LXer Weekly Roundup for 25-May-2008

LXer Feature: 25-May-2008 In this week's Roundup we have reviews of 7 Audio Players and 42 of the best free games for Linux, the $100 laptop platform moves on, seeing Linux clearly, Chinese Linux rises 22 percent in 12 months and a great article titled Chicks Love Linux. We have lots Microsoft related articles including Microsoft blames users for Vista infections, Microsoft to make Office open to ODF format, Can Microsoft 'do' open source by 2015? and my favorite Microsoft offers cash back on searches.

In this week's Roundup we have reviews of 7 Audio Players and 42 of the best free games for Linux, the $100 laptop platform moves on, seeing Linux clearly, Chinese Linux rises 22 percent in 12 months and a great article titled Chicks Love Linux. We have lots Microsoft related articles including Microsoft blames users for Vista infections, Microsoft to make Office open to ODF format, Can Microsoft 'do' open source by 2015? and my favorite Microsoft offers cash back on searches.

7 Audio Players for Linux - Review: This article reviews 7 of the most used audio players for Linux, 2 KDE players (Amarok and JuK) and 5 GTK players (Banshee, Beep Media Player, Audacious, Exaile and Rhythmbox). I tried to keep the reviews objective, however the scores are (and I can't possibly think of a way to do this another way) subjective.

'$100 laptop' platform moves on: An independent effort to develop the software originally designed for the $100 laptop has been launched. Sugar Labs will take the laptop's innovative interface, known as Sugar, to the "next level of usability and utility", according to its founders. It is intended that the free software will be made available on other PCs, such as the popular Asus Eee.

Can Microsoft 'do' open source by 2015?: The recently appointed head of Microsoft's global Linux and open source team hopes the company will have a clear and comprehensible open source strategy by 2015. Sam Ramji wants people to clearly understand what projects the company is contributing to, and what code Microsoft is making available - along with the terms - on a routine basis. It seems Ramji is talking about people both inside and outside Microsoft knowing what’s going on. "We don't have hard rules... right now, it's still careful judgment case by case. By 2015, I think it would be set up a," he told Reg Dev, just before his promotion.

Web Input - Securing Data, First Level of Defense: This article focuses upon testing the reliability user input at the lowest level. The first line of defense is use of automated searches that might detect malicious inputs. Personally I wish there were a better option. Being realistic, we are confronting coders with superior skills that have added advantage of surprise, stealth and economic incentives. Whereas we are reactive to new or suspected threats as they arise or worse discovered later.

Seeing Linux clearly: Demystifying KDE and GNOME: Ok, you have to give some kudos to Windows: everyone knows what a window is. In the Linux world, KDE and GNOME aren’t quite as obvious. A gnome stands in your garden or inhabits the World of Warcraft, and KDE doesn’t even spell a word. The truth is they’re the two major window environments for Linux today; if you don’t like one type of UI you have another. Here’s what they do, how they differ and how you can bend them to your will.

Microsoft blames users for Vista infections: Microsoft has claimed user "complacency" is to blame for malware infections, and denied that its Vista operating system is less secure than Windows 2000.

Chicks Love Linux: There I was standing around the LUG booth at the annual Linux expo when I realized that unlike years past, there were considerable numbers of female attendants. No, I am not referring exclusively to those female models hired to promote an OS (I won't mention which one) wearing skimpy demon costumes.

Are Google and Amazon the Next Great Hope for the (Linux) Desktop?: There was a time when I thought the Linux desktop was going to take a market share at least equal to Apple’s. Maybe even 5% or 10% of the total desktop market. I had high hopes that the One Laptop Per Child Initiative would put Linux laptops in the hands of impressionable young minds who would never have the chance to become dependent on Windows. Though that plan has fallen through the cracks.

Microsoft to make Office open to ODF format: Microsoft was set to announce Thursday that it would make the interchangeable document format of a competitor available in its own market-leading Office 2007 software during the first half of 2009. The company, under pressure from European regulators, national standards organizations and its own government clients, said it planned to give customers the ability to open, edit and save documents in Open Document Format - the main competitor to Word - through a free update. By downloading the update, consumers will be able to save text documents in ODF format and adjust Office 2007 settings to automatically save documents in the rival format.

42 of the Best Free Linux Games: "Can I game on it" is a frequently asked question we hear from Windows users toying with the idea of trying Linux for the first time. Well, the simple answer is yes!

Microsoft offers cash back search: Microsoft is offering "cold hard cash" to persuade users to shop online using its Live Search engine and help the company catch up to rival Google. The savings range between 2% to 30% on products sold by select retailers through its so called cashback service. Microsoft's new site is seen as an attempt to convince advertisers it can combat Google's increasing share of the online ad market. "2008 is the year that search got competitive," said Bill Gates.

Microsoft and ODF: Has Hades Gone Sub-Zero?: Most of the time, Microsoft's public declarations are pretty easy to parse. A bit of pre-announcement here, a touch of FUD there, with the odd dollop of feel-good waffle thrown in for good measure. Occasionally, though, it produces what can only be called a googly – not to be confused with a Google – with announcements like this one about adding support for ODF in Microsoft Office:..

Chinese Linux rises 22 percent in 12 months: Linux sales in China have rocketed through the roof in the last year, but how many of these Linux PCs are being used as a cheap route to a pirated Windows machine?

Open CourseWare for Linux Geeks: 50+ Resources: The Open CourseWare movement is centered on freedom of information, so it’s only natural that Open CourseWare offers education on an open format such as Linux. Whether you’re just getting started or are an advanced developer, there’s something out there for you to learn. Here, we’ve highlighted more than 50 of the best Linux courses you can take.

Transforming your Ubuntu 8.04 Desktop to look like Mac OS X: MAC OS has been traditionally known for their impressive graphical interface and stability. Now even though i have been an avid Linux follower over the past 9 years I have been using Linux still i find my self attracted to MAC OS. Now even though these days it's possible to run Hackintosh on normal Intel hardware but it's not stable and well there are hardware compatibility issues. So well other alternative to using MAC OS is either to purchase MAC hardware(which would be naturally expensive) and run full fledged MAC OS or you could tweak and customize your Ubuntu desktop to look more like MAC OS X .