OpenOffice 2.0 -- the free, open source office suite -- has many features that are very similar to Microsoft Office. The trick is knowing how to use them. In this Q&A, expert Solveig Haugland explains how to use such OpenOffice features as the Draw tool, tabbed headers and footers.

She also describes custom creation of colors, file sharing tips and how Microsoft Office documents are completely compatible with OpenOffice.

Windows and Linux are the two big rivals of Unix. Though born just nine years ago, Linux has developed very fast, thanks to its openness and good performance. More importantly, Linux is bolstered not only by many companies, but also by a great number of Linux fans around the world.

With the popularity of IT products made by IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Dawning, Unix has been widely applied in all industries -- the telecom and finance industries in particular.

 

Motorola will demonstrate communications servers based on Linux and other open standards at the GlobalComm trade show, June 4-8 in Chicago. Faster ATCA switch fabrics and MicroTCA products will help drive adoption of modular, COTS (commercial off-the-shelf), open-standards based systems into data plane and edge applications, Motorola says.

With Microsoft taking a beating because of Vista's problems and delays, it is time for desktop Linux to step up and experience some considerable growth. Right now, with Vista and Microsoft garnering very low approval ratings, desktop Linux providers need to be more aggressive about their marketing and get their message to concerned consumers.

Tthe kernel is the core piece of most operating systems. It is a piece of software responsible for the communication between hardware and software components.

As a basic component of an operating system, a kernel provides abstraction layers for hardware, especially for memory, processors and communication between hardware and software. It also provides software facilities such as process abstractions and makes interprocess communication easier.

News reports out of LinuxTag late last week have Andrew Morton, the second highest ranking Linux kernel developer, calling for a bug-fixing cycle to cut down on the growing number of bugs found in the latest kernel release.

Linus Torvalds, who acknowledged it might be the right time for a "bug cycle."