Stories by: Laura Rohde

Internet browser company Opera Software has added features for tighter security and the ability to surf the Web with voice commands in the latest version of its browser, Opera 8 for Windows and Linux, launched Tuesday.

The U.K. government is backing a new initiative aimed at promoting the use of open-source software in the public sector, providing a forum for those working in the public sector to test and use such software.

The Mozilla Foundation has unveiled the most complete preview version yet of its stand-alone e-mail application. The release comes only weeks after the launch of its Firefox browser version 1.0, and is part of the open source software project's continuing efforts to chip away market share from Microsoft's dominate Internet Explorer (IE).

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is considering a new effort called the "W3C Mobile Web Initiative," that will seek to make Web access from mobile devices such as mobile phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants), as simple, easy and convenient as desktop Web access.

Dell will install Novell's Suse Linux operating system on Dell PowerEdge servers as part of a worldwide agreement, the companies announced Wednesday at the LinuxWorld conference in Frankfurt, Germany.

A group of open-source companies is backing a campaign aimed at thwarting a directive before the European Parliament and the European Union Council of Ministers that could make it legal to patent software in Europe.

Lindows the Linux-based software developer best known for its legal battles with Microsoft, has indefinitely shelved its plans to become a publicly traded company due to "current adverse market conditions," it announced Wednesday.

The international trademark battle between Microsoft and Lindows continues to generate work for lawyers and the courts, with the software giant once again asking a Dutch court to fine Lindows €100,000 (US$118,570) a day, the open source software vendor said Tuesday.

RealNetworks Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rob Glaser has urged Apple Computer's CEO Steve Jobs to partner its digital music businesses against rival Microsoft, according to a report published Thursday in The New York Times online edition.

In an effort to help its large-scale customers conserve bandwidth and speed up the delivery of online music, Napster is using open standards technology from IBM as part of a cache-management system, the company announced Wednesday.

Sharman Networks, the owner and distributor of the Kazaa peer-to-peer (P-to-P) network, argued its case on Friday in the Federal Court of Australia against charges brought by Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), a subsidiary of the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).