Stories by: Gillian Law

Earlier this month Red Hat announced a new version of the Linux operating system. Red Hat Desktop has been designed for the corporate desktop and will be a companion product to Red Hat's current desktop offering, Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS, the company says. The IDG News Service's Gillian Law spoke to Red Hat Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Matthew Szulik, who was in London for the product's global launch, about Linux, the desktop market and the future of software distribution.

Opera Software ASA will include voice capabilities in its updated browser software, using IBM Corp.'s embedded ViaVoice technology, it said Tuesday.

Kazaa owner Sharman Networks is continuing its bid to have an order against it dropped by the Federal court. The company lodged an application on Thursday asking for leave to appeal on a ruling made last week.

Open source software needs to be more widely used if the next wave of technology is to fully take off, IBM's Vice President of Technology and Strategy, Irving Wladawsky-Berger, said Monday.

Lindows is offering a 50 percent discount to customers who download its commercial software using its new peer-to-peer system, it said Thursday.

IBM has launched an Autonomic Computing Toolkit to help developers build self-healing computer systems.

Motorola's Personal Communications Sector (PCS) division has signed a licensing agreement with Opera Software ASA to use the Oslo company's browser on its phones.

Opera Software ASA plans a public listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange in March, it said Monday.

The K Desktop Environment (KDE) Project announced Tuesday that the third version of its KDE3 desktop platform, called KDE 3.2, is available for Linux and Unix operating systems.

Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) aims to establish a US$10 million defense fund to pay the legal fees of Linux users sued by The SCO Group, plus those of OSDL employees, including Linus Torvalds, it said Monday.

Microsoft Corp. is continuing efforts to sell software upgrades to the Israeli government, despite its recent decision to stop buying Microsoft applications in protest over the Redmond, Washington, company's sales policies.