A new testing methodology to ensure that applications meet the requirements defined in "Designed for Microsoft Windows XP" Application Logo Specification can be downloaded as a 475 KB self-extracting zip file containing Word documents and related test tools in .EXE and .TXT format. The second document defines the requirements for the "Designed for Microsoft Windows XP" Logo for software and it weighs 707 KB.

Irish asks: "As the arguement over wireless LAN standards continue, The New York Times ran an article announcing Palm's release of its Bluetooth Software Developer Kit and vowed to release hardware in the fall. On a similar note, alphaWorks released a Bluetooth Protocol Stack for Linux, BlueDrekar. My question is, "is anyone using Bluetooth with their Linux system?".

Slashdot mentions a new interview with Linux kernel hacker Rik van Riel by Andrew Scrimieri, available in Italian and English. Rik currently works for Conectiva and wrote the kernel virtual memory subsystem used in Linux 2.4 until recent versions, when Linus Torvalds replaced it. He talks about friction regarding the VM, VM specifics, kernel politics and multiple kernel trees, the kernelnewbies project, and the DMCA.

KernelTrap has spoken with Linux guru Alan Cox. He is perhaps the second most influental Linux kernel hacker, next only to Linus. In this interview he talks about himself, his history with computers and Linux, working for Red Hat, Marcello and the 2.4 kernel, the DMCA, the future of Linux and much more.

"Bob Bruce, founder of Walnut Creek CDROM--the company that in 1993 first published FreeBSD--will once again be in charge of the core FreeBSD business. That's because the current owner, Wind River Systems, announced Monday that it is selling off its assets related to FreeBSD, an open-source version of Unix. Bruce has also become CEO of FreeBSD Mall, the new name of Walnut Creek CDROM and one of the FreeBSD assets that Wind River has owned." This sounds like good news for FreeBSD, especially when announced only one week before the expected FreeBSD 4.5 release.

"Sun dealt a double-blow to its users last week by ending the Solaris download program for Intel-based computers and saying it won't support Intel with its upcoming Solaris 9 operating system. The moves have angered some Solaris fans, who offered to start paying for the software if Sun would keep its support for Intel alive. Sun has since agreed to meet with users in the coming weeks to discuss ways that the Solaris-on-Intel program could be reinstated, said Graham Lovell, director of product marketing for Solaris. Sun has also battled with Intel over support for Solaris on Intel's 64-bit Itanium architecture. Sun started work on a version of Solaris for Itanium, but the project was later cancelled. Both companies have pointed fingers at each other for ending the work." Read the rest of the story at InfoWorld.

There have been many BeOS items in the news lately, not all so good for the BeOS community, though. BeUnited, the organization which tried to license BeOS from Palm, has received today a final answer from Palm: "...we have made a firm decision NOT to license any part of this technology other than that which we incorporate into the Palm OS". It is already known that the new 32-bit PalmOS will feature some elements of the Be technology, but that OS is built for PDAs, not for the desktop. OSAlert learnt that BeUnited will now focus into fully support the Open BeOS and maybe even the BlueOS efforts. YellowTAB, the company that is preparing a BeOS 5 updated version, has no ties to BeUnited, but it is safe to assume that Palm won't license anything additional (things like BONE or GL, let alone "BeOS 6") to them either, and we are not sure, judging from Palm's standpoint today, if they will even be allowed to distribute BeOS NG (their deal is not set in stone yet, Be stopped negotiating with YellowTAB when the time was near to sell their IP to Palm). Read More for David Nagel's (CEO of the Palm subsidiary, PalmSource, which controls Be's IP) full email reply.

"Since qnxZone was launched, I have been thinking that the stories of some of the long time QNX users may be of interest to the community. As one of the longer time (older) users, I figured I would start it off. Now this story starts in 1986, but in order for it to make more sense, you have to go back to the late '70s when I was in high school. I went to high school with Dan Hildebrand, who went on to become a significant player in the QNX community. We went to school in Winnipeg, but after high school I joined the Canadian Military and took off for other parts of the country. I lost touch with Dan other than the occasional contact when I was back in Winnipeg visiting family and such. By 1986 I was stationed in Victoria, BC, going to university under a program in the military." Read the rest of the story at QNXZone.

From ArsTechnica: "...I figured I'd show you guys what next-generation, avante garde computer design would probably look like were Jobs and Co. to be swallowed up in an earthquake or choke on their granola or something. Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on these monstrosities: Intel's Concept PC Gallery , part of their Ease of Use Initiative. The fellow Mac user who sent me these aptly quipped, "Looks like they were designed people who were laughed straight out of Infinite Loop during their job interviews." A few of them actually look like they were designed by Georgia O'Keefe. (Ok, I'll concede that there are one or two interesting designs in there.)"

While most Macintosh sites have welcomed the new flat panel iMac, some Mac-only journalists, most analysts and other serious publications were not so impressed and some were actually seemed worried about Apple's future. The main theme of their reviews is that Apple this time has done more damage than good with the extreme hype they spread, that iMac is not exactly what someone would call 'revolutionary', that pricing is not acceptable for the price cautious PC users especially when there is some resession in the global economy and that the Apple market share has shrank (and continues shrinking dangerously) to 2.9% of the desktop market since last year where it had 3.3%. Read the articles at BusinessWeek, ZDNet, C|NET, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News and Business 2.0. A good part of the Mac community was shocked because of no announcements whatsoever about the PowerMac line of computers and the corporate Apple market, but hope is still strong that new, G5 computers will be announced in spring. Update: Add ArsTechnica and I,Cringely to the opinion soup critisizing the "Jobs Distortion Field".