its desktop competition, it features such new programs as Pessulus and Sabayon while also revitalizing a great deal of existing programs. Nautilus and Yelp now have an integrated search system, which is quite powerful. GNOME Meeting has now been re-branded as Ekiga v2.0 and various other GNOME features include Metacity improvements, Deskbar applet, as well as gedit advancements. Although the release candidate for GNOME v2.14 will not be available until March 15, 2006, the second BETA had been released this week. With that said, we have built GNOME v2.14 BETA 2 (v2.13.91) from Fedora Rawhide on February 18, 2005. Without further ado, shall we take a look?

February 08, 2006 -- The folks over at the Norwegian-based Opera Software ASA, have released the second technology preview for the upcoming v9.00 browser release. Opera v9.0 will be available for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Macintosh OS X users and comes with a host of changes compared against the present version of Opera (v8.51). Some of the universal changes include improvements to the user interface, messaging and news-feeds, display, script, forms, images, plug-ins, and security. Today we have few visuals from this Opera v9.00 Technology Preview 2 Build 1635 for UNIX.

January 24, 2006 -- After last month's release of GAIM v2.0.0 BETA 1, just hours ago we were greeted by the launch of the official BETA 2 release. They hope no major changes will occur between this latest BETA and the release candidate and there is no expected date yet announced, other than saying that the final release will be out before proving the theory of special relativity. GAIM v2.0.0 does not and will not include support for voice or video support on Google Talk, as well as any other protocol with the BETA candidate, but today we have yet re-examined GAIM 2 BETA 2 and have posted some images from a freshly compiled copy. For the uninitiated, GAIM is a multi-protocol instant messaging client available on Linux while a Microsoft Windows port is also available.

January 14, 2006 -- While Mozilla Firefox 1.5 had made its debut back on November 29 of 2005, Thunderbird wasn't released until January 12 of this year. However, packed into Thunderbird, Mozilla's flagship mail client, is an array of improvements in a multitude of areas. Now implemented in v1.5 is streamlined and automated updates. improved spam control and security, enhanced RSS and Podcasting abilities, phising detector, Kerberos Authentication, and spell check as you type. Mozilla Thunderbird v1.5 is very much worth the download.

December 18, 2005 -- GAIM, the popular open-source multi-protocol multi-platform instant messaging client, has finally released its initial BETA for the upcoming v2.0.0. Since the GAIM v1.5.0 release, the developers have dedicated their time and efforts on version two and their strenuous work is definitely visible in the latest BETA. In GAIM v2.0.0 BETA 1 there are improvements with everything from status drop-down menu to improved plug-ins.

November 17, 2005 -- KDE (K Desktop Environment) has unveiled its first release candidate for the upcoming KDE v3.5 series. Implemented in KDE v3.5 RC1 are a good deal of changes and improvements. These latest implementations range from re-writing parts of Kate to improving Kicker and KHTML for Konqueror. The first LiveCD distribution to be built with the first release candidate for KDE v3.5 has been Klax. This distribution, which is based upon Slax, utilizes this K Desktop development release while also updating various other packages. Coincidently, the GNOME v2.13.2 development branch became available earlier this week in anticipation of GNOME v2.14 that is scheduled for a preliminary release in March of 2006. As of right now, KDE v3.5 is targeted to be released on Wednesday, November 23, 2005.

November 01, 2005 -- After covering several Deer Park ALPHA and BETA releases, Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird have both made their way to the v1.5 release candidates. Today's release, was delayed four days from its original October 28 tentative date after a four day development freeze and to ensure final testing mainly in the area of web-mail and banking services along with extension compatibility. Overall, this release encompasses a great deal of noticeable improvements that Mozilla users around the world can now cherish. These advancements range from an inline spell checker, podcasting, and a phising detector in Thunderbird to security and improved CSS 2/3 support in Firefox.

October 25, 2005 -- Complementing the release of the WINE v0.9 is CodeWeavers' CrossOver Office v5.0 Standard and Professional. In addition to being based upon this recent WINE release, CrossOver Office now supports the running of Microsoft's Office 2003 and the introduction of CrossOver "Bottles" capabilities. Although in our initial tests we didn't find this v5.0 to be perfect, it's much improved upon its previous version and a demo of this software is always available via BitTorrent for a full 30 day trial period. In this article we have a few snapshots of this latest WINE (Wine Is Not An Emulator) advancement.

October 07, 2005 -- Packed with a great deal of improvements, AbiWord 2.4.0 (stable) has finally been released and with it comes a great deal of improvements, such as on-the-fly grammar checking, tight image wrapping, equation editor, OpenDocument file support, GNOME-Office charting, and many other visual improvements. As always, binaries are available for various Linux distributions and Microsoft Windows, along with the complying to the GNU GPL v2.0.

October 03, 2005 -- VDrift, the cross-platform open-source driving simulator designed for drift racing, recently released its 2005-10-02 source that now has initial network multi-player support, ghost car relay option, SCans build system, and terrain detail options. This game, which is based upon the Vamos physics engine, is now one step closer to becoming a viable choice for Linux and Windows gamers.