Mike MacCana ponders the wine industry, rants online, and discovers a neat tip for intra-server messaging...

Four years ago, I saw a picture of a very beautiful desktop interface, called 'Enlightenment', running on an Operating System called 'Linux'. I didn't know much about either, but I downloaded and installed Linux anyway in order to run that fine looking user interface. Thanks to that early interest, I now enjoy a wonderful job designing and maintaining networks in which Linux often fills an important role. There's no better way to learn something new than for it to be enjoyable. With this in mind, I'd like to present Mike's Hopefully nifty guide to having fun with Linux.

Want to break free from a Microsoft world? Leigh Dyer looks at the alternatives.

Leigh Dyer arrives in OS heaven with a triple-booting Intel Mac.

Leigh Dyer looks at Sun’s attempts to keep Solaris relevant in a Linux world.

We test the big three OSes on level ground - Boot Camp.

One of the longest running battles in the computer industry has been between open systems and closed proprietary ones. The term closed refers to systems where the standards are set by the manufacturer

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Run Windows apps on Linux by running Windows itself. Leigh Dyer shows you how.

Leigh Dyer infuses a cheap standalone router with the power of Linux.

Why do GNOME and KDE compete for the Linux desktop?

I've recently spent a couple of weeks on site at a client running a Linux training course and dabbling with the popular and powerful Web-caching package, Squid.

With the free products on our new cover DVD, you need never buy software again. So why do we still keep paying?

Are you a Linux user longing for iTunes? A bit of time and a little custom software can bring music to your ears.

Leigh Dyer shows how virtualisation technologies could change the server market.

Ever wondered what a particular acronym stands for? Find the answer in our comprehensive reference guide to computer industry acronyms. RTFM!

Leigh Dyer shows you how to free your ASP.NET applications from Microsoft's grasp with Mono

Not Apache, MySQL or Firefox, but lesser-known apps that serve a particular function very well – a Top Ten of open-source applications you’ve never heard of.

Google Desktop may finally be on Linux, but how does it fare against the competition?

It doesn't happen often, but in case it does, we'll step you through Linux disaster recovery.